Lakers/Celtics Game #2: Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Kobe Bryant and the referees

I am not one to say “I told you so”, but I will. The Boston Celtics 103 to 94 win over the Los Angeles Lakers was a game that was a tale of two halves. The first half was about a shooting clinic that was put on by Ray Allen as the Celtics played tough, fundamental basketball and dominated the Lakers at times. The Lakers became the team that we have all become accustomed to seeing for stretches during games if not a whole game or games. L.A. played uninspired basketball on both ends of the court and could not figure out a way to slow down or stop Ray. The second half was a very close, grind it out, defensive type of game that was nip and tuck throughout the second half with the Celtics winning by nine as I had predicted earlier yesterday in my Sunday sports notes blog. In both halves the Celtics played how most people expected them to play in game one but didn’t for some odd reason. Rajon Rondo did what I expected him to do and played aggressive, smart basketball throughout the whole game and ended up with his fifth playoff triple-double. Rondo really came up big defensively in the last three minutes of the game by stealing the ball from Kobe twice and blocking one of his shots which ended up being a key moment in the fourth quarter. Ray Ray or as his mama named him, Ray Allen, played extremely well and set the tone in the first half by breaking an NBA finals three point record by hitting eight of eleven from behind the arc. Paul Pierce was pretty much ineffective as expected with Ron Artest guarding him most of the time last night. Kevin Garnett was not himself again. I don’t know whets going on with him except that maybe it’s time for him to hang it up after this year. Kendrick Perkins was okay at times when he wasn’t embarrassing himself by trying to do things with the ball that he had no business doing. On four separate occasions, Kendrick received the ball on the baseline two feet away from the three point line, and he would try to face up the opponent and drive to the basket. That isn’t your game Perkins, know your role and play it!

Kobe Bryant had a Kendrick Perkins moment of his own last night. He seemed to be content with not asserting himself into the game until the last two minutes of the first half. I understand that he wants to get his teammates involved early, but he still needs to be assertive throughout the whole game and not just when the Lakers are down by fifteen. Kobe may have Jesus like abilities on the court and would make one think that he can walk on water and perform miracles. But imitating LeBron James by not having his presence felt on the court as he did in the first half is inexcusable for a superstar in the NBA finals. I am not pinning the loss of the Lakers on Kobe, just stating what I saw and what the game film shows. Andrew Bynum played great last night and I have been impressed with him answering the bell and playing through injuries and standing toe to toe with the Celtics front line. Pau Gasol also played well at times but wasn’t consistently effective throughout the game. But we have become accustomed to seeing this from him. Pau is a good but not great player who has issues consistently playing tough and well during games. Ron Artest, Lamar Odom and Jordan Farmar were not much of a factor except for Artest on the defensive end. Odom and Farmar barely even saw the floor once they got routinely “handled” by one the Celtics. If the Lakers want to have this series comeback to Los Angeles, everything I have typed in this paragraph needs to be corrected or they could once again be walking off the court, watching the Celtics celebrate winning a NBA Championship in Boston.

One thing that is a little painful to watch is the horrible calls that the referees have made in both games in this series. Some of the calls in game two were some of the worst I have seen in a long time. On two calls late in the fourth quarter, replay should have been used to determine the proper call but wasn’t. Why even have instant replay and the ability to use it if the referees won’t use it? I would hate to see this series decided becasue of a pivotal call that tips the series in either the Celtics or Lakers favor. It seems like not only are the refs making bad calls on who knocked the ball out of bounds or if a block shot was goal tending or not. The refs have been calling some ticky tack fouls in both games that have put several players in foul trouble and have caused them to spend more time on the bench than on the court. Rasheed Wallace had four fouls by the middle of the third quarter and I don’t even remember him even checking into the game. I know the refs want to keep it clean, but let the players play and stop being so quick to blow the whistle. People are watching the NBA finals to watch the star players compete in the game, not the star players watching the game from the bench.

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