I want to take a page from Sesame Street's book for today's post about the Lakers/Celtics game. For years and years they have been educating our youth with their "word of the day" segment. Today's word(s) of the day? Execution.
In the latter stages of the 4th quarter, the Lakers decided to shift their offense from general iso/post looks on the baseline to more of a two-man create game between Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. To begin the set, Gasol would get the ball right side near the top of the key. He would then hand off to Kobe and in the process set a pick on Bryant's defender. They would alternate this look with Kobe having the ball at the top of the key and Pau setting a screen on either side. This freed up more space into which Kobe could not only drive, but create for the rest of his teammates. This seems like it would be an effective process, but the rest of the Lakers could not get themselves into the right positions to allow for open baskets.
Andrew Bynum, clearly a post player, clogged up the lane by setting up on the left block instead of the right one and took up space where he was not in the position to be getting the ball. Neither Derek Fisher nor Metta World Peace moved along the perimeter without the ball to get into open catch and shoot situations. That said, Kobe still made 4-6 shots (many of which being contested) for 10 points and 2 assists in the 4th quarter though, and, as the best closer in today's NBA, kept it close and gave the Lakers their best chance to win.
On the other side of the ball, the Celtics don't have nearly the same shot creators from which their counterparts benefit. Throughout the game Paul Pierce, they're best shot creator, shot just 4-13 from the floor and provided just two 4th quarter points (both from the free throw line). Instead of constantly trying to go to him though, Boston's focus shifted giving touches to their entire team, hoping their ball movement would propel them to a victory.
Boston's unselfish style of play was apparent from their assist numbers. They registered assists on 33 of their 39 shots made, but were unable to come up with a point in the last 2:20 of the 4th. This was due to the way the Lakers closed out on the perimeter shooters and stopped Boston from getting open looks.
The Celtics intended to swing the ball inside-outside from their posts to the perimeter to get open looks on baseline/elbow jumpers. They understood that the overwhelming size combination of Bynum and Gasol prevented them from being able to go to a post game, so they relied on their athleticism and intelligence to get shots to their excellent mid-range shooters. Primarily this would result from a dribble drive from Rondo and then a kick out on an off-ball screen to either Kevin Garnett or Brandon Bass. Unfortunately for the C's, however, their shots would not fall in the final moments of the half and they finally came away with the loss.
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