I won’t use his name, because I didn’t clear it with him first, but a lifelong Celtics fan has responded to criticism here (and elsewhere, particularly throughout the L.A. media) of Paul Pierce’s antics in the third quarter of Thursday’s NBA Finals game with the Lakers. You may recall the story line: The “I’m mortally […]

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If you saw the game, you figured Paul Pierce was done. Certainly for the game. Probably for the season. Maybe for his career. He went down in a writhing heap. As if he had been pole-axed. He clawed at his knee and was grimacing horribly. It had to be awful. Had to be. After a […]

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No, really. Maybe nutty people shouting “The end is near!” on street corners downtown will be happy if/when they turn out to be right. But I take no joy in predicting the Lakers’ struggles in the NBA Finals. Which you may review (and note the time stamps) lower down on this blog. There is a […]

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This is an interesting subplot to the Lakers-Celtics series. At least from the journalism perspective. Throughout the history of professional sports … the primary source of information and intelligent analysis has been newspapers and their employees. Their beat writers, their columnists, their feature writers. In the past quarter-century, TV’s talking heads have stepped up — […]

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Sure, it takes four victories to win a seven-game series, but NBA history demonstrates the winner of Game 1 is highly likely to win the series. The victor in Game 1 won 45 of the 61 NBA Finals contested before this one. So this is a key moment for the Lakers, in Boston tonight. Especially […]

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Lakers fans remember the 2004 NBA Finals. Or maybe they don’t. The run-up to the 2008 Finals reminds me a lot of 2004. And that’s not a good thing. As in 2004 … There is a widespread assumption the Lakers will win. Without particular difficulty. Kobe Bryant’s (awesome/unquenchable/unrivaled, take your pick) will to win is […]

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This expression really bugs me. And you see it in newspapers and magazines, hear it on the airwaves … a lot. “Heart and soul.” As in, “he is the heart and soul” of this or that team. I want usage of this to decline about 90 percent. Because it’s used too often and, more important, […]

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If we’re going to wallow in nostalgia, and it seems required for this edition of the NBA Finals, let’s do it right. At least in Los Angeles. Let’s open up the “fabulous” Forum in Inglewood for at least one of the Lakers’ road games with the Boston Celtics. Let fans return to the true home […]

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Bill Simmons, espn.com’s popular general sports blogger … well, as long as “general” refers to Boston teams … wrote a piece last week maintaining the Lakers will have no trouble with the Celtics. This from a man who identifies himself as a Celtics fan his whole life. Personally, I think he’s trying to do the […]

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I’m fairly startled by how many of TV’s talking heads seem to believe the Lakers will roll over the Celtics in the NBA Finals, beginning on Thursday. I not only don’t agree, I’m not sure the Lakers will make a series of it. I can see the Celts winning in five. Sweeping even. Not that […]

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