NBA Finals: In Boston

Game 1: Boston 98, LA 88. Ladies and Gentleman the Oscar goes to Paul Pierce for his performance against the Lakers. I've never seen anyone have to be carried off the court them come out 3 minutes later hopping out of the tunnel, without even a noticeable limp. Paul Pierce is a joke and I lost all respect for him after that performance. But he did come out and drop two critical three-pointers to give his team the lead. The Lakers were in control of the game until that point.
Kevin Garnett opened the game dominating Pau Gasol but it did little to help his teams chances. The Lakers led at the half until Paul Pierce opened the third quarter with 8 points in about a minute. For the rest of the game the Celtics defense and their rebounding decided the game.
Kobe Bryant was a dismal 9-26 from the field. A lot of those shots that either rolled around the rim or hit the back iron. But we still need Kobe to shoot better from the field, no excuses.
The Lakers were badly out rebounded 46-33. The Lakers need to buckle down and show some toughness in the paint and not go up scared and timid. The Lakers lose game 1 because of lack of energy and toughness, not because Paul Pierce is the best actor since Denzel.

Game 2: Paul Pierce is expected to play on his "injured" knee. Paul Pierce came out and had a great game: 28 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists. But the game belonged to some bum named Leon Powe. Powe had 21 points on 6-7 shooting. Kevin Garnett contributes 17 points and 14 rebounds but on 7-19 shooting. Kobe Bryant rebounded from game one with 30 points, 4 rebounds, and 8 assists on 11-23 shooting. Kobe was about the only one playing aggressive last night. The Celtics played with more heart and seemed like the more hungrier team. Rajon Rondo had 16 assists and 2 turnovers for goodness sake.
The Lakers were down 24 points in the fourth quarter before cutting that deficit to two. But it was to little to late for the Lakers and are now in a huge 0-2 hole. The Lakers presumably have to win all three games at STAPLES Center to have a chance of winning this title.But the biggest story coming out of this game was not the comeback....it was free-throws.
Leon Powe shot 13 free-throws, the entire Laker team shot 10. It is almost impossible to be "that much more aggressive". The officiating in this game was ridiculous and almost unwatchable. The NBA front office needs to do something about that because that game was ridiculous.

Game 3: I expect the Lakers to come out with fire and win this game rather easily. The role players and the bench will decide to show up and from there the Lakers must win the next two games. My confidence in the Lakers is not rattled. I still expect the Lakers to win this championship.