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NBA Finals: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Boston Celtics

King Taharqa

By King Taharqa,
in Charlotte Hornets

Who will win?  

35 members have voted

  1. 1. Who will win?

    • Los Angeles Lakers
      18
    • Boston Celtics
      17

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carpanfan96 Veteran

carpanfan96

Posted
Posted

Artest isn't going to show up when they need him the most, this time.

The Celtics will fight hard but I think the Lakers will win it (*Pukes*).

Artest owns Pierce and dominates him defensively. Pierce shots something like 32 percent from the field against Artest. Plus they'll probably have Pierce on Kobe on the other end of the floor. So pretty much expect Pierce to have crap tons of turnovers and poor shooting in the 27 - 34 percent range. He'll probably end up averaging 10 points and 4-5 turnovers a game in this series.

Not saying Boston can't win, just don't expect Pierce to be the one doing the damage in this series. For Boston to win, Rondo and Allen have to play lights out.

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Implied Volatility Newbie

Implied Volatility

Posted
Posted

Artest owns Pierce and dominates him defensively. Pierce shots something like 32 percent from the field against Artest. Plus they'll probably have Pierce on Kobe on the other end of the floor. So pretty much expect Pierce to have crap tons of turnovers and poor shooting in the 27 - 34 percent range. He'll probably end up averaging 10 points and 4-5 turnovers a game in this series.

Not saying Boston can't win, just don't expect Pierce to be the one doing the damage in this series. For Boston to win, Rondo and Allen have to play lights out.

nostradamus2.jpg

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carpanfan96 Veteran

carpanfan96

Posted
Posted

Not really being Nostradamus when previous data represents what I was saying.

In the previous post, we discussed the Paul Pierce vs. Ron Artest matchup that is sure to be a focal point of the 2010 NBA Finals due to the fact that Artest is one of the few changes to the starting lineup since these teams last met in the 2008 championship round.

So how exactly has Pierce fared against Artest? The wizards at ESPN Stats & Information crunched the numbers and Artest has enjoyed more success than you might think as Pierce is averaging a mere 0.58 points per play against Artest over the past three regular seasons.

To quantify that, let's first explain how that metric is determined: A play is defined as any field goal attempt, trip to the foul line, or turnover. The only plays registered are when Artest is the initial defender, and does not include points scored off switches, offensive rebounds, cuts, and transition plays.

In a nutshell, this is 1-on-1 basketball. Ball-handler vs. defender.

Under that scenario, Pierce ran 38 plays and scored 22 points on 6-of-26 shooting (23.1 percent) with eight turnovers and four trips to the foul line. The mere fact that Pierce generated more turnovers than field goals suggests Artest has dominated the matchup.

Given the way Pierce struggled offensively against Cleveland's LeBron James, it's worth watching if he's able to keep up his offensive exploits from the Eastern Confernce finals against the Magic. After all, Pierce will likely draw the already daunting task of guarding Kobe Bryant, much like he checked James in the second round, and used up much of his energy at that end of the floor.

Here's one more set of numbers for you to chomp on: The last time Pierce and Artest met in the postseason was the opening round of the 2004 playoffs. Not only did the Pacers sweep, Pierce averaged 20.8 points per game on 34.2 percent shooting (just 29.4 percent from beyond the arc, while committing 6.3 turnovers per game.

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4674833/by-the-numbers-pierce-vs-artest

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SOJA Mentor

SOJA

Posted
Posted

Boston is having a better playoffs, but if the Lakers play to their full potential they shouldn't lose. I like to go matchup by matchup

Point Guard- Celtics

Shooting Guard- Lakers

Small Forward- Celtics

Power Forward- Push (KG is playing good basketball right now, while Gasol is a little younger and in his prime)

Center- Tough Decision here really depends on how Bynums knee holds up - Lakers

Bench- Boston (Lamar Odom is good, but the combination of: Kryptonite, Sheed, T. Allen, and Davis helps to counteract the Lakers strenths- Allen Coming in and playing tough d on Kobe, and Davis and Sheed helping downlow to contain bynum)

By my count that is a 3-2 count in Boston's favor. However, they are going to need great play out of the Big Three, I'm not worried about Rondo destroying an aging Fisher, and if they put Kobe on Rondo, Ray Allen should be able to shoot over Fisher

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