game 2 summary
1st half: the refs seemed a bit biased preventing the lakers from playing defense and allowing the celtics to build a 12 point lead. despite this double digit deficit, i felt the lakers were still in the game and, naively, believed lakers could get calls in the second half.
3rd quarter : the refs didn't make as many unbiased calls in the second half. but the lakers played frustrated and unfocused. i think Leon Powe droved from one end to another, untouched, for a dunk. celtics continued to hit their 3's.
4th quarter: with a little under 8 minutes left, the lakers abandoned the triangle (maybe they did earlier but this time it was really apparent) and, combined with the celtics poor closeout, began to scramble on offense. Kobe hit a couple of big shots, including one where his shoulder got pulled back but no foul. Vlad stole the ball, took 4 steps and dunked it. Sasha hit a three cutting down the lead to 4 and then Kobe hit two free throws to make it a 2 point deficit. but Pierce hit two free throws and Sasha got "blocked" (no ball...all wrists by Pierce). game over.
conclusion: celtics are up 2-0. lakers are pissed. i' m scared they're going to approach game 3 as they're "entitled" to win the game because of the officiating from this past game. i'm also scared of the celtics getting the "dwayne wade" treatment i.e. every time someone drives to the rim a foul is called regardless of what contact is actually made. i was actually worried kobe would get that treatment and it would cheapen any laker's victory. yeah...that's what i get for thinking ahead. Phil Jackson is presently undefeated in series when his teams win game 1. He was 9-1 in game 2 of nba finals. he's now 9-2. not too many home teams win games 3-5 in the finals. what i'm hoping for, and it's funny how i brought up dwayne wade and the '06 finals, is that the '08 finals goes the same way as '06 finals. That is Dallas won the first two and and Miami won the next four including those three home games they had. that's what i'm hoping for. sigh....going to be a long day.