MKRob Sports

Boston Celtics on Offense:

The Boston Celtics is arguably the most dangerous offensive team in the NBA. Starting small forward Paul Pierce is leading the team averaging 19.1 ppg in the playoffs and Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett are all averaging 15 points or more per game in the playoffs which means they will be contributing to the scoring in each game against the Lakers.

The Celtics bench also have a few scorers that could come in and contribute when the starters take a breather. Former Knicks point guard Nate Robinson, veteran guard Michael Finley and former Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace can all provide some offensive help when needed.  Tony Allen has also proven that he can pick up the slack when the Celtics offense is struggling.

Overall the Celtics Big Three (Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett) should have some great offensive games and get lots of help from the bench.

Los Angeles Lakers on Defense:

The Lakers have one of the best defenders in the NBA in forward Ron Artest and a pretty decent defender under the basket in Pau Gasol but I believe the Lakers don’t have enough to cover all of the Celtics weapons.

I expect Lakers head coach Phil Jackson to defend Kevin Garnett and if Paul Pierce gets hot, he may switch over to Pierce. Kobe Bryant is a decent defender so he should do a good job on Ray Allen. Derek Fisher will need to slow down a hot Rajon Rondo and Lamar Odon will have to cool off another Celtics sharpshooter in Paul Pierce.

Los Angeles Lakers on Offense:

The Lakers are of course led by Kobe Bryant who will do the majority of the scoring for the Lakers but he can’t do it all himself, he will need major help in order to outscore the Celtics. Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher and Ron Artest and will have to hit their perimeter shots and Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton will have to give the Lakers some points from the bench to keep with the scoring of the Celtics.

Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum will also have to play the game of their lives to win this series. With the tremendous perimeter shooting of the Celtics, the Lakers will have to do lots of scoring in the middle so they could force the Celtics to play defense underneath the basket. Overall I think the Lakers will score plenty with Bryant but it gets iffy after that.

Boston Celtics on Defense:

The Celtics are kind of light on defense with Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett leading the way. Allen will have to stop, or at least slow down Kobe Bryant in order to make this series an easier task for them.

I do expect to see a lucky three-point shot from Derek Fisher every now and then but he shouldn’t be a huge factor with Rondo on his tail. Odom and Gasol will have to be huge in this series because I expect the Celtics to double Kobe Bryant most of the time. The middle should be cluttered with Garnett, Perkins and Glen “Big Baby” Davis off the bench. The Celtics will force the Lakers to out shoot them by keeping the middle covered.

Prediction: Boston Celtics in 7

The missing piece to the puzzle last year for the Celtics was the emotional leadership that Kevin Garnett brings to the lineup and with the amount of scoring weapons that the Celtics have along with the deepest bench in the NBA, they should prevail in this series.