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The referees bought what Phil Jackson was selling after Game 2. He moaned about the calls. Well, the refs apparently had their TV sets on NBA-TV and made sure to even things out.
The Lakers had 22 free throw attempts in the first half versus only seven for the C’s.
A few other thoughts:
*Paul Pierce was out of sorts from the opening tap. His fake 3-point attempts have been followed by bad ones. He hasn’t gotten to the line. And two of his three fouls were foolish reach-ins. He was seething. My guess is 25 points in the second half for him.
*Pau Gasol was Pierce’s equal for the Lakers. He scored two points, on free throws, in 20 minutes. He can’t get a good shot off, which credit goes to Kendrick Perkins on defense.
*Rajon Rondo has decent numbers (six points and four assists) needs to do a better job at getting Kevin Garnett open jumpers. He is forcing a few up. He needs open space and he’s not getting it.
*The Celtics need to do a better job at bothering Sasha Vujacic. He has 13 points and he is hungry for more. He needs a hand his face. He is deadly from the open. I saw him hit 20 3-pointers in a row before Sunday night’s tilt.
*The Celtics bench was bad. While James Posey had seven points, Sam Cassell, P.J. Brown and Sunday’s folk hero Leon Powe hurt the C’s.
*Kobe Bryant is going to score 40. The only question is how many shots will he have to get there. He is possessed tonight. But if he takes 35 shots, that will be acceptable. It’s guys like Vujacic who are killing the C’s thus far.