When will the Heat breakup their trio?

[DMAVS41]

How were the Lakers favored over the Celtics? On Paper, the 2008 Celtics > 2008 Lakers.

Probably because Boston took 7 games for the first 2 rounds, while LA went 4, 6, 5 over the Nuggets, Jazz and Spurs, respectively.

Because people thought (including me) that Kobe would be by far the best player in that series.

Instead, he wasn't one of the two best in my opinion...and of course nobody thought Kobe would allow his team to blow a 24 point lead in a crucial finals game at home.

The Celtics were definitely the better team and Kobe doesn't deserve a ton of blame for losing the series, but he did not play great and was actually not the best player in the series...that was unexpected. If Kobe had been the best player and played great....the Lakers definitely could have won.

That series was a lot closer than everyone seems to remember. The Lakers could have easily been up 3-2 going back to Bostons (blown 24 point lead)....

[Doranku]

Because people thought (including me) that Kobe would be by far the best player in that series.

Instead, he wasn't one of the two best in my opinion...and of course nobody thought Kobe would allow his team to blow a 24 point lead in a crucial finals game at home.

The Celtics were definitely the better team and Kobe doesn't deserve a ton of blame for losing the series, but he did not play great and was actually not the best player in the series...that was unexpected. If Kobe had been the best player and played great....the Lakers definitely could have won.

That series was a lot closer than everyone seems to remember. The Lakers could have easily been up 3-2 going back to Bostons (blown 24 point lead)....

Yeah, I was very disappointed/surprised to see how much Kobe struggled against that Boston team considering how he shredded the Western Conference (something like 30/6/6 on 50%+ from the field).

I don't think the Lakers were at all the favorites in the series, but if Kobe would have played like he did against any of the Western Conference teams, LA definitely could have won the series or at the very least pushed it to a 7 game series.

The game where they blew the 24 point lead was just so brutal. It finally looked like Kobe had figured out the Boston defense.. he had a great second half in Game 2 and almost facilitated a massive comeback despite AWFUL, one-sided officiating and then tore Boston apart in game 3 for 36 on 12/20 shooting.. and then Game 4 happened.

I think if LA wins that series with Kobe playing like he did in the earlier rounds, he has a legitimate argument all-time for being above Shaq/Duncan. 6 rings, 3 Finals MVPs, a 30+/6+/6+ on 50% title run... ah, if only.