Just re-watched game 4

[DannyZ]

I re-watched game 4 in a calm state and I was surprised at how different the game seemed.  I noticed a couple things.

1) Pierce was already guarding Kobe for much of the first half.  Pierce and Ray combined to pretty much shut him down.  He didn't have a field goal in the first half.  The "let me guard Kobe" plea to Doc at half time doesn't make as much sense now.  It wasn't like Kobe was torching Ray, and Pierce was already guarding him too.

2) Garnett actually had a very good game.  Watching the game live, I kind of lost it when Lamar Odom started 7-7 and KG got two dumb fouls.  I think I may have yelled at KG to return his DPOY award at the time.  But after re-watching, I see that KG was very solid from the second quarter on.  He hit some big, big shots, especially in the 4th quarter.  He grabbed all the necessary rebounds and played solid.  He finished the game at +17 which was only second to Eddie House.  He played much better than I remembered.  KG and Posey were our leading scorers in the 4th with 6 points each.

http://www.nba.com/games/20080612/BOSLAL/boxscore.html

3) Speaking of Eddie House, the tipping point was when Eddie came in the the 3rd quarter.  He played the rest of the game from that point on and the Celtics were +26 during that stretch.  Check out the game flow for further proof: http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20080612&game=BOSLAL

[BudweiserCeltic]

I rewatched game 4 in a calm state and I was surprised at how different the game seemed.  I noticed a couple things.

1) Pierce was already guarding Kobe for much of the first half.  Pierce and Ray combined to pretty much shut him down.  He didn't have a field goal in the first half.  The "let me guard Kobe" plea to Doc at half time doesn't make as much sense now.  It wasn't like Kobe was torching Ray, and Pierce was already guarding him too.

They always threw different bodies at Kobe... Pierce had guarded him plenty of times before in the series. The difference is that Pierce WANTED to guard him, especially right off the bat starting the 3rd quarter. That doesn't happen if he doesn't ask for it.

2) Garnett actually had a very good game.  Watching the game live, I kind of lost it when Lamar Odom started 7-7 and KG got two dumb fouls.  I think I may have yelled at KG to return his DPOY award at the time.  But rewatching the game KG was very solid from the second quarter on.  He hit some big, big shots, especially in the 4th quarter.  He grabbed all the necessary rebounds and played solid.  He finished the game at +17 which was only second to Eddie House.  He played much better than I remembered.  KG and Posey were our leading scorers in the 4th with 6 points each.

http://www.nba.com/games/20080612/BOSLAL/boxscore.html

I always thought he had a nice game. But the way he came out in the first quarter really hurt is in that game. Turnovers, poor fouls, couldn't buy a basket, poor defense... But he turned it up as the game went on. He was a huge contributor to the Lakers' hot start in my opinion.

3) Speaking of Eddie House, the tipping point was when Eddie came in the the 3rd quarter.  He played the rest of the game from that point on and the Celtics were +26 during that stretch.  Check out the game flow for further proof: http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?date=20080612&game=BOSLAL

This was an interesting move by Doc, and a good one. Because of all the bad games Cassell had through the playoffs, this wasn't one that really stood out for me.  He distributed the ball, don't remember him taking a bad shot. So that he went with House over Cassell for Rondo was a great move in this particular situation. Rondo was just awful in LA.

[Bankshot]

1) I saw game 4 about 3 times already.   Pierce wasn't guarding Kobe the whole 1st half one one one, which he did more of in the 2nd half so that the Celtics wouldn't have to send 2 or 3 guys at Kobe so they can stay at home defending  their own men. So Paul wanting to guard Kobe one on one was big because like I said, others could stay home on their man and Paul didn't have any fouls, so he could be much more physical with him than Posey (who had 4 fouls) or Ray.

2) Garnett rebounded the ball very well, but I didn't think he played all that great offensively until the 2nd half and mostly the 4th quarter.

3) Although Eddie was in the game, I thought the turning point was Pierce's block on Kobe.  The Celtics took off both offensively and defensively after that block.

[drza44]

1) The big difference with Pierce on Kobe was that Kobe couldn't post up.  With his dribble penetration denied all series long, the only way that Kobe could get inside and possibly break down the defense was if he posted up.  With Pierce on him and no driving lanes, he became purely a jump shooter which is much easier to shut down.

2) Many of KG's games are like that for some reason, where when you step back and look at it soberly he played a lot better than you realized.  I think it's a stylistic thing, that because he doesn't play with the style that many would like it is easy to overlook just how effective he really is.  In that game, though, even in live action it was clear to me that he was the lynchpin for that game.  In 1st quarter when KG couldn't buy a shot, the game was still reasonable until he left with the second foul.  That's when the wheels fell off and the team went down by 24.  In the second quarter when KG came back in the Celts cut the lead back down to 11 - 13, then when Doc pulled him out in the last minute the Lakers surged back up by 18 right before the half.  Then, in the 3rd, he came back in and again they started putting pressure on the Lakers and eventually overcame them.  The fact that KG could defend the middle and just about outrebound the entire Lakers team by himself was a key reason why the Celts were able to play the small unit with Posey at the PF during the pivotal 3rd quarter.

3) House and Posey both were just nails that game.  In fact, that is one of the few games that were such a team effort that you can make a legitimate argument for any of 5 players as the player of the game.

[ma11l]

When I watched this game again another thing that came to my mind was Doc.  I think this was his best game of the year.  He never gave up on his team, and never let them quit.  I have made remarks on how Doc would be a great cheerleader if not always a great coach, in this game they needed both.

He made all the right choices, most importantly obviously riding Eddie and James.  Between that and listening to Pierce and letting him go at Kobe full time in the second half, I would say this comeback is the crowning achievement of the season for Doc. 

[Jaycelt]

1) I saw game 4 about 3 times already.   Pierce wasn't guarding Kobe the whole 1st half one one one, which he did more of in the 2nd half so that the Celtics wouldn't have to send 2 or 3 guys at Kobe so they can stay at home defending  their own men. So Paul wanting to guard Kobe one on one was big because like I said, others could stay home on their man and Paul didn't have any fouls, so he could be much more physical with him than Posey (who had 4 fouls) or Ray.

Exactly!  Even though Kobe wasn't scoring in the 1st half he was still creating shots for his teammates because of our help defense.  That stopped in the second half because PP took him straight up, with no help.
THAT was the difference.
Sure Kobe made a few shots in the second half but it wasn't enough and the other guys were no longer getting open looks.  Makes plenty of sense to me.

[cmoney]

I've also seen this game about 4 times.  Ray Allen is the unheralded hero of this game. 

[RockinRyA]

1) I saw game 4 about 3 times already.   Pierce wasn't guarding Kobe the whole 1st half one one one, which he did more of in the 2nd half so that the Celtics wouldn't have to send 2 or 3 guys at Kobe so they can stay at home defending  their own men. So Paul wanting to guard Kobe one on one was big because like I said, others could stay home on their man and Paul didn't have any fouls, so he could be much more physical with him than Posey (who had 4 fouls) or Ray.

Exactly!  Even though Kobe wasn't scoring in the 1st half he was still creating shots for his teammates because of our help defense.  That stopped in the second half because PP took him straight up, with no help.
THAT was the difference.
Sure Kobe made a few shots in the second half but it wasn't enough and the other guys were no longer getting open looks.  Makes plenty of sense to me.

yeah.. he figured out that the best way to score over ray was to post him up. and that opened opportunities for the fakers. if i remember right, in game 5 when pp started guarding kobe the celts went on to erase a huge deficit once more. its when pp had his 5th and doc took him away from kobe that we started losing grip of that game.

the fakers are rattled by runs. and when they are they tend to look for kobe for answers. and when you shut kobe there, the team just self destructs

[DannyZ]

Another thing that struck me about this game was how rattled Phil Jackson was during the 3rd quarter interview.  He literally had no plan to win the game going to the 4th.  He basically asked Michelle Tafoya what she thought just happened in the 3rd quarter.  I think he was only half kidding.

Doc on the other hand was coaching out of his mind.  How do you keep your team believing they can win when they are down 20 points in the third?  You can tell the Celtics were buying whatever Doc was selling.

[bbc3341]

How does one get a schedule for NBA TV to see when rebroadcasts are on?