Lakers dominant but Celtics not?

[P2]

They media likes saying: "The Lakers, who have the best record in the league, ..." They've said the Lakers are dominant a couple of times this season, but I haven't heard this phrase for the Celtics yet.

Dec 26 @ SAC: Won in 2OT after Gasol put back a lucky shot in OT.
Dec 22 vs. OKC: 111-108 win.
Dec 16 @ MIL: Kobe beats buzzer to win it 107-106.
Dec 4 vs MIA: Kobe hits the most ridiculous trick shot in league history to win it at the buzzer.

And that was only December!

I mean, a win is a win, and the Celtics had close wins, too, but there's something wrong if a team wins 4 times in one month on some 50-50 chances.

Why does nobody mention that? The Lakers should be at least 2 games behind the C's right now. But they're still dominant and we're not.

[Tai]

"Plays It's Amazing"

 

[PosImpos]

Because they're LA, they're the defending champions, they have Kobe, etc.

The Lakers are just media darlings and the Celtics aren't.  That's how things are.

[Tai]

Also....remember when everyone thought the Lakers were soft and that the C's would beat their sorry faces in, AGAIN? 

Don't worry, if we beat the Lakers this year, everyone will be asking for forgiveness, just like they did with the Lakers. 

[P2]

Don't worry, if we beat the Lakers this year, everyone will be asking for forgiveness, just like they did with the Lakers. 

I don't think so. They will search for ways to downgrade the Celtics victory and justify why the Lakers lost. But that's how it will be: Celtics over Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals.

[colincb]

Don't forget the 2 games where the refs gift-wrapped a win to the Lakers. Last night Gasol flung a King's player to the ground in a blatant non-call on the play he made the tip-in to send the game to a 2nd OT. Not as bad as the road win against the Bucks where the Lakers got 16 more FTs and a ridiculous blocking foul against Bogut in the final moments vs the Bucks. The Lakers also had two unimpressive OT wins on their first road trip of the season against the Thunder and Rockets.

[Spilling Green Dye]

I think it's also the case of the media being slow to change.  The Lakers won the last championship, and convincingly (at least in the finals), and the media needs something compelling to change their view of the Lakers.  Instead, the Lakers have been good enough to at least keep the status quo. 

Just yesterday afternoon I was listening to ESPN News radio on XM and heard Magic Johnson talking about the Celtics.  He made the distinct comment that the Celtics are playing the best basketball of any team right now.  Honestly, I can't ask for more than that.  Until the Celtics win the championship, they aren't the defending champs. 

[screwedupmaniac]

Don't worry, if we beat the Lakers this year, everyone will be asking for forgiveness, just like they did with the Lakers. 

I don't think so. They will search for ways to downgrade the Celtics victory and justify why the Lakers lost. But that's how it will be: Celtics over Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals.

Yeah, everyone will blame the loss on Kobe's broken finger. Which is stupid, because he's scoring 40 pts WITH it broken.

[WeMadeIt17]

I would rather fly under the radar. I mean everyone picked the Lakers when we played them in the Finals except Legs from ESPN. I mean we had the best record in the regular season but yet people want to pick them because of Kobe, but now-a-days its about the play of your team not one player! Go celtics

[Donoghus]

The Lakers are the defending champs and have, arguably, the best player in the league.  Add to that the fact that they place in the second largest television market in the country and those are very big reasons that they get a lot of press out there. 

I also think that since the season began, the media has been quick to project these Lakers at making a serious run at 70 wins or possibly even the Bulls single season record.  The press will say that the addition of Artest to an already championship proven squad will make this team an all-time great one. 

I guess, what I'm saying, is that the media has had this pre-conceived notion since well before the season began that the Lakers were the team to beat and that they were on the cusp of being an all-time squad whether its truly justified or not.

The Celtics on the other hand, weren't spoken in the same measure before the season.  Lots of the issues were question marks like KG's health and "Is this team too old?".  The media's expectations didn't seem to be as high. 

The Celtics are playing at or exceeding the Lakers level but the media's gonna be slow to catch up until these two squads play head up.

[Thruthelookingglass]

They media likes saying: "The Lakers, who have the best record in the league, ..." They've said the Lakers are dominant a couple of times this season, but I haven't heard this phrase for the Celtics yet.

Why does nobody mention that? The Lakers should be at least 2 games behind the C's right now. But they're still dominant and we're not.

There's little incentive for traditional sports outlets to step outside the main narrative they've been given for the season.  I mean, the Celtics are not exactly well-liked, their games feature defense (boring, says the media!), and our stars are not ball-hogging at the expense of our role players.  Spurs got the same treatment for years.

Marketing centers around individual matchups that don't include any individual Celtics players.  It's not a conspiracy, it's simply a marketing plan that the major media outlets have bought into.  LeBron, Kobe and now Dwight.  Individual achievements are the focus.  Leave it to blogs or smaller hoops media to risk being contrarian and "see a different game." 

And we do see a different game thanks to CelticsBlog, SBNation and the like.  It works.

[ToppersBsktball10]

They've played like no road games either.

[Surferdad]

...Last night Gasol flung a King's player to the ground in a blatant non-call on the play he made the tip-in to send the game to a 2nd OT...

I watched the 4th quarter and the OT's.  Kings are a mediocre team that couldn't close it out in regulaton. Evans stupidly tried to take Kobe off the dribble and waited to long to make his move.  (I sure hope Jennings wins the ROY because Evans doesn't look that good to me.) Lakers maintained their composure.  They came back from 7-point deficit with 2 minutes to play, and then closed it out in the 2nd OT.  That's what good teams do, but it was mostly the Kings not knowing how to win. 

[Cman]

I honestly don't care.  Let the media talk up the Lakers all they want.  It will make beating them all the sweeter.

[liam]

Look at Kobe's minutes. 50 ! Fisher is playing way too many minutes and they have no bench. They are going to run out steam like we did last year.  The Lakers have to play Kobe 50 minutes to beat the Kings in double over time and the media is talking like that's a good thing. Strange.