Health, and the Spurs defense was not as good as the Celtics defense last year.
celtics have just beat the magic for their nine straight win, i wonder what's so special about them. they have beaten fairly compe ive teams like the pistons, cavs, rockets, magic for than a few times. if you compare them to the spurs, the spurs have a better big three and the same commitment to defense. the veteran players on the celtics are nothing special yet they cruised through last season and looks ready to repeat it. is it because of paul pierce? i think it's more of the contributions from kendrick perkins and rajon rondo. both know how to play their respective positions very well.
Health, and the Spurs defense was not as good as the Celtics defense last year.
Celtics Defense >>> Spurs Defense
Same was true last year as well.
what players do the celtics have that play better defense than the spurs?
Perkins > Any of our C's
And i think they close out better, they have better athletes.
When both teams are fully healthy Spurs are better. That has not been the case.
The Celtics are a solid team with solid role players.
Their team knows how to grab and push just enough to not get a foul call.
Rajon Rondo is still their weakness since he's still not a good jump shooter. Teams are losing to the Celtics because they're honoring Rajon's shot. Slack off Rondo and make him become the main offensive weapon, don't let him create for others.
Rajon's natural ability is a drive and kick playmaker, turn him into a jump-shooter and watch the Celtics stagnate. The Celtics often kill you with 3 pointers, don't let Rajon penetrate and those open 3's are removed. Live with guarding KG 1 on 1, that will stop the easy looks by Ray Allen and Eddie House.
i don't know.. celtics beat down the lakers pretty decisively.
No doubt. The Lakers didn't stand a chance last year, that's why all the Laker fans were talking about Bynum.
Celtics last year were MUCH larger than the Lakers, Odom can't be a Power Forward when playing the Celtic starters.
This year with Bynum at Center and Pau at PF, the size balance has decisively shifted to the Lakers. More importantly, KG can't go give help to Perkins without Pau being open.
Secondly, the Celtics have traded in James Posey for Tony Allen. Posey bothers Kobe, alot. Tony Allen will not.
Off the Bench, the Lakers will have Odom, Ariza and Farmar as aggressive attackers with Sasha sportin' the 3 ball and either Pau or Bynum as an interior threat.
My theory is that losing Posey and PJ Brown killed the Celtics advantage over the Lakers. Christmas Day will say whether or not I'm right as I think the Lakers win the game easily.
I do not think you can read into too much, what if the Celts were to beat the Lakers by 20? Would you really think what you outlined above has no merit?
I actually do. This is the Lakers coming out party on Christmas Day. If they can't beat the Celtics convincingly on Christmas Day with all eyes on them, they are a disappointment.
If they win, I'd give them a 90% chance of beating the Celtics in a Finals rematch.
If they lose, I'd drop their chances to 25% of beating the Celtics in a Finals rematch (unless they redeem themselves with a blowout of the Celtics in February in Boston).
This assumes that all major players are healthy.
Of course the Playoffs are a different animal and it might be 2 other teams than the Celtics and Lakers when it's all said and done.
im really looking forward to that game.
Touche...I'm also looking forward to the Spurs/Suns game. Probably the best Christmas double-header in years.
Just noticed,
Hornets @ Orlando
Mavs @ Blazers at night
Great day of games.
healthy or not, lakers would've had their asses handed to them by last years celtics.
I think when healthy the Lakers beat the Celtics over 7 games.
To answer the op's question though: IMO it's three really cliche things, in this order.
1. Tom Thibodeau
2. KG is THE best leader in the game and I guarantee his practice habits and influence trickle down. Rondo, Perk and Powe are all miles ahead of where they otherwise would be without KG in their ears and practice gym.
3. Pierce is playing the best ball of his life- even better than 05-06 when he was more or less LeBron... a little less. But the point is, even though he's scoring less, he's just playing better these days, making better decisions, taking better shots, last season anyway his TO's were way down, he's much more defensively committed. Again, probably somewhat a result of playing with KG, but Pierce has been a much better player the past two years.
thst‘s easy,they have BIG 3
The Nuggets beat the Celtics at home, and they were on the back end of a b2b. Celtics are 2008-08 Fakers
The Lakers are more scary than the Celtics this season
Pistons also beat LA at Staples but were blown out at the Garden
Garnett is overrated. Best leader in the game my ass, Pierce leads on the court, Garnett leads by talking smack to lottery teams.
Uhuh, putting way too much emphasis on the regular season buddy. I doubt the outcome of a December game can sway the odds of a team winning 65% either way.
It pains me that drama queens like Pierce and Bryant and fake superstars like Garnett are on the two best teams in basketball... pains me badly!
What's worse, it's the Lakers and the ing Celtics? God dammit.
Wow, that was easy. We can play this game all day!
I'll let you know how good they are on Friday night.![]()
Well, from a Laker point of view, I see the Celtics are winning to keep pace with the Lakers. We all know without HCA last season, Boston is ousted by either the Hawks or Cavs. It wouldn't surprise me if both Lakers and Celtics are still riding their winning streaks come Christmas day, or close to that. Face it, until proven otherwise, these are the best teams in the east and the west. Everyone else is trying to adjust.
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