Banner #17 in sight

[lightfungus]

The game was great, and frankly one of the better games of the entire playoffs. I have watched probably 75% of the games and I got a little bored with all the blow outs. Boston was by far the underdog before the detroit series, but the last couple of games against detroit showed the Celtics were regaining their form (and Ray his shot, which helps). I think this is going to go the distance (I want it too), and I hope Boston wins game 2 because the Lakers aren't losing one at home. All of those statements are based solely on the fact that KG started playing like a superstar...he passed the ball off WAY too much in the rest of the postseason and never looked like he wanted to carry his team. She he has passion for the rest of the game, but if you are dumping it off to Posey under 2 minutes to play, then you aren't confident.

Either way, I'm glad that the Championship series is going to be fun to watch.

[Kurn]

A couple of observations, and obviously, I'm biased.

I read an article on ESPN.com by an NBA scout where he made a very key point regarding the Celts' postseason performance. Because of how their rotation worked in the regular season, their starters were not logging heavy minutes throughout the regular season (and even less down the stretch), and in the Atlanta series, they tended to look a bit gassed late in the 3rd period. Now they seem to have adjusted to the extended minutes.

Second, their bench matches up much better against the Lakers than against the more physical Eastern teams. I expect more out of leon Powe in this series than vs Detroit, and guys like Cassell and House won't face they kind of relentless ball pressure they faced in the EC finals.

Third, while Kobe is the best player in the league and almost unstoppable, he will have to work harder at both ends of the floor, and the Lakers do not have a pure scorer like Rip Hamilton or a big physical guard off the bench like Stuckey. Maybe Gasol won't be as spotty as 'Sheed, but so far (and I haven't seen him play much) he doesn't worry me as much as Ilgauskas did.

Bottom line, Pierce and Perkins have to be able to play close to their top form, but in the end I think the Celtics are the better team 2-12, and Kobe isn't as much the better player than Pierce as he is vs any other oppponent.

[sjay2k]

You can get Celtics at 2.02 for game 2 right now on BetFair. Pretty huge value. The Celtics were 1.72 before game one, won with a great defensive effort and now you can get an extra 42% for them to do it again in game 2. Won't be betting too much at all on this since I have a lot on the series bet, but getting better than even money on the Celtics at home is pretty crazy. Maybe people are skeptical about Pierce's fitness (and to a lesser extent, Perkins), but I don't think it will set him back at all.

Should be another dog fight and hopefully the Celtics will pull it out again.

[sjay2k]

leon powe for president

[sjay2k]

Hahahah Paul pierce you are the greatest.

Too bad I only had the Celtics to beat the spread this game.

I'd like to thank Sasha Vujacic for letting Ray Allen stroll to the hoop to put the Celtics up by 5 and then taking (and missing!) a dumb two-point attempt after the timeout.

[Robbie Robb]

Rumour online is Phil Ivey has $2M on the Lakers...

[Kurn]

Doc said it in the post-game press conference. LA cannot play championship-caliber defense.