Lakers at Celtics Game Five Previews

[duncan228]

Los Angeles at Boston (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2010061302)
Game info: 8:00 pm EDT Sun Jun 13, 2010
TV: ABC, TSN
By Brian Mahoney

Andrew Bynum watched “Big Baby” and Boston batter his Lakers, believing all along he could have made a difference.

So even with a sore right knee that became impossible to play on in Game 4, Bynum wants to be on the floor Sunday night for the most important game of the season.

Phil Jackson plans to let him—on one condition.

“We’ll use him if he’s available and able, but we’re certainly not going to put him in a situation that’s either going to hurt himself or the team,” Jackson said Friday.

Jackson said he doesn’t have “any expectations” for his injured center, but thinks the Lakers can win even without him.

“We’re going to try and establish the fact that we’re going back to L.A. with a 3-2 lead,” Jackson said. “We believe we can do it. We felt we let one get away last night.”

More like the rougher and tougher Celtics took it.

With Bynum limited to only 12 minutes and on the bench for nearly the entire second half, Boston pounded Los Angeles inside in a 96-89 victory that evened the series at two games apiece.

The Celtics had a 54-34 advantage in points in the paint, with Glen Davis and Boston’s bigs finding room in the areas that Bynum often controls.

“They miss him,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said. “I mean, he has great size and length, and we attacked the paint yesterday, and Andrew wasn’t there. So I mean, obviously when he’s not on the floor, there’s a big difference.”

Neither team practiced Friday, the first of two days off before Game 5. The break comes at a good time for the Lakers, with Jackson saying he thought Kobe Bryant looked tired late in Thursday’s game.

Jackson hadn’t spoken to Bynum, who planned to see a doctor and get treatment. He has a torn meniscus and recently had fluid drained from the knee, but the swelling has returned. He said Thursday having it drained again could be another option.

He was optimistic he can play Sunday and will get a chance, if he won’t be a liability.

“If he can’t get back in defense transition-wise, and that’s one of the things they’re trying to attack with our first unit obviously, when Andrew is out there is try and run, then obviously he’s going to hurt the team,” Jackson said.

The Lakers may not have any better options. Sixth man Lamar Odom gets the bulk of the minutes in Bynum’s absence, but he’s been largely ineffective in the series and at 230 pounds, he weighs about 55 less than the 7-foot Bynum and is more easily shoved around by the Celtics.

That’s what happened in the 2008 finals, and it was repeated Thursday.

“Lamar struggled two years ago in this series in this matchup, and he has to break through kind of that mental gap that he had from that experience to move forward,” Jackson said.

DJ Mbenga and Josh Powell are the other big men on the roster, but neither has played in the series. Jackson said Powell is ready, but his take on Mbenga’s mental readiness was that “sometimes a guy hasn’t played in a while and you’ll look in there and it may be kind of vacant in there.”

So it’s probably Bynum or bust for the defending champions, who had a three-point lead at halftime and had played the Celtics evenly inside before Bynum was limited to only two minutes in the second half.

“Even with him dragging the leg around a little bit, he still helped us in situations last night, getting rebounds that I thought a lot of our other guys got the ball knocked out of their hands, fumbled the ball, went out of bounds off of them,” Jackson said. “Andrew still has the length and the strength to capture rebounds that we need.”

The finals are tied heading into Game 5 for the first time since 2006, and the team winning the rebounding battle has won all four games. Boston used its advantage Thursday to score 20 second-chance points, doubling the Lakers’ total.

“We need to do a better job next game on rebounding, putting bodies on people and not allowing them to get as many second-chance points as they did tonight,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol said after Thursday’s game. “You know, it’s a key point. It’s a key point that we have to understand, and we’ve got to do what it takes to control that.”

Bryant and Gasol have provided much of the offense while Odom and Ron Artest continue to struggle. The Celtics have received better balance, getting double-figure scoring off the bench Thursday from Davis and Nate Robinson, plus contributions from Tony Allen and Rasheed Wallace.

“We call them the emotional group because they are, and on nights when their emotions and the stars and the moons are aligned right, they can be really effective,” Rivers said. “You know, when they play hard and with that much intensity, something is going to happen.”

Wallace’s technical foul was upheld Friday, meaning both he and starting center Kendrick Perkins are one away from a seventh that would trigger an automatic one-game suspension.

Either would be a big loss, but perhaps not as much as if the Lakers had to go without Bynum. They’d been able to get by with him limited to just 25 minutes per game during the postseason, but not against a team with the Celtics’ collection of size.

“We’ll just figure it out. I’m not sure how yet,” Bryant said. “We’ve played without him obviously in the lineup before. We got a good rhythm going with him in the lineup. We’ll just figure it out.”

*********************

Team Stat Leaders

Points
Kobe Bryant LAL 27.0
Paul Pierce Bos 18.3

Rebounds
Pau Gasol LAL 11.3
Kendrick Perkins Bos 7.6

Assists
Kobe Bryant LAL 5.0
Rajon Rondo Bos 9.8

*********************

Series Breakdown (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/playoffs/2010/boslal)

[duncan228]

Bynum has right knee drained again (http://www.ocregister.com/sports/bynum-253079-drained-knee.html)
By Kevin Ding
The Orange County Register

When Andrew Bynum left TD Garden on Thursday night, he said draining fluid from his swollen right knee was an option he was unlikely to choose, but Bynum was soon convinced that it was worth a try.

Bynum had his knee drained in the early morning hours Friday -- just as he did before the NBA Finals began when his knee didn't seem to be responding to other sorts of treatment -- in hopes of regaining mobility and function. Bynum also had another MRI on the knee later Friday afternoon with Lakers team doctor Steve Lombardo, and the results showed no new damage. The MRI results were sent for Bynum's personal physician, David Altchek, to review also.

"Nothing new at all," Lakers spokesman John Black said of the findings.

Bynum is officially listed as questionable for Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night, although the Lakers remain optimistic he'll be able to play and Bynum has said he will be ready. He will continue with his array of other types of treatment to minimize swelling in his knee, which needs surgery to repair torn cartilage.

Last time Bynum had the knee drained on May 31 (the Monday before the NBA Finals began on a Thursday) and tested the knee in practice two days later. Bynum said fluid returned to the knee "about 12 hours" after aspirating the knee anyway, which is not unexpected, but Bynum was effective regardless to start this series -- averaging 13.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks in 32 minutes in the first three NBA Finals games.

He was limited to 1:50 of second-half playing time in Game 4 on Thursday night and said the swelling made his knee look "like a basketball."

[Giuseppe]

"Nothing new at all," Lakers spokesman John Black said of the findings.

Black just jockeys right in with the good news.

tee, hee.

[duncan228]

Phil Jackson's Game 5 Press Conference (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/06/12/phil-jacksons-game-5-press-conference/)
By FanHouse TV

The always-entertaining Phil Jackson was his normal outspoken self during the Lakers coach's media session on Friday.

With two off-days before Game 5 of the NBA Finals series that is tied 2-2, Jackson discussed a variety of topics, among them how he needs more out of Lamar Odom and Ron Artest, how he sees Andrew Bynum's knee situation, how he and his team fully intend on ending the series in six games, and how it's his role to downplay the merits of Boston coach Doc Rivers.

Click to watch. (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/06/12/phil-jacksons-game-5-press-conference/)

[duncan228]

‘Miserable’ Kobe Bryant, Lakers ready for Game 5 (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nbafinals)
By Brian Mahoney

The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers are headed to a pivotal Game 5 of the NBA finals, the latest big moment in their storied rivalry.

The Celtics can move a win away from an 18th championship, and a 10th in 12 meetings with the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant can inch closer to a fifth title, a chance to further cement his legacy.

Have to love it, right?

Not if you’re Bryant.

“I’m miserable,” he said on Saturday.

That’s because of the Celtics, who guarded him well in the fourth quarter of their 96-89 victory on Thursday that evened the series at two games apiece, and simply won’t allow him to be as spectacular as he was against Phoenix in the previous round.

Game 5 is on Sunday, and the Lakers expect to have center Andrew Bynum back after he played only 12 minutes in Game 4 because of a sore right knee.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson thought Bryant looked tired in that game, and Bryant was even asked if he’d tweaked his knee. Combine that with all the talk of how well the Celtics have defended him, and suddenly those doubters that surfaced when Bryant looked so worn down late in the regular season are popping up again.

“That’s what they do,” Bryant said. “They show up, disappear, show up, disappear. That’s part of it.”

He can silence them again with a big effort on Sunday. That’s not easy against these Celtics, who didn’t flinch when they had to face Dwyane Wade in the first round or LeBron James in the second, and weren’t fazed when Bryant scored 30 in the Lakers’ series-opening victory.

Bryant managed only two field goals in the decisive fourth quarter of Game 4, and Boston limited him to only one in the last 12 minutes of the previous game.

“They don’t want me to beat them, so they put three guys there,” Bryant said. “Nothing we haven’t seen before, it’s just when you win those games, like Game 3, nobody talks about that because we take advantage of it. And if you lose the game, everybody talks about that. It’s part of the process.”

With Pau Gasol the only other Laker who’s hurt them, the Celtics can afford to turn even more attention to Bryant, who is averaging 28.3 points but on just 41 percent shooting.

“Our whole thing is all five guys doing it together,” Ray Allen said. “And when you got all five guys on the same page and focused and in tune on (assistant) Tom Thibodeau’s defensive strategies, I think it makes it difficult for guys, superstars.”

The finals are tied after four games for the first time since 2006. Of the 25 series that were tied 2-all, the winner of Game 5 won 19 of them.

A victory in Boston on Sunday gives the Lakers two chances to wrap it up at home, while a loss means Bryant is closer to losing both of his finals matchups against Boston. He said he couldn’t go down as the greatest Lakers player ever if he never beats the Celtics.

Bryant considers Jerry West to have that title. Yet he never beat the Celtics either, whereas Magic Johnson did it twice.

“What is everybody’s fascination with the Celtics in terms of going down in history?” Bryant said. “It’s a little weird to me.”

With Bynum’s injury, and Ron Artest and Lamar Odom’s inconsistency, the Lakers have had to play Bryant and Gasol for long minutes. The burden is heavier on Bryant, who has battled injuries throughout the second half of the season, and it’s likely the reason for his fourth-quarter struggles.

The Celtics are the older team but seem fresher, since a more productive bench has allowed their starters to get some rest during the series. Jackson would like to give Bryant the same opportunity.

“I’ve got to find a little space and time for him to give him some rest in that situation so he can come back with renewed energy,” Jackson said. “But after he’s played 30-plus minutes, to have that kind of energy to finish a game out is important to us, and we’ve got to get that back.”

[NBA Fanatic]

Here is one that says if the Lakers want to take a 3-2 series lead back to Los Angeles that they will have to compete harder.

"If the Lakers want to return to Los Angeles needing just one more win to become back-to-back NBA (http://www.associatedcontent.com/theme/1194/nba.html) Champions they must compete harder, work harder, hustle more, and play with the sense of urgency that the moment requires."

It also says that at some point in Game 5 Kobe Bryant will take control.

Hers is the link if interested: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5481922/2010_nba_finals_lakers_vs_celtics_game.html

[Giuseppe]

He's tried taking control several games in-a-row now and they've met him at the pass each time and turned him away.

[Ignignokt]

Duncan228 is a b****.

[duncan228]

Artest optimistic after private meeting with Phil (http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2010/06/12/artest-optimistic-after-private-meeting-with-phil/38219/)
by Kevin Ding
The Orange County Register


Their first season together is almost over, but Ron Artest and Phil Jackson are still getting to know each other.

Artest revealed that he and Jackson had a private meeting Friday in which Artest sought and Jackson gave the coach’s endorsement in Artest being allowed to shoot the ball more freely in the Lakers’ offense.

“When I got the coach on my side, there’s really no stopping me,” Artest said brightly after Lakers practice Saturday.

Jackson also seemed optimistic after the meeting, saying on Friday: “I have confidence Ron is going to have a game and be ready for a ballgame. He’s had a really tough shooting situation in this series and he hasn’t done well. Defensively he’s been fine, but offensively it hasn’t been quite the same. So he has a game to get to and to play.”

On Saturday, Jackson was asked what Artest needs to do better and replied: “Just his outside shot. He took the ball to the basket, got some offensive rebounds, I thought made some plays off of the dribble and finding his teammates (in Game 4). He just has to find a shot and get consistent with it.”

Artest said the Lakers “forgot I could shoot” after he slumped following a strong start shooting this season. He said it carried over to the whole team.

“Guys lost confidence in me,” he said.

For his career entering this season, Artest was a 42.2 percent field-goal shooter, 34.2 percent on 3-pointers (although he was 38.0 and 39.9 the past two seasons). In the 2009-10 regular season as he learned the triangle offense, Artest was at 41.4 percent from the field and 35.5 on 3-pointers.

In this postseason, Artest is shooting just 39.8 percent from the field and 27.3 percent on 3-pointers. In the NBA Finals, he is at 32.4 percent overall and 28.6 percent on 3-pointers (4 of 14, when no one else but Kobe Bryant has taken more than seven shots).

Artest worked on his 3-point shooting at length after practice Saturday in a two-man exercise with teammate Sasha Vujacic. Artest said he will make Boston pay for leaving him open, citing some timely baskets he made in the previous three rounds and in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

“You’re going to see good games,” he said.

Artest’s frustration with Jackson questioning his 3-point shooting publicly boiled over during the Western Conference semifinals against Utah; Artest complained via his Twitter account about Jackson talking to reporters about his shooting before talking to Artest. At that time a month ago, Artest also Tweeted for Jackson to “somehow close his yapper.”

But Artest was feeling good after huddling with the coach leading up to Game 5 Sunday night in these tied NBA Finals — because apparently his mind has been a little clouded. When I asked Artest when he and Jackson had their meeting, Artest gently put both hands on my shoulders and struggled initially to recall.

“What’s today?” he asked. Told it was Saturday, he said: “Friday? When did we play, Thursday? Must’ve been Friday.”

[shelshor]

Referee Assignments
Sun. Jun 13
L.A. Lakers @ Boston: Joe Crawford; Mike Callahan; Derrick Stafford

[spursfaninla]

Artest optimistic after private meeting with Phil (http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2010/06/12/artest-optimistic-after-private-meeting-with-phil/38219/)
by Kevin Ding
The Orange County Register


Their first season together is almost over, but Ron Artest and Phil Jackson are still getting to know each other.

Artest revealed that he and Jackson had a private meeting Friday in which Artest sought and Jackson gave the coach’s endorsement in Artest being allowed to shoot the ball more freely in the Lakers’ offense.

“When I got the coach on my side, there’s really no stopping me,” Artest said brightly after Lakers practice Saturday.

Jackson also seemed optimistic after the meeting, saying on Friday: “I have confidence Ron is going to have a game and be ready for a ballgame. He’s had a really tough shooting situation in this series and he hasn’t done well. Defensively he’s been fine, but offensively it hasn’t been quite the same. So he has a game to get to and to play.”

On Saturday, Jackson was asked what Artest needs to do better and replied: “Just his outside shot. He took the ball to the basket, got some offensive rebounds, I thought made some plays off of the dribble and finding his teammates (in Game 4). He just has to find a shot and get consistent with it.”

Artest said the Lakers “forgot I could shoot” after he slumped following a strong start shooting this season. He said it carried over to the whole team.

“Guys lost confidence in me,” he said.

For his career entering this season, Artest was a 42.2 percent field-goal shooter, 34.2 percent on 3-pointers (although he was 38.0 and 39.9 the past two seasons). In the 2009-10 regular season as he learned the triangle offense, Artest was at 41.4 percent from the field and 35.5 on 3-pointers.

In this postseason, Artest is shooting just 39.8 percent from the field and 27.3 percent on 3-pointers. In the NBA Finals, he is at 32.4 percent overall and 28.6 percent on 3-pointers (4 of 14, when no one else but Kobe Bryant has taken more than seven shots).

Artest worked on his 3-point shooting at length after practice Saturday in a two-man exercise with teammate Sasha Vujacic. Artest said he will make Boston pay for leaving him open, citing some timely baskets he made in the previous three rounds and in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

“You’re going to see good games,” he said.

Artest’s frustration with Jackson questioning his 3-point shooting publicly boiled over during the Western Conference semifinals against Utah; Artest complained via his Twitter account about Jackson talking to reporters about his shooting before talking to Artest. At that time a month ago, Artest also Tweeted for Jackson to “somehow close his yapper.”

But Artest was feeling good after huddling with the coach leading up to Game 5 Sunday night in these tied NBA Finals — because apparently his mind has been a little clouded. When I asked Artest when he and Jackson had their meeting, Artest gently put both hands on my shoulders and struggled initially to recall.

“What’s today?” he asked. Told it was Saturday, he said: “Friday? When did we play, Thursday? Must’ve been Friday.”

The LAKERS did not forget he could shoot, they noticed that he is not making very many. They lost confidence b/c he is bricking.

He is having a shooting slump.

Shoot more freely? Well, if he keeps clanging, then the lakers are going to get pissed at him.

TBH, what made artest the most valuable to the lakers was him knowing his role. Sounds to me like he thinks he needs to be a main scoring option.

Mistake.

An unbounded artest is a recipe for disaster.

Sounds like artest has not been the perfect team-mate and as coachable as lakerfan would have us think.

I think the lakers probably win tonight if bynum plays moderately well or Kobe has an efficient night, but if the Lakers lose game 5, artest is a bomb waiting to blow the lakers up.

[spursfaninla]

:blah

Hey, I am not making this shit up. Your Lebron-stopper Artest is the one holding private meetings with Phil, tweeting his displeasure about phil, shooting tons of bricks, and then complaining that his teammates dont' trust him and that he will shoot more "freely" in the future.

Don't put all that on me. The man speaks for himself.

[lefty]

Andrain Bynum

[duncan228]

Lakers' Josh Powell Could Make a Name for Himself in Game 5 of the Finals (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/06/12/lakers-josh-powell-could-make-a-name-for-himself-in-game-5-of-t/)
By Sam Amick

Kendrick Perkins was being the consummate professional, respectfully praising a little-known Lakers reserve who just might play a role in in NBA Finals before they're done.

But the Boston center and Powell's potential counterpart didn't talk long before the truth of the situation revealed itself.

"He plays hard," Perkins began. "He's got game. I worked out with Powell when I was first trying to ... "

He paused in confusion.

"His name is Josh Powell, right?"

The Celtics might know Powell's name and his game a whole lot more after Sunday's Game 5, as Andrew Bynum's tenuous status means it's 'all bigs on deck' for the Lakers. Bynum -- who had fluid drained from his ailing knee on Friday for the second time in less than two weeks -- logged just 12 minutes in Boston's Game 4 win. He played just two minutes in the second half, when he dragged his leg around the TD Garden floor before his departure made way for Glen Davis' outburst.

The Celtics' undersized forward took full advantage of Bynum's absence, scoring nine fourth quarter points and owning every hustle play by dominating the space typically controlled by the 7-foot Bynum. Phil Jackson inferred that Powell might be the one asked to help stop Davis and his fellow frontcourt mates in his press conference on Friday, when a question about whether D.J. Mbenga could be utilized should Bynum be unavailable turned into an endorsement for Powell.

"D.J. has lost a little bit in the process of not playing, and he needs that," said Jackson, who also referred to Mbenga's competitive state of mind as "vacant." "But Josh Powell is ready to play."

The fifth-year undrafted forward out of North Carolina State said rust -- of the mental or physical kind -- won't be a factor. Still, the 6-foot-9, 240-pounder averaged just nine minutes in 63 games played this season and has played in just 11 of 20 playoff games (never more than seven minutes).

The confidence from Jackson comes from Powell's quiet history of being ready in those rare times when he's called upon. When Bynum's knee kept him off the floor from Feb. 2 to April 7 last season, Powell entered the big man rotation with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom and the Lakers didn't slow down en route to a championship.

They were 25-7 in that span, with Powell averaging 14.7 minutes, 3.8 rebounds and even scoring in double digits four times (with highs of 17 and 16 points). He had no such extended stretch of time this season, but maintained his reputation as one of the team's hardest workers.

Powell unintentionally drew attention to his hard-working ways recently, when he returned to Staples Center for a late-night workout after the Lakers won Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against Phoenix. While there is nothing Powell can do about the size difference between he and 7-foot, 280-pound Bynum, his athleticism and high-energy motor may come in handy.

"(I'm) very confident (in Powell)," Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said. "He continues to work, continues to play. He's been that way all year. Last year when we had Andrew go down and Lamar go down, he stepped in and played big for us in stretches of games. He's ready to go. He's worked hard all year, so I'm sure when his number is called he'll be ready to go."

But doing it in the regular season is one thing, in the middle of the Finals is another.

"You've just got to stay ready no matter what," said Powell, who noted that Jackson has given him no indication of his potential Game 5 role. "It's the same thing during the regular season. It's a tough situation, but you have to switch your work ethic and have the right mindset and attitude and kind of taking away yourself and putting the team first and making sure we're doing the proper things...You have to mentally stay with it.

"I think if you play with the right intensity and go out there and play with energy, play hard, and do the right things, then everything else will unfold and take care of itself."

It hasn't been that easy during his career. Powell started his professional career in the NBA's Developmental League, but was then signed by Dallas. His Mavericks' stint (37 games in 2005-06) was followed by stops at Indiana, Golden State and in Los Angeles with the Clippers, where he averaged career highs in minutes (19 per game), points (5.5) and rebounds (5.2) before joining the Lakers in 2008.

"I worked out with him when I was trying to go to the draft and we worked out with the (San Antonio) Spurs together," Perkins said once it was clear of whom he was discussing. "He can play. He can play a lot. I've got respect for him. Great athlete. It's not a huge drop-off. It's a drop-off because of his size, but it's not a huge drop-off."

[TampaDude]

Referee Assignments
Sun. Jun 13
L.A. Lakers @ Boston: Joe Crawford; Mike Callahan; Derrick Stafford

I fucking knew Joey would be reffing this game. :lol