C's Deliver Message to Defending Champs

In their first matchup of 2011, the Celtics and Lakers had little on the line in regards to their season standing as a whole. What was on the line, though, was a big statement from Boston telling L.A. that they wouldn't be bullied around once again.

The last time the C's stepped into the Staples Center, it was for the agonizing 4-point defeat in Game 7 of last year's NBA finals. And while that bitter taste will remain for the green right up until the day they raise the eighteenth banner, they were able to take a step toward alleviating that pain with a convincing 109-96 victory over Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Sunday afternoon. It's imperative to avoid taking too much stock in this game, but from the small sample size we've been given, I'm led to believe Boston's offseason adjustments have put them over the hump when it comes to besting their rival Lakers.

The added depth up front that the Celtics have added was the biggest difference in my mind. Game 7 was, quite arguably, lost at least partially due to the absence of Kendrick Perkins. Having Perkins back healthy as well as the contributions from Shaq and Semih Erden have enabled the Celtics to dominate post matchups. Kevin Garnett's knee is seemingly back to its old form, and he looks as good as he has since the green's championship days. The Lakers big men were totally shut down and uninspired on Sunday. With their abysmal shooting from a few guys, including Ron Artest (1-for-10), L.A. was forced to totally rely on the isolation game with Kobe Bryant. Rajon Rondo had 6 more assists than the entire Lakers team had. Team basketball? More like Kobe basketball. And even though Bryant dropped 41, it was a hard-fought 41 that didn't come easily at the hands of the Boston defense. The Celtics do a phenomenal job of playing as a five-man unit and making each and every shot that Kobe Bryant takes as hard as possible. When they're clicking the way they were last night, they're unstoppable. And despite what Mark Jackson believes, I'll still follow the old adage -- defense wins championships.

But it's only one game. The Celtics trail the Spurs by 4 games for the best record in the NBA, and the Lakers are 3.5 games behind the C's in that category. This game may have helped Boston in the department of earning a potential home court advantage over the Lakers in the finals (if the matchup presented itself), but I'm not thinking too far ahead. The biggest value of this win was the emotional lift that the green got. It's not quite as bitter walking into that Staples Center locker room as it was before; but like I said, the bitterness will never completely vanish until banner #18 is hanging from the rafters at the TD Garden.