Paul Pierce and Rondo played at nearly the same level according to their .131 WS/48. The difference is LeBron shut down Pierce to a greater degree. Pierce feasted against Orlando also and faced the tougher defensive matchups in the playoffs.

"(Game score per game)

Paul Pierce:

vs Cle- 7.33 GSPG

vs Others: 14.822 GSPG

Rondo (Kobe's dude)

vs Cle- 20.366 GSPG

vs LA- 12.057 GSPG

Others- 13.07778 GSPG

Kg

vs Cle- 13.83 GSPG

vs Otrhers- 11.24 GSPG

Ray Allen:

vs Cle- 10.2 GSPG

vs Others- 10.6 GSPG"

So LeBron took a comparable offensive player, if not superior looking at Pierce's basketball on paper stats, and shut him down better.

No one cares about the foul calls, just Kobe's lack of consistency in the last 12 fourth quarters of the Finals. Where he's shooting 29% IIRC.

I asked you to compare rondos stats against the cavs v lakers for me not PP v cavs and than Rondo v LA....i bet they decrease significantly, in large part due to Kobe

If Rondos stats are better against LA this will show how wrong the system is as everyone knows that the best player during the Cavs v Boston sereis was Rondo 1, daylight 2nd

NBA is so fixed

please re-watch game 7 for me and tell me that those fouls were not there....the celtics settled for jumpers while the lakers attacked the basket....the celtics also had some stupid early fouls blocking fouls etc (often a sign of fatigue - maybe Doc should have given his starters more of a rest)..at the start of the 4th which put the lakers into the penalty early and were able to exploit

Unfortunately for you, I can indeed measure defense.

Paul Pierce vs Cle: 7.3 Game score per game
Rajon Rondo vs LA: 12.05 game score per game

You homer people are freaking amazing, Why don't you watch your own guy choking in the Finals every year, if we want to apply the same standards? Kobe's bar is much lower it seems.

you always like to bring up these stats and so....as I said earlier so much of what happens on a b'ball court cannot be measured in some formula like D....you being the stats man compare rondos stats against the cavs v's lakers....i bet the house he preformed worse against the lakers....guess who played on him....thats right Kobe....

leadership is what counts, to get your team mates to preform at a level that allows them to achieve team success....5 titles proves that and if you want first hand proof of this leadership, please watch the USA vs Spain gold medal game at the Olympics and you tell me who the best players in the world turned to in crunch time.....

Everything makes sense if you stop ignoring Pau Gasol is better than Mo Williams and Jamison combined, in the playoffs.

Pau Gasol: .224 WS/48
Mo: .080 WS/48
Jamison: .091 WS/48

Sucks for Lebron because he, on the other hand, is clearly unlucky. "Best player" in the league for years now and best reg. season record for the last couple seasons and still can't win a chip.

Curse the basketball gods!!

This is asinine.

However, that game would never go to the team with the best shooting heroics. Blue collar work, (defense, rebounds and hustle). Kobe eventually realized this, hence the 15 rebounds.

(2) I think Doc Rivers holds much of the blame for the Celtics' loss. After preaching to his team to "trust each other" every time out all playoffs long, he wouldn't trust his bench and overplayed his aging starters.

After adhering to strict limits on minutes all season, Ray Allen (35.2 minutes per game in the regular season), Paul Pierce (34.0 minutes per game) and Rajon Rondo (36.6 minutes per game) were suddenly played about 45 minutes each in game 7 -- playing more minutes than Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.

Clearly the Celtics did not have the legs for it.

After leading almost the entire game, the Celtics ran out of gas with 6:13 left in the game. Derek Fisher nailed a 3 pointer, tying the score at 64, and sparking a 9-0 run. In the next few minutes the Celtics missed their next 4 shots, and were out rebounded 7 to 1.

Were it not for that lapse, the Celtics might well have prevailed.