Mike Dunleavy’s take: Lakers lost track of Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo in Game 2 loss to Celtics
Mike Dunleavy, former coach and general manager of the Clippers, is The Times’ guest analyst on the NBA Finals. Dunleavy has coached four NBA teams -- the Clippers, Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers. He was NBA coach of the year in 1999 with Portland.
The Lakers dozed off on Boston’s backcourt Sunday, and the Celtics guards made them pay for that mistake.
Ray Allen set a Finals record with eight three-pointers, but Rajon Rondo was the show. His ability to rebound and get the Celtics into the open court kept the Lakers back on their heels. That was something Boston didn’t do in Game 1.
It really turned into a two-man game for the Celtics because Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Glen “Big Baby” Davis weren’t doing much of anything. Rondo and Allen basically won it for them, and Nate Robinson came in and gave Boston a nice little lift when Rondo was getting tired.
L.A. really needs to get a body on Rondo. That’s always a major part of your game plan when you’re playing Boston, because Rondo is a great offensive rebounder. You can’t fall asleep on him and let him pick up all the loose change he can gather.
As for the way they guarded Allen, I don’t know what the Lakers were thinking. I don’t know why they were double-teaming Kendrick Perkins in the low post when he was going against Pau Gasol. I’d let Gasol play him straight up, instead of getting caught in rotations where you have to leave Allen at all.
A couple times they left Allen on purpose, but sometimes they just drifted off him, which is pure lack of concentration. At one point, Shannon Brown left him wide open so he could double down in the low post. Allen made the shot.
Phil Jackson’s going to go berserk-o when he sees that on film.
So what do the Lakers need to do now? They’ve got to regain their focus and have better shot selection. A lot of those shots Sunday led to the Celtics’ being able to get out into the open court — long shots, long rebounds.
The Lakers need to use their length like they did in Game 1. Andrew Bynum and Gasol were dominating Boston’s big men. L.A. needs to keep the action around the basket so it isn’t so easy for the Celtics to get out and run.
It’s a tall order for the Lakers to win in Boston. That place is loud, and the fans there are up the whole game. But it’s been a long time since anybody’s gone home and swept in the Finals.
That means for the Celtics to win it all, they’re probably going to have to win another one in L.A.
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