The talk coming into the game circled around how the Celtics‘ defense may rival that of the 2008 championship team.

On Thursday, the Lakers showed their rendition of defense.

They took charges. They caused deflections. They altered and rejected shots inside. In short, they frustrated Boston.

That defense coupled with a late third-quarter spurt helped the defending champs deliver an emphatic blow to the Celtics, winning 102-89 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals at Staples Center.

“I think people forget how good we are defensively,” Lakers forward Lamar Odom said.

No one is forgetting how dominating Phil Jackson‘s teams are after winning Game 1 in a series as his teams are a perfect 47-0. But a reminder of the Lakers’ ultimate goal was apparent in the locker room after the game.

Scribbled in black on a white board directly across Kobe Bryant‘s locker was the phrase “3 Mo.”

“We’re counting down,” said Odom, whose team is now 9-0 at home in the postseason with Game 2 on Sunday.

Leading the way for the Lakers in the series opener was Bryant, who had a game-high 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists. He has now scored 30-plus in 10 of his last 11 contests. Pau Gasol had a terrific all-around game with 23 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks. Ron Artest chipped in 15.

The dominating fashion in which the Lakers, who led by as many as 20 points, took Game 1 was surprising, even to Boston’s Paul Pierce.

After the game, Pierce, who a team-high 24 points, was quick to mention how many points the Celtics have given up. That’s because they have only given up 100 or more points four times this postseason coming into the series.

“It wasn’t typical,” said Pierce of the atmosphere in the locker room after the loss. “There were some angry people in there and they showed us.

“The (Lakers) definitely pushed us tonight and had us on our heels.”

The Lakers built their lead off their swarming defense, a 16-0 advantage on second chance points and a 48-30 differential on points in the paint.

They also held Boston to 43.3 percent shooting and neutralized their best player.

The Lakers’ length was a big factor in slowing down Rajon Rondo in the paint. Rondo, who typically gets a half-dozen easy layups, had a pair of what appeared to be easy lay-ins rejected by Odom and Gasol. It also helped that Bryant guarded Rondo all night.

“They did a great job getting back on the fast break,” said Rondo, who had 13 points and eight assists. “They did a good job of collapsing when I did get a chance to get inside the paint … they did a great job mixing it up.”

The third quarter was huge for the Lakers as they outscored the Celtics 34-23.

Bryant had his prints all over the period, scoring 14 points. None was prettier than Fisher’s alley-oop to Bryant, who threw it down with two hands to give Los Angeles a 75-62 lead. The Lakers finished the period on a 16-4 run to go up 84-64 heading into the fourth.

“It was horrible,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers of his team’s defense.

Boston did show some fight at the start of the fourth quarter. Trailing by 20 points, the Celtics whittled the deficit to 85-74 after a 10-1 run. But the Lakers answered.

The play that seemingly sapped the energy out of the Celtics was a block by Artest on Glen Davis, which led to a Gasol dunk.

“It was a big play for us,” Bryant said. “He does a great job for us setting the tone for us defensively.”

The “intriguing” matchup — as Jackson called it — between Kevin Garnett and Gasol was on display in the third quarter when the two went at each other. Garnett did his best to keep the Celtics close, hitting several tough fallaways with Gasol in his face and had 16 in the quarter.

Gasol didn’t back away from the challenge, however.

“He’s more aggressive,” said Rivers of Gasol this time around versus in the 2008 matchup. “I thought he was the best player on the floor.”

Facing the Suns’ zone defense helped the Lakers sharpen their ball movement and cuts to the basket. Gasol and Andrew Bynum showed that early on with with Gasol scoring 11 first-half points and Bynum looking as spry as a person with a torn meniscus in his right knee can. Bynum, who had fluid drained from his knee on Monday, had a pair of two-handed dunks in the first half and finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

This game had its fair share of physical play, especially early.

Twenty-seven seconds into the game, Artest and Pierce got tangled up under the basket and took each other down to the floor. They were separated and then given technicals. That physical play led to a free-throw parade in the opening quarter as both teams combined to commit 18 first-quarter fouls.

Foul trouble plagued the Celtics’ Ray Allen, who picked up his fourth in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Allen, who finished with 12 points in 27 minutes, returned late in the third quarter and 20 seconds later, picked up his fifth foul.

“We didn’t come out with that fire that we’ve been showing these playoffs,” Celtics forward Tony Allen said.

“They outhustled us today. …I don’t think we took that first punch like we should have.”

(nba.com)

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