Many people assumed the 2010 NBA Finals would be a battle of the Boston Celtics' feared defense, and the Los Angeles Lakers' precision offense, but someone forgot to mention the Lakers are a pretty good defensive team too.
All season long Los Angeles has been among the NBA's best defensive teams, but their performance on that end of the floor tends to be overshadowed by the offensive brilliance of Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
In fact, the Lakers' defense was the most consistent part of a very inconsistent regular season for the defending NBA champions, and once the postseason began they turned it up another level.
The Lakers have allowed 43 percent shooting from the field, 31 percent from three point range, and 43 rebounds per game, all which are the best in the 2010 NBA postseason.
In Game One of the Finals the Lakers made those numbers hold up as they held the Celtics to 89 points, out rebounded them 42-31, and had an amazing 16 second chance points to the Celtics' zero.
It was a truly dominant defensive performance by the Lakers, but considering the teams Los Angeles had to conquer in order to arrive at this point, it sho ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NBA
Article written by Hadarii Jones
Are the Los Angeles Lakers Just as Good as the Boston Celtics, Defensively?
June 4th, 2010 by Hadarii Jones Leave a reply »
Advertisement