NBA Finals Game Five: Mount Kobe Erupts, Rest of Lakers Fizzle

[Erick Blasco]

Kobe Bryant went hypernova during the second half of the Boston Celtics’ 92-86 victory in Game Five of the NBA Finals.

 

That the Los Angeles Lakers still lost calls into question the validity of Kobe’s supporting cast.

 

Here’s who did what and why.

 

Pau Gasol—5-12 FG, 12 PTS—was aggressive on the offensive glass (7 OFF REB) and during a few brief moments late in the third quarter into the fourth. However, he was a non-entity on defense, and an underperformer on offense. Three of his made baskets were putbacks, one was an open jumper, and only one other was an aggressive assault on the basket. He wasn’t doubled aggressively, only got to the free throw line three times, and didn’t manage an assist.

 

An unacceptable performance, instrumental to Los Angeles’ defeat.

 

Andrew Bynum has no elevation, and was therefore beaten to too many rebounds. In 12 minutes, he was only able to secure a single missed shot. His defense also suffered as a result of his bad knees, and he was only able to be an offensive force when moving in straight line drives.

 

In his stead, Lamar Odom was completely absent until the fourth quarter. While he had success grabbing offensive boards and scoring on broken plays, he hasn’t been enough of a factor in the triangle to put pressure on Boston’s defense. He’s also made poor decisions, been mistake prone, and was defenseless when guarding Kevin Garnett, or when switching onto Paul Pierce after screen/rolls.

 

Ron Artest continued to have a nightmare performance—2-9 FG, 2 AST, 1 TO, 7 PTS. The Celtics have taken on the strategy of ignoring Artest when doubling elsewhere—like when Paul Pierce rotated across the court to defend the Lakers 1-2 screens that were so effective in Game Three.

 

Pierce’s physicality has taken away Artest’s ability to score off the dribble or in the post, and when Artest uncorks a jumper, nobody knows where it’ll land.

 

Artest also holds the ball too long, is a poor passer, and a questionable decision maker.

 

Artest’s defense was countered by a bevy of screen/rolls which he’s simply too big to navigate. After Pierce softened him up with screen/rolls, he was able to hit a score of his trademarked step back isolation jumpers, and also got to the rim several times.

 

In other words, Artest can no longer hide behind his defense to justify his performance in this series. His offense has been a disaster, and his defense is beginning to be cracked open.

 

Derek Fisher struggled on both ends, mainly because he was flopping and trying to buy calls while the refs smartly held their whistles. He succeeded once, suckering the refs into calling a foul when Paul Pierce blocked his three early in the game. Since every coin, however, has a second side, a blatant Ray Allen charge into Fisher went untooted with the refs well aware of Fisher’s shenanigans.

 

In the NBA Finals, acting is a dangerous profession.

 

Jordan Farmar was out of control and forced his offense, while Luke Walton executed the offense but was too passive.

 

Aside from Bryant, only Sasha Vujacic matched a personal expectation level needed to succeed in the Finals, and only because Vujacic’s modest 2-5 shooting performance is a step up from his normal occurrences.

 

Even Kobe wasn’t without flaw, as he continues to pass while in the air, while failing to box out Rajon Rondo on the defensive glass. So while he had a sparkling scoring second half, and was a sagacious decision maker within the confines of the offense for the first half, there are still four turnovers and loose defensive change that directly led to Celtics stops or scores.

 

The Lakers put on a dismal performance and had no chance given that the Celtics played their most complete game of the series.

 

The Celtics were cognizant of getting Paul Pierce on track early, using a staggered ball screen that resulted in the Lakers switching and Pierce getting an open look.

 

Pierce didn’t make that shot, but the Lakers established that Pierce would wind up with a big man switched onto him when the Celtics run high screens, especially because when the Lakers tried to simply show with their big man, Artest would get stuck on the screen and their interior rotations weren’t crisp enough to pick up Pierce and a free roll guy at the basket.

 

With Pierce getting his mojo going, post ups, spot-up threes, and a healthy dose of step back jump shots were the prescriptions Doc Rivers ordered.

 

Pierce wasn’t as much of a factor on the boards, but his defense on Ron Artest was terrific, and his decision making was near-flawless—12-21 FG, 2 AST, 0 TO, 27 PTS.

 

Kevin Garnett may have played his best all-around playoff game as a Celtic—6-11 FG, 6-7 FT, 10 REB, 3 AST, 3 TO, 5 STL, 2 BLK, 18 PTS.

 

He attacked the basket with drives and step-throughs instead of setting for turnaround jumpers, he was active on defense, and he neutralized Gasol.

 

Ray Allen still can’t find the touch—0-4 3FG—but he connected on five of six shots within the arc, including twice when he posted Derek Fisher and sank short jumpers.

 

Rajon Rondo made more plays—9-12 FG, 8 AST—than mistakes—7 TO.

 

Tony Allen played adhesive defense despite continuing to be an offensive liability.

 

Nate Robinson’s offensive abilities haven’t been contained yet in the series.

 

It’s mindboggling how good Rasheed Wallace has been during the later stages of the playoffs, after having such a disastrous regular season. In Game Five, he sank a pair of jumpers, including a three, while playing exceptional team defense and individual defense on Gasol and Bynum. Sheed’s simply playing his best basketball since winning a ring in 2004.

 

Doc Rivers also deserves credit for making all the subtle adjustments to match the Lakers. Pinching in his wings so Ray Allen doesn’t have to defend Kobe on an island, using more screen/rolls to get Paul Pierce going, featuring Kevin Garnett early so that Garnett’s energy level would surge throughout the game, knowing when to trust his bench, and when to give them a short leash, etc, etc.

 

Phil Jackson has made a nice adjustment to get Kobe the ball with more space—running him off of weak-side down screens to dislodge his defenders from him. But now the onus is on Jackson again.

 

How is he going to get Artest and Odom going? What adjustments will he make to the Celtics screen/rolls with Pierce? How can he spark his bench into playing solid minutes and not making colossal mistakes? How will he reverse Pau Gasol’s trend of playing worse and worse as the series moves forward? Can he perform a miraculous operation on Bynum’s torn meniscus?

 

The Lakers now return home wounded and desperate. Let’s see if they play wounded and desperate to bring the series to a climactic Game Seven. And let’s see if the Celtics have the killer instinct to finish things off on the road in Game Six.

[Real Deal]

Can't expect much from anyone on this team NOT named Kobe Bryant, to be honest. I let myself down thinking Gasol was going to absolutely dominate Garnett this series.

 

Main problem is that Bynum can't do a damn thing for us, which means Odom has to...and we all know how that goes.