Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here…
highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as
satisfying as a good morning dump.
Outside the locker room after Sunday night's 103-94 Celtics win, they
were calling it "The Sequence." It began at the 5:58 mark in the fourth
quarter with the Lakers up by three. In a span of 1 minute and 48
seconds, Rondo turned what was well on its way to being a 53-minute
Finals classic into his personal layup drill. One uncontested layup.
Two. Then a third. Then the timeout. The Lakers were down by one.
They
never saw another lead. Game essentially over. The Sequence.
This is what changed the direction of the game, if not the series.
(Literally and figuratively.)
ESPN Boston – It's Rondo's world right now
Scoop Jackson has a great column on Rondo and the lack of respect the media has given the young point guard during the Finals… until now.
The Sequence has a great ring to it. Of course, it won't stick unless the Celtics grab that ring.
Here's more from Scoop:
He attacks the game with a beautiful awkwardness that is sometimes
harder to appreciate than Ghostface's lyrics. His stops and starts and
changes of direction can't be figured out even after hours of film
study.
It sounds so simple, what the Lakers should do to
contain him: Just stay in front of him. But that's really about
as simple as stopping BP's oil leak.
Rondo gives teams
fits. That's what he does. And throughout Game 2, with Kobe defending
him for the most part, he irritated L.A.'s defensive schemes by making
it impossible for the Lakers to know what he was going to do next.
Impossible for them to come up with a way to stop his flow.
The Lakers "Rondo awareness level" will surely be af def-con 5 for Game 3 in Boston. But this is when the kid really excels. If off-the-ball defenders come flocking into the paint to help, Rondo will serve up dime after dime to his teammates.
On Page 2, Paging Lamar Odom, Mr. Lamar Odom…
than Dustin Hoffman. With the series tied at one game apiece, he's
averaging four points and five rebounds in an average of 18 foul-ridden
minutes per game.
From the moment one of Kobe Bryant's passes bounced oddly off his chest
in Game 1, Odom hasn't been able to match the moment. Is his cluttered
head there? Is his bruised body there? We know the Kardashian family is
there, and that's enough to make anyone lose his marbles.
The foul issue has hampered him — five in each game — but he didn't pick
up his fourth and fifth fouls until the final 27 seconds Sunday, so he
can't blame his play on the officials.
This is a classic case of Lamar being Lamar. Right when the Lakers need him most, he checks out. On the flip side, Rasheed Wallace, Glen Davis and even Nate Robinson are playing effective minutes off the bench for the Celtics.
Check out our newest poll on the right sidebar. We want your prediction for the next three games in Boston.
The rest of the links:
Globe – Pierce's words hit home | Bob Ryan – Stop crying foul | Change format and give it a rest | When guards mesh, they court success | Boston Herald – KG's problems add up (Callahan) | Ugly looks good to Cs | Sweeping denial | Cowens offers title talk | ESPN Boston – Opportunity knocks for Celtics | Blowing the whistle on officiating (Insider) | CSNNE – Celtics depth outshines Lakers starters | LA Times – Stern and his refs blowing a good thing | Celtics Blog – The beautiful game |
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