| NBA Finals Game 5 Review |
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| Written by Ryan.W | |
| Monday, 16 June 2008 | |
 It was obvious in the first quarter of game 5 that the Lakers were pissed and on a mission to prove all the doubters wrong, to prove that this series was no where from being over. Kobe Bryant drew first blood as the 2008 MVP was absolutely on fire coming out of the gate for the Lakers! It was just three after three after three, Kobe looked like he was going after Wilt’s 100 point game record again; he was destined to change things in game 5. As the first quarter came to a close the Lakers were in complete control with every player in purple and gold clicking, especially Kobe who was making all the right decisions and after the first quarter was over you felt as if it were a completely different series with a newly inspired Lakers squad ready. Even though it was obviously a different Lakers team with a different sense of purpose, the Boston Celtics held their ground and started to chip away at the Lakers huge 19 point lead with hustle plays and smart shots. Although I'm not a big fan of the Celtics (obviously being a Lakers fan), I have to give them props for having one of the best defenses in all of basketball and quite possibly the best defense I have seen in quite a long time. Even with Kobe being near unstoppable in the first quarter after scoring 15 points, most of which came from beyond the arc, the Celtics hung tough like they did in game 4 in which they engineered the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history coming back from being 24 points down to a Lakers team that couldn’t miss. One thing about these Celtics is that they don’t quit, they never give up or give the opponent an inch, they are as resilient as they come. The best part about this awesome Boston defense is their ability to keep Kobe Bryant relatively in check, stopping him from driving in the lane and turning this year’s MVP into a jump shooter. Now Kobe Bryant is one of the best, if not the best jump shooter in the game, but he is definitely more dangerous if he has to the ability to get to the basket and being able to shot, if you cut off one of his legs being the driving ability, he is forced to shot which then leads to frustration and therefore Kobe jacking up ill advised shots resulting in chaos on offense for the Lakers. The Celtics are the only team this season that I have seen make Kobe Bryant’s inside game virtually disappear which is a huge accomplishment in itself, but by being able to do that Boston has basically crippled the best offense in the league which has resulted in the Celtics beating the Lakers 3 games to 2. Another reason for the Celtics success against the Lakers in this series has been Paul Pierce who has been nothing short of spectacular on both offense and defense when guarding Kobe Bryant. Pierce can hurt you from anywhere on the floor, he is a great three point shooter along with a superb slashing ability which gets him to the basket and most times to the free throw line as well. Although the Lakers won game 5 they were unable to contain Pierce who tore them up for a game high 38 points and was able to dish out 8 assists as well. If the Lakers don’t find a way to shut down Pierce’s offensive production then they will be back in LA in no time! Even though Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom haven’t really played up to par in this finals series against Boston, game 5 was a breath of fresh air for the pair as they combined for 39 points and 24 rebounds, but in order the Lakers to have any hope of winning this series they will both need to keep it up or like I said before, they will be back in Los Angeles in no time! Another positive note for the Lakers in game 5 was the reemergence of point guard Jordan Farmar who scored 11 points off the bench which somewhat made up for “The Machine” or Sasha Vujacic’s nightmare of a game in which he shot a miserable 2 for 10 from the field and a forgettable 0 for 5 from the three point line. So if the Lakers want to avoid elimination for a second time, in Boston, they are going to have to figure out how to beat the best defense in the NBA and get their role players going early.         Set as favorite Bookmark Comments
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