Lakers vs Celtics Game 3 NBA Finals – Lakers’ Embarrassing Win

Published by lakers-fan.com on June 12th, 2008 | Tagged lakers vs celtics

Do you recall going to the bowling alley and seeing the little fat spastic kid to the lane next to you run up and chuck his ball down the bumper lane, barely being able to hold his ball? And you see the ball go back and forth off the bumpers until it just barely hits the top pin and all the other pins come falling down for the strike? That is what I was reminded of when I watched Game 3 of the 2008 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics.

This was a must win for The Lakers where they lost the first two games in Boston. The Lakers came out of the first quarter fired up, sparked by Kobe Bryant’s aggressive driving and getting to the foul line early. However, quickly into the middle of the first quarter, The Lakers went COLD. Aside from Kobe Bryant and “The Machine” Sasha, nobody could find the basket. Lamar Odom had one of the worst games I’ve seen him play and Pau Gasol looked like Luke Skywalker before he was about to fight Jaba’s pet monster. Neither could find scoring opportunities and also were getting beat hard on the rebounds.

Despite the Lakers foul play, Boston was playing even worse. Kevin Garnett started out the half with no field goals and Paul Pierce was not far behind him. Ray Allen and Rondo were the only Celtics that looked comfortable in the Staples Center.

Towards the end of the third quarter, Kevin Garnett began to pick it up while the Lakers were playing even worse. Lamar Odom continued to stay in foul trouble and frankly didn’t deserve to be in the game. And as for Vlade Radmanovic, well, he played about as good as Eric Montross with a sore leg. The Lakers finished the third quarter trailing the Celtics.

Mid fourth quarter, Kobe Bryant began to take matters into his own hands as the Lakers fought back to regain the lead. Lamar Odom and Pau finally contributed offensively, but you can mostly credit the comeback to The Lakers defense. Boston continued to struggle offensively and turn over the ball. Game 3 ended as a Los Angeles Lakers victory.

We will always take the win, but it was a disgusting one. The Lakers will need to step it up tonight if they plan on tying up the series. Lamar and Pau will have to get involved early to help Kobe save energy for the end of the game. If the Lakers continue to play tough defense and frustrate Garnett and Pierce, we should see a tied up series. The game 3 win was also a big win for The Lakers mentally, being the first win against “The New” Celtics this year.

- Chris Marquis