In 08 we had no Bynum, meaning Odom had to start and Pau had to play C, two things you really dont want if you are the Lakers. Ariza was playing on a bad ankle and Pau had only been with the team for 5 months. Now we have Artest, Odom able to come off the bench and Bynum at about 70%. Starting lineups will be...
Fisher/Rondo
Kobe/Allen
Artest/Pierce
Pau/KG
Bynum/Perkins
In 08, the Celtics got away with putting Pierce on Kobe since Ariza was an undersized SF and Allen could play him, especially with a bad ankle and Sasha played alot more than he should have. Now with Artest, you can throw that out. Pierce has to play him. Kobe will abuse Allen one on one. He can shoot over him with ease or post him up and use his size. The Celtics will most likely double with Pierce leaving Artest open, this didnt work out too well for Phoenix, especially in game 6 where he dropped 25 on them.
The Lakers will defend Rondo as they did Nash, they will build a wall in the paint with a big or two and force him to pass. Boston is not really a jump shooting team and they arent going to be deadly from 3 as Phoenix was. I really cant see any area where the Celtics have a big advantage, even with their bench. Powe, Posey, House and Brown all played big. Now you have Rasheed and Nate Robinson? Nowhere near the same effect. Odom will cancel Rasheed out and Nate is not going to do much damage. Tony Allen will have to deal with Kobe at times and Davis against Pau doesnt scare me.
Lakers in 6
(
. They're playing their butts off.
