2008 NBA Finals---Lakers win Game 3; Celtics Lead 2-1

The Lakers win Game 3 of the NBA Finals, make the series 2-1 and people are still non-believers in the Lakers. It's funny how everyone is on the Celtics bandwagon and feel the Celtics have the series in the bag. The Lakers have yet to play great and have not been embarrassed by the Celtics. They have been in every game. Even though Kobe has yet to have a mind-blowing game, he has not been shut down and as the series goes on he will only get better.

First off, the Celtics are not a road team. They have won one road game this playoffs and there is no evidence that they will win anymore. Yes, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have played well, but when they don't the Celtics do not have an offense. You could say the same for the Lakers, but Kobe will not have a bad game. The Lakers do need a bigger contribution from its starters namely Odom. Odom and Gasol have to dominate the Celtics front line, which they should be able to outside of Garnett. In Game 3, Sasha Vujacic had a great game and people are saying he is the only reason the Lakers won the game. You could very much say that for the Celtics in Game Two when Leon Powe had 21 points and had the referees as a sixth player on the floor for their team. People fail to forget that the Lakers did come back from 24 points in the 4th quarter on the road and that Kobe had 30 points on 11-23 shooting without many trips to the free-throw line.

Bottom line, the Lakers are not out of the series and I still believe will win this series. The Lakers are a better team and have not even played their best basketball and are still in the series. Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson will not allow the rest of the Lakers to play a horribly the rest of the seris. Boston will not be the same team in LA that they are in Boston. Paul Pierce knee injury will catch up to him and Rondo will not be able to sustain his great play he had in the first two games, especially now that Kobe is guarding him. Most importantly, Kobe is figuring out what he has to do to beat the Celtics and that is become an unstoppable, aggressive offensive force, which he began to show in Game 3.

The Lakers will win Game Four, Boston will panic and everyone will be on the Kobe bandwagon again. Lakers win the series 4-2.