NBA Finals: Pierce showing up Bryant
Yes, i’ll make fun of Pierce’s acting forever and ever because I still don’t buy that his injury was anything worthy of a wheelchair, but he is seriously outplaying Kobe so far in these playoffs. Bryant is disappearing for minutes on end in these games while Pierce carries the Celtics on his back.
Let’s face it, Kevin Garnett hasn’t shown any clutch ability in these finals and his two choked foul shots that could’ve tied the game didn’t help. Ray Allen struggles to get his own shot now so the ball must fall to Pierce when the game is on the line. Kobe stole the ball from him last night in a very clutch play but you can’t deny the nearly 40 points on the road. Pierce can play the game and is really taking his game to the world.
What I love about a 7 game series is the fact that you really get to see how teams evolve. Rajon Rondo isn’t even guarded at this point. When he is in the game Kobe switches onto him and just plays help defense the entire time. They dare him to shoot the ball. Rondo doesn’t have the explosiveness since he hurt his ankle so he is best served on the bench unless he gets aggressive like he was in Boston. The Celtics just keep going to the pick and roll and the Lakers can’t guard it at all. It is like they haven’t seen it before even though they got it time after time against the Jazz. The difference is that Pierce comes hard off that pick looking to get to the rim for a layup or a foul while the Jazz don’t have that play in their book.
Game 6 will end the series. Boston doesn’t want it to go 7 but the Celtics are the better team and have the better coach who makes quicker adjustments and uses his timeouts very wisely. I’m getting more and more impressed with Doc Rivers as the series goes on. He instills a confidence and belief in these guys that is refreshing to watch.
