The Long Awaited Game Again Of Lakers V.S. Celtics

Not long after winning the basketball championship last week, the Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson visited his daughter’s apartment complex. There, improbably, he bumped into Paul Pierce, the Boston Celtics star.

The Celtics beat the Lakers in the 2008 finals but had failed to make it back for the rematch. Phil Jackson had a request. 

 

“I said, ‘Get it back. We want to meet you in the finals,’ ” Phil Jackson said, recalling his moment with Paul Pierce.

Wishes were fulfilled this past weekend, when the Celtics finished off the Orlando Magic and the Lakers closed out the Phoenix Suns. The NBA's most storied rivalry will resume once more, for the 11th time since the Lakers moved West.

The finals will be colored in green and white, purple and gold, and several shades of redemption. The Lakers want payback, after getting pummeled by the Celtics two years ago. The Celtics are seeking validation, after having their title defense short-circuited by injuries last year. 

 

“It’s a great challenge for us, to see how much we’ve improved, how much we’ve gotten better, to be able to go up against this team in a playoff series,” Lakers' star player Kobe Bryant said Saturday night, after the Lakers closed out a six-game victory over the Suns.

The Boston Celtics are seeking an 18th championship to add to their record total. The Lakers are seeking their 15th title, their 11th in Los Angeles, and their fifth since 2000.

If the LA Lakers win the championship, it will also be Jackson’s 11th, further separating him from the Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach (nine).

Kobe Bryant would earn his fifth ring — breaking a tie with Tim Duncan and Shaquille O’Neal, among the biggest stars of the post-Michael Jordan era. He would be one shy of tying Jordan, the league’s modern standard-bearer. And he would further separate himself from LeBron James, who has won the last two Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards but has yet to distinguish himself in the postseason. 

 

The Lakers were missing two critical players then, center Andrew Bynum and forward Trevor Ariza, who were injured. Andrew Bynum will play this time, although he is limited by a knee injury while Trevor Ariza has departed, replaced by Ron Artest, one of the fiercest defenders in the league.

The Celtics’ starting five from 2008 remains intact, although the power sources have shifted over time. Rajon Rondo was a willing role player two years ago but is now a star, on par with the Big Three of Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. 

 

The Lakers remember only anguish, and an arena filled with the scent of cigar smoke, a tribute to Auerbach.

“There’s nothing worse than losing in a finals,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “It’s about as low as you can get after riding a high, getting through three series, going into the fourth one. I had hoped I’d never experience it, but I’ve done it twice now. So I know it’s a real difficult summer after that.”

The finals begin Thursday in Los Angeles.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 | posted in Boston Celtics, LA Lakers, NBA | 17comments [ More ]

Phoenix Suns Game Plan Is No Match For Lakers

Basketball excites us especially when the LA Lakers jumped to a 2-0 series lead Wednesday night with a 124-112 victory over the Phoenix Suns, who have provided as much resistance as a collection of Saguaro cactuses. The decisiveness of the Lakers’ victories has already begun to set Los Angeles fans’ sights past Games 3 and 4 in Phoenix, and on toward their nemesis Boston, which opened the Eastern Conference finals by winning the first two games in Orlando. 

Until then, they had turned their affection to Kobe Bryant, who after torching the Suns for 40 points in the opener, turned into Kobe the Facilitator. Bryant had 13 assists to go along with 21 points, while Pau Gasol scored 27 points as the Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter after Phoenix had crawled back from an early 14-point deficit.

Lamar Odom, whose 19-point, 19-rebound performance in Game 1 was called lucky by Stoudemire, managed 17 points and 11 rebounds. The comment drew a shrug from Odom and some head shaking from the Suns. Phoenix Suns Coach Alvin Gentry called Stoudemire’s contention ridiculous on Tuesday, and on Wednesday he said it was probably just a poor choice of words.

Jason Richardson scored 27 points and Grant Hill, who had 23 of his 27 points in the second half, led Phoenix. Steve Nash had 15 assists and 11 points. But the Suns were undone by their matador defense. Kobe Bryant, rejuvenated since having his swollen left knee drained late in the first-round series against Oklahoma City, made Hill look like he was in danger of needing another ankle surgery in Game 1 after Bryant’s crossover dribble sent Hill stumbling backward to the floor.

Kobe Bryant wasted little time in reaffirming his superiority in Game 2. On the opening possession, he backed Hill down and hit an 18-foot jumper over him. Then, with the Suns sending another player at him, Kobe Bryant spent much of the rest of the night setting up his teammates. With the ball in his hands as the first-quarter clock ran down, he started toward the basket, then dished the ball to a wide-open Ron Artest in the corner. Artest, with the crowd on its feet, made the shot as the buzzer sounded and Bryant celebrated a 36-24 lead by pointing both his index fingers at Artest.

Phoenix Suns would fall behind by as many as 14, then close even late in the third quarter, but as the night moved on, it was increasingly clear that despite their improvement — and interest — in playing defense, they may as well held up an S.O.S. sign — Same Old Suns. When the Suns knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs in 2006 and 2007, it prompted the Lakers to retool, and they have repeatedly hammered Phoenix. It was the Lakers’ ninth victory in 11 meetings since they acquired Gasol.

So, no matter how slick the Suns’ offense looked at times — Steve Nash was effective in creating dunks for Stoudemire or open 3-pointers for Dudley and Richardson — they only rarely stopped the Lakers. And those stops mostly came when the Suns’ reserves were on the court.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010 | posted in LA Lakers, NBA, Phoenix Suns | 7comments [ More ]

Jim Cleamons Hoping For LA Lakers' Victory Next Season

NBA's most renowned basketball team LA Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons stated his team statistics where the LA Lakers won by 8 points. But they shot just 41% from the field, 68% from the free-throw line. They outscored the Thunder by 14 points in the first quarter, but Oklahoma City outscored them, 66-60, the rest of the way. The Lakers built a 17-point lead, but saw that cut to six points in the fourth. The one constant was the stifling LA Lakers defense, which held the Thunder to 40% shooting for the game. 

 

At the start of every season, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson gives his assistants eight to 10 teams they are in charge of scouting. The Thunder is Jim Cleamons' team, and it's his job to develop the Lakers' game plan.

"I thought we did OK, OK is nothing to brag about because the first game you never know anyway what they were going to do or how we would respond. But we survived and it's always nice to get a win as you go." As LA Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons collected his thoughts, he came to a conclusion.

The Game 2 is on Tuesday night at Staples Center. Jim Cleamons said the Thunder has a versatile menu of plays it runs, something it did out of timeouts Sunday. "Even opening the game, they ran a couple of plays that we hadn't seen before," Jim Cleamons added.

Jim Cleamons was very complimentary about the young talent on the Thunder. He called the league's top scorer Kevin Durant a versatile player. Jim Cleamons said Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook showed he can attack the rim and that Jeff Green can play both power and small forward. The LA Lakers' assistant also noted that Thunder rookie James Harden is a swing player who can score and be a facilitator. 

 

LA Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons has a wish list for the Lakers to be successful in Game 2. The LA Lakers were really never in any danger of losing Game 1 of the best-of-seven first-round series although the Thunder did cut the lead to an uncomfortable six points a couple of times. More might not be known until Thursday when the Lakers play their first road game in Game 3. The next game will be Tuesday at the Staples Center. 

 

Kobe Bryant also came back after a self-imposed respite in order to try to heal some of his various injuries. He finished with 21 points on less-than-stellar 6-of-19 shooting. He was 7 of 12 from the free-throw line including two times that he missed both of his free throws. The Lakers got the lead back to 8 when Pau Gasol made two free throws after being fouled by Russell Westbrook. But the Thunder got it back to an uncomfortable seven when Serge Ibaka made one of two free throws with 1:40 to play. Derek Fisher had a flash from the past when he sank a three-pointer to lengthen the lead to 10. It was his first field goal since the first quarter. 

 

Meanwhile, the whiteboard created by Phil Jackson in the LA Lakers' locker room had a simple message, "Look @ this," for the Lakers basketball players, and posted a box score of the last time the Lakers played the Thunder, a 91-75 loss. There are 2 stat categories were circled: The LA Lakers shot a miserable 39% from the field and were only two of 15 from the 3-point line in that game.

Monday, April 26, 2010 | posted in jim cleamons, LA Lakers, NBA | 0comments [ More ]