Lakers don't need video evidence from 2008
If the Lakers' video staff needs any inspiration for the NBA Finals, it won't be difficult.
The guys who put together game video for team meetings this week can insert a wide array of images between clips of the Boston Celtics' physical defensive front and Rajon Rondo picking apart any number of teams.
In no particular order, they could use: Paul Pierce dancing on the Celtics' bench during a timeout in the final minutes of the 2008 NBA Finals; the Garden crowd derisively chanting "Where is Kobe?" while the Celtics hovered near a 30-point fourth-quarter lead and Kobe Bryant sat on the bench in the decisive Game 6; the Celtics returning to Los Angeles later in the summer of '08 for a sports awards show and bragging onstage of "another win in L.A." after taking the category for top pro team of the year.
It's up to the Lakers whether they want to revisit what happened two years ago, including the 131-92 loss they sustained in the clinching game, the second-largest margin of defeat ever in an NBA Finals game.
So far, they seem fine with going there.
"I think everybody on our team remembers what happened," Andrew Bynum said.
Their setback two years ago took place without Bynum (dislocated kneecap) and with Trevor Ariza at the end of the bench, unable to gain any traction in the rotation after missing more than four months because of a broken foot.
Bynum's status might be only slightly better than in 2008 — he continues to hobble through games with torn cartilage and might have his right knee drained before Game 1 Thursday at Staples Center — but the Lakers hope they have an answer to Pierce, who blistered them on numerous fronts two years ago (points, assists, continual trips to the free-throw line) while being selected Finals most valuable player.
The Lakers signed Ron Artest to a five-year, $33-million contract last July with a challenge like this in mind.
