The Lakers are at home. They're the defending champions. They were the favorites coming in. They're coming off a decisive win in Game 6. They're healthier.
And they've got the one guy that you would always want on your side in a Game 7.
Kobe Bryant has never played a Game 7 in the NBA Finals before. He's reached the Finals seven times, winning four championships and coming up short twice. But he's never had to go the distance before — and you can only imagine that in his first opportunity, he's going to be amped up.
So what can the Celtics do?
A few things:
Respect Kobe. Let's put it this way — sometimes Kobe just gets in the zone, and you can't stop him no matter what you do. Replay Game 5, which you saved on your DVR. Watch the shots he was knocking down in the third quarter. When he's banking them in from 28 feet out or making fall-aways with two guys in his face, there's no way to guard him. The Celtics should be careful not to do too much on Kobe. If you double- or triple-team him too often, someone else in this Laker lineup will kill you instead.
Remember, Kobe scored 38 at the Garden in Game 5, and the Lakers still lost. Who's to say that can't happen again?
Hit the big shot. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have had their bouts of inconsistency in this postseason, but tonight is the time for consistency. If the Celtics can't trust their big-time shot makers in Game 7, then when in the world can they trust them? If Pierce or Allen gets the ball in a big moment in the final minutes, great things must happen in order for Boston to win.
Bring the energy for 48 minutes. It's been well publicized that the team with more rebounds has won every game in this series, and without Kendrick Perkins, the Celtics will be without their biggest, strongest guy on the glass. So how do the Celtics compensate for losing size and strength? Simple: with energy from guys like Pierce, Glen Davis, and Rajon Rondo. These guys aren't freakishly huge, but they can make the extra effort to crash the boards and win the 50-50 balls that this team needs.
Get a huge game out of Rasheed Wallace. If you knew three months ago that the NBA Finals might come down to Sheed, you probably would have jumped off the Tobin Bridge a long time ago. But Sheed has a big role in this Game 7 — he'll have to step in and fill Perk's shoes, and he'll have to match the length and the physicality of Pau Gasol on Thursday night. He's done a fantastic job of that so far. He needs to keep it up for one more night.
Get Rondo going. When Rondo is vintage Rondo — running up and down the floor, making hustle plays, getting fast-break opportunities — the Celtics are really hard to beat. We saw a special performance from the young Boston point guard in Game 2 when he unleashed a triple-double, but he's been hit or miss since then. Rondo's the toughest matchup on the floor for L.A., on paper at least. If only the Celtics could exploit that … but how?
Defense, defense, defense. Here's how. It seems counterintuitive, but the best offense for Rondo is good defense. The Celtics need to control long rebounds. They need to get steals. They need to disrupt passing lanes and force the Lakers to turn the ball over. If they can turn Game 7 into a game of transition basketball, then they've got a chance. But that will have to start with getting stops.
As always with these Celtics, it will require a total team effort.
It's team basketball that got them to this point, one win away from another NBA championship. And it's team basketball that can help them finish the job.
