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Written by Phil Partington   
Monday, 09 June 2008
PREVIEW: Celtics vs Lakers


Though the Celtics hold a 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, it’s hard to imagine that Kobe Bryant’s Lakers won’t bring more to the table in game 3. The Celtics held a 24-point lead in game 2 before nearly blowing it.

For a decent stretch, the Lakers looked as though they had Boston figured out.  Moreover, while Boston is 12-1 at home during the playoffs this year, they’ve struggled on the road. The lowly Atlanta Hawks – a team the Celtics should have slaughtered – took Boston to seven games because of their road woes. The Cleveland Cavaliers pushed Boston to seven games for the same reason. The Celtics seemed to pick things up against the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals by defeating them in six, but the Lakers are 9-0 at home in the 2008 playoffs and the next three games of the series are played in Los Angeles.

In Boston’s favor is the fact that only three teams (Boston Celtics in 1969, Portland Trail Blazers in 1977 and Miami Heat in 2006 [Source: Yahoo Sports]) have come back and won it all after being down 0-2 in a championship series, and no team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit.

In order to be more affective in game 3, LA will have to attack the basket more and try to get one of the league’s best defensive teams in foul trouble. In a post game interview, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson complained about Celtic reserve Leon Powe getting 13 foul shot appearances in less than 15 minutes, which was three more attempts than the entire Lakers team had in all 48 minutes. While Jackson is notorious for making his qualms known to media, he may have a decent point. Still, the Lakers will need to make a more concerted effort to attack the rim in game 3 and not settle for so many jump shots.  Meanwhile, Boston will be looking for another strong effort from the big three, as well as from point guard Rajon Rondo (16 assists in game 2) and Powe.
 
Game 3 will be played in Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 10, 2008, 9:00 p.m. EDT.



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