Boston takes Game 1, how can the Lakers rebound (no pun intended)?

Once again, the Boston Celtics are able to take the first game of a series on their home court in a 98-88 win over the L.A. Lakers. It seems like the Celtics are always able to play an energetic game in the opening game of whatever series that they're in and it seems to be a key win for them in every series in these playoffs. That Game 1 win is always important to them because they have yet to take complete control over a series as they were able to win each one in six games or more.

But how key was this one against the Lakers?

Well, the Lakers look like they are the only team that won't give Boston any stolen opportunities to allow them to take control of the series. The Lakers aren't like the Pistons who seem to be the only team in the NBA that can't take momentum into the next game, unlike the Lakers who can use momentum from a good win and use it to make the kill on their homecourt. It didn't show in the series against the Utah Jazz much, but they were still able to get the job done there. And don't forget the impressive, knocking off of the '07 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs. In a series that was predicted by many to be the toughest for the Lakers by going six, if not seven games. But the hungry Lakers were able to take advantage of the fatigue shown by the Spurs from rounds one and two.

That is what the Lakers will need to do in order to top off the Celtics. It's safe to see that the Celtics are a team that you wouldn't want to face on their homecourt while they are up in the series because that's where they have done most of their damage throughout the regular season, and even the playoffs. They've only lost one game in the postseason at TD Banknorth. That was against the inconsistent Pistons who had the best chance to give the C's the most trouble, but they couldn't take the energy from Game 2 and send it back to their homecourt where they allowed the C's (a team who couldn't by a win on the road) to steal away TWO games on the road. Not cool at all.

The Lakers are similar to the Celtics when it comes to playing at home, but they've shown more consistency on the road than Boston has. That is really the one and only advantage that the Lakers have over the Celtics. The Celtics are too good to assume that the match ups that the Lakers have against the Celtics are an advantage because that's not true. It showed in Game 1 that the match ups may be a little difficult for the Lakers.

The Lakers will have to do what all of the other teams that faced the Celtics couldn't do, and that's actually STEAL a game at TD Banknorth. The Pistons didn't steal Game 2 away from Boston, rather more than they just won it because they didn't take advantage of that win. That is all the Lakers will have to do in order to make this series come out in their favor.