I’ve been trying to come up with a sentence that best summarizes Game 3 of this Finals, and I think I’ve got it…
A game the Boston Celtics absolutely would have won if they were playing anyone else but the Los Angeles Lakers.
That really is the only way I can sum up this game. There were too many moments in the fourth quarter when Boston shrunk the deficit to 2 or 3 points and looked poised to ride their raucous home crowd to another vintage Celtic victory. A classic Rondo drive to the hoop… A bustling Big Baby three-point play… A Paul Pierce moment of truth from long range… A bunch of late shots from KG in one of his best games in recent memory. Any one of those moments looked set to trigger a Boston takeover, and against any other team it would have been enough to sway the momentum.
But not these Lakers. Not anymore.
In a victory that can only be described as “gusty”, the Lakers proved they have the mental resolve, and the breadth of talent, to take whatever this Boston team can throw at them. Even when they watched their 17-point lead disappear which surely would have prompted nightmarish flash-backs to Game 4 of 2008. Even when Kobe Bryant was struggling offensively. Even when KG had morphed into 2004 KG. Despite all that, the Lakers fought and found a way to win. That is the mark of a champion, and we shouldn’t be surprised because the Lakers are our reigning champs.
Despite the fantastic finish, this was a very frustrating game to watch. The refs over-whistled once again, robbing us of a (potentially classic) Paul Pierce Finals performance much in the same way they robbed Kobe in Game 2. The three-point shooting was horrendous – 6/33 from both teams combined. The Celtics crowd never truly erupted in the second half because their team never hit the front. Ray Allen was bloody terrible (seriously Wibo, how do you defend that?). And even when the game should have been nail-biting, the three late video replays (two instigated by the refs, one by Phil Jackson) sapped it of all its momentum.
But there was one absolutely classic moment that I will never forget. With less than a minute left, Lakers up 4, Derek Fisher grabs the defensive rebound then starts sprinting up court. He hesitates for a moment, then realises that the Celtics are struggling to get back. He charges to the rim, gets whacked by three Boston players, and somehow lays the ball in. Kobe is ecstatic, fist-pumping at the three-point line. Gasol comes running over to pick Fisher up, screaming like a jungle animal. And then we see Fish, usually the mild-mannered professional one, screaming right back at him. Put it to thematic instrumental music in slow-motion and you’ve got yourself a spine-tingling Finals moment for the ages.
Clearly the moment even got to Derek, because in the on-court interview after the game he was visibly emotional and had to take a second to recollect himself. It’s hard not to admire this guy. Criticized all season for being over-the-hill. Blamed as the reason Russell Westbrook almost single-handedly beat the Lakers in the first round. Pointed out as the glaring weakness in the point guard match-up with Rondo coming into this series. He cops it all on the chin, and just goes to work. Bill Simmons calls him a “poor mans Robert Horry”. That is selling him short. To me, he’s on the same level as Big Shot Bob. And unlike Horry who had the luxury of coming off the bench in spurts for his last few championships, Derek Fisher is still going strong as a starter.
It’s no surprise he’s at the top of the votes in Game 3.
3 votes – Derek Fisher. For everything I just said, and the fact he scored 11 of his 16 in the fourth when no one else looked like scoring. Just like his dagger threes against Orlando last year in game 4, his performance in this game could decide the series for LA.
2 votes – Kevin Garnett. The Celtics wasted a great game from KG, just like the Lakers wasted a great game from Bynum in game 2. You couldn’t have written a better script for KG starting this game – three straight buckets including an alley-oop, and he never looked back. He proved he’s still got the ability to dominate when he’s on, and curiously, he was even more of a factor offensively tonight than he was defensively. My only real complaint about KG so far is that he hasn’t tried to ruffle Gasol’s feathers yet. Seriously. 2008 Kevin Garnett would have thrown a few elbows and in-your-face confrontations by now. Haven’t these players watched tapes of the 80’s Lakers-Celtics rivalry? Have they not seen the McHale-Rambis clothesline? Know your roots fellas.
1 vote – Kobe Bryant. Looking at the box-score and seeing 10-29 shooting by Kobe doesn’t tell you the full story of his impact on this game. I actually didn’t mind the way Kobe played tonight, despite his average shooting. He was incredibly active at both ends, and made a bunch of huge defensive plays/blocks/deflections. He was constantly aggressive at the offensive end, especially in the third quarter when the Lakers offense completely disappeared. Like really vanished into thin air. Watching the play-by-play live today I Tweeted that the Lakers were too Kobe-centric in that third quarter, but watching the replay tonight I fully understand why. He was the only guy looking for his shot. Sure he took a few bad ones, but at least he stayed aggressive. That is one of the great things about Kobe Bryant. Even when he’s shooting poorly, he stays aggressive. It keeps the defense honest and means they can never rest, because a 0-5 Kobe shooting stretch can quickly turn into a 6-11 shooting stretch, and then he’s in the zone and you’re toast.
Kobe did the right thing early in the fourth by trying to get going, but his shot wasn’t falling (started 0-3). There was a time-out with about 6 minutes remaining, after which Fisher went on his little run. Now, you go and watch those shots Fisher hit and tell me what you notice. You’ll find Kobe was the one setting the screens for Fish trying to free him up, forcing Rondo into a tough – and somewhat surprising – decision of sticking on Kobe, or following Fisher around the screen. Kobe was the perfect decoy on a few of those plays and Fish exploited it beautifully. It wasn’t a fluke – it was by design.
Why am I mentioning this? Because before the series started, I said two things need to happen for the Lakers to beat Boston.
1) Someone other than Kobe needs to step up, and
2) Kobe needs to let them
Kobe can thank D-Fish for ticking that first box, and no doubt Fisher will draw all the praise and media love in the next couple of days. But beneath all the fanfare, it’s Kobe ticking that second box that might be the most startling revelation in Game 3.
Tags: 2010 Finals, Boston Celtics, Derek Fisher, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers
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6 Comments until now.
What I don’t understand is why the Celtics called a play for Ray Allen to shoot a three when he was 0/7 from behind the line and 0/12 overall before that shot. They should have isolated Garnetta against Gasol. Garnett was getting to the rim at will last night. And even if Gasol plays good D, it’s likely that help defense opens up three point shooters. Allen’s three was well contested.
@Dylan
That’s Doc for you man. He does it time and time again. He completely ignores game form when drawing up end game plays.
The refereeing is a complete shambles. It a dog’s breakfast. I can handle the ‘missed’ calls. These are going to happen. The best ref in the world is going to have his sight blocked, or blink at an inopportune moment, or just plain miss something.
But it’s the frequency of the blatant ‘mystery’ calls that are making me wanna hunt down my neighbor’s hamster and go to work with the pliers and blow torch. It’s got to the point where I just don’t watch the game live anymore. I record it on fox and wont start watching till at least an hour after tip-off.
refs were a joke, lets get that out of the way. agree with Cliff, too many mystery calls out of nowhere. I don’t think you can argue they’re bias – it’s affected both teams. It’s just shit reffing all round.
@Dylan, even when Ray is 0-12 or whatever, he’s still a good option from 3-point range. I have no problems with Doc drawing that up.
But here’s the thing. How often is KG required to close out a game? It’s Pierce / Allen / Rondo like 99% of the time. So I think Doc just went with what normally works, and what has won them so many games in the past.
Pierce better have a big Game 4.
nice post rob. i agree, Kobe had a huge impact on this game from start to finish. this seems to be lost in most of the game recaps I’m reading. his defensive awareness was sublime tonight.
having said that, Celtics would be happy with him jacking 29 shots to get 29 points. they would consider that a win.
interested to know your thoughts on Kobe’s game 4. Celtics doing a great job of stopping him get to the lane, and Kobe just kept jacking threes. worked in Boston’s favor in the end.
You pretty much summed up my Game 4 thoughts on Kobe. When he should have been looking for Gasol more, he kept gunning. He was making threes, but I thought he got carried away trying to prove a point that he could make outside shots whenever he wanted to. It played into Boston’s hands perfectly, like you said.
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