Celtics/ Lakers Championship Series Discussion Thread

[Jahred]

As the series goes on I thought this thread might be cool to keep going, see what opinions were before games and after.

There are many things simular to the Last time these teams played for the Title, but alot of things have changed. A few things are obvious and there are other things that im sure im missing that guys here follow the team do know. So any info is welcome.

LAKERS
Celtics beating the Lakers in 08' gives the Lakers the edge in motivation here based on revenge

Pau Gasol got pushed around last time and the lakers as a team was kinda labeled soft, will he over compensate and get out of his game?

Lakers will have a hurt but ACTIVE Bynum this time around

Lakers have Artest instead of Ariza, traded size for speed basically and Peirce supposedly struggles against Artest


BOSTON
Major differences are that Posey and Powe were HUGE in 2008 and they are not here, instead its Tony Allen with bad ankle and a Rasheed Wallace with a bad back.

Rondo has matured as a point guard since then

Garnet has decreased his play but has shown some legs rescently

[Jahred]

02/18/10 LAL 86 - BOS 87 BOS 2.5 U 188.5

01/31/10 BOS 89 - LAL 90 Push 1 U 194.5

02/05/09 BOS 109 - LAL 110 (OT) LAL 7.0 O 206

12/25/08 LAL 92 - BOS 83 LAL -2 U 200.5

06/17/08 BOS 131 - LAL 92 BOS -4 O 191.5

06/15/08 LAL 103 - BOS 98 BOS 7.5 O 192

06/12/08 LAL 91 - BOS 97 BOS 7.5 U 191.5

06/10/08 LAL 87 - BOS 81 BOS 9.5 U 195.5

06/08/08 BOS 108 - LAL 102 BOS 1.5 O 191.5

06/05/08 BOS 98 - LAL 88

[Jahred]

Perkins is in danger of getting suspended with just 1 more tech, something series bettors should think about

[Jahred]

Celtics are 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Los Angeles.
Celtics are 9-2-1 ATS in the last 12 meetings

[Champ10]

Originally Posted by Jahred

Perkins is in danger of getting suspended with just 1 more tech, something series bettors should think about

Underrated point here. With the huge advantage LA holds with both games 6 and 7 in LA, if Perkins were to miss one of the games in Boston and LA steals it as a result, that could easily be the difference in the series. Lot of value on LA "only" -185, IMO

[Jahred]

also strange line is 5.5 from 2's before even with celtics success ats vs. LA

[upinya83]

Originally Posted by Champ10

Underrated point here. With the huge advantage LA holds with both games 6 and 7 in LA, if Perkins were to miss one of the games in Boston and LA steals it as a result, that could easily be the difference in the series. Lot of value on LA "only" -185, IMO

I wouldn't be as worried about him missing a game. If I was a Celtics fan, I'd almost rather him get the technical in game 1, miss game 2, and then get to play HIS game the rest of the way. Instead, he's gonna play a little softer, with a little less intensity for the entire series, and that's gonna take away one of the big advantages that the C's have. They're gonna be the softer team inside now because of this

[Romanowski]

forget the whole regular season, forget the playoffs up till now

this is where artest will show why the lakers made the right move trading ariza

[rjb1816]

Lakers didnt even have Ariza or Bynum in the first series. Both were out with injury and Pierce was basically unchecked the whole series which really helped him win the MVP.

Over the last few seasons when Artest guards Pierce straight up in a game, Pierce is shooting like 22% from the field with 8 turnovers in something like 38 possessions.

Lakers have homecourt this time and in the playoffs they have been very tough to beat there.

Team was very young first time around with really only 2 players with experience in finals. Now the whole roster has experience of that loss that still sticks with them and what it takes to win from last year.

[Jahred]

Originally Posted by Romanowski

forget the whole regular season, forget the playoffs up till now

this is where artest will show why the lakers made the right move trading ariza

heard dunleavy talking this morning about how Peirce bullys 90% of 2's and 3's covering him and that he will not be able to do that vs. Artest

even tho i still like ariza better this IS why they got artest

[Champ10]

Tough to see the Lakers losing this one. Artest's D and HomeCourt will be enough to flip the script from 08.

Garnett v Pao is my most anticipated match-up outside of Pierce v Artest. If the Lakers manage a combined WPA "push" in both of these, Kobe closes the deal. Rondo is great, but not going to be enough to push the C's over the top.

[rjb1816]

pau much more comfortable in laker offense 2 years later than in the season they acquired him. Plus garnett not the same guy, i think pau will own him personally

[YPA]

How do we all feel about Lakers -1.5 games in this series?

Paying out healthy + money, I feel like it's a much better bet than the Lakers series win at -180 or so..