The Lakers are out to stop a three-game streak of losses at home. The losing side was boosted by power forward Anthony Davis , who dropped a double-double on 27 points and ten rebounds. Meanwhile, Boston took their game against the Portland Trail Blazers this past Saturday by a conclusive score. The matchup was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point the Celtics had established a advantage.
Among those leading the charge for them was point guard Dennis Schroder , who shot 5-for-7 from beyond the arc and finished with 31 points and eight assists. The Lakers are the favorite in this one, with an expected 3.
But bettors beware: they are only against the spread when favored. Los Angeles is now while Boston sits at The Celtics are after wins this season, and Los Angeles is after losses.
The Lakers are a 3. The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Lakers as a 2. Get picks now. By Scout Staff. The Lakers tried crowding him most of Game 5 and got killed off the dribble. But L. The Lakers' defenders on Pierce, mostly Vladimir Radmanovic , seemed unable to employ the proper footwork to force him to the area to which the rest of the team needed him to move.
Pierce went middle when the defenders needed him to go baseline and he went baseline when the team was ready to help him in the paint. Credit Pierce a great deal for this, but blame much of it on poor defense, too. Inexcusably, Radmanovic often approached Pierce standing straight up, not crouched in a defensive stance, giving him the green light to roast Radmanovic and get into the teeth of the defense.
Watch Boston to see the importance of this defensive strategy -- both in terms of individual stance and team positioning. The bigs for L. But Boston featured ball screens plus feet from the rim after spreading and flattening the floor with its shooters. This has resulted in open space for Pierce, who uses that room to blow past Pau Gasol. Boston also likes to use whomever Gasol is guarding in these situations, dragging him from the paint and exposing his lack of foot speed in open-court situations.
It's tough to trap a player such as Pierce so far from the basket, and if the Lakers do, the court is opened for too many shooters. On screens that far from the basket, asking the player defending Pierce to just go under the screen might be their best answer.
On numerous occasions, players didn't switch during wing-to-wing screens involving Pierce specifically , which allowed him easy layups and dunks. Boston will continue to try to get Pierce involved in as many screening actions as possible, hoping to ride his talent and the "zone" he is in to win a title.
To counter this, L. Whether it is to switch, run a helper over early, go under the screen or trap, the Lakers must be consistent or risk giving up too many easy baskets. Remember, their margin for error on defense is razor thin to begin with, so when the strategy is to have two guys marking Pierce -- but more often than not, the execution results in no one guarding him -- only bad things can happen.
Having the crowd behind likely it will create more energy for Boston in this area, so L. Phil Jackson, as expected, was quick to try anything possible, personnelwise, to stay alive in Game 5. Sasha Vujacic has played two bad games in a row, on offense, at least -- he's shooting 3-for -- and saw his playing time drop because of it. He tied his series low in minutes played. He's rushing his shots and shooting because he's open instead of because he knows he'll make the shot.
Jordan Farmar played his best game in Game 5, and thus was rewarded with his series high of 24 minutes. Jackson will not go back to a set rotation in Game 6, instead playing the guys who are playing the best. And we shouldn't expect to see Chris Mihm , who made a brief but terrible appearance in Game 5. He just has not played enough minutes in the postseason to be able to contribute. There are two X factors working for L. Lamar Odom clearly has taken on a stronger and more assertive role for the Lakers offensively, and he has scored 39 points on for shooting in their past two games.
His rebounding numbers were up, as well, and are equally important. Bryant is the other X factor. He's had incredible halves in this series, but never a full game of awesome production. No one can question his effort, as he came up with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. But he hasn't had that incredible game -- scoringwise, that is -- and it looks as though the Lakers need that kind of game from him to advance to a Game 7.
But he must pull it off without isolating his teammates, who certainly will need to make plays of their own, as well. It's going to be a tough balancing act. Although L. Doc Rivers has his team totally focused on the minutiae of each game, so the Celtics will play each quarter on its own merit instead of thinking about the end of the game and the potential celebration.
Boston is just too fundamentally sound, and Pierce has played himself into the starring role, a position he's comfortable with. Kevin Garnett , too, can fill this spot, as he nears his first championship. But if the Lakers can put together their best performance of the season, considering their immense talent, we likely will see a Game 7. Coming home for Game 6 with a lead is exactly what the Celtics had envisioned before this series started.
Although they are right where they wanted to be, there are some concerns that Boston must address to close out this series Tuesday. In spite of their heroic comebacks, the Celtics can't afford to spot the Lakers another double-digit lead in the first quarter of Game 6. A combination of early turnovers and poor transitional defense helped the Lakers race to those early leads in Games 4 and 5.
To take control of the game, Boston must address those turnover issues in its first few possessions of Game 6. The turnovers were due mostly to a lack of ball and player movement, so Boston needs early offensive production to play from the lead and work the home crowd into a frenzy. Rivers can orchestrate this by "scripting" the Celtics' early offensive possessions with set plays for his big guns. Look for the Celtics to run stagger sets to get Ray Allen going early in Game 6, which will have him and the basketball changing sides of the floor, getting him into an aggressive-attacking mode.
Flex screens for Pierce coming across the lane with pick-and-pop opportunities for Garnett will provide better movement and variety to attack the Lakers' suspect defense. The Lakers' defense has been good on the initial help or trap action for most of this series, but their defense becomes more suspect with each additional pass.
With more action early in these possessions in Game 6, easier opportunities should open up later in the shot clock for Pierce and Garnett if they have to go one-one-one. The Lakers have no real answer for Garnett on the left side of the post or for Pierce at the top of the floor. Garnett has had his way with Gasol, and Pierce took six different Lakers defenders to the rim off the dribble in Game 5. Rivers must make some key decisions about his use of Rajon Rondo in Game 6.
Rondo has been the quarterback of the NBA's best team all season, but Jackson has effectively put the Celtics point guard on the bench for much of the series by using Kobe Bryant as his primary defender and roving off Rondo to trap, help and clog up the middle.
Both have provided scoring and perimeter shooting, which has helped the Celtics get the one win they needed on the road in Game 4 and almost close out the Lakers in Game 5. However, neither player can provide the speed, dribble penetration and creation for others that Rondo can on the offensive end.
House and Cassell also struggled against full-court pressure, which can be expected from the Lakers in Game 6. More important for Boston, neither House nor Cassell is anywhere close to the defender Rondo is. Defensively, Rondo gives the Celtics ball-hawking man-to-man pressure as well as steals, deflections, rebounds and just the creation of general havoc. With Farmar playing an extended role for the Lakers and hurting Boston with dribble penetration, look for Rondo to play more minutes in Game 6 to give the Celtics back some of their defensive pressure.
Tony Allen 's contribution in Game 5 is a good sign for Boston on the defensive end, as well, as he can provide a bigger presence at either guard spot. To counter Kobe's roaming with Rondo on the floor, Boston must reverse the ball quickly to Rondo's side so he can knife into the paint from the weak side or sneak behind the defense for an easy layup.
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