Lakers (38-9) at Celtics (41-9) 2/5

[Roy Hobbs]

Was that a foul?

I don't think so.  Who was the foul on?  Gasol didn't touch him, and I don't think Fisher did, either.

There were plenty of missed calls, but the Celts had plenty of chances to win it, and executed terribly.

Still...

I`m not the kind of guy who moans about the officiating all the time, but this was a ridiculous screw job. It doesn`t matter that we should`ve won the game on our own, the refs clearly took that away from us.

Yeah, KG shouldn't have been fouled out, and he would have made a huge difference down the stretch.  Still, the thing that will stick with me is the terrible execution.

Close to 8 seconds at the end of regulation, and we can't get a shot off.

16 seconds at the end of overtime, and we can't get a shot off (since Ray's attempt barely constitutes a shot).

Those things are unacceptable.

YOU CAN't get a shot off when you are being fouled the whole play!!!!!!!!!

What about the first 13 seconds of that possession?

Also, I didn't see a foul, and I especially didn't see anything that NBA officials are going to call on the last play of a game.  You guys make it sound like Ray was being dragged down or something.  If there was contact, it was relatively minor.

[gkiteisscal]

Refs were okay. Anyone who saw Pau (or Fisher) fouling Ray on that last play is just imagining things. It didn't happen.

You apparently didn't watch.  He didn't get fouled shooting, but when he got the handoff from Baby, Fisher reached across his body forcing him off balance and into that tough shot.

Still would have put the Ray @ the line.  The foul before that was their last one to give.

[celticinorlando]

just pathetic down the stretch...boston needs another big...and they need to get things going tomorrow night against the knicks and spurs....the cavs v lakers will knock each other out sunday...let LA feel good now...because sooner or later they will have a losing streak

[radiohead]

Think Garnet makes a difference down the stretch.

Nice how Pau only had 1 foul the entire game.  Fun times.

exactly. he whacked kg's arm on the very play before kg fouled out.

[Andrew Celtic Nation]

Was that a foul?

I don't think so.  Who was the foul on?  Gasol didn't touch him, and I don't think Fisher did, either.

There were plenty of missed calls, but the Celts had plenty of chances to win it, and executed terribly.

Still...

I`m not the kind of guy who moans about the officiating all the time, but this was a ridiculous screw job. It doesn`t matter that we should`ve won the game on our own, the refs clearly took that away from us.

Yeah, KG shouldn't have been fouled out, and he would have made a huge difference down the stretch.  Still, the thing that will stick with me is the terrible execution.

Close to 8 seconds at the end of regulation, and we can't get a shot off.

16 seconds at the end of overtime, and we can't get a shot off (since Ray's attempt barely constitutes a shot).

Those things are unacceptable.

YOU CAN't get a shot off when you are being fouled the whole play!!!!!!!!!

What about the first 13 seconds of that possession?

Also, I didn't see a foul, and I especially didn't see anything that NBA officials are going to call on the last play of a game.  You guys make it sound like Ray was being dragged down or something.  If there was contact, it was relatively minor.

Roy, did you not watch Fisher's hands during the replay. He had one of Ray's arms completely hook as he was trying to turn and explode into his shot.

[albas89]

Well, at least they beat us WITHOUT
Bynum. So now we don't have to listen
to the BS (The Bynum Song) anymore...

Stay calm people

One game, folks, one game.
Let's remember, we're CELTICS
fans, we're not Lakers fans...
This will make # 18 even sweeter!
We may need a vet big but that's
a whole different discussion.

Talking about #18...

We beat them twice last year in regular season and that was a huge PLUS for our psychology during the Finals! This year we lost twice... well, I don't want to play the Lakers in the Finals, I don't think we can easily overcome these 2 losses!!

[Tenacious D]

Well, the key possession was the one before, with the ball and a one pt lead. And that was a bungle.

And yes, the C's are 1 piece short in the middle.

[gkiteisscal]

I thought PP played well down the strech, FT aside.  His D on Kobe was phenomenal.  You CANNOT discredit that. I just do not get the iso calls.  If it was working sure, keeping playing that number, but it wasn't, not even a little bit.

[Roy Hobbs]

Was that a foul?

I don't think so.  Who was the foul on?  Gasol didn't touch him, and I don't think Fisher did, either.

There were plenty of missed calls, but the Celts had plenty of chances to win it, and executed terribly.

Still...

I`m not the kind of guy who moans about the officiating all the time, but this was a ridiculous screw job. It doesn`t matter that we should`ve won the game on our own, the refs clearly took that away from us.

Yeah, KG shouldn't have been fouled out, and he would have made a huge difference down the stretch.  Still, the thing that will stick with me is the terrible execution.

Close to 8 seconds at the end of regulation, and we can't get a shot off.

16 seconds at the end of overtime, and we can't get a shot off (since Ray's attempt barely constitutes a shot).

Those things are unacceptable.

YOU CAN't get a shot off when you are being fouled the whole play!!!!!!!!!

What about the first 13 seconds of that possession?

Also, I didn't see a foul, and I especially didn't see anything that NBA officials are going to call on the last play of a game.  You guys make it sound like Ray was being dragged down or something.  If there was contact, it was relatively minor.

Roy, did you not watch Fisher's hands during the replay. He had one of Ray's arms completely hook as he was trying to turn and explode into his shot.

No, I didn't see anything that bothered me that much, frankly.  There were a bunch of terrible calls, but I didn't think that was one of them. 

[GroverTheClover]

Fisher did grab Allen on that play- reminded me somewhat of last year with Brent Barry in the final seconds.  They were over the limit and Allen would've had 2 free throws.  Refs should be on to Fisher by now in end of game situations.

Garnett's play to foul out was crazy considering he was held by Gasol which forced him to lose the ball and fend off Fisher.  Either a no-call there or a foul on Gasole.  Fisher's deceptively dirty too; I've despised him since his thing with the Jazz.

And I like how they celebrated on the court like they just won the championship.

With that said Gasol just shooting over the top of Big Baby MUST make the C's realize they need someone with height.  He couldn't shoot over the top of PJ Brown.

The thing is, Gasol slapped KG on the arm twice before the ball was knocked loose. That's what kills me the most. There were two chances for the refs to call a foul but they didn't. It happens..

[QuinielaBox]

There was no foul, which is just as frustrating.  Because that means it was a terrible offensive possession.  Unbelieveable.  I'm beyond mad right now.  How do we lose this game?

Pierce was not clutch tonight down the stretch, 2 big missed freethrows, missed clutch shots.  Davis, with the exception of the ONE shot he hit all night, couldn't hit anything.  I saw that block on him by Gasol from a mile away.  

KG should not have had to miss the last 4 minutes of regulation and overtime.  Terrible call by the refs there.

The fact that we didn't beat LA this season, and there's the distinct possibility we won't see them again makes it that much worse.

Now we're gonna have to listen to the media milk this on ESPN.  Guaranteed EVERYONE is now going to say the Lakers are better than the Celtics, the Lakers are now the ones in the Celtics heads.  It hasn't even happened yet and I'm already sick of it.

Don't watch ESPN.

[angryguy77]

you can win a game with a lot of to's or bad refs, but you cant win when there is 2 going on. BUt we shouldn't be surprised, if anyone watched the playoffs last year, they woud have known that LA is allowed to murder on the las possesion.

[RockinRyA]

okay now im officially rooting for cleveland against them. then we must beat cleveland. i dunno but that makes me feel a lot better

[celticinorlando]

KG fouling out was the real joke....and in a physical game gasol has 1 foul? how does that work? the lakers are masters of fouling late in games and not getting caught...see the spurs last year

[KJ33]

The Celts needed to play through adversity tonight, and they just didn't. The refs didn't do a great job but, you have to keep playing. The last two plays in regulation and OT were garbage. Doc needed to draw something up better than that.

I keep reading how bad the execution was down the stretch and that there should have been better plays called.  Yes, the execution was poor, but give the Lakers D credit, they didn't allow them to execute.  One might say the officials really gave them leeway to play that suffocating way, but it was their pressure that forced the C's into tough spots, not that the C's just had some sort of brain fart.