The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics in game one of the 2010 NBA Finals.

Kobe Bryant led the way with 30 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. But, it was Ron Artest and Pau Gasol who set the tone for the Lakers.

Within 30 seconds of the opening tip, Artest got involved in an altercation with Celtic main man Paul Pierce. The two wrestled each other in the paint, resulting in a double technical. The instance served notice to the Celtics that these Lakers will not be pushed around as they were in their last Finals meeting in 2008.

Gasol, who had been called ‘soft’ after the 2008 Finals, proved critics wrong as he constantly put pressure on the Boston defense—whether he was throwing an alley-hoop to Lamar Odom or shooting a hook shot over Kendrick Perkins.
The Spaniard scored 24 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Celtics were top scored by Paul Pierce with 24, but he never really got a good offensive rhythm thanks to the defense of Artest. Kevin Garnett, on the other hand, did not deliver when his team needed it. The former MVP scored 16 points and grabbed four boards.

Another Celtic that did not bring his ‘A’ game is Rajon Rondo. The rising star was limited to 13 points and eight assists, and he was left open for 15-footers by the Laker defense. He could not convert on these shots, which made him more hesitant to play his type of game.

Ray Allen spent most of the night in the bench due to early foul trouble. He scored 12 points.

Coming into tonight’s game, experts said that the Celtics would be the more dominant team in the post. But this advantage did not show. The Lakers had 48 points in the paint, while the Celtics had 30. In the rebound department, Los Angeles won 42-31. And for second chance points, the Lakers had 16 and the Celtics had zero.

After game one, the burden of adjustment is to the Celtics.