ESPN Recap • Forum Blue & Gold • Silver Screen and Roll
Pace: 86 possessions (slow-ish)
Offensive Efficiency: 78 points/100 possessions (calamitous)
Defensive Efficiency: 103.4 points allowed/100 possessions (elite)
Thumbnail: The Lakers defense destroyed Boston’s offense, and when the game was in the balance, LA rebounded a third of its own misses in out-working and out-playing the Celtics to force Game 7 on Thursday. The status of Kendrick Perkins for that game is unclear after he left tonight’s game in the first quarter with a right knee injury, the exact nature of which is unclear as I write this.
Recap: Above all else, the story of this game is the fact that the Lakers’ defense just annihilated Boston’s half court offense with a combination of hard work and sound strategy—strategy that Boston can counter in Game 7 if they are up to it. But if there’s one concern that has dogged this team all season, even during this playoff run, it is the question of whether Boston’s offense—which ranked just 15th in points per possession this season—could produce in the half court against an elite defense.
They couldn’t tonight, and before you start ranting about missed lay-ups (there were a few) and dunks (there were two—hi, Shelden), give some credit to Phil Jackson and the guys in blue and gold. » More: Disaster in LA: Lakers 89, Boston 67