Paul Pierce > Kobe in 2008 playoffs

[lebomb]

I thought Kobe was the best in the league??? Right now, he is being outplayed by Pierce. At least IMHO.

[JamStone]

I don't think there's any question that Paul Pierce has been the better player between the two in this series.

Paul Pierce even said in his post game last night that the entire defensive strategy for the Celtics has been geared to stop Kobe. While Pierce has been better, I think it would be different if you put Kobe on the Celtics and Pierce on the Lakers. As a team, Boston has been excellent defensively containing Kobe and denying him places on the floor where he feels most comfortable. With Pierce, even though KG hasn't been stellar and Ray Allen has been on and off, the Lakers are still respecting them enough so that Pierce has more room to operate.

That said, it still doesn't change the fact that Pierce has definitely outplayed Kobe at both ends of the floor for most of the series.

[DazedAndConfused]

Kobe is having an off series, but if Kobe was playing against the Laker defense he'd be dropping 40 a night.

We must give credit to the Celtic defense though. They are perhaps the best team I've seen in the last 15 years at stopping individual ISO play. They kept Lebron away from the basket and forced him into a pathetic 19% shooting for the 1st two games. In fact, I think Lebron only had one good game statistically during that entire series. What's happening to Kobe is exactly what the Celtics designed their defense for, they want Odom and Gasol to have to beat them.

[lebomb]

Kobe is having an off series, but if Kobe was playing against the Laker defense he'd be dropping 40 a night.

We must give credit to the Celtic defense though. They are perhaps the best team I've seen in the last 15 years at stopping individual ISO play. They kept Lebron away from the basket and forced him into a pathetic 19% shooting for the 1st two games.

Did you see what the Spurs did to Lebron in the playoffs last year? I think he shot 25% for the short 4 game series sweep.

[NBA Junkie]

This thread should be renamed "Paul Pierce > Kobe in 2008 finals".

Pierce was mediocre through the first couple of rounds while Kobe has been much better than him up until this series.