The best defense vs. Lakers' star? All for one
When the Celtics' top-ranked defense takes the floor at TD Banknorth Garden tonight, it will be charged with stopping a man in purple who can often be too hot to stop.
If Ray Allen gets in too close defensively, No. 24 can drive by him. If the NBA's Most Valuable Player gets double-teamed, he can pass to a plethora of long-range shooters waiting to pull the trigger or big men hoping for an easy dunk. If the 10-time All-Star's path to the basket is blocked, he can stick the mid-range jumper as easily as he makes a layup. If the NBA 3-point contest invitee is left open (or even has a hand in his face), he can knock it down. And if the 1997 slam dunk champion gets inside? Watch out.
Kobe Bryant has succeeded against every possible defense, so the Celtics know they're up against the world's most intimidating offensive player in tonight's Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
"They have the best scorer on the planet," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.
Said Allen, "You just don't let your guard down because he can shoot at all times."
At just 29 years old, the 24th-leading scorer in NBA history is at the peak of his eventual Hall of Fame career.
Bryant finished the season second in the league in scoring at 28.3 points per game, behind Cleveland's LeBron James (30.0). The 6-foot-6-inch, 206-pounder shot 45.9 percent from the field, 84 percent from the free throw line, and 36.1 percent from 3-point range. He scored a season-high 53 against Memphis March 28.
Bryant is also averaging 31.9 points during the postseason on 50.9 percent shooting.
"[Bryant] is always in attack mode," Celtics guard Sam Cassell said. "Kobe can shoot threes. He's got mid-range [jumpers]. It seems like he's always in control. Our job is to make him uncomfortable and stop him. But how can you stop a guy that gets the ball 40 times?"
But as great as Bryant was in the regular season, he had his struggles against the Celtics' heralded defense.
Bryant scored 28 points on 9-of-21 shooting in Boston's 107-94 victory at home Nov. 23. He also shot just 6 for 25 (0 for 6 from 3-point range, 22 points) in Boston's 110-91 win at Los Angeles Dec. 30. But since their last meeting, Bryant has been aided by the acquisition of Pau Gasol.
"I've watched them, I don't know, just to torture myself, I guess," said Bryant, about the two regular-season games against Boston.
Said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, "[The regular-season games] gave us an idea of the type of defense the Celtics play, how dedicated they are to it, and they really got our respect for that."
Bryant also expressed strong respect for the Celtics' defense, which is allowing NBA-lows of 87.3 points per game and a .421 field goal percentage in the playoffs.
"You can watch any Celtics game, no matter who they play, and pick some stuff from it, because they play the same way," Bryant said. "It's similar in regards to San Antonio and some of the other great defensive teams, the Pistons, where they really don't do anything special against a particular player, they just play solid defense all the time and they have principles that they stick to and they support each other extremely well."
Bryant has a reputation of being one of the best-conditioned athletes in the league. But one way the Celtics might be able to wear him down some offensively is by making him work on defense against Allen.
Allen had success against Bryant during his Sonics days (in 16 games against the Lakers from 2003-07, he averaged 25.3 points, 5.9 assists, and 3.25 3-pointers) and averaged 18.5 points in the two games against the Lakers this season.
"We've always gone back and forth at each other," Allen said.
But the difference in the Celtics offense is that he is not running off as many screens, which can wear down a defender.
"You don't ever change what you do," Rivers said. "You don't change your system to try to tire someone out. You're not going to tire him out. Secondly, we got a ton of screens for [Allen] anyway. He'll be running off of those, but you ruin your offense when you do that kind of stuff."
While trying to slow Bryant, the Celtics adhere to numerous defensive principles. The help defense can't overcommit if he is shooting a 3-pointer, close out on him correctly and don't fly by, thus leaving him in a position to shoot or drive. Stop second shots and offensive rebounds. Watch out for passes to cutting teammates. Try to stop him from driving the lane. Keep in mind that he has a strong mid-range jumper.
"We know they have an offensive player that plays a brand of special ball," Kevin Garnett said. "Kobe scores in a lot of different ways. He uses numerous head-fakes and shot-fakes to set things up quarter by quarter. [He's] unpredictable. There is one predictable thing about him - you know that he's going to be aggressive."
There has been a lot of talk that the Celtics have to guard Bryant the way they guarded Cavaliers star LeBron James in the second round in order to have success. But since Bryant is a shooting guard, Boston is expected to be more in the defensive mind-set of when it defended Atlanta guard Joe Johnson in the first round.
Allen, however, doesn't compare guarding Bryant to defending James or Johnson. To Allen, Bryant is an entirely different and tough defensive chore for the entire team.
"We never look at it as one person or individual," Allen said. "I had Joe Johnson early and then Paul [Pierce] had LeBron and then a little bit of everybody in Detroit. [With Bryant], it's going to take all of us."
Marc J. Spears can be reached at mspears@globe.com
