Doc Rivers revealed his teams’ strategy during the 2008 NBA Finals against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. The Boston Celtics team was told to be physically aggressive to beat the duo of Bryant and the newly acquired Pau Gasol. “Physically, I thought we’d beat them”, Rivers said while speaking on his coaching style.
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Paul Pierce (R) of the Boston Celtics moves the ball away from Kobe Bryant (L) of the Los Angeles Lakers during the Game 3 of the 2008 NBA Finals in Los Angeles, California, June 10, 2008. Bryant scored 36 points and the Los Angeles Lakers held off Boston to defeat the Celtics 87-81, pulling within two games to one in the National Basketball Association Finals. AFP PHOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
“We beat them in basketball but we’d beat them physically.”
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The current Philadelphia 76ers coach elucidated on the secret to defeating the Western Conference champions. He revealed that the only reason behind the Celtics overpowering the Lakers was physicality.
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Boston, Massachusettes?June 17, 2008 Lakers Kobe Bryant walks off the court as the Celtics celebrate the championship in Game 6 of the NBA Finals at the TD Banknorth Center Tuesday. (Photo by Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Moreover, Lamar Odom, former Lakers forward, said, “I don’t think they were better, they might’ve just been bigger”. According to him, they lost the Finals due to not securing enough rebounds and being aggressive like their opponents.
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Another reason for their loss that season was the lack of team chemistry. Pau Gasol was only acquired a month prior to the Playoffs, and needless to say, the team just didn’t know how to fully use them back then.
Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in ’09 and ’10
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Nevertheless, this loss was a lesson for Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. This motivated the team to work harder and learn to deal with the aggression shown by their opponents. The Lakers went on to win the next year’s title. They shut down prime Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic to win their 15th title as a franchise in 2009. Once Pau Gasol figured out how to shut down Howard, Kobe and the Lakers sailed to victory.
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BOSTON, MA, JUNE 13, 2010 Kobe Bryant finds it hard to get to the basket against the defense of Celtics forward Kevin Garnett late in game five of the NBA Finals at the TD Garden. (Photo by Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Remarkably, they were up against the Boston Celtics again in 2010. This time, however, they managed to defeat them with the rapport between stars Kobe and Pau at its best. In this series, Kobe put up 28.6 PPG, dished out 4 assists per game, and cleaned the glass 8 times. The 2010 victory saw Kobe win his second straight Finals MVP in a row. This was the fourth and final ring of his career.
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Kobe Bryant, a.k.a., the Black Mamba was one of the greatest competitors ever. Is he the GOAT of modern NBA? Let us know what you think. in the comments.
