The Los Angeles Lakers were hoping to make some noise around the league this past Sunday as they were heading into the NBA Finals rematch with the arch rival Boston Celtics on their home floor at Staples Center. Even though Kobe Bryant was near unstoppable at times as he scored a season-high 41 points, it just wasn't enough to hold off the Boston Celtics who were playing at a championship caliber on both ends of the floor.
At times during this season, the Lakers have played extremely well and looked like a legitimate threat to pull off the three-peat, but recently the defending champs have been a flawed basketball team in more ways than one.
When the Lakers face off against the Celtics they usually have a clear advantage in the paint with their size and length. During the 2010 NBA Finals, all seven games were won in the paint and on the glass. The team that won the battle of the boards came out on top and last year the Lakers were that team, but in their first head-to-head matchup since last year's Finals, the Celtics out rebounded the Lakers 43 to 30 and came out with the convincing victory 109-96.
In the first half, the Lakers took control as they headed into halftime with a 54-50 lead and the momentum moving forward. The defending champs did struggle in the first quarter after Kobe sat down with two fouls, but got back to form in the second quarter. An illadvised foul by Lamar Odom on Glen Davis' halfcourt shot sent Big Baby to the line for three shots where he made two out of three from the charity stripe. If L.O. had put his hands in his pockets then the Lakers would have had a six point lead to start the third quarter.
Regardless of Odom's silly foul, the Lakers had the momentum heading into halftime and Kobe was getting hot with 22 points. Los Angeles seemed to be getting the better of Boston, but the Celtics came out in the second half firing on all cylinders as Paul Pierce really started to catch fire.
Ultimately, Pierce finished with a team-high 32 points and led the turnaround for the Celtics. Kobe tried to counter Pierce's performance, but even though he did put up 41, it wasn't enough as the rest of the team struggle to produce anything offensively.
There have been a lot of people being critical of Kobe taking over the game in the fourth quarter of this game, but even Phil Jackson said that no other player on the team was willing to step up and help the team late in the game.
Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum were the biggest disappointment on Sunday as they combined for just 23 points and 13 rebounds. With the Lakers having a clear advantage with their size and length, they can't afford to have these two struggling against the best teams in the league.
This seems to be more and more of a problem for the Lakers moving forward. There is no question that Kobe has been able to lead the team to victory in the past by putting the team on his back in the fourth quarter, but with a 1-5 record when the Black Mamba scores 35 or more this season, they need to start playing team basketball in order to compete with the likes of the Boston Celtics.
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