Congratulations to the Boston Celtics, the best team in the NBA for the 2007-2008 season, the 2008 Playoffs, and the 2008 NBA Finals. I’ve criticized KG when I felt it was necessary, rooted for him when he was emotional, and rooted for him tonight. It was awesome to see him win the championship and to see all that emotion pour out of him. I loved Pierce in those playoff season when he was holding that team up. To see him vindicated was absolutely phenomenal, and he was the Truth. For Ray Allen to come back from his slump, that was legendary. He was incredible, with so much confidence. Calm, confident, and focused.

For the Lakers?

Um.

Yeah, they got killed. I guess my initial instincts were correct, but even I didn’t see this coming. A complete and total disgrace on the court tonight. Look, the Celtics’ defense would have killed anyone. But to completely fail to compete? Damn. Let’s go to the bullet thoughts, shall we?

• You know, doubling in the block is great. Closing out on perimeter defense about 50% of the time? That’s nice. But maybe, just maybe, you should start with, oh, I don’t know, DEFENDING UNDERNEATH THE LITTLE RING WITH THE NET HANGING FROM IT. How many dunks, lay-ins, and easy buckets did they get tonight? I mean, don’t get me wrong, the “3 pointers decide the game” theorem continued it’s dominance tonight (Lakers hit 10, shot 37% from the arc, Boston hit 13, shot 50%), but seriously, the shot chart doesn’t do the offensive rebounding advantage (14-2…!) justice, and easy underneath buckets justice. Which, of course, will be defended by Lakers fans as easily fixed by…

• The Bynum Question. “If Bynum was in there, we would have won! Lakers Rule!” Look. Bynum coming back could help. It could push them into an atmosphere. They could win 82 games. Okay, maybe not. But it could all work out. But three months of improvement does not a career make, especially not in the face of two knee surgeries. He could come back 100%. He could not. You remember “Oh, he’ll be back in March!”? How about “Oh, he’ll be back for the second round.” Yeah, that was a while ago, kids. I’m not raining on the parade. The Lakers were the best team in the Western Conference. And I put them tops to make it back here, probably a 3-1, maybe 5-1 depending on what the Blazers do in the offseason. I’m just saying, let’s not pretend like all the Lakers’ problems would have been solved by the presence of Bynum. A first-aid kit won’t heal a series of gunshot wounds, defensively.

• Oh, Lamar. I do think Odom will benefit from Bynum the most. I’ve long said he’s an oversized 3, and Bynum’s presence will allow him to play there. Maybe he’s not good as the second option, or the third option, but maybe the fourth? It sounds weak, but it’s impossible to give up on Odom, with all the flashes of brilliance he exhibits. Or maybe he’s deadly as a third option, but only in the regular season, and can be solved in the playoffs. But with Bynum on the floor, he gets to slash and kick and work on his face-up, and maybe, just maybe, drop some layups. But this series was a disaster for him. He was outworked, outclassed, and outsmarted on a consistent basis. If anyone’s going to get traded, it’s Odom. It’s unlikely, considering the Lakers’ tenuous cap situation and the fact that they, you know, made the Finals. But Ziller thinks so, and I heard something of value on ESPN radio today (I know, shocker). Jalen Rose said if you don’t make adjustments in the offseason, you don’t go forward, you go back. Might be true, might not.

• Pau Gasol is a soft Euro Forward/Center with a few great hook shots and a terrific game at the elbow, but who suffers in rebounding and post defense. We knew this before the season, we knew this in Memphis, we knew this when the trade went through, and we know this now. Just the facts, mi amigo.

• 22 Points on 7-22 shooting, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 turnovers. M.V.P.

• But no, we’ll let this one slide. There wasn’t anything Bryant could do. I think he honestly wanted to start taking over the game in the 2nd, but once the Celtics pushed into the lead, they weren’t letting Kobe loose. We’ll talk about the defense in a minute, but Kobe wasn’t going to be able to do anything. Everytime he went around the screen, he was doubled, immediately. The one time he did split the double team? He found another one waiting in the lane. So he drove and kicked to Sasha. Who bobbled the pass. Again. I don’t know whether it was Bryant’s passing, or the shooter’s hands, but no one could catch a damn thing tonight. It looks like there should be another pass there, but you can’t once you give the Celtics a chance to recover. When they close, that’s it. You’re either shooting over them, or not shooting at all. Or tossing up bad shots. Thing is. Farmar and Vujacic were 4 of 6 from the arc. So there were shooters. So why weren’t they out there more? And who was in their place? Big men, like Turiaf and Ariza? No! It was everyone’s favorite!

• Vlad Radmanovic? Really, Jax? Really? 20 minutes? Really? Again? Really?

• I’m not going to dog Doc Rivers. He’ll get his due. But when you look at it? Jackson underperformed, more than Rivers rose up. Jackson badly managed his roster, failed to make adequate adjustments, didn’t go back to what was working (Gasol in the post), presumably out of some sort of misguided stubbornness about what he considers to be the gameplan. This is a dynamic game, and he forgot that in this series, wrapped up in his own genius.

• Oh, yeah, and like the Paroxi-wife always says, “Luke Walton looks like a weasel.” Not a judgment statement. Just a fact. Weasel-like, she says.

On to the Celtics, and one of the greatest team performances in NBA Finals history.

• Let’s start with Rondo. The whole series, he was trying to be something he’s not. The guy that flashes to the rim and hits a crazy layup. Or nails the pull up J. He’s not Chris Paul. He’s not Deron Williams. And he doesn’t need to be, and he shouldn’t be. Tonight, for whatever reason, he remembered what he is. He facilitated the offense, grabbed rebounds, played defense, and created turnovers, which he immediately turned into transition opportunities, if nothing else disrupting the Lakers’ full court trap, designed to limit the Celtics’ possession time. He committed himself to it, and he played superbly. He was a joy to watch, because he was just himself. LA, you got Rondo’d.

• By the way, TrueHoop called it. He said young legs would be the difference. And with Rondo, that was certainly the case. Now if only Henry hadn’t taken the Lakers to win the series.

• Speaking of young’ns, how about Big Baby Davis? The highlights from the first half are all going to show Davis’ lack of length getting him killed by Gasol, which is going to happen. But he wasn’t out there to do that. I felt like Davis should get burn so that he could provide energy and enthusiasm. And that’s what he did. If you’re hustling, you don’t need to be lights out.

• I’ve bagged on Perkins at times in this series. I don’t think he had a great series. I think he had a great 2nd game, and a great sixth game. But tonight, he was more than great. Playing with that shoulder, and putting so much body on Gasol to get him just off enough to discourage him, was gritty.

• James Posey. Book it, trademark 2008, J.E. Skeets. “Big. Game. James.”

• Doc Rivers. Okay. Here goes. This is going to be painful.

• Doc, I may have… been too harsh on you. Sigh. I’m sorry. I was wrong. You’re not Greg Popovich, but as someone that always says that you don’t need to be the best, you need to be the last guy standing at the right time, I have to admire you. You really inspired a team of veterans, and you made all the adjustments you needed to when you absolutely had to. You outcoached Phil Jackson. And it doesn’t really matter what I, or anyone else says. You’ve got the ring, now. And we can all kiss it.

• If only for one night, Rivers used Perkins, Powe, and Davis in a three-headed monster, dynamic, interlocking mechanism that dominated the lane, controlled the boards, and flummoxed the Lakers’ frontcourt beyond frustration. Dominant.

• Ray Allen. While KG was screaming and struggling and yelling and barking and passing out, where was Ray? Smiling. Confident. Working. And knocking down clutch three pointer after clutch three pointer. He led Bryant through a series of screens with precision that make the word “gauntlet” seem cuddly. And when he got the ball, unlike the Lakers’ shooters? He was ready to pull the trigger. And Ray had no doubts at all about it going in, our doubts be damned.

• KG. Nothing got me tonight, emotionally speaking. The Garnett sick falling down and one got me yelling, as did a couple of his defensive plays, but really the one thing that really put it to me? His post game speech. I don’t care if it was scripted and overdone. One of my best friends in the entire world is getting married on Saturday, and when I give a speech at the rehearsal dinner, it’ll be scripted to a degree. And I’ll mean every second of it. Same deal.

• The communication on defense stars and ends with Garnett. He’s always barking out orders, talking about adjustments, planning for the next attack. He’s lethal as a commander. And he finally brought it offensively. The turnaround. The spot up. Dunks. Putbacks. The full Ticket. And this time, El Tigre Monstruoso as he’s known around these parts, brought the bite with the bark.

• The Motherfriggin’ Truth.

• Pierce was the one guy beyond every player on the floor, Kobe included, who simply refused to get caught up in strategy, defensive adjustments, and confusion, and just attacked. Constantly. And it paid off for him time and time again. He was a tireless defender, no matter his assignment, and his offensive repertoire was every bit as dynamic as it ever has been.

• This was without a doubt, the best dribble penetration defense I’ve ever seen, and Josh Smith, LeBron James, Tayshaun Prince, and Kobe Bryant can attest to that.

• They were an excellent team, forged in a once in a lifetime opportunity. It paid off, and now the Celtics have more to add to their legacy, and another banner to hang.

Okay, well that wraps it up. We’ll have a piece up by the end of the week on where HP goes from here, as well as a season wrap up, and the start of the official HP offseason. We might have a little less up for a few days while we take a very hard earned break, but don’t worry, because we’ll be over at Ridiculous Upside, slinging the draft and D-League Voodoo.

Thanks for the season, NBA. Thanks to all the bloggers with us and for the links, advice, and support. We couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks to the Paroxi-wife and Corn-Girl, we DEFINITELY couldn’t have done it without you.

Great season, folks.

Let’s do it again soon.

Hardwood Paroxysm. Where The Fun’s Just Getting Started Happens.

• On the day of Game 4, I had predicted a Lakers win. But I woke up, and the first thing I thought after “God, I hate the sun” and “Man, my wife is smokin’” is “You know, the Lakers really can’t defend under the basket.” Then I went through my day and I found myself thinking as I was putting on socks, that “Wow. You know, Odom really doesn’t have a single matchup advantage because of his skillset right now.” I kept trying to shake it off. By mid-day, I was thinking, “Jackson just does not trust Farmar enough to let him get minutes.” And so on. I stuck with my original prediction, just as I am tonight. But I’m in the same situation. My original pre-series pick was Boston in six. I’ll stay with it. But I’m going to say right here that my matchup momentum gut feeling is with the Lakers.

• Don from With Malice said that the longer this series goes, the more it favors the Lakers because of Jackson. There have been other suggestions that while Doc was winning the intragame adjustments, Jackson was winning the intergame adjustments, and with the smaller advantages becoming smaller, Jackson’s advantage was growing. I’m not sure about that. Jackson has still been flummoxed by Boston’s defense, and the Lakers have yet to play true Lakers ball yet. They start hot and then freeze. Burn, freeze, burn, freeze. The games are pretty much decided by what point the buzzer sounds in that cycle.

• The big advantage for LA? They can improve, Boston can’t as much. Yes, Garnett can play better and Rondo can not act like he’s brain damaged and the Celtics can get back to rebounding. But the Lakers have Farmar who’s starting to realize “Hey, I’m really pretty good” and eventually, Turiaf’s going to have his big energy game. He doesn’t play well on the road, though, so that could be an issue. However, the Lakers simply have more healthy guns right now.

• I don’t know what in the hell took him so long, but Jackson finally started to realize that the two-point backcourt with Bryant at the figurative 3 is a good idea against these guys. By putting more shooters on the floor, you force the Celtics to the perimeter, which opens the passing lanes. At some point tonight, the Celtics are simply going to have to try and freeze the Lakers’ supporting cast by saying “Fine. Take the three pointers and the 18 footers. You hit ‘em, you hit ‘em.” They got the series lead by dominating the glass. Abandoning that strategy for fear of Radmanovic, Vujacic, Fisher, and Farmar is not a good adjustment. Make those guys beat you for forty minutes.

• Kevin Garnett must score 20+ and have a double double for the Celtics to win tonight.

• We’re adding a new drinking stipulation to the BDL drinking game tonight. Whenever Radmanovic gets burned, it’s “Radman! Drink!”

• The Lakers need to send Bryant on some off the ball screens through the paint. Having him pop out of a Gasol screen, catch the entry from Fisher and shoot will probably be effective. Likewise, every inch of separation means it’s that much easier for him to get to the rack, which he needs to do. It’s not that Kobe can’t nail those jumpers, Lord knows he can better than anyone. But drives means attack, and attack means fouls, and fouls means pushing the defense back on its heels.

• For the Celtics, I would honestly let Paul Pierce attack off the screen and roll on every possession till the Lakers prove they can stop it. That’s how poorly they defended it in Game 5. Eventually they’re going to wisen up, and it’s at that point that Garnett has to roll to the rim, hard, and Pierce has to find him. Those two need to have great energy working back and forth for the Celtics to thrive offensively.

• Jordan Farmar: When playing Rondo, work off the weakside screen to the baseline. That’s where he’s most effective on the drive. Defensively, have Vujacic work the full court press to wear him out, then trap him hard at the wing. Make him make the right pass. The Celtics’ turnover margin has been terrible in this series and the Lakers haven’t capitalized.

• Rondo: When playing Fisher, use the wing screen to get to the middle of the lane for the floater. It’s his best attack move and if it gets going, he’s going to get in rhythm, which means that nightmare of a jumper might fall. If Rondo has a big game, it’s almost impossible for the Lakers to counter it. Against Farmar, post him. You have the size and length, and Gasol’s likely to come hunting for a block, leaving his man open under the rim for approximately the 7,000th time this series. If Rondo can force the double with his size advantage and make the interior pass, those easy buckets make the Lakers’ confidence crumble.

• Lakers: Double in the block. They’ve done it amazingly well in this series, and they need to keep it up. Do whatever you have to to make KG push the ball out. If Pierce comes in, double with the guard. If KG goes low, bring the weakside big help.

• Celtics: Let Kobe have ISO, just keep the flash and go going. He keeps settling for jumpers in those situations, and the little 17-second-left-on-the-shot-clock-mid-range-Js are bad for his business.

• The Boston crowd is absolutely phenomenal. If Kobe gets that “f all of you” poison in his blood, one of two things will happen. He’ll start jacking shots and take his teammates out of position, and lose, or he’ll score 60 and win. He’s done a good job of not letting those things affect him all year, but this may be a night when he needs to.

• I’ll still take Celtics, 97-90, but I don’t feel good about it.

• I do feel great about getting to watch this game. Enjoy.

• Great game by the Lakers, in pieces. Best for them was their ability to actually, you know, rebound, and their interior passing was a million times better.

• Terrific interview by Kobe after the game. Michelle asks “Is this a good enough performance to win on the road?” and Kobe says “Probably not. Probably have to play better.” Awesome honest answer.

• With 2:30 to go, KG missed two free throws to tie, prompting me to try and be fair. I said “No way MJ misses two free throws to tie with 2:30 to go in the Finals.” Dwyer informed me that MJ did exactly that in Game 4 versus Cleveland. Which somehow made me realize that any sort of comparison to MJ is ridiculous. It reminded me of how useless those kind of comparisons are and why we never indulge in them. The question has become a chicken and the egg sort of deal. Both sides in the comparing-Kobe-to-MJ debate think the other side started it. “We’re just saying you can make the argument!” versus “There is no you can make the argument!” When in the end, who cares? I was wrong for having brought the comparison.

• Pau Gasol was incredible. He actually battled for four quarters and showed that he is, actually seven feet tall. The rebounding was huge. The one thing that Gasol has done consistently throughout the series is attack Kevin Garnett. Garnett’s had a good series, which is surprising, given what I just said and his shooting percentage. But he’s had some big moments and has been a terrific defensive pressurizer. But Gasol has attacked him in the post and either outmuscled Garnett or gotten him in the air for the up and under. Who saw that coming? Not I said the cat.

• The Lakers are getting better at point as they go. Jackson in the beginning was just relying on Fisher’s veteran savvy. Then he saw that wasn’t working, so he went to Farmar’s speed and agility. Then that only took him so far. So now he’s using Farmar to provide the motor, and Fisher to hit the big spots. Great adjustments by Phil Jackson. Finally.

• The Celtics are running out of weaponry. They’re down to Tony Allen for big shots. You need random guys to come up big, and the Celtics are running out of weaponry. The two day break is not good for them, either. Pierce needs another day, and he’s not going to get it.

• That said, Pierce has been incredible off the pick and roll. Versus the Lakers, who sometimes actually look too often for the pick and roll (not Bryant, calm down, Kobephiles), Pierce will often look, see that the defense has no idea how to cover the pick and roll, and just attack the basket. And it works about five times in a row before Jackson knocks some sense into them. Say what you want about this series, Paul Pierce has been the best player, and it pains me to think that this will all be for naught. Then I remember he went to Kansas, and I kind of giggle at the thought.

• I did call Celtics in six, if you recall.

• In conclusion:

Kobe not so good, officiating a little questionable (but not Game 2, so no complaints), but all in all, a good game. I like the Lakers to burst out in the fourth and end it. The Celtics are running out of weapons. I would be concerned if I were a Celtics fan.

• And predictably, Kobe’s defenders come charging out out to protect their wounded hero. Actually, there’s an interesting little gamble being put together by me and Respect Kobe. It involves his ability to convince a panel of bloggers, three of his selection, three of mine, that Jordan was as fallible as Kobe. If he convinces the majority, we post an apology to Kobe (yes, another one. You’d think I would learn my lesson), Josh gets reins on HP for 12 hours, and I buy him a Lakers’ championship or Western Conference championship shirt. That should be fun.

• I do want to point out two things.

• The first is that I’m not necessarily putting the game 4 debacle on him. For the most part, I think Kobe played a great game. He didn’t try and do too much, he got his teammates involved before they started completely sucking, and for a time, tried to take over the game. I think he could have gone to the rack more in the very end of the game, but that’s really nitpicking, and he deserves better. My only point regarding Jordan is that there is a clear separation between the two. Not that Kobe sucks because he’s not Jordan, he’s just not. And yes, Bulls teams blew late game lead. But not 24 points at home in the NBA Finals. That’s an exaggerated feat, but I’ll let Josh defend his premise on his own.
  Maybe he’ll convince me, wouldn’t be the first time.

• This series is not done. A tenant of Hardwood Paroxysm is this. Everything amazing in sports that’s been done was, at one point or another, said to have never been done. So coming back from 3-1 is far from impossible, especially with a team as good as this Lakers’ squad. In a chat the other day, I was asked if the Lakers should make any offseason moves. I said no. Even though I’m not as certain as a lot of people that when Bynum gets back this will be the greatest team in the history of the NBA for eleventy billion years, this team still made it to the Finals, has the reigning MVP, and Gasol still hasn’t been there very long. And this team can still very easily…okay, not very easily, but most assuredly can win the championship. But it’s going to take a Lakers-Game-4-esque meltdown for three games by the Boston Celtics for it to happen.

• My other response to the Kobe defense is this. Kobe wants this on him. He doesn’t mind it anymore. This is his team. It has talent, it has weapons, and it is his team, win or lose. So don’t just crucify his supporting cast, questionable as they may be, in order to protect your golden calf. Because that golden calf can take care of itself, and it wants the criticism, because that means he’s arrived. And with that comes a certain responsibility.

• For the Celtics, the question now mounting is the “will the veterans have enough left in the tank?” Which would be a valid question if they had four more weeks of basketball left. But they don’t. The veterans will come with more than enough energy with a championship in sight.

• Why in the name of everything holy is Doc starting Perkins tonight? He was ineffective before, and now he has a bum shoulder. That should help.

• Keep Rondo in, that one I agree with. He provides a spark on both ends of the floor, and Phil hasn’t let Farmar off the leash enough for that mismatch to hurt.

• If Odom has a good game, a complete game, they win. It’s that simple.

• I know the legions won’t believe me, but I’m actually rooting for the Lakers tonight. I want this to go as many games as possible, and while I had a lot of fun with that Lakers collapse, how much more fun would a Celtics subsequent collapse, forcing a game 7 be? I really don’t care who wins this thing, and it’s not Lakers hate. If the Suns had made it to Game 4 of the Finals, had a 24 point lead, and crapped the bed? There’d be just as many jokes. Same thing with the Hornets, though the Hornets would have the “never been here” card. Oh, yeah, which reminds me…

• Don’t act like this Lakers team has no experience. They have Lamar Odom, who’s been in the playoffs several years. They have Derek Fisher, who’s been around once or twice. They have Luke Walton, again, been in the first round, but at least it’s the playoffs. And Kobe. So I don’t think it’s fair to say they have no experience. They just have bad experiences in the playoffs.

• Interesting question, and one I don’t have an answer for. Is Phil not taking this one as life or death because he knows they’ll be here in this position for the next four years? It’s possible, but with the Hornets and Blazers, would you really want to take that chance?

• Enjoy Game 5, folks. Let’s hope it’s a good one.

• Well, then. Anymore questions about who’s the better team?

• Here’s what I heard after Game 3′s less than impressive win from Lakers fans. “Just wait. When our guys bounce back, and they will bounce back, we’ve got this. It wouldn’t surprise me to win all three in LA.” They gave the Celtics defense, which is, in a word, amazing, no credit. And tonight they suffered the consequences.

• Ray Allen. Huge. It wasn’t Nova. But it was huevos grande. He was efficient, smart, and made the shots he absolutely needed to. That last layup will go down in NBA history. Absolutely phenomenal performance.

• KG’s reputation as not clutch? Dead. That drop hook against Turiaf was huge. His defense? Even bigger.

• I had already started writing the “Lamar Odom goes Nova” post. So much for that. So typical of Odom. He teases you with pure brilliance. Then fades into oblivion, and collapses with wild shots off the back of the backboard.

• Pau Gasol. The word most people are using is: weenie. I’m not using it. Other people are. Okay. Yes I am. Weenie. Big. Weenie.

• Hey, Kobes, a little less “Yelling At Teammates” and a little more “Leadership And Historic Performances.”

• Trey had a great piece of analysis in the liveblog. He noticed that the Celtics were coming up hard against Odom in the post, then backing off of him, confusing him and getting him off balance.

• It’s not checkmate. But in the Phil vs. Doc battle, as unbelievable as this sounds? Phil’s in check.

• The thing I’ve liked most about these Celtics through the playoffs, even when I was rooting against them was this. No matter what they’re up against, no matter how much the media says they should panic, no matter what situation they’re in, they don’t lose focus. They don’t panic. They just go back to work. Down 24 in the first half? No big deal. Let’s cut it in half. Let’s cut it to 10. Let’s cut it single digits. Let’s cut it to five. Let’s win. Done. And a lot of that is Rivers’ motivation, as loathe as I am to admit it. This team’s resilience and poise is unmatched in the playoffs, along with their defensive intensity and commitment.

• I’ll have more tomorrow, but for right now, in closing…
• EPIC FAIL.

I’ve stated it elsewhere, but I want to get this down.

I like LA to win by about 2, breaking the 100 mark. I’ve started to sway on it the more I’ve thought about it today, but I’ve discovered going with my initial thoughts tends to be more accurate, even if the reasons behind it are wrong. I picked Boston to win the first two, LA to win the next two, and then LA to run out of gas and Boston to figure it out and win 5 and 6. I’m sticking with that.

I like Bryant to have 35+, and one of the two big mysteries (Gasol and Odom) will reveal themselves. I just don’t know which one.

I also think this might be the best game of the series.

• Kobe Bryant is very good at basketball.

• He wasn’t Nova tonight. Close, but not quite. Nova isn’t a numbers issue, though Bryant coming short of the 38 I predicted today by 2 was certainly enough to irk me. He had moments of ignition, but was never in that zone where he was simply unstoppable. It may be impossible to go Nova against the Celtics, actually, simply based on their propensity and dedication to doubling the perimeter dribble penetration. However, Kobe’s use of spin work and body control tonight was absolutely out of this world. He spun us right round baby, right round. He hit a fair number of shots that were pure “Kobe shots.” He’s hit a level where now, there are shots that you expect him to hit, that you don’t think anyone else can hit. That’s a mark of greatness, and Kobe nailed it tonight. He didn’t get his teammates involved that much, but that’s understandable, since they sucked.

• I picked the Lakers by a dozen. They won by half that. With Garnett and Pierce playing terribly. Champion-caliber FAIL.

• I’ve said it about a half-dozen times, I’ll say it again. Three point shooting is key. When the Lakers clamped down defensively in the first and third quarters on the perimeter, the Boston defense seemed to seize up. By closing out on Pierce, who’s already on one leg, the Lakers put Pierce into bad situation after bad situation. And that, combined with Pierce just having a bad night, was what won them the game. Pierce had been using his perimeter shot to make up for his explosiveness, and tonight, the Lakers said “fine, drive on us. You’re not shooting threes.” Doom. Conversely, the Lakers finally, finally, FINALLY got down to what I thought they’d be all about in this series. Perimeter rotation, drive and kick, and spot up threes from Vujacic and Farmar. The Machine was lights out tonight, and that’s what they need. Every great championship team has an unlikely bench player who comes off the bench, plays defense, and knocks down threes. It’s a grand tradition, and Vujacic is the guy for the Lakers. He’s just got to play three to four more times like that.

• What did I say when this thing started? Derek Fisher would be able to contribute veteran minutes because he’s a veteran, but Jordan Farmar has a better chance of taking advantage of Rondo and the Celtics’ guards. 5 points, 5 assists, and a bunch of key plays. Farmar is playing well right now, it’s just that no one can see it.

• Cross that with Lamar Odom, who’s playing terribly, and that everyone can see it. He can’t hit layups. That’s his biggest issue. The man just cannot hit a layup.

• Pau Gasol is weak sauce. Weeeeaaaak Saaaauuce. The man cannot play defense, rebound, or attack with any consistency, effectiveness, or efficiency. Make no mistake. He won’t “bounce back.” He won’t “wake up.” This is Gasol. This has been the knock on him. And he’s outmatched. This is as good as you’re going to get from Gasol. And the worst part? When he accidentally tips one in down the stretch (it literally bounced out of his hands when he tried to grab it), he runs his mouth. Come on, man. Grow up and quit being KG’s little woman slave and you can run your mouth. Till then, put in more than 15 points as a starting 7-0 center, and we’ll talk.

• If three point shooting decided the rest of the playoffs, then perimeter dribble penetration is going to decide these finals. In games 1 and 2, the advantage was with Boston, where they immediately sent help from the block to shut off Kobe on screen and rolls and any attempt at establishing a presence in the lane. Conversely, the Lakers were trying to overreact to the Celtics drives, which opened up passing lanes for players like, oh, say, Leon Powe. In Game 3, it was the Lakers’ turn. They committed cross-lane slashers to shut off Pierce and harass him whenever he tried to force the Truth. On offense, they ran consecutive ISO sets, with Gasol and Bryant. Which resulted in Kobe having just a half-step on his defenders. Which is a half-step more than he needs.

• I love this series. It’s deep, without being so complex it gets confusing. It’s thrilling, without taking my breath away from the first game on, building in intensity. It’s fun, it’s got big plays, big players, and interesting subplots. It’s just a terrific Finals series.

• Ah, there’s the Doc Rivers we all know and love. Wasting timeouts early, pushing Pierce when he’s obviously hurt and ineffective and Posey is playing well. Making no adjustments to Bryant as the game wore on, and not forcing the issue on offense, instead hoping the Big 3 would bail him out. Welcome back, Doc. Missed you round here.