Kobe Bryant is having one of the best postseason offensive runs that we've seen in years, and he leads one of the best offenses in the NBA. Kevin Garnett is having one of the best postseason defensive runs that we've seen in years, and he leads the best defense in the NBA. Together, they provide the pulse for the two best teams in the league.
In the first round of the playoffs Kobe and the Lakers had more trouble than expected with a feisty Thunder squad, but from the end of that series on he has been lights out. Kobe is averaging 29.4 points on 48|PERCENT| FG with 6.2 assists in the postseason overall, and you can boost those numbers to 33 points on 52|PERCENT| FG with 7.3 assists over his last 10 games against the Suns and Jazz. Only LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have even approached those kinds of numbers over extended periods in recent postseasons, and Kobe is doing it on the wrong side of 30 with a small laundry list of physical ailments that have slowed him this year...it makes his performance all the more impressive. His offensive explosion has burst him past Pau Gasol to lead the Lakers in PER (Gasol was ahead after the first two rounds), re-establishing himself as the statistical alpha dog on the squad. And the series of impossible shots to close out the Suns followed by his pat of Phoenix's coach on the butt will likely become a career signature moment for Kobe...if the Lakers go on to win the title.
Not many people these days would have Garnett in this space. Most of the media seem to be splitting the "Best Celtic" label between Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce. Here is why that is the wrong thing to do...the Celtics win with defense first. Rondo and Pierce may be leading the offensive charge, but Garnett or Ray Allen also spend quite a bit of time as the primary offensive for the Celtics. Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, and Pierce are also solid-to-good defenders as well, but on that side of the ball everything starts and ends with Garnett. And in this postseason, Garnett has been on a ridiculous defensive run...even though nobody seems to be noticing.
Michael Beasley, Antawn Jamison and Rashard Lewis are all good-to-very-good offensive players. Two are recent All Stars. All are consistent 15 - 20 ppg scorers that are among the leading offensive threats for their respective teams. And most importantly, all were playing really well before they faced Boston and even did great against Boston...as long as Garnett wasn't on the court. Check out their numbers against Garnett, vs their numbers against everyone else.
Beasley
'10 reg season: 14.8 ppg, 45|PERCENT| FG, 1.7 TOs, 30 min/game
'10 playoffs Celtics (KG on bench): 19.5 points/30 min, 62|PERCENT| FG, 2.2 TOs/30 min
'10 playoffs Celtics (KG in game): 7.7 points/30 min, 32|PERCENT| FG, 3.2 TOs/30 min
Jamison
'10 reg season: 18.7 ppg, 46|PERCENT| FG, 1.4 TOs, 37 min
'10 playoffs (not Boston): 19.4 ppg, 51|PERCENT| FG, 1.8 TOs, 35 min/game
'10 playoffs (Celtics, KG on bench): 26 points/36 min, 56|PERCENT| FG, 0 TOs/36 min
'10 playoffs (Celtics, KG in game): 11.2 points/36, 38|PERCENT| FG, 1.9 TOs/36
Lewis
'10 Reg season: 14.1 ppg, 43.5|PERCENT| FG, 1.5 TOs, 33 min
'10 playoffs (not Boston): 16.4 ppg, 54|PERCENT| FG, 1.8 TOs, 37 min
'10 playoffs (Celtics, KG on bench): 17.3 pts/36 min, 48|PERCENT| FG, 1.3 TOs/36
'10 playoffs (Celtics, KG in game): 5.1 pts/36, 24|PERCENT| FG, 2.0 TOs/36
If a defender takes a few points off their opponent's scoring average and 5|PERCENT| points off their shooting percentage, they are usually deemed to have "stopped" the player. But in this playoffs, KG is essentially cutting his opponent's scoring in half, taking 15 - 20|PERCENT| off their field goal percentage, and adding a full turnover. I've been watching basketball a lot of years, and frankly...I'm not sure I've ever even heard of someone having a defensive run like KG is on in these playoffs against a series of quality offensive options.
Kobe has yet to see defense anything remotely like what he'll see against the Celtics, but by the same token the power forwards that KG has been dominating have nowhere near the size and skillset of what he'll face against the Lakers. Expect both of their stats (Kobe's offense and KG's defense) to look worse in a couple of weeks than they do now, but that's not really the point. Ultimately it's about styles, and whichever of these two players can impose his will and particular brand of play most upon this series puts his team in the best chance to win. If the scores are 111 - 105, the Lakers have to feel good about their chances. Similarly, if the games tend to be 92 - 87 grind outs the Celtics are probably the champs.
Which brings us back to the peculiar yin and yang that always defines the Lakers vs Celtics rivalry. Russell vs Wilt. Hollywood vs Blue Collar. Magic vs Bird. It's the styles that make the fight, and somehow over the past 50 years it always seems that the Lakers and Celtics have opposing styles that bring out the best (and worst) in each other. So tomorrow night we'll be treated to an offensive genius leading an exceedingly talented supporting cast locking horns with a defensive virtuoso whose own squad is bristling with skills of their own. We saw chapter one of this generation of the rivalry two years ago. It's time now for Act 2 in what surely looks to be history in the making.