That Was Rough

Did Derek Fisher just cry on national TV after going up 2-1 in this series? He does know they still have to win 2 more games to clinch the Championship, right? Christ. As if nobody thought the Lakers were soft before this.  Somebody get this guy a box of tissues and a copy of "The Notebook". Makes me sick.

Anyways, before Fisher's cryfest on national TV, he torched the Celtics in the 4th quarter single handedly. With Kobe building houses shot by shot, Fisher stepped in and somehow found a way to put the ball in the basket every time the Celtics got close to turning a corner in the 4th. And it isn't like Fisher had been dominant prior to the 4th quarter. No, he only had 5 points in the game until pouring in 11 in the 4th. Granted, the Celtics didn't lose the game in the 4th quarter. No, the game got away from us in the first half, when the C's decided to lay down and play dead as the Lakers went on a 32-8 run, effectively getting the crowd out of the game and the life out of the already lifeless Celtics.

But give the C's credit. They fought back in the 2nd half, cutting the Lakers lead down to 1 at numerous points - only to have Fisher answer back. I have to point a whole bunch of the blame for this loss elsewhere, however. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were literally non-existant. Jesus Shuttleworth went 0-13 shooting, and although Paul Pierce ended up with 15 points, they came sporadically and usually untimely. The Celtics as a team also couldn't hit free throws for crap. Both Boston and LA had 24 free throw attempts - LA made 21(87.5%) and we made 16 (66%). As a team we need to be shooting much higher than 66% from the line in order to win.

I'd also like to point to my last post about refereeing - as the refs dictated Game 3 as well. LA only had 20 personal fouls called against them, while Boston had 27. That's a big difference in an NBA finals game, especially when the calls are coming at crucial points (Ray Allen's "offensive foul" in th 4th when we had a chance to take the lead). Plus, KG and Pierce had to play limited minutes due to foul trouble. With the kind of game KG was having, we needed him on the court, but the refs took him out of play quickly.

So Game 4 is coming up on Thursday. I think the questions that need to be asked are these - 1.) Which Celtics team will show up - the one that can score and get crucial stops, or the one we saw last night, and 2.) How will the refs decide to screw the game for one side. I'll be back after Game 4 to let you know how those questions got answered...