[llperez]

basketball site with no finals talk going on, whats up with that. So who takes it tonight?

[McWinningParticipant]

I didnt even know their playing tonight, lol there literally is no talk.

[llperez]

Im guessing everyone’s watching but since both teams are not well liked and get to the finals alot people arent as excited aobut it.

Anyways, big game tonight. Im hoping the lakers focus on defense more becasue that is what killed them early in game 2. And obviously they need kobe to stay on the court. Have a hard time believeing both pierce and kg will play like they did in game 2 and that scares me.

[MagikKnickParticipant]

Thats what i’ve been saying, all the finals talk gets drowned out by repetitive mock drafts and made-up trades….Those things will begin in a week or 2, but for now…the finals should be the main focus…

I think the Lakers come out like a raging bull this game, and take back home court advantage…I think they’ll be well prepared for game 3. I wanna see Ray Allen light it up again though, that last game was entertaining, especially the first half

[llperez]

i found nothing entertaining whatsoever about it. But yeah, i expect to see both teams coming out swinging. Lakers know they didnt bring it in game 2 and do not want to fall behind in this series. Boston knows they have to protect homecourt. SHould be a lot of fun.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

I like the Celtics tonight. They cannot afford to not bring it this game. C’s need to get 2 out of three in Boston. If they drop this one Kobe will smell blood so they need it. PP and KG need to wake up. If they actually showed up this would not be much of a series. Not happy with either of them right now.

[sacphil_08Participant]

I’m thinking that LA still has nightmares (besides Kobe) of playing in Boston in June and I actually feel that Boston is very capable of pulling out all 3. Some of that is what I’m hoping but I definitely see it a strong possibility. If kg can so much as score 15 and grab 10 boards they win and I think he’ll do that in each of these 3 games. I don’t see any reason why Ron arrests shooting will improve as he’s shooting abysmally and has been throughout the playoffs. Also if Paul Pierce can drop around 15 they’ll be fine for sure. I question the grit of the lakers outside of Kobe and that includes pau. I think pau plays so much off the home crowd that it’s ridiculous and his last trip here was definitely one worth forgetting. I think he’ll have like a 16 or 18 point game with 9 or 10 rebounds but not the numbers he put up
at home, and I DEFINITELY don’t see bynum playing how he did last game. Think about that kg and Paul pierce both had very ordinary games. Ray Allen scored and so did rondo but that was pretty much it. The lakers had very strong outings from
gasol and bynum and completely outplayed
bostons frontcourt and they still lost.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Ray Allen Will Not !!! I repeat..”’ Will Not!!! shoot that many 3’s tonite!!! Kobe take stuff like that personal!!!!

The referees made some really bad calls in that game..plus the Lakers turned the ball over way too much late in the game…..
I have the Lakers by 9

[yashParticipant]

Agree with Rudeboy (+1) – that wasn’t Ray Allen, that was Jesus Shuttlesworth and he won’t come out like that again. He had that strong first half, but had what, some 5 points in the second? Lakers came back in a span of 6-7 minutes (end of second to start of third) which further adds that no lead is safe.

Lakers got into foul trouble and yes, hella questionable calls on Kobe. Ron Artest was a lost man out there.

Rondo needs to be contained, they let him run around and snatch up some offensive rebounds – can’t let that happen. Odom needs to stay out of foul trouble and Jordan Farmar needs to stop pulling a Kirk Hinrich and get mad if he doesn’t get the ball.

Lakers get it together and win this one out.

Simply put: Kobe doesn’t want to lose.

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

i’ve tried to get somet topics going about the finals and it seems perez and a few others only read/reply to em’.

Let’s get something straight though, there have been bad calls for both sides this series.

I think this is the game that puts the celtics to test. Win and be up 2-1…or lose and be down 1-2 with the next 2 games still in boston.

My gut tells me kobe’s on a mission tonight to light the celtics up with 38-45 pts. But my gut also tells me the celtics will be focused on the big men this game more than anything. I think the celtics will pull through…but barely. I say a 5-7 point celtic victory…and it coming down to the last couple minutes.

[B-ball fanParticipant]

How can you say they aided the Celtics. They were bad both ways. Yes, they called several phantom fouls on the Lakers, but the Celtics had many bad calls on them. The Lakers shot many more free throws, and set a finals record for blocks, while the Celtics had about three clean blocks on which there were fouls called. I’m not saying the officiating was not excessively tight both ways, but it definitely did not help the Celtics.

I wonder if KG will do better at home. He struggled to rebound, defend, and score in the first two games big time. Pierce and Garnett will play better, but so will Kobe and Artest. Fisher will play more too, but he can be a big defensive liability.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

Look at the free throw shooting. Boston has been getting horrible calls all series. Yes the Lakers got a few, but the refs are not hurting LA they hurting Boston cause Phil did the coward thing before the series.

[llperez]

lakers got the worse of calls last game. And for the 5th time, that block on big baby was a foul. Even hollinger wrote how he cant believe people think that was clean. Watch it again but pay no attention to the ball. Slaming into someones body is a clear foul

[llperez]

what was the coward thing phil did? ANd the ft’s typically go to the team that actually has post players that they dump it into and go to work.

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

if you’re gonna call the block from big baby a foul, i’m gonna call kobe’s bump in the air, inside the circle on ray allen a foul.

[llperez]

i dont know if its just me, but your pic covers some of your post grizz so im not sure what kobe play you are talking about. Regardless, big baby 100% committed a foul. He slams into him and even uses his off arm all before the blcok took place.

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

The Celtics use smackdown tactics to make the refs blow the whistle on them. Typical Phil playing mind games. Why say that if you don’t want to alert the refs to have a quick whistle? It’s all good though part of the game. Just a coward move to me though.

[llperez]

phil has been a coward for 20 years then. He always talks to the officials. Before the thunder series he said durant gets superstar calls. Before the suns series he said nash gets away with carrying. Thats phil doing what he does.

[d-grizzlyParticipant]

it was early in the 4th quarter if i remember right. Ray was going for a layup and kobe jumps and their body’s collided inside the circle. no foul was called.

I stand by what I said earlier,

Let’s get something straight though, there have been bad calls for both sides this series.

[llperez]

i agree with call bad both ways. Im not blaming the loss on the refs for game two. Lakers didnt play well in the last 6 minutes when the game was up for grabs. A couple calls didnt help, but no excuses on my part.

And if we are thinking of the same play, ray was on a fast break and kobe was under the basket and jumped straight up with his hands up, thats not a foul. Even inside the restricted area, you are allowed to your space if you go straight up. You just cant take a charge down there.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I’m not a fan of either team, but I don’t see how anybody can say the Lakers got an advantage because of shooting 15 more free-throws than the Celtics. 25 of the Lakers’ free-throw attempts were by Gasol and Bynum, who were clearly more aggressive attacking the basket than any of Boston’s big men. Boston shot jumpshots all game.

And somebody wrote about how the Lakers got 14 blocks and not enough fouls. I don’t understand that either. First… 13 out of the Lakers 14 blocks were made by Bynum and Gasol. Bynum had five fouls and Gasol had three. Davis got blocked four times, which isn’t surprising considering his lack of lift and length. Rondo got blocked three times on layups. Perkins got blocked twice.

There were bad/missed calls made on both sides, but I think the Lakers were hurt by the calls the most. I mean, two or three AWFUL fouls on Kobe, the Lakers’ best player? The missed And One by Bynum in the first half? The blown out of bounds call in the 4th quarter while they were down three? The questionable foul call on Artest against Rondo during a loose ball in the 4th quarter? Wow…

[Meditated StatesParticipant]

The refs cost either teams the games either. They were outplayed when they lost. Both teams. Poor officiating going on all around. I do feel they are a little quicker with the whistle on the C’s though.

[Mr.BigShotParticipant]

Again,When the Thunder and Suns were getting more free throws then the Lakers you claimed that they were more aggressive I believe stern just wants a good series.

[ZeroParticipant]

On the defensive end, Boston’s magic number to win is 95. The Celtics are 12-0 when allowing 95 or fewer points this postseason. Boston is 1-6 when allowing 96 points or more.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Lakers ball.

Off of KG’s left hand.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Two consecutive great calls by the refs…

Wow… Fisher is playing out of his mind in the 4th quarter.

[OrangeJuiceJonesParticipant]

How ’bout that Fisher guy?

Ray Allen is playing like boiled crap. How can one of the greatest shooters in NBA history miss that many open jumpers?

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Lol boiled crap.

That’s crazy though… I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player so hot in one game and then not make a shot in the next. That’s got to be some sort of record for the Finals. I don’t think he made a shot.

0-13. 0-8 from three-point.

[llperez]

im so relieved right now. That game was huge. Celtics were absollutely locking up the lakers until fisher saved the day. I will never doubt him again. And props to artest for his continued lockdown d on pierce. That steal off big baby at halfcourt was huge.

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