<div align="center"> <font color=""green"">The Boston Celtics (22-33)</font> vs. <font color="purple">The Los Angeles Lakers (28-27)</font> Sunday, February 26th, 2006 STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, California 4:30 Pacific; ESPN </div> [div=50%] <font size="3">Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="green"> <font size="1">(D. West, W. Szczerbiak, P. Pierce, R. Lafrentz. M. Olowokandi)</font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Paul Pierce - 26.6 Leading Rebounder: Paul Pierce - 7.0 Assist Man: Paul Pierce - 4.6 The Bench Man: Ryan Gomes - 4.5 PPG, 0.9 APG, 2.0 RPG</font> <font size="3">Backcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/delonte_west.jpg[/imgl]<font color="green">Delonte West</font> PPG: 11.6, RPG: 4.3, APG: 4.3 The young stud point guard for the Boston Celtics is finally coming into his own, and fast. West could have a big game against Smush Parker, who can't play defense. Perhaps Delonte should look to score first in this game, then distribute, it would probably catch the Lakers off guard.</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/wally_szczerbiak.jpg[/imgl]<font color="green">Wally Szczerbiak</font> PPG: 19.2, RPG: 4.5, APG: 2.9 The former T-wolf can score the basketball. Mainly from the perimeter. He has a sweet stroke, but don't expect to see it against the Lakers tonight. He's facing Kobe Bryant, and Wally has a very sore left knee. That could hamper him on defense, and Bryant might be able to blow right by him. If that's teh case, Wally's best way of lowering his ineffectiveness on defense would be his offense. Hitting his shots will be imperative to Boston's success.</font> <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/paul_pierce.jpg[/imgl]<font color="green">Paul Pierce</font> PPG: 26.6, RPG: 7.0, APG: 4.6 The Boston superstar is having a career year, too bad it's not effecting the Celtics. He's leading Boston in every major category (points, rebounds, assists). He's a native of Los Angeles, so look for him to be the shooting star tonight. If this is really his last season in Boston, this is his last trip to L.A. with the team, that's not meaningful, but it's enough incentive to leave a nice impression on the Los Angeles crowd to want their team to make a run for him in the offseason.</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/raef_lafrentz.jpg[/imgl]<font color="green">Raef LaFrentz</font> PPG: 7.9, RPG: 4.6, BPG: .87 Raef is a solid perimeter shooter. Kwame Brown has problems defending perimeter big men, so the math is simple. Raef + hitting perimeter shots = a nice game. It's something Raef should call for, especially becuase Kwame tries to cut the post off when players drive. That will leave Raef all alone on the perimeter, and as shown Friday night against Radmanovic, the Lakers struggle with big sluggish white guys who can hit it from outside.</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/michael_olowokandi.jpg[/imgl]<font color="green">Michael Olowokandi</font> PPG: 5.3, RPG: 5.0, BPG: .76 The former first round draft pick has been nothing short of a failure in his career. He claimed Boston would be better than Minnesota for him, but he's failing to prove it, and honestly...he won't prove it. He's a bust, plain and simple. If he can come in here and get more than 5 rebounds, that's all the Celtics need out of him.</font> [/div] <font size="3">Projected Starters</font> <div align="center"><font color="purple"> <font size="1">(S. Parker, K. Bryant, D. George, K. Brown, C. Mihm) </font></font></div> <font size="1">Leading Scorer: Kobe Bryant - 35.0 PPG Leading Rebounder: Lamar Odom - 9.3 RPG Assist Man: Lamar Odom - 5.3 APG The Bench Man: Devean George - 7.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.1 APG</font> <font size="3">Backcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/smush_parker.jpg[/imgl]<font color="purple">Smush Parker</font> PPG: 11.4, RPG: 3.2, APG: 3.3 Smush really needs to step his play up. There is no reason why he shouldn't be able to hit his open shots that Lamar and Kobe create for him. He also needs to be more aggressive and drive to the hoop more, because he's efficient with it. He had Delonte West tonight, a player that can score, so he needs to play tough-nosed defense. Smush future Laker career depends on how he finishes the second half, c'mon Smush.</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kobe_bryant.jpg[/imgl]<font color="purple">Kobe Bryant</font> PPG: 35.0, RPG: 5.4, APG: 4.6 Kobe Bryant has been playing sensational ball since the break, scoring efficiently for the most part, and upping his assists. He's looking to pass and create early on and in the 2nd half of the game, Bryant looks to drive the dagger in the opponents heart. He shouldn't change the game plan tonight against the Celtics, because it works.</font> <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/lamar_odom.jpg[/imgl]<font color="purple">Lamad Odom</font> PPG: 14.0, RPG: 9.3, APG: 5.3 Since the allstar break, Lamar has had two amazing games, and one Lamar game. I'm not going to hold his bad game against him. Outside of Kobe, no one showed up that night. Lamar needs to come out and be aggressive against Pierce tonight, look to score early. He has length on Pierce, he needs to use it to his advantage.</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kwame_brown.jpg[/imgl]<font color="purple">Kwame Brown</font> PPG: 6.0, RPG: 5.9, BPG: .67 New half of basketball, same old Kwame. All he needs to do tonight is defend Raef if he goes out to the perimeter. We know he can defend him in the post, but Kwame doesn't defend on the perimeter well.</font> <font size="1">[imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/chris_mihm.jpg[/imgl]<font color="purple">Chris Mihm</font> PPG: 10.4, RPG: 6.6, BPG: 1.27 Chris is still recovering from a sprained shoulder, so his shot is rusty. If he can come into this game and get deep into the paint, he should have no problem scoring against Olowokandi. Mihm has been the Lakers second most consistent player all season long, and he should be able to keep it up in the second half. Mihm is nearing the echelon of top tier centers of this league, if he can finish the second half averaging 14 and 7, he will be right up there with Brad Miller as best white boys from America in the league.</font> <font size="3">Keys to the Game</font><ul>[*]<font color="green">Control the Pace</font> - As with every team against the Lakers, the major key for the Celtics is to control the pace. L.A. struggles when they can't play the pace of basketball they want. Boston needs to come in here and establish a solid pace to the game that they like and put their game plan into effect from there.[*]<font color="green">Paul Pierce</font> - The L.A. native is having one hell of a season in Boston, but the team isn't winning. Pierce is from L.A. and is going to need to have a hell of a game for Boston to get the win. Look for him to come out and try to take it to Lamar and the Lakers. This game could end up being a gun show between Pierce and Kobe.[*]<font color="green">Control Kobe</font> - As with every team, controlling Kobe is the one way to gaurantee a victory. If they hold him to a poor shooting night, there is no reason why Boston can't steal a victory in Staples.[*]<font color="purple">Realize</font> - The Lakers need to realize that they must win these upcoming 4 games, becuase after that they have a very tough stretch of four games. With the Lakers struggling to hold onto the 8th seed and trying to put heat on the Hornets for the 7th seed, every game is critical to their success.[*]<font color="purple">Everyone Not Named Kobe</font> - Is it really that hard to come in and help the best player in the league? Kobe can't do it all by himself every single game, he needs help from his supporting cast. Lamar started the second half strong, but had a poor showing against the Clippers, look for him to get back on track tonight against Boston.[*]<font color="purple">Feed Off of the Crowd</font> - Honestly, there is no reason why L.A. should loose this game. To secure a victory even more, they can do the simple task of playing off of the crowd's emotion.[/list]<font size="3">Prediction</font> There is no reason why L.A. can't win this game. Until I see one, I'm taking the Lakers in a high scoring shoot out. Lakers: 110, Celtics: 104.
As far as I'm concerned this is a must win for the Lakers tonight. Paul Pierce always brings his 'A' game to the Staples Center, so it should be a great matchup with Kobe. Delonte West has been on fire the last few games for the Celtics. Smush Parker better be FOCUSED tonight and match West's energy on the court. The last game was Smush's worst performance as a Laker. He's become too, comfortable as the Lakers starter and isn't giving the same energy he was earlier in the year. The Lakers failure to acquire a veteran guard before the deadline could cost them a playoff spot. Right now Smush looks over his shoulder and only sees Sasha on the Laker bench. Chris Mihm has to go off tonight. He was just starting to turn the corner, but has taken a step back since his injury. I'm hoping he has some extra motivation tonight against his former team, and goes to work on Olowokandi. Lamar Odom was abused the last time he matched up with Wally. At the time Wally was still in Minny, and he put on a shooting clinic against Odom. Lamar has to get back to the way he played in the first two games after the ASG. He has the height and speed advantage against Wally, there's no reason why he shouldn't take advantage of this match up. I think Kwame should matchup with Kandi tonight because LaFrentz is more of a perimeter player, while Kandi is a back to the basket scorer. I don't think Kwame has the discipline to stay at home with LaFrentz and it could lead to wide open 3 point shots. When the Lakers faced Indiana, Kwame really struggled against Austin Croshere. The Pacers ran the pick and roll with Croshere on 4 straight plays, and Croshere made all 4 wide open looks. Lakers must win tonight and after the long talk on Saturday, I expect a focused and energized team tonight. Lakers win 102-94.
Great preview yet again, the best on the board, keep representing the Lakers with them KB8! Theres a slight mistake on the Paul Pierce "assist man," line, he's averaging 4.6 assists, not 1.6! We normally struggle with shooters. We NEED to contain Wally Szczerbiak. For me, he's a bigger threat than Pierce. You can expect Kobe to shut down Pierce if he needs to. The team needs to keep hustling like Kobe, who's averaging 3.4 steals in the last 10 games. I hope Phil doesn't allow Kwame and Mihm to play on the court together much, it just slows down our offense and defense. Although Mihm should take advantage of the fact that he's up against the Kandyman. Brian Cook is the man with the hot hand, let him ride for 20+ minutes. George has also been on fire lately, expect another performance from him. Kobe's shot poorly in last years two meetings, going 15-37. Mihm grabbed 15 boards, 19 points and 4 blocks in last years "rivalry week" matchup against Blount, who is a better C than the Kandyman. I don't see any reason why we can't win this one, but we have lost some games against unexpected teams so I can't really make a prediction. Unless we have a poor shooting night where nothing falls for us, I think we will win 115-102.
right now the celtics are just exposing the Lakers interior defense with already 16 free throw attempts in the 1st quarter!
Kobe's killing but given the announcers and Kobe's assesment of how they are doing at the half- the team is well aware they need to cover the pick and roll, so I look for that to be better in the second half...
Kobe is dominating this game, but the defense here seems nonexistant in this game on both sides of the floor. None the less it is making for an enttertaining game. That Pierce dunk was pretty nasty in the beginning of the 2nd half. I always seem to get a kick out of the Lakers vs Celtics even though the rivalry is pretty much nonexistant today.
damn. wtf is wrong with team! i hope they get their acts together because it seems if they dont, this will be another number in the loss column! btw, if any one was impressed with lamar odom, rest assured. he has gone back to his regular crappy self in the last two games. also, anyone know why devin green has been seeing so much play time? i honestly see nothing from the kid that i like
Devin Green is getting PT because Smush is sucking. The only positive thing I'm seeing about this game is Ronny Turiaf
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ilive4ball:</div><div class="quote_post">Devin Green is getting PT because Smush is sucking.</div> sasha > devin green. lol.
how could odom miss 2 straight free throws argh! odom is doing ok 10 pts 8 rebs and 6 assists with no turnovers
Why the hell aren't we going to Kobe? I don't understand Phil Jackon's game calling, he's lost of a lot of games this year.
We are not getting into the damn playoffs... Kobe needs something called..CONSISTENT HELP. Not help in the 4th quarter, I'm sick.
im starting to get sick and tired of this team coming out and playing with no energy. sometimes i even question if they want to win at all. i hope that phil talks to them about this, and i hope we see some benching
I honestly don't see Kwame playing much at all again for the Lakers. Ronny Turiaf shows more consistancy, playing much more than Kwame. Too many slip ups today, way too many. Mental errors and chokes.
NO DEFENSE EXIST. The Lakers keep showing a pattern of coming into the 2nd half with 0 energy to play, playing to their competitors level (Doesn't matter if its the Blazers or the Heat), and playing catch up the entire game while making Kobe take all the potential game winning shots which everyone can see coming a mile away. I honestly think during the second half, we need George, Sasha, and Turiaf starting for at least 4-5 minutes, since they seem to be the only ones displaying any kind of hustle out there.
