Jun 06 2008
Paul Pirece Inspires Celtics To Game One Win In Finals
Paul Pierce had waited for his chance to play in the NBA Finals and in the third quarter after a collision he thought it came to a screeching halt. After the collision Pierce hurt his knee and had to be carried off the floor. Many people felt he would not return, but he did to inspire the Celtics to a 98-88 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Pierce actually finished with more points in the third quarter than Kobe Bryant who finished with just 12 points while Pierce had 15.
Kobe Bryant did not have the greatest game in the world shooting only 9-26 as the Celtics swarming defense did make it tough on him last night. So far this playoffs the Celtics defense has done that to everyone. I do look for Kobe to look to be more offensive in Game 2 so we will have to see what happens.
In Game 2 we should see Kobe become more offensive minded which means he will go to the basket a lot more and try to give his teammates some more open looks. Look for Phil Jackson to change things up as well as that is how he will do things trying to confuse the Celtics. It will be interesting to see how the Lakers respond to this loss and also if the Celtics can keep it up.
