Sunday, June 8, 2008

Lakers Embarassed In Boston

I've been watching Laker games for almost forty years and have never seen them dominated as they were tonight. Then again, there was the "Memorial Day Massacre" in 1985 by the Celtics. The Lakers eventually went on to win that series and in Boston, but they're in a hole now and it will be close to impossible to climb out of it.

To their credit, the Lakers didn't give up and mounted a furious fourth quarter comeback after Boston dropped their guard and quit playing defense. The Lakers took a 24 point lead and brought it down to 2 with about 22 seconds to go. But, if the Lakers had have played better defense they woudn't have had such a huge defecit to overcome. But just for a few minutes late in the game the Celtics got very very nervous.

The truth is; the Lakers didn't deserve to win tonight. No defensive effort in the second half and they made too many mistakes again and rarely got to the foul line until the fourth quarter. Now they have to win three in a row in Staples just to get a sixth game. Can it be done? Sure. But...it will take a hell of a lot more than what I saw tonight.

I'm a die-hard Laker fan and I've seen stranger things so I'll be waiting here in L.A. for game three. I even thought about driving up to Staples Center tonight to watch the game on Giant Screen but at $4.50 a gallon for gas right now I can think of better reasons to get caught on a parking lot masquerading as a freeway.

P.S. - Just once I wish an athlete would answer this all-time cliche' question with this snappy comeback...
Question - What will it take for the Lakers to win tonight?
Answer - We'll have to score more points than the other team.
Sports reporters have to be the World's biggest Donkey Dicks.


Final Score: Toast 2 - Greasywrench 0

3 comments:

Burnt Toast said...

Are the Celtics really THAT good or have the Lakers just not shown up yet?

An excellent rally late, but not quite enough. Kobe was 50% from the field scoring only 9 points in the first half. He really has to wake up and be the player he truly is if the Lakers expect to survive. Really the whole team seems a bit off, inconsistent. Pau Gasol was a striker last night. He was on fire in the first half and solid through the second.

The Lakers have to find some way to penetrate Boston's defense. Perimeter shooting will only get you so far.

Could this be over in five games?

Burnt Toast said...

By the way, I know Boston is feeling great at the moment, but walking onto the court tomorrow night in L.A. would have to be a frightening experience.

Greasywrench AKA rich b said...

To be perfectly honest I think the Lakers thought they were just gonna mail this one in. They've had a pretty easy run through the playoffs and they took the Celts for granted. Talent wise the Lakers should and could match up against the Celts. The real series will start next game and it could get ugly.

If the Lakers don't win the next game they'll get swept. I actually thought they gave up last night until they put together the rally. I was surprised. They have heart for sure to come back from twenty-four points back in five minutes. It ain't over yet.