I wanted to put this somewhere, so this thread is as good as any. One way to look at the respective defenses of the two team's is by looking at their "Defensive PER" or "Opponent's PER".
Here are the numbers for the respective starting lineups. Keep in mind that a PER of 15.0 is the league average, so holding an opponent below that number is very good.
Opponent's PER / eFG% allowed:
Fisher: 15.5 / 50.6 eFG% / 20.4 pts per 48
Kobe: (SG) 14.4 / 46.6 eFG% / 20.8 pts per 48
VladRad: (SF) 17.0 / 51.1 eFG% / 22.0 pts per 48
Odom: 16.9 / 48.9 eFG% / 19.6 pts per 48
Gasol: 17.5 / 52.3 eFG% / 19.6 pts per 48
Initial thoughts? Their starters don't play very good defense. At four of the five positions, their opponent out-produced the league average, and three of the five starters allowed an eFG% of 50.0 eFG% or better. That's not very good at all.
Now, the Celtics.
Opponent's PER / eFG% allowed / Points allowed per 48 minutes:
Rondo: 17.6 / 48.0 eFG% / 19.3 pts per 48
Ray: 12.4 / 48.5 eFG% / 18.1 pts per 48
Pierce: 11.0 / 44.6 eFG% / 18.2 pts per 48
KG: 13.9 / 42.1 eFG% / 17.1 pts per 48
Perk: 14.2 / 46.7 eFG% / 16.7 pts per 48
Not surprisingly, our defensive starters are clearly better than theirs. Not only do four of our five starters keep their man to a PER of under the league average, but no starter on our team allows the man he's guarding to put up an eFG% of over 50.0. The only surprising aspect of those numbers is that it shows we do poorest at defending opposing point guards. However, even then, we give up fewer points at our *worst* position than the Lakers do at their *best* defensive position.
Anyway, it's an interesting look. One thing this suggests to me is that if the two teams shorten their respective benches, we've got a very good chance.