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Last updated: June 17, 2008

Last week Jim Boylan and Bill Peterson evaluated Boston and Los Angeles’ prospects as the 2008 Finals shifted to the West Coast. The venue is changing again and we’ll take a look at how the strategies of our coaches worked out as well as add some new notes about the first five games of the Finals.

We’ll start off with Jim Boylan’s comments on the Lakers.

His first key was for the Lakers offense to be aggressive – getting Kobe Bryant points when they were there and Bryant finding the open man when the Celtics helped on him.

The Lakers did win two of the three games at home and Bryant led the way with 26.0 points per game, but his numbers show that he wasn’t at his best. Bryant shot 43.3 percent from the floor (26-60) in those games and also shot just 67.7 percent from the floor. While he did average 10.3 free throw attempts per game, 67.7 percent was one of the lowest marks for the Lakers – who shot just 69.1 percent over those three tilts.

Here’s a comparison of Bryant’s numbers in the three games in L.A. with the two games in Boston in parenthesis: points 26.0 (27.0), rebounds 6.0 (3.5), assists 5.0 (7.0), steals 3.7 (2.0), turnovers 3.7 (4.0), field goal percentage 43.3 (40.8), free throw percentage 67.7 (1.000), three point percentage 38.5 (16.7).

Boylan’s second key was for the Lakers to pick up the pace of the game to prevent the Celtics defense from setting up.

The Lakers averaged 93.7 points on 43.6 percent shooting and 75 field goal attempts per game in Los Angeles. In the two games in Boston they averaged 95.0 points on 45.6 percent shooting and 80 field goal attempts per game. However, the Lakers did get to the line an average of 31.3 times at home opposed to 19.0 times at Boston.

So while most of those numbers were down, Los Angeles was able to win two out of three because their defense stepped up. They allowed just 92.0 points on 40.8 percent shooting (38.7 percent from three) in the last three games. In the previous two, they were giving up 103.0 points on 47.2 percent shooting (45.5 percent from three).

While many analysts suggested increased pace and scoring would lead to victories, the Lakers were unable to pick it up on the offensive end, but compensated with some defense.

The main concern Boylan had was that Boston’s supporting cast was producing and making the game easier for the likes of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. If that continued to happen, he saw big trouble for L.A.

Outside of Boston’s game four win, Los Angeles was able to keep the Celtics role players from having big nights and often found a way to contain at least one member of the Allen, Pierce and Garnett trio. In game four Eddie House and James Posey had big nights and the team was plus 20 and 15, respectively with them in the game. They saw increased minutes, however, due to injuries to Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo. But that’s not to diminish their contributions in a game where the Celtics outscored the Lakers 57-33 in the second half on their way to a 97-91 win.

Moving on to Bill Peterson’s comments on the Celtics

Coach Peterson’s first key was for the Celtics bench to continue to dominate the Lakers bench.

It has mostly held true that the team whose reserves outperform the other club’s bench generally wins the game. In L.A.’s game three win the Lakers reserves had 29 points and 12 rebounds to 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics. When Boston won in game four, their bench had 35 points and 14 rebounds to 15 points and 12 rebounds for Los Angeles. The exception to the rule was game five where L.A. won despite getting 17 points and just two boards from their reserves while Boston had 28 points and 11 rebounds from theirs. Again, rotations were a little skewed for the Celtics with Perkins being out, Rondo playing limited minutes and their starting center, Leon Powe, playing less than five minutes.

Key number two for Boston was to keep Kobe Bryant away from the hoop and off the free throw line while forcing him into fadeaway jumpers.

Bryant has been good, but not brilliant in this series. Paul Pierce has received a lot of praise for his defense on Bryant and some are saying that his length and a size has been a factor in keeping Bryant away from the rim. As the numbers above suggest, Kobe hasn’t been bad, but his 43.3 percent shooting could definitely be higher.

Boston dominating the glass was Peterson’s third key.

The Celtics definitely haven’t been dominating the glass, but they’ve held their own, with a total of 122 rebounds to 125 for the Lakers over the last three. Kendrick Perkins’ injury certainly doesn’t help on that front and his status could be big in deciding the series. Boston has shown they can win without his presence as he played just 13 minutes in their game four victory.

Peterson’s concerns for Boston included the Lakers speeding up the game for more offense, getting Bryant to the line and forcing the Celtics into mistakes. The other concern was that Los Angeles’ bench would wake up and outperform Boston.

Boston continued to do the job on defense and, as he suggested, made Bryant work for his points. However, Bryant and the Lakers got to the line more and that was definitely a factor in their two victories.

Peterson’s concern about the bench play proved to be valid. When the role players for either team contribute, it makes it easier for the Bryants and Pierces of the series. The games in Los Angeles showed that the better bench generally comes away with the victory. We’ll see if the trend continues back in Boston.

Here are a few notes about the series through five games…

The matchup between Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant has been interesting. Pierce has averaged 22.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists on 45.3 percent shooting along with 42.9 percent from three and 82.2 percent from the line. Bryant has put up 26.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists on 42.2 percent shooting including 31.6 percent from three and 77.3 from the line. Bryant has shot 34 more field goals than Pierce and gotten to the line one fewer time.

Paul Gasol (52.7 percent) and Lamar Odom (55.8) have shot the ball well, but average 15.4 and 13.4 points, respectively. Gasol is averaging a double-double that includes 10.6 rebounds while Odom has snagged 8.8 boards. Both have shot under 70.0 percent from the free throw line.

Boston reserves James Posey (9-21) and Eddie House (6-12) are a combined 15-31 from three-point range for 45.5 percent. For the series Boston is shooting 41.1 percent (39-95) from beyond the arc while Los Angeles is at 34.0 (33-97).

The Celtics offense was on at home, scoring 103.0 points while averaging just 92.0 in L.A. At home they’re led by Paul Pierce (25.0 points, 61.5 FG%), Kevin Garnett (20.5, 39.0) and Ray Allen (18.0, 45.8).

An interesting twist to the series is that Boston’s offense has been big in their wins (scoring 101.0 points on 46.5 percent shooting) while Los Angeles’ defense has been critical in their victories (allowing 89.5 points on 38.7 percent shooting).

Make sure you check out Part I and Part II of "Breaking down the Finals".