Game 3: Did the Lakers dodge a bullet? or did the Celtics simply miss?

I didn't get to see the game from tip off to the closing buzzer, but I saw enough of it to know that this was an ugly game. Shots just weren't fall, players were making bad decisions, forcing up bad shots because they couldn't run their sets before the shot clock ran out, etc... I can't honestly say that the Lakers deserved the win. Sure Kobe Bryant went crazy, getting his 36 points on 12-20 shooting, but seriously, what the heck happened here? Everyone's already telling me how different it's supposed to be next year with Bynum back, and of course Michelle Tafoya seemed to insult Phil Jackson during an interview after the 3rd quarter saying, "It looks like it's 12 minutes away from Boston taking a 3-0 lead in the series..." everything is pointing at Boston winning the series (I'm gonna say it just because, "I told you so"). Tonight in Game 3, the Lakers were saved by 3 players, 2 of them wearing Celtics green.

Games 1 and 2 definitely shook up the young Lakers, they're not used to the competitiveness and raw energy that is Boston, thus Kobe Bryant was forced to drag the entire team through the trenches just to pull off this ugly 87-81 win, only 4 players scored double digits in the entire game, total (Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic, and Kevin Garnett). Thankfully for the Lakers Vujacic was actually hitting the random slew of shots he normally takes, thus tallying up 20 for the night. Even more luckily for them, Garnett's 13 came off of 6-21 shooting, and Paul Pierce had a bad night with 2-14 shooting, scoring only 6 points and tallying 5 fouls in the process. Lakers were outrebounded on the offensive glass 14-9, making it up on the defensive end simply because the Celtics weren't hitting their shots.

End of the line is that the Lakers not wearing a number 24 jersey just don't seem to have the toughness to keep up with this older, scrappy Boston team. Gasol and Odom, the two purportedly big scorers in the Lakers' frontcourt were completely lost throughout the game, shooting a combined 5-18. Gasol finished 3-9 with 9 points, 5 of those coming off of put backs and a free throw in the 4th quarter. Gasol just looked frightened to be on the floor, he wasn't going for rebounds, he was tenative on defense, he didn't box out, half the rebounds I saw him get were ones that landed in his lap, and the only rebound I saw him fight for was the one he ripped out of the hands of Kobe.

Despite pulling themselves back into the series, these young Lakers that everyone had going all the way, these young Lakers that everyone thought was the best team in the league, really haven't shown much fight in them throughout this finals series. The fans are already talking about next year, while analysts continue to rant on how the Lakers' interior defense is too soft, and how Kevin Garnett needs to just be more aggressive inside. I'll stick with Celtics in 7, but I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they take it in 5 or 6. The Lakers that played in Game 3 looked like the Lakers of old, nothing but Kobe pulling them through, and there's a reason why the Lakers of old never made it out of the first round.