The Lakers RSVP'd about 40 minutes and change too late in Game 2.  It would be far too easy to blame Game 2 on the officiating.  38-10 free throw attempt discrepancy.  Phil Jackson may have said it best when he wondered how Leon Powe got more free throw attempts in 14 minutes than the Lakers got in the entire game.  In fact, I think that I just got whistled for fouling Leon Powe after those two sentences.  Two more shots for Powe.  Really, how does Leon Powe get more respect from officials in an NBA Finals than Kobe?  Kobe drove to the basket, got his right arm grabbed from behind and still made the shot with his left hand.  No whistle.  However, until the last seven minutes, I would have said that the officiating was nowhere near as much a factor as the Lakers’ abominable play.  That’s much tougher to say when the Lakers cut it to two with forty seconds to play though.  I could write this whole thing about the garbage officiating (if anything happens to Bob Delaney, I think they should question my sister, Lauren, first.  I’m pretty sure she would kill him) but that would be boring and far too expected.  It will be a moot point after the Lakers get about 147 questionable calls in their favor in the next three games at Staples Center.  Well, maybe only 146 after Vladimir Radmanovic got 4.5 steps on that breakaway.  Why did he even bother dribbling?  He should have just taken off running to the rim like Ty Law on a pick-6 if he knew he could get away with that.

The scariest thing about these first two games has been how soft the Lakers look.  Yes Pau, that means you.  Lamar, you get a pass because we've watched you play depressed for a few years now so any energy from you is merely a bonus.  Pau's new to us.  Whereas Kobe has to contend with three brutes every time he goes to the rim, Paul Pierce has to deal with the Pussycat Dolls.  The play that typified the Lakers D came with about 8:20 left in the game.  Leon Powe drove about 70 feet straight to the rim as Pau Gasol and Sasha Vujacic played the “who’s a bigger wuss” game by parting like the Red Sea at the rim.  How do you let that happen?  How about fouling the guy?  After that, Phil Jackson should have inserted Ronny Turiaf and D.J. Mbenga into the lineup with the sole instruction being, “use all of your fouls . . . no more layups for them.”  That’s how pissed I was after watching Leon Powe get his third big time dunk.  I think it says a lot about how the Lakers played when Leon Powe is the most oft-mentioned guy in this column so far.  The guy played like a man possessed.  At least Powe playing well meant that we weren’t subjected to more talk about Pierce’s “injury” and “comeback” in Game 1.  Did you know he sprained his knee and is wearing a brace?  Or did you need to hear about it again?  Here’s the deal ABC.  I’ll put up with another replay of that sequence if you include the audio of Pierce crying like someone just burned down his Barbie playhouse for five minutes after he went down.

On to the one observation that needs a lot more attention.  Why on earth is Radmanovic matched up on Pierce?  I refuse to use the words “covering,” “defending,” or “guarding” to describe what Radmanovic does when he’s matched up on Pierce.  It’s like he’s stuck in quicksand when Pierce puts the ball on the floor against him.  And don’t get me started on Luke Walton.  The only good thing about Radmanovic being on the floor is that it means that Walton is usually on the bench.  Walton needs to stop throwing bounce passes to the cameramen and stop getting taken to the hole by behemoth slow men.  But, back to Pierce.  Did anybody see what happened in the last six minutes of the game when the Lakers actually played some D?  Kobe was guarding Pierce.  Shouldn’t that be happening the whole game?  You’re telling me that Kobe wouldn’t rather shut down the other team’s best player than chase Ray Allen around the whole game?  I understand that Radmanovic can’t chase Jesus Shuttlesworth around.  But, it’s not like the Lakers can get a rebound or defend inside when they go big anyway, so why not go small and match up Kobe on Pierce.  You can play a lineup of Fisher, Sasha, Kobe, Lamar, and Pau and rebound and defend just as well inside as any lineup containing Luke and Radmanovic because they’re both useless.  Fish guards Rondo, Sasha on Ray Ray, Kobe on Pierce, Lamar on Brown/Perkins, and Pau on KG.  Sounds like a plan to me.  Last note on the Lakers D:  Why is Garnett so wide open for jump shots at the free throw line?  It’s fine when he’s shooting from behind the college three-point line, but not the free throw line.  He sets a screen.  They go pick and pop and the Lakers don’t rotate.  Why are the Lakers guarding Rondo when he’s anywhere except five feet from the basket?  The couple of times that the Lakers rotated to stick KG on the pick and pop he found the open man, which just happened to be Rondo in the corner.  Do you know what happened next?  Rondo either threw up a brick or stood there bobbing up and down with the ball waiting for someone to come and guard him so he wouldn’t have to look like basketball’s version of Gary Sheffield’s batting routine.  He’s utterly useless unless he’s driving to the rim.  Sag off of him and make him shoot.  When he was at Kentucky, nobody would even guard him outside of the paint.  Watch the game film.  I’m not kidding.  Go under every screen against him and call it a day.

Lastly, there’s a rule in basketball, you can’t wait until you’re down 24 points with 7:30 remaining to start playing.  Kobe went Black Mamba but it was way too late and he still almost pulled it off.  That’s how good he is and that’s why I’m still not worried.  The Lakers are coming home where they need a sweep.  There will be no excuses because they have compiled those 146 make-up calls due to them that will be cashed in from tomorrow until Sunday.  They will be 9-10 point favorites in every game at home.  It’s time to take care of business.  The Lakers have shown that they can overcome not being able to rebound against a more physical Celtics team.  I can’t really explain the last 7:30 of Game 2 but it happened nonetheless.  It’s time to learn from that sequence and play like it’s the NBA Finals.  That’s a pump up speech that you shouldn’t have to use when it actually is the NBA Finals but, oh well.  Put the mortgage on the Lakers in Game 3. 

Best Weekend:  Juan Manuel Lopez.  A betting underdog against the highly touted Daniel Ponce De Leon.  Another Top Rank victory over Golden Boy.  Lopez is the Puerto Rican that the little island has been waiting for because Miguel Cotto is more politically correct than . . . sorry, I can’t think of a justifiable comparison.  The guy won’t take a verbal shot at anyone even if it's deserved.  Why not call out Pretty Boy Floyd for ducking you and denying you a $10 million pay day?  Puerto Rico has been dying for Felix “Tito” Trinidad’s successor.  They even talked themselves into believing that Tito could beat Roy Jones Jr.  Back to Lopez though.  This guy is legit.  I’m waiting for Israel Vazquez to recover from his unbelievable trilogy with Rafael Marquez so he can give Juan Ma a shot.  Check out the fight when HBO re-airs it.  You won’t have to watch long. 

Worst Weekend:  Big Brown.  That was too depressing for words.  I was all set to write a glowing column about the best horse of my generation.  Waiting for Desormeaux to turn him loose at the turn and watch him coast to a 5-length victory.  But alas.  It was not to be.  A close second in this category:  Roger Federer.