Celtics got lucky tonight.

[connerhenry43]

donny marshall touched on this in the postgame. the c's play very good defense. whan you are good defensively, sometimes the other team will miss open jumpers because they know it may be the last one they see on the evening. last year's celtics team, everyone knew they played terrible d, and there was no pressure on anything an offense did.

kg said earlier this postseason, sometimes it is not pretty, but the effort is always there. kobe had a bad shooting night, but so did KG, and he is an amazingly consistent shooter. both great players will play better as the series goes on.

i will not say lucky, but i will say neither team played their best. kobe was a little off tonight and we know that will not last. he is just too good (man, he scares me when he has the ball, just like lebron, but scarier).

[Birdbrain]

Well not surprising I will totally disagree with the OP and switch it up and say the Fakers were lucky to be anywhere near that game.  Of course with most of the stats on my side I'll go with my opinion.  The defense was stifling in the 4th quarter.  Same as it's been every game they've played the Fakers all year. 

It's cool 2 different POVs.

46 – 33 on boards
12 – 4 2nd chance points

Dominated the interior just as I assumed they would.

[OmarSekou]

The Celtics got lucky because they outplayed the Lakers? Sure, why not. Just because they had some defensive and offensive lapses doesn't mean they didn't earn it. The only luck we had is that Pierce came back to play (but he'll be affected throughout the series)

Reactions to the game:
- KG and Rondo were assertive and aggressive!
- KG played with more energy than he has the past few seasons (fighting to tip balls, dunking all over people, showing he still has vert and length)
- Ray Allen had a strong game and didn't force his shot
- Pierce was able score without establishing a rhythm
- Pierce struggled early on rotating to Radmonovic at the 3, which will get worse with his injury
- We gave up way too many uncontested 3s
- Gasol is too quick for Perk and Perk will have trouble adjusting to those give and gos so Tom T needs to think of something
- Kobe had an off game. We played great D at points, but that will not affect Kobe in the future (this was his feeling us out game)
- The bench argument is a push. Just because we've shortened our rotation in the playoffs doesn't mean we can't go 10 guys deep with anyone in the league as we proved all season.
- The crowd at the stadium and the bar were awesome.

[ram]

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

With that said, I agree with Hobbs that, yes, if by lucky you mean being in position to win after not playing well, then yes.

My postgame thoughts were, "Wow, the Celts didn't play very well and still won by 10."

Other than the 16-6 late first half run by the Lakers (14-6 after Pierce was banished to the bench with foul trouble), the Celts dominated despite:

Perk being a non-factor
Pierce having a poor first half
KG losing his outside shot in the 4th
Numerous careless turnovers
Posey playing poorly most of the time (but a clutch 3)
Same taking a few very poor shots
Only shooting 42% from the field

I'm not going to get too optimistic because I don't know how good these Lakers are but I know the Celtics are better than they played last night.

[wdleehi]

Eh...  people are making too much of the "luck" thing.  I don't think he was saying this was some random occurrence.

What he's saying is that we're *fortunate* to have been in a position to win, after the way our defense played in the first half.  There's probably something to that.

The great thing is, if we play our best game the Lakers can't even hang with us.  Screw the media, we're just a better team.

Exactly.




I am not saying the Celtics were lucky to beat the Lakers.  They completely beat the snot out of them the second half. 


I said they were lucky to still be in the game after the defense they played the 1st half. 



If someone told you the Celtics would play a defense that allowed the Lakers to shoot 50% forthe 1st half, would you think the Celtics were still close?

[jonnybaltimore]

 It was the product of hard work and something not known in the west DEFENSE!




edit - no personal attacks - wdleehi

[wdleehi]

It was the product of hard work and something not known in the west DEFENSE!




edit - no personal attacks - wdleehi

You do understand the Celtics only played their level of defense in the 2nd half? 

You do understand because of the lack of defensive execution in the 1st half allowed the Lakers to shoot 50%?

Celtics defense allowed one of the best offenses to go off in the 1st half.  They were fortunate to still be close enough to be able to take over and win the game in the 2nd half. 

[goz421]

The Lakers are a team of jump shooters.  Jump shots don't fall as much in the second half, and defense tightens late in games.

[Barnabas]

Celtics played half a game in the finals and won. 


That's some amazing luck.  (and I will take it)


But from this point on, the Celtics need to play their level of defense all game long. 


1st game jitters in the 1st half caused the defense to break down.  Fine.


just don't let it happen again. 



2nd half showed what this Celtics team can (and did in the regular season) do to this Lakers team. 

I don't think it was luck.  They played terrific defense and their offense didn't go off like it did in the Detroit series.  The Big Three all stepped up and played well.  Kobe got his "looks" but just could not convert in the first half.  Rondo played above himself for most of the time he was in there.

The first half was just two teams trying to get a sense of the other team.  A lot the Celtics also picked up fouls during the first half.  The second half, I think, the Celtics got the measure of the offense and made their adjustments.  Also, the Celtic bench was great.  Maybe not in the numbers, but guys like PJ Brown showed why his experience and knowledge are very important in the playoffs.  The same can be said for Fisher of the Lakers.  Also, the Laker role players let them down.  Guys like Radmanovic and Walton could have played better.  Our role players, Rondo, PJ, Cassell, Posey, and even Powe played very well for us. 

[plasmaPG]

Celtics played half a game in the finals and won. 


That's some amazing luck.  (and I will take it)


But from this point on, the Celtics need to play their level of defense all game long. 


1st game jitters in the 1st half caused the defense to break down.  Fine.


just don't let it happen again. 



2nd half showed what this Celtics team can (and did in the regular season) do to this Lakers team. 

As a Laker Fan, I will respond without any flaming or anything like that.

You guys played a great second half and we didn't.  It's plain and simple.  Here are some points to the game that I found interesting:

1.  Kobe shot poorly.  He shot 9-26 and we still had a shot to win the game.  He also shot 9-26 against Denver but we were able to win.  I thought he forced 6 shots with defenders on him, but a lot of his shots were not bad shots, they just didn't go in.

2.  Bench play was about even.  Cassell gave you guys a huge lift when he posted Fisher three times in a row.

3.  Pierce.  I know a lot has been said about his "Willis Reed" enactment.  I don't know the extent of the injury, but for him to come back was huge psychologically for your team and fans and I think that propel the Celtics to play a great 4th quarter.

4.  Rebounding.  I think that is the biggest difference in the game for you guys.  Odom needs to rebound better and so does Gasol.  Two key plays: PJ brown's rebound then Cassells jumper and the put back by Garnett.  Those two plays might have been the game.

5.  Officiating was about even.  Missed calls from both sides.

All in all, it was a great game and well deserved win for the Celtics.  The Lakers will definitely play better than they did.  I look for a tough series as I said before the series even started.

[Redz]

Celtics played half a game in the finals and won. 


That's some amazing luck.  (and I will take it)


But from this point on, the Celtics need to play their level of defense all game long. 


1st game jitters in the 1st half caused the defense to break down.  Fine.


just don't let it happen again. 



2nd half showed what this Celtics team can (and did in the regular season) do to this Lakers team. 

As a Laker Fan, I will respond without any flaming or anything like that.

You guys played a great second half and we didn't.  It's plain and simple.  Here are some points to the game that I found interesting:

1.  Kobe shot poorly.  He shot 9-26 and we still had a shot to win the game.  He also shot 9-26 against Denver but we were able to win.  I thought he forced 6 shots with defenders on him, but a lot of his shots were not bad shots, they just didn't go in.

2.  Bench play was about even.  Cassell gave you guys a huge lift when he posted Fisher three times in a row.

3.  Pierce.  I know a lot has been said about his "Willis Reed" enactment.  I don't know the extent of the injury, but for him to come back was huge psychologically for your team and fans and I think that propel the Celtics to play a great 4th quarter.

4.  Rebounding.  I think that is the biggest difference in the game for you guys.  Odom needs to rebound better and so does Gasol.  Two key plays: PJ brown's rebound then Cassells jumper and the put back by Garnett.  Those two plays might have been the game.

5.  Officiating was about even.  Missed calls from both sides.

All in all, it was a great game and well deserved win for the Celtics.  The Lakers will definitely play better than they did.  I look for a tough series as I said before the series even started.

Well said Plasma.  It was a good game, and well contested, but when it there for the taking the Celtics grabbed it.

[Silent Storm]

Both teams played hard.

[JollyGreen17]

Kobe was shooting like the Kobe we all know and love, selfish kobe (despite the 6 assists).

[Redz]

One of the side benefits of being the Celtics is you "get Lucky" every night

[SShoreFan 2.0]

I didn't see any luck in last night's win --- I saw a hard fought tough game where both teams had chances and the Celts capitalized more than the Lakers.

I had tickets to last night's game but couldn't go due to the fact I am in Las Vegas on business.  I watched the game in the Mandalay Bay sports book and the place was packed with Lakers fans, who I have to admit were a pretty good crowd to talk with.  No one I spoke with thought either team "lucked out" and almost everyone thought that game 2 becomes a must win scenario for LA.  Not sure if that's the case, but I know that I'd much rather be back in Boston watching this.