Earlier this week, the Zen Mistress said that the Lakers had lost that "loving feeling" they had when the season started. OK, he really said they lost a spark. My question is this: What happened?
The Lakers came out of the gates like a (Eddie) House on fire, while the Celtics stumbled in game 3. Even Celtics homers like me weren't surprised by either development. We expected the Lakers to play with a chip on their shoulder, and roll through the West this year like they did last. We also expected the Celtics to play with a little less gusto, having just won their first championship a couple months earlier, and not having much left to prove until the playoffs began again next April.
Isn't it funny how perspectives change after a month and a half of basketball. The Green are making obvious they don't like to lose--ever. They understand the window of opportunity is still open, but not wide open. So they plan to dominate while they can. This seems to have made some impact on the Kobe Bryant, who, in a post below, admitted that he's now playing with a more mellow attitude because the season is long.
If the first 25 games was about making statements, the Lakers clearly made the first statement. They held serve. But the Celtics held serve, too. Now let's see if they can break serve and close out the set on Thursday.
2 comments:
How many teams have we seen over the years make a committment to playing tough defense at the start of the year and then after a couple of weeks slack off on defense. The truth is, it is easy to talk defense and even to play it for a couple of weeks. But, it takes a very special team to make that defensive commitment week in and week out game in and game out for an entire season. And, it takes an even more special team to make that defensive commmitment for 2 seasons in a row. The truth comes out. The Celtics are a very, very special team.... the Lakers are not.
Definitely too many egos and not enough unselfishness to be a good defensive team. When their teammate gets beat by their man they're happy to step aside and let that person waltz to the basket instead of helping. Their bigs are the worst offenders.
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