NBA Finals: Lakers (1) vs Celtics (4)

[Jackal]

[shadowgrin]

Doc Rivers you gambling son of a bitch.

An NBA coach managed to stash $2,600 in cash in a Staples Center ceiling tile for nearly four months without anyone finding out.

Following a win over the Lakers last February, Celtics coach Doc Rivers demanded $100 each from Boston's players, coaching staff, and even team managers. He stuffed the dough in an envelope, and told his team — his entire traveling organization, really — that they can have the money back the next time they play the Lakers inside the Staples Center.

The kicker? This was after the team's only game inside the Staples Center during the regular season. They weren't going to make it back inside that locker room unless the team made it back to the NBA Finals, some 3 1/2 months later.

And at some point when the C's returned to Los Angeles, on Tuesday, his team got its money back. Save for Eddie House, who was traded from the team a few days following Rivers' show of faith.

The money was apparently stashed underneath a ceiling tile, unbeknownst to Staples Center officials. ("We don't usually check the ceiling tiles after games," one jokingly told me after Game 1, "maybe if the President were coming, we would, but not usually."). Neither, apparently, did any extended member of the Celtics family know about it.

To have 26 people — younger players, coaching staff, even Celtics PR head Jeff Twiss (who gave Rivers the envelope) — keep the news about a secret envelope full of booty quiet for almost four months?

Pretty impressive. Pretty strange motivation technique, but pretty impressive nevertheless.

One has to wonder, though, if it might be worth it to check out the ceiling tiles in the visitors' locker room down in Phoenix, San Antonio and Dallas.

Eddie House wants his $100 back!

[Sauru]

ray allen on fire early in this game

[dare]

Somebody needs to clothesline Ray Allen

[Andrew]

Traded to the Knicks and he doesn't get his $100 back; raw deal for Eddie House this season.

Meanwhile, Celtics are a different team in Game 2. Aside from a couple of sloppy plays and defensive lapses, they've looked a lot better. Someone must've delivered a Larry Bird-esque "We played like a bunch of women" speech sometime between Game 1 and now.

[shadowgrin]

KG probably. He's the only one who has the balls to say that to a team that includes Rasheed Wallace. Paul Pierce is too busy being awed by himself for being the best player on the planet.

[Sauru]

i am still not happy with the plays of the celtics so far. they are still making stupid plays and giving up easy plays. it has taken a red hot ray allen just to get a 10 point lead, cant expect him to do another 6 for 6 from behind the line in the second half

[dare]

Kobe is frustrated, hope they bounce back in the second half

[benji]

Kobe is going to come out firing in the second half. Him and the Lakers are probably pissed off at how in the Celtics pocket the refs are. The refs and media are jealous of how great Kobe is so they're calling non-existent fouls on him, Odom and Bynum.

Jordan v2.0

[Andrew]

Allen finally misses, but he's red hot from downtown. He's tied the record for most threes in a Finals game, I'm guessing there'll be a new record before the game is over.

[dare]

With that last shot, I'm hoping good things will come to the Lakers in the next half

[Sauru]

wow talk about trying to give the game away. i know its only the half but you cant fucking close out that badly. only up 6 after all that?

[Andrew]

Great shot by Kobe off the steal. Celtics with some very sloppy play to end the first half, they should still be up by double digits but that's not happening with careless turnovers.

[shadowgrin]

The Celtics can't keep running like headless chickens and expect Ray Allen to bail them out with his threes.

[benji]

The injury fakers are so lousy they can't even win with the refs doing everything they can to steal the game.

Hopefully David Stern will tell those refs to start being unbiased and making the right calls. Or if this continues for the second half, do what Bud Selig should have done and overturn the result so the outcome is proper.

Kobe up 2-0.

[Phil89]

Shelden Williams doesn't look up to the speed of the game.

[Andrew]

On a related note, if I were a Celtics fan my stomach would lurch every time I see Kendrick Perkins try and take someone off the dribble.

[Sauru]

The injury fakers are so lousy they can't even win with the refs doing everything they can to steal the game.

Hopefully David Stern will tell those refs to start being unbiased and making the right calls. Or if this continues for the second half, do what Bud Selig should have done and overturn the result so the outcome is proper.

Kobe up 2-0.

bad call on kobe for his 3rd but they made it up the next trip by calling the same thing on allen

[benji]

Hardly, Kobe is basically getting flagrantly fouled by those thugs every time down the floor. Yet he doesn't whine, he just grits his jaw and leads.

Unstoppable focus.

[JaoSming]

On a related note, if I were a Celtics fan my stomach would lurch every time I see Kendrick Perkins try and take someone off the dribble.

we do, Kathryn's brothers and I were just saying that

[Sauru]

i laugh every time a second defener comes over to help though. you could probably stick a broom in the paint and have it cover perk just fine

[Andrew]

Lakers up by one. I thought Pierce got robbed on that foul call given some of the things they've let go.

[Andrew]

Tie game. Ray Allen set a new Finals record, Rondo is one point shy of a triple double but the Celtics have blown some really good opportunities around the basket.

[shadowgrin]

When Bynum caught the high pass and the tip in:

Mark Jackson: He caught the ball and his hands stayed up. You can't teach that. Good fundamental move by Bynum (paraphrasing).

WTF, you can't teach fundamentals? Shut the hell up Mark Jackson.

If Big Baby only had a bit of skill to go with his hustle, the Celtics would be up 10 by now.

[benji]

Amazing that despite the media being completely against and always doubting him, the refs doing everything they can to keep the Celtics in the game and unjustifiably foul him out, the league and especially David Stern trying to find someway to make him look bad (like with the made up rape charges), Kobe keeps his focus and leads the most underdog team in league history against impossible odds and had the refs been unbiased would have been going to Boston to face the racist crowd up 2-0.

Kobe leading by example, the Lakers not even giving up with six seconds to go.