2008 NBA Finals
The NBA Finals of the 2007/08 season were between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics held. Boston beat the Lakers 4-2 in the best-of-seven series. The Lakers were in the finals for the 29th time and the first time since 2004 . The Boston Celtics were last represented in the finals in 1987 . They had already taken part in the finals 20 times and thus followed the Lakers in second place in the most finals. The two most successful teams in the league had already won 16 (Boston) and 14 times the season. The teams last met in 1987. In the previous ten finals, the Celtics had eight wins and the Lakers two wins.
The first two games took place in Boston, as the team with 66 wins to 16 losses did better than the Lakers (57:25). Most recently, the Chicago Bulls had home rights in the first two games in 1997 as a team in the Eastern Conference . Paul Pierce was awarded the NBA Finals MVP Award .
Before the finals
| Los Angeles Lakers | Boston Celtics | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 57-25 (. 695) 1st Pacific, 1st West, 3rd overall |
Regular season | 66-16 (, 805) 1st Atlantic, 1st East, 1st overall |
|
| Beat the Denver Nuggets , 4-0 | First round | Beat the Atlanta Hawks , 4-3 | |
| Beat the Utah Jazz , 4-2 | Conference semifinals | Beat the Cleveland Cavaliers , 4-3 | |
| Beat the San Antonio Spurs , 4-1 | Conference Finals | Beat the Detroit Pistons , 4-2 | |
Regular season games
The Boston Celtics won both games:
| November 23 | Summary | Los Angeles Lakers 94, Boston Celtics 107 | TD Banknorth Garden , Boston | KCAL , CSN | ||
| 30th of December | Summary | Boston Celtics 110 , Los Angeles Lakers 91 | Staples Center , Los Angeles | NBA TV | ||
game schedule
general overview
| team | game | Victories | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | ||
| Los Angeles Lakers | 88 | 102 | 87 | 91 | 103 | 92 | 2 |
| Boston Celtics | 98 | 108 | 81 | 97 | 98 | 131 | 4th |
Game 1
| June 6th 3pm |
Summary | Los Angeles Lakers 88, Boston Celtics 98 |
TD Banknorth Garden , Boston Visitors: 18,624 Referees: |
Premiere Sport , Sport1 (repeat), ABC | ||
| Points per quarter: 21-23, 30-23, 22-31, 15-21 | ||||||
|
Points: Bryant 24 rebounds: Gasol 8 assists: Bryant , Fisher 6 turnover: Bryant 4 |
Points: Garnett 24, Pierce 22 Rebounds: Garnett 13 Assists: Rondo 7 Steals: Posey 2 |
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Boston forward Paul Pierce scored a total of 22 points. 6.49 minutes before the end of the third quarter, he had to be treated for a knee injury with Kendrick Perkins . Forward Kevin Garnett was the best thrower for the Celtics with 24 points . Shooting Guard Ray Allen contributed 19 of the total of 98 points. At the Lakers, Kobe Bryant was also the most successful thrower with 24 points, although he could only convert nine of his 26 throws. Derek Fisher and Center Pau Gasol got 15 points each. At halftime, the Lakers were leading 51 to 46. From a minute and a half before the end of the third quarter, the Celtics led continuously.
Game 2
| June 9th 3pm |
Summary | Los Angeles Lakers 102, Boston Celtics 108 |
TD Banknorth Garden , Boston Visitors: 18,624 Referees: |
Premiere Sport , Sport1 (repeat), ABC | ||
| Points per quarter: 22-20, 20-34, 19-29, 41-25 | ||||||
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Points: Bryant 30 rebounds: Gasol , Radmanovic 10 assists: Bryant 8 turnover: Pierce 5 |
Points: Pierce 28, Powe 21 rebounds: Garnett 14 assists: Rondo 16, Pierce 8 steals: Bryant , Fisher 3 |
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With eight minutes to go, the Celtics already had a 24-point lead over the Lakers. Led by Kobe Bryant , the Lakers started a narrow race to catch up, but the Celtics still won by six points. With 28 points, Paul Pierce was the best thrower in the Celtics. Above all, Pierce stopped the Lakers in their chase by hitting two free throws and thwarted a three-point attempt by Lakers guard Saša Vujačić 15 seconds before the end . Kobe Bryant scored 30 points for the Lakers, 13 in the last eight minutes alone. For the Celtics, Kevin Garnett had 17 points and 14 rebounds. Also, Ray Allen scored 17 points. Leon Powe hit nine of 13 free throws, the Lakers only hit ten.
Game 3
| June 10th 3pm |
Summary | Boston Celtics 81, Los Angeles Lakers 87 |
Staples Center , Los Angeles Visitors: 18,997 Referees:
|
Premiere Sport , Sport1 (repeat), ABC | ||
| Points per quarter: 20-20, 17-23, 25-17, 19-27 | ||||||
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Points: All 25 rebounds: Garnett 12 Assists: Garnett 5 3-point throws: All 5/7 |
Points: Bryant 36, Vujačić 20 rebounds: Gasol 12 assists: Farmar 5 3-point throws: Vujačić 3/5 |
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Lakers-Guard and MVP of the regular season Kobe Bryant scored 36 points. The shooting guard Saša Vujačić got the bigger stir . He scored 20 points in 28 minutes. The Celtics were able to lead the game for a while but had to admit defeat 81 to 87 , not least because of the poor performance of the small forward Paul Pierce . Pierce was the Celtics' best thrower in the first two games with an average of 25 points, in this game he only got six points. Power forward Kevin Garnett was also below average with 13 points. The Celtics guard Ray Allen scored 25 points. The Lakers had a hit rate of 43.5 percent, the Celtics 34.9.
Game 4
| June 12th 3pm |
Summary | Boston Celtics 97 , Los Angeles Lakers 91 |
Staples Center , Los Angeles Visitors: 18,997 Referees:
|
Premiere Sport , Sport1 (repeat), ABC | ||
| Points per quarter: 14-35, 26-23, 31-15, 26-18 | ||||||
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Points: Pierce 20, Allen 19 Rebounds: Garnett 11 Assists: Pierce 7 Steals: Allen 3 |
Points: Odom 19 rebounds: Gasol , Odom 10 assists: Bryant 10 field goals: Vujačić 1/9 |
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The game seemed already decided in favor of the Lakers when they led 70:50 in the third quarter. With 2.12 minutes to go, the Celtics were already leading with 88:83. The top scorer was again Paul Pierce . Ray Allen (19 points), James Posey (18) and Kevin Garnett (16) also met in the Celtics . From the Lakers' point of view, disappointing was Kobe Bryant with 17 points , who only hit six of his 19 attempts from the field. With 19 points, Lamar Odom was the best thrower from LA. Bryant said of the turn of the game: "We brought the Celtics back into the game by losing the ball, which they used to many fast-break points".
Game 5
| June 15, 3 a.m. |
Summary | Boston Celtics 98, Los Angeles Lakers 103 |
Staples Center , Los Angeles Visitors: 18,997 Referees: |
Premiere Sport, Sport1 (repeat), ABC | ||
| Points per quarter: 22-39, 30-16, 18-24, 28-25 | ||||||
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Points: Pierce 38 rebounds: Garnett 14 assists: Pierce 8 steals: Bryant 5 |
Points: Bryant 25, Odom 20 Rebounds: Gasol 13 Assists: Gasol 6 Blocks : Odom 4 |
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After the first quarter, the Celtics were ahead with 39:22. When the Lakers then led 88:74 in the middle of the last quarter, they seemed to be the winners. However, LA brought Boston back into the game with ball losses. The record champions started a rapid race to catch up with 16: 2 points, so it was 90:90 four minutes before the final whistle. The Lakers were 97-95 when Paul Pierce lost the ball. Forward Lamar Odom took the opportunity and played a quick pass to Kobe Bryant , who hit the 99:95 with 37 seconds remaining and decided the game. Bryant, who by his own admission had "made a bad game", was again the best thrower of his team with 25 points. Paul Pierce was again the best thrower on the field with 38 points.
Game 6
| June 12th 3pm |
Summary | Los Angeles Lakers 92, Boston Celtics 131 |
TD Banknorth Garden , Boston Visitors: 18,624 Referees:
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Premiere Sport , Sport1 (repeat), ABC | ||
| Points per quarter: 20-24, 15-34, 25-31, 32-42 | ||||||
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Points: Bryant 22 rebounds: Odom 10 Assists: Odom 5 Turnover: Gasol 5 |
Points: Allen , Garnett 26 rebounds: Garnett 14 assists: Pierce 10 steals: Rondo 6 |
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| Boston wins 4-2 | ||||||
In the highest final victory in NBA history, Garnett and Allen each got 26 points, Paul Pierce scored 17 points. Mainly because of the strong defense of the Celtics, the guests were 23 points behind at halftime. By the end of the third quarter at the latest, the result was 89:60 for Boston. Kobe Bryant came on 22 points for the Lakers, eight of them in the first three minutes alone, but had to admit that the Celtics "definitely had the best defense" of the season. "No doubt Boston deserves the title," assured NBA Commissioner David Stern .
Individual evidence
- ↑ battered Pierce saves Celtics
- ↑ The Lakers' vain catch-up
- ↑ The Lakers are still alive
- ↑ The Celtics reach for the title
- ↑ Lakers keep their last chance
- ^ Boston for the first time since 1986 NBA champions again
- ↑ The Boston Celtics are the new NBA champions
