Just watched 4th quarter of Game 4 '08 Finals on ESPN Classic

[SomeCallMeTim]

Things that struck me:

1) Pierce guarded Kobe, Kobe guarded Pierce entire 4th quarter. They both did a great job on both ends -- tough D on one another and some fantastic shots and playmaking for both of them. Kobe drew a charge on Pierce and defended him well on pretty much all other possessions. His one big mistake was a foul 40 feet from the basket bodying up Pierce when Paul got a step on him. This came with less than a minute to go, 3 point game, Lakers already in the penalty, so it was costly. Pierce got burned a couple times on Kobe drives but really made him work. Kobe dished out a lot of great passes but few makes by teammates who were clearly feeling the pressure of Boston's big comeback.

2) KG-Pierce PNR was the play of the 4th quarter for Boston. Gasol didn't do a very good job defending it consistently. He is better on PNR D now.

3) Turiaf, Sasha, and Farmar got major crunch time minutes for the Lakers in 08. Yeah, that might have had something to do with the epic collapse. Not that the Lakers' bench is a ton better now, but having Bynum instead of Turiaf to take those minutes is huge. I cannot underscore this enough.

4) Rondo was a non-factor in the 4th quarter. Don't expect that for this upcoming series.

5) House and Posey just hit huge shot after huge shot in that 4th. Good balanced scoring with Pierce, KG, Allen, and Powe also hitting big shots.

Great quarter of basketball even if the Lakers ended up on the wrong side of the scoreboard. Hopefully this upcoming series will be as entertaining.

[TheMACHINE]

#5 will be the biggest impact this year.,