Originally Posted by michaeljohn

As soon as I concede the game, Lakers cut a 24 point lead with under 8 minutes left to 2 with 38 seconds left but it was too big of a deficit to overcome. Lesson, don't get down that big in the first place!

Originally Posted by joerockhead

And what is this Game 1 Thursday, and Game 2 Sunday! How many days will this series last?

Originally Posted by BackdoorJesus

Last night was rough, but I think The Lakers only need a couple tweaks to beat the Celtics' game plan.

While I am considerably less confident than I was before the series started I still think The Lakers have what it takes to overcome, execute and take it all the way in these finals.

Originally Posted by J-DIZZLE

Karma is a b**** isn't it? First Paul Pierce fakes the funk and tries to show up and mock Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, next thing you know Kendrick Perkins sprains his ankle minutes later and then Rajon Rondo twists his foot two days later. Talk about coming back to bite you where it hurts. See Boston, this is what you get when you try to fuck with the City of Angels. No good graces will come your way.

And it's not over. Believe me. There's more of this karma thing on its way, special delivery directly to every Boston fan's doorstep. Air mail special with Kobe's you-know-what tea-bagging on all of your green and white faces.

Go ahead Boston Celtics fans. Believe you've won. Believe the L.A. Lakers are done. Believe your team is better. I dare you. The Lakers' defense swarmed Boston every which way but loose and the Celtics buckled under pressure like they did when they blew a 24-point lead just one quarter earlier. Finals rookie Doc Rivers was lost as well, unable to come up with an answer for the Lakers' adjustments on defense.

And through all the commotion over the last five periods between these two teams, the MVP has been carefully choosing his spots on the floor while studying what the Celtics are trying to do (Lakers come back from 24 down). And he is getting ready for the kill (Kobe D's up Rondo, Pierce, Allen, and the entire Celtics offense). Translation: Boston doesn't stand a chance.

Like the venomous slithering snake, the MVP is slowly but surely shedding his skin, moving ever so cleverly, and allowing his poison to do its thing and inflict its power. Such is the Celtics' predicament over the next two games. Rivers is thinking, "How on earth are we going to prevent ourselves from being down 3-2?"

While the entire eastern seaboard continues to think the Lakers are all about Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers fans remain patient. It's all about Kobe, huh? If it were, then who grabbed 12 rebounds and helped limit Kevin Garnett to 6-21 shooting? Who came off the bench to knock down big shot after big shot, score 20 points, and basically matched Ray Allen in production? Who made the adjustment of the series by putting Kobe on Rondo (thanks for taking my recommendation, Phil) immediately as the game started, not only taking Rondo out of his game but the entire Celtics' offense as well, which culminated in the actor Paul Newman, er Pierce, blowing his first Finals audition in L.A.?

Celtics fans want to taunt and call the Lakers soft? Go ahead. We double dare you. We'll see who's in foul trouble the next game.

You want to underestimate a team that put the defending champions out of their misery? Go ahead. Think like you're tough. Your team name is symbolized by a 3-foot leprechaun yet you employ a 6-ft tall mascot to look like a leprechaun at your home games. Talk about not staying true to the game and being what you are not. All of a sudden you want to say your team is tough just because KG throws down a couple dunks and Perkins throws a couple of staredowns after he scores? Who are you kidding Celtics fans?

I've watched KG since he was in high school and he's never been among the strongest or toughest big men in the NBA. He was always a finesse 7-footer who had handles for a big man and is really a small forward playing the four. When Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber, Shaq, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Horace Grant, Brian Grant, Arvydas Sabonis, and David Robinson were all in the Western Conference, Garnett was being pushed around so much he decided to settle for jumpshots. That's why his game is that way today. Boston tries to intimidate you by setting moving picks, grabbing your arm while refs aren't looking, and veteran trashtalking. The only reason guys like Sam Cassell, James Posey, and PJ Brown look as good as they do is because the media is giving them all kinds of credit for having been there before. So it makes the young Lakers role players that much more disadvantaged. Let's see if Brown tries his silly staredown and grin when Kobe or Fish runs into him.

Boston wants to believe that Game Three was in their hands. They want to believe that they were in the game the entire time and if Pierce and Garnett hadn't missed all those shots, they'd have won. Obviously, that's to be expected when you're up 2-0 and your opponents' second and third best players have been mediocre at best.

But what Boston fans don't realize (or are choosing to avoid) is that the Lakers are figuring them out with each passing quarter. They're just taking a little longer to figure out the Celtics' schemes because they are such a balanced team. No team has given the Lakers matchup problems like Boston has. But it doesn't mean the Lakers are done. All this entails is that the Lakers now have to outsmart, outexecute, outthink their opponent. It just means the Lakers have to work harder. And there's no team in the NBA this year that's worked as hard as the Lakers to get where they're at considering all of the expectations, or lack thereof, that were placed on this team.

This is where great thinkers Phil Jackson, Tex Winters, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Cleamons, Kurt Rambis, Frank Hamblen, and Brian Shaw come into the picture. Now this is an ensemble of toughness, if there ever is one. These guys have so many rings collectively you'd use up your fingers and toes. This coaching staff has so much pride, expertise, and mental toughness it will rub off on the players. And it started to happen in Game Three and will continue tomorrow night.

Go ahead Boston fans. Talk your smack. I triple dare you. Some of you will give just a little credit to the Lakers defense and how they stepped up their intensity. But ALL of you will say Boston lost because two out of their Big Three had awful games. That's fine with me. I just hope you're not trying to psyche yourself out.

The bottom line is the Celtics lost because they couldn't stop the Lakers when it counted. Yes, it was because of Kobe. And yes, Kobe is the featured player on the team. But don't be mistaken Laker adversaries. This is a TEAM. You heard me. Team. T-E-A-M. The Lakers win as a team. They lose as a team. And they even miss free throws as a team.

Lakers fans will say that L.A. would have blown out the Celtics had they converted on their free throws. Possibly so and most likely. And Celtics fans have already affirmed their belief - the Celtics are "clearly the better team" according to Lisa H. And to only lose by six even when the Lakers had all of those free throw attempts? I can already feel it. The overconfidence of Celtics' fans has got them believing that the Lakers missed their free throws because they were nervous. I'll tell you what... if a team doesn't go to the free throw line for two games, you're going to miss some foul shots. The Lakers had no practice at the free throw line, plain and simple. I bet they come out and shoot 80% in Game Four.

Don't even worry, Lakers fans. We got them right where we want them. It's the Celtics fans who are uptight, and that's why they have to go out and talk down on the Lakers after every game they win instead of talking about the positive things their team did to win. It's an inferiority complex issue. Trust me on that one. Even after a loss, the Celtics faithful will still talk their trash and put to light all the bad things that happened to the Lakers. And for them to think three games prove that the Celtics are clearly the better team is complete disillusionment. How can you seriously believe, after losing a 24-point lead in less than 8 minutes at your house in a crucial fourth quarter and come out the following game and put up so many bricks you could revive the Berlin Wall, that your team is far superior to the Lakers? I don't really want to bring up the past but had the Lakers received their fair share of calls in games one and two, this series could easily be 2-1 Lakers or even 3-0.

If Lakers fans "refuse to see the light" and are being blinded by the "glare of Hollywood". then Boston fans must be in denial about the reality television show called "Kobe Does Boston." The biggest mistake the Celtics will make is to believe the Lakers are a one-man team. A greater mistake they will make is to disregard the two players who have been cold all series long. But the greatest mistake they will make is to underestimate the character of this squad and believe their "confidence is not very high", as LISA H says, reassuring herself in the process.

I will say this: if this series is so one-sided, then how come Boston is not up 3-0? And don't even say the refs gave the Lakers calls because you deserve to get smacked upside the head if you do.

But knowing the Celtics, they will be feeling good about the way they lost. Even Doc Rivers' comments after the game implied this, mentioning how Boston could have won the game and failing to give credit to how the Lakers took them off their rhythm. Big mistake, because if you are saying you feel good about a loss, it's the first sign you're making an excuse for a bad performance and the first symptoms of weakness for the Boston Celtics in this series. How can a coach and a team feel good or confident about a loss in which the entire team plays one of the ugliest games in the biggest series of their lives? My point is, no person playing in the NBA Finals should feel good after losing.

Originally Posted by J-DIZZLE

The Lakers are playing mind games with the Celtics' overconfident demeanor. They are figuring them out slowly but surely. The Lakers have unleashed the rabid killer that is Kobe Bryant after keeping him tame in the first two games. The Celtics felt the wrath of his fire and anger for the first time on Tuesday. They will adjust by reimplementing their original gameplan for games one and two and attempt to respond to Kobe's sudden offensive onslaught.

But Boston has a major problem. Now that Kobe's on fire, his teammates will soon follow. We all know THE MVP leads by example and we all know his energy and passion rubs off on his teammates. We've seen it all year and we're going to see it again. As the Lakers coaching staff methodically dissects the Celtics using their years of experience and expertise, guys like Sasha, Fisher, Odom, Gasol, Radmanovic, Ariza, Walton, and Turiaf are meditating again and starting to believe.

The brash Celtics faithful wants to think less of Kobe's teammates and call them "dwarfs", although L.A.'s frontline is 7-0, 6-11, and 6-10 respectively. Boston wants to believe it's over. They're hoping and praying for the Lakers and their fans to collapse on the floor like a certain player who wears number 34 in green. The Truth is (no pun intended), Celtics fans are as uneasy and tense on their couch as their own team is on the Staples Center floor.

Celtics fans want to say the Lakers have no chance to win this series because the Lakers are all about Kobe. They want to taunt us and say the team in purple-and-gold has very little hope. Go ahead and underestimate Kobe and his ability to make others better players. Now that he's figured out a way to penetrate that defense, it automatically makes the other players better. You watch and listen to what I'm saying. Go ahead and overlook the Bench Mob.

Lakers Nation dares you.

THE ASSAULT CONTINUES...

Game Four Prediction: Los Angeles Lakers 104, Boston Celtics 88