NBA Playoffs: Boston, Houston on the Brink

No defense, no win. Not in the regular season, not in the playoffs. And defense is one of the reasons that tall, thin man in the suit on Boston’s bench is so sorely missed.

Without Kevin Garnett patrolling the lane or covering from the weak side or filling an interior passing lane, the Boston Celtics have looked downright vulnerable at various points during the playoffs. Against Orlando Friday night the Celtics defense was off just slightly and minus KG they appeared sieve-like giving up 117 points to the Orlando Magic. Boston’s less-than-stellar effort resulted in a 21-point loss and finding themselves in a 2-1 hole in their Eastern Conference semifinal matchup with the Magic.

Just as Orlando did in the Philadelphia series when Dwight Howard served a one-game suspension, the Magic played their best basketball of this series without ay key starter, suspended starting point guard Rafer Alston. To make up for his loss backup reserve point guard Anthony Johnson played nearly 28 minutes was 5-7 from the floor – 13 points – with three rebounds and three assists (two turnovers). Courtney Lee played in his first game since suffering a fractured nose from a Howard elbow. Lee logged 35 minutes, scored 11 points on 3-4 shooting and had four rebounds, three assists and two turnovers. Additionally Hedo Turoglu was asked by Stan Van Gundy to take pressure off the two guards and help them bring the ball up the court against the Boaton defense. Hedo responded with 24 points on 8-12 shooting and four assists.

The combined 24 points, seven assists, and six rebounds plus Turkoglu playing his best game of the series so far allowed the Magic to confound a Celtics defense that seemed to believe that they could destroy the Magic’s timing by pressuring Johnson and Lee. Once that ploy failed Boston was slow with their rotations and the lane became an open highway for Orlando.

Another Van Gundy alteration for Game 3 was stressing that the Magic get Howard touches from the game’s outset. The young center responded with 17-point performance, which included a few smooth seven-to-nine foot jump hooks in the lane. Now if Van Gundy can realize that if his team speeds up the game’s tempo just enough to allow Howard to get down the court before Kendrick Perkins or Glen Davis so he can establish deep position on the block….

After two Eddie House three-pointers and a Rajon Rondo steal and layup Boston completed a 20-9 run and closed to within 78-69 at the end of the third quarter. But the Magic responded with a 39-point fourth quarter to seal the win. Orlando shot an amazing 59% from the floor, attempted 10 more free throws than did Boston (36-26), and out rebounded the Celtics 36-29.

Paul Pierce went only 6-15 from the floor but attempted 14 of the Celtics’ 26 free throws Pierce was perfect from the line and tallied 27 points. Ray Allen continued his pattern of one game on and one game off as he scored only eight points on 3-13 shooting from the floor in almost 33 minutes of play. Rondo was held to 15 points and had only five assists.

If the Magic can force bad games from two of the three Boston primary scorers, they will continue to have success against the Cees. But you can count on Doc Rivers to make the necessary adjustments to get Allen open looks and to free Rondo so that he can get into the lane. One thing Boston players must do, though, is to get more production from their reserves other than House. Rivers and his team cannot think that House will continue with his torrid three-point shooting. The backup guard had made 16 of his last 20 three point attempts and is due for an off game. It will be up to Brian Sclabrine to attempt more than three shots from beyond the arc and make more than one of those attempts.

There is no doubt that Boston can even the series at two games apiece but to do so they must play solid defense and rebound well to do so. If not, they will return home down 3-1 and the slim prospects of winning three games in a row.

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When Von Wafer violently jumped into Sasha Vujavic, somehow drew a foul, and converted all three free throws, the Rockets, thanks to the ridiculous call, crept to within 10 points of Los Angeles at 81-71. Throughout the season and the playoffs the Lakers have failed to finish off opponents as they squandered large leads. After the Wafer play with 9:17 remaining in regulation, they appeared to be poised to lose yet another lead. LA responded by failing to score during the game’s next 1:45. But they clamped down on the defensive end of the court and kept Houston off the scoreboard in that stretch. when they righted themselves, the Lakers coasted to a 108-94 win over the Rockets and secured a 2-1 lead the series.

Other than the Wafer play and a wholly uncalled for flagrant 2 call and rejection of Ron Artest in the game’s final minute, Game 3 of the Houston LA series was played without physical altercations.

Before Game 3 Shane Battier called Kobe Bryant’s talking nothing more than “semantics” and said I’m not going anywhere, let’s play.” Artest said points had to be taken because the Rockets were not going to give LA anything. Despite the big talk from the two players charged with stopping Kobe Bryant, Houston was not nearly as hands-on defensively Friday night as they had been the first two games against LA. And though the Lakers shot poorly overall once gain 35.6% from the floor, they were 11-20 from beyond the arc while the Rockets, after starting the game with 3-4 three point shooting early in the first quarter, shot only 3-12 threes for the remainder of the game.

Bryant began the game 5-6 from the floor but was only 6-22 the rest of the game and at one point missed 10 consecutive shots. However, he righted himself when he pulled up from 33 feet and hit a three pointer as the third quarter ended to give the Lakers a 12 point lead going into the final period. Lamar Odom played an excellent offensive game, scoring 16 points on 7-11 shooting and pulled down 13 rebounds. Jordan Farmar played solidly as he filled in for suspended starting point guard Derek Fisher. Farmar scored 11 points dished out seven assists and corralled five rebounds, while committing only one turnover in almost 32 minutes of floor time.

Houston has one main concern going into Game 4. Yao Ming injured his foot late in the fourth quarter and was hobbled for the remainder of the game. If Yao is less than 100% Rick Adelman will likely ask Artest to play on the blocks rather than allow him to float around the three point line as he did in Game 3. Though Artest can convert threes, he is most efficient around the basket to about 15 feet from the rim. Also look for Adelman to make adjustments to allow point guard Aaron Brooks more forays into the lane where he can score or create for other Rockets and to take advantage of the interior matchu between Luis Scola and Odom.

It is apparent that Farmar is much more successful defensively against Brooks than is Fisher so Adelman can count on the once-deposed to the bench Farmar to receive considerable minutes despite Fisher’s return for Game 4. But so far in the series it is apparent that Odom has not found a way to stop Scola when the Houston power forward is close to the basket. In the first tow games the Rockets hurt the Lakers through the double teams commanded by Ming and Artest down low. With a hurt Yao, Adelman must find a second player for LA to be concerned with on the blocks, and that player just might be Scola.

But for Houston to keep from returning to Los Angeles down 3-1 they must hope that the Lakers bench does not awaken. Bynum showed signs of adjusting to his role as a reserve in Game 3 as he played well defensively against Yao, was 2-2 from the floor, and had five rebounds in his 12 minutes of play. But if Luke Walton or Vujacic can make their open looks from the perimeter it will be difficult for Houston to defeat LA under any circumstances. Though the Rockets defeated the Lakers in LA in Game 1, returning to the City of Angels having lost both games at home will be demoralizing for the Rockets.

Game 4 is the series for Houston. How both teams respond to this fact will go far in showing what their chances are of winning a championship.