One down, 3 to Go (Score 1 for the Good Guys)

Well after all of the hoopla leading up to Game One of the NBA Championship, it was good to start the actual games. Overall I thought the game was well played(these late night starts are brutal) you could see a lot of time was spent on both teams getting familiar with each other. Kobe wasn't his normal aggressive self until late in the contest, and if you are a Celtic fan , you can live with his philosophy of getting others involved first, he made some really nice passes, I'm not sure , but it looked to me that he was going out of his way to show the world on the biggest stage the evolution of his game, from being a me-first , to the consummate team player. I'd much rather see him playing the role of PG than going on those huge scoring bunches he's capable of. Game 2 will see a more aggressive Kobe(bank on it), I'm sure Phil will put a bug into his hear to set the tone from the opening tip.

The heroics of Paul Pierce returning definitely gave the game a dramatic story line, but I agree with Doc Rivers, I was more impressed with how the team stepped up when Pierce went to the locker room. LA had some great runs, but to me they just seemed a step behind or out sorts, which allowed the C's to take control of the game down the stretch. If we learned anything from last nights game its the importance the supporting cast will play for both teams. It was good to see the Big 3 all score in double figures, but it was a welcomed site to see Rondo come out looking for his shot, Pj Brown and Sam Cassell each made significant contributions off the bench. And in case many people didn't notice one key sequence in the game that set the tone for the C's game plan to be the more physical team , was Posey's hard foul on Kobe's drive down the lane in the first half, the Lakers bench and staff erupted, that was a huge indicator of what the C's were thinking and they pounded the Lakers every chance they had. The Lakers will come back strong in game 2, and maybe this time they won't worry too much about how pretty they looked for the camera (many of them had fresh cuts and shaves did you check out Turiaf's dreads ? ) and will focus on playing the style of ball that got them to the finals. Will See,

Go Celtics and while we are at it, Good Job Coaching Doc, if nothing else I hope you finally get some credit for being an outstanding coach