Was anyone sweating the Lakers run at the end?

[Roy Hobbs]

Chris has much more confidence than me.

When they cut it to 16, I thought "no sweat".  When they cut it to single digits, I thought "there's too much time".  When they cut it to six, I figured "we'll hold them off".

But when they cut it to four, I was worried.  And when they cut it to two after Kobe's free throws, I lost confidence, and thought for sure the game was going into OT.  Luckily, the captain came through.

RH,i watched the last quarter,which was viewing on NBA.TV about an hour ago,and the pain is less,probably because i knew the outcome.But after seeing it again,i could see some things i didn't notice last night,which might help ease the pain once you see the game tonight again.To me it just doesn't look as bad,the second time around.

Yeah, despite being worried at the time, this fourth quarter collapse doesn't worry me nearly as much as the ones in Detroit.  In the Detroit game, the Detroit defense actually stepped up and forced us into some poor plays.  Last night, it seemed to be more an issue of effort / energy.  There's no matchup that the Lakers can take away from the fourth quarter to exploit going forward.

I mean, do they want to play VladRad at the 4, and sit Odom?  Works for me; Paul can abuse Vujacic  just as much on defense as he can Vlad, and Perk or KG would destroy whoever was guarding them.

[jay_jay54]

Chris has much more confidence than me.

When they cut it to 16, I thought "no sweat".  When they cut it to single digits, I thought "there's too much time".  When they cut it to six, I figured "we'll hold them off".

But when they cut it to four, I was worried.  And when they cut it to two after Kobe's free throws, I lost confidence, and thought for sure the game was going into OT.  Luckily, the captain came through.

RH,i watched the last quarter,which was viewing on NBA.TV about an hour ago,and the pain is less,probably because i knew the outcome.But after seeing it again,i could see some things i didn't notice last night,which might help ease the pain once you see the game tonight again.To me it just doesn't look as bad,the second time around.

Yeah, despite being worried at the time, this fourth quarter collapse doesn't worry me nearly as much as the ones in Detroit.  In the Detroit game, the Detroit defense actually stepped up and forced us into some poor plays.  Last night, it seemed to be more an issue of effort / energy.  There's no matchup that the Lakers can take away from the fourth quarter to exploit going forward.

I mean, do they want to play VladRad at the 4, and sit Odom?  Works for me; Paul can abuse Vujacic  just as much on defense as he can Vlad, and Perk or KG would destroy whoever was guarding them.

while you on the subject of matchups,Peter Vecsy,last night susgested Phil Jackson put Kobe on Rondo,imagine the possibilities for whoever Kobe was gaurding(Ray),i think.It is hard to figure who he really is guarding at times.But i think Rondo can handle Kobe from an offensive standpoint.

[Who]

No

Not for a single second.

The Lakers needed to play perfect basketball and Boston needed to play horrific basketball. Didn't think it had any chance of happening and it didn't happen.

If LA had of made their run a couple of minutes later it would have garned my concern.

[celts55]

I don't have air conditioning. I've been sweating since Saturday morning.

[Roy Hobbs]

No

Not for a single second.

The Lakers needed to play perfect basketball and Boston needed to play horrific basketball. Didn't think it had any chance of happening and it didn't happen.

If LA had of made their run a couple of minutes later it would have garned my concern.

So when we're up 2 with like 45 seconds left (or whatever it was), and we have the ball, there wasn't a *small* part of you that thought "wow, if we don't get a hoop here, we're in some serious trouble"?

[BballTim]

 I was too busy laughing about Powe dribbling for 75 feet and dunking to get too worried. And I never really thought there was enough time left to give the game away. My biggest concern was that we'd win by 30, the Lakers would spend 2 days watching the clip of McHale clotheslining Rambis, and someone taking out Rondo or Pierce or KG in the 1st quarter on Tuesday.

[jay_jay54]

 I was too busy laughing about Powe dribbling for 75 feet and dunking to get too worried. And I never really thought there was enough time left to give the game away. My biggest concern was that we'd win by 30, the Lakers would spend 2 days watching the clip of McHale clotheslining Rambis, and someone taking out Rondo or Pierce or KG in the 1st quarter on Tuesday.

****..you deserve a TP for this one,LOL

[ma11l]

When you're up 24 points mid-3rd quarter you probably thought about turning off the TV right there.

Anyone have any thoughts on the game getting down to 4 pts in the late 4th?

I don't think anyone here would shut off an NBA Finals game until it's over.  I was officially worried when Sasha hit the three from the wing in front of the C's bench.  From then until Pierce's block it was the worst feeling I think I've ever had in my stomach.  We had seen them do this before, but nothing like this.  There was definitely a big sigh of relief when the time ran out.

[Who]

No

Not for a single second.

The Lakers needed to play perfect basketball and Boston needed to play horrific basketball. Didn't think it had any chance of happening and it didn't happen.

If LA had of made their run a couple of minutes later it would have garned my concern.

So when we're up 2 with like 45 seconds left (or whatever it was), and we have the ball, there wasn't a *small* part of you that thought "wow, if we don't get a hoop here, we're in some serious trouble"?

No

I have no faith in those types of runs that LA had just made.

Like I said if it had happened a few minutes earlier and they had a firm foot in the game (say down to four with 2:30 to play and a little to-ing and fro-ing until the final 40 seconds, that would be different). That they'd shown they were able to play halfcourt, get some stops and score againt our defense then I'd be concerned. That didn't happen. They were just playing desperate, Celtics were playing too loose with the ball. That wasn't going to continue and I didn't think they'd adapt quickly enough. The whole game was going to change in an instant and suddenly everything LA had done for 5 minutes wasn't going to work. Celtics had too many matchup advantages and LA still needed to score in the halfcourt.

I just no faith in LA's ability to close it out and had full faith in the Celtics' ability to close out 40 seconds of basketball with the lead and possession.

[fan33]

Well, yes I was.

And this is after realizing I may very well regret mentioning the word "blowout" in the game thread when we were up by 22 with 7:50 yet to go. 

Man, that was one heck of a drought we were on with only a few (it seemed) scores from the green 

You know how we get caught up in it, like we're being heard by the players or something mystical like that; Well for the first time, I felt as though I may have jinxed them or somethin' 

Yes, I was sweatin' it, and superbly relieved from 55 seconds onwards 

[Redz]

 I was too busy laughing about Powe dribbling for 75 feet and dunking to get too worried. And I never really thought there was enough time left to give the game away. My biggest concern was that we'd win by 30, the Lakers would spend 2 days watching the clip of McHale clotheslining Rambis, and someone taking out Rondo or Pierce or KG in the 1st quarter on Tuesday.

I did the same exact thing(the laughing).  I could not believe they just let him go like that.  That sure looked like a team that had zero interest in competing the rest of the way. 

[tenn_smoothie]

i was very worried.

the Lakers actually hit 5 three's in that 6 minute run. they were very close to pulling that comeback off - very close.

....... and if the Lakers had won last nite w/ a 24 pt. comeback, it would have been devastating - may have been the end of the series.Paul Pierce finally did exactly what was needed and hit two tough ft's.

this Celtic team is a different bunch than what we are used to out of our championship contenders. maybe they're still learning how to handle the playoffs. [dang], it's been stressful being a fan this post-season.

[kenmaine]

Not really, the C's just let up too soon, but only had to turn it back on for the last minute.
But I am concerned that the "genius" coaching the Lakers will pull something out of his bag of tricks for the next game- specifically a cheap shot/dirty play. Hope I'm wrong on that one.

[Bahku]

 I was too busy laughing about Powe dribbling for 75 feet and dunking to get too worried. And I never really thought there was enough time left to give the game away. My biggest concern was that we'd win by 30, the Lakers would spend 2 days watching the clip of McHale clotheslining Rambis, and someone taking out Rondo or Pierce or KG in the 1st quarter on Tuesday.

I did the same exact thing(the laughing).  I could not believe they just let him go like that.  That sure looked like a team that had zero interest in competing the rest of the way. 

Truly ... that one play kinda said it all for me about the attitude of the Lakers at that point. I mean, c'mon ... you're in the Finals and you let Leon go coast-to-coast?!? Wow is all I can say.

[drza44]

No

I have no faith in those types of runs that LA had just made.

Like I said if it had happened a few minutes earlier and they had a firm foot in the game (say down to four with 2:30 to play and a little to-ing and fro-ing until the final 40 seconds, that would be different). That they'd shown they were able to play halfcourt, get some stops and score againt our defense then I'd be concerned. That didn't happen. They were just playing desperate, Celtics were playing too loose with the ball. That wasn't going to continue and I didn't think they'd adapt quickly enough. The whole game was going to change in an instant and suddenly everything LA had done for 5 minutes wasn't going to work. Celtics had too many matchup advantages and LA still needed to score in the halfcourt.

I just no faith in LA's ability to close it out and had full faith in the Celtics' ability to close out 40 seconds of basketball with the lead and possession.

I agree with Who.  The last 7 minutes of the game were almost surreal, in that I was so confident that the Cs would win that it never even occurred to me to be stressed.  When they cut it to 2, I actually told my wife "you know, I feel like I should be more worried than this, but I'm not".  There was just never any part of me that thought the Lakers would REALLY come all the way back to win.  In fact, I don't even really see where they could claim any momentum for making it close, since it was so obvious that the Celts dominated the 40 minutes of the game where both teams were actually playing.