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Los Angeles Lakers (0-0, 12-3) at Boston Celtics (0-0, 12,8)
Thursday, June 5
9:00 PM ET
TD Banknorth Garden
Probable Starting Lineup 
PG: Rajon Rondo PPG 10.5 RPG 4.20 APG 6.6 EFF + 14.80
SG: Ray Allen PPG 14.2 RPG 3.40 APG 2.8 EFF + 12.70
SF: Paul Pierce PPG 19.0 RPG 5.10 APG 4.1 EFF + 17.35
PF: Kevin Garnett PPG 21.1 RPG 9.80 APG 3.5 EFF + 25.90
C: Kendrick Perkins PPG 7.2 RPG 6.80 APG 0.6 EFF + 12.45
Off the Bench:Eddie House, James Posey, Leon Powe, Big Baby Davis, Brian Scalabrine, PJ Brown, Sam Cassell
InjuriesScott Pollard, ankle, out
Tony Allen, achilles, day to day
InactiveGabe Pruitt
Probable Starting Lineup
PG: Derek Fisher PPG 10.0 RPG 2.50 APG 2.2 EFF + 12.40
SG: Kobe Bryant PPG 31.9 RPG 6.10 APG 5.8 EFF + 29.73
SF: Lamar Odom PPG 14.7 RPG 10.30 APG 2.9 EFF + 20.40
PF: Vladimir Radmanovic PPG 8.3 RPG 3.40 APG 1.5 EFF + 8.73
C: Pau Gasol PPG 17.7 RPG 8.90 APG 4.2 EFF + 24.07
Off the BenchSasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton, Rony Turiaf, DJ Mbenga, Chris Mihm
InjuriesAndrew Bynum, knee, out
Trevor Ariza, foot, day to day
Derek Fisher, partial tear in right foot tendon, will play
Kobe Bryant, torn ligament in finger, will play
InactiveCoby Karl, Ira Newble
Key Matchups
vs
Ray Allen vs Kobe Bryant
There is a rivalry between these two dating back to Ray's comments about Kobe in 2004. There is bad blood between them and so Kobe may try more than usual to take over the game to make Ray look bad. In their career head to head matchups, they have been pretty evenly matched with Kobe having 23.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.6 turnovers to 20.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.5 turnovers. Ray will need help if he is guarding Kobe but I expect to see Pierce and Posey covering him at least part of the time.
vs
Rajon Rondo vs Derek Fisher
As with the other 3 series, point guard play will be a key matchup. Rondo is quicker than Fisher, but Fisher has more experience. Rondo has excelled so far in the matchups, and hopefully he will continue to do so in this series also.
Honorable MentionKevin Garnett vs Vladimir Radmanovic
This should be a huge mismatch in the Celtics favor. Although I expect to see KG on Gasol more than Radmanovic.
Keys to the Game Focus The Celtics must keep their focus and avoid any lapses because the Lakers will take advantage if they lose their focus even for a short time. They have to play their game and do the things that got them here. When they do, they are hard to beat.
Defense Defense is going to determine this series. The team that plays the best defense will win. The Celtics were the best defensive team in the regular season and the games they lost in the playoffs were ones where they lost their defensive intensity.
Aggressiveness and Intensity The Celtics must be aggressive in going after rebounds and loose balls. They must be aggressive in taking the ball to the hoop and not settle for jumpers every time down. They also must be the more aggressive team on defense.
Ball Movement The Celtics' ball movement is key to their offense. When they are moving the ball and making the extra pass, they are hard to stop. When they fall back into over dribbling and trying to go one on one too much, the offense gets stagnant and they have trouble scoring.
X-Factors
Bench PlayThe Celtics need to get contributions from their bench. The starters need to get rest and they have to know that the bench will hold down the fort while they are sitting.
CoachingThe matchup of Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers has been much discussed on the boards. Many feel that Doc still hasn't proved himself completely and Phil Jackson has already won 9 championships, which incidentally ties Red Auerbach for the most. Doc would do well to use the fact that the Celtics should not be the team to give Jackson the ring to pass Red as motivation.
Topic: NBA Finals Game 1 Lakers at Celtics 6/5 9:00 PM ABC (Read 80256 times)