NBA Finals Notebook | Lakers neutralized by suffocating defense

Seattle Times news services

BOSTON — The best player was no match for the best team.

Even Kobe Bryant couldn't solve Boston's suffocating defense in the NBA Finals, which ended Tuesday night when the Celtics crushed the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 in Game 6.

"I've seen some pretty stiff ones, and this was right up there with them," Bryant said of the Celtics' defense. "They definitely were the best defense I've seen in the entire playoffs."

Bryant finished with 22 points, but shot only 7 of 22 from the field and was quiet after a sizzling start for the second straight game.

He averaged 31.9 points through the first three rounds, tops among all players in the postseason. But the Celtics limited him to 25.7 per game and 40 percent shooting, rotating a number of defenders on him and making sure there was always help behind if Bryant did try to get to the basket.

And there was no one else to pick up the slack. Lamar Odom didn't have a field goal until the fourth quarter of Game 6, when the Lakers were already down by 29 points. Pau Gasol took just seven shots and finished with 11 points — and he was their second-leading scorer until deep in the fourth quarter, when Odom went to work against the reserves who played the last few minutes while Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were busy celebrating on the sideline.

With the Lakers' season on the line, Jackson left Bryant on the floor for the entire second quarter, instead of his usual break early in the period. Maybe the rest would have been a better idea.

Bryant missed all four shots and committed two turnovers in the period, when the game was decided after Boston outscored Los Angeles 34-15. And when he desperately needed his teammates to pick him up, the rest of the Lakers combined for just three field goals in the period, and the Celtics had a commanding 58-35 lead by the time it was over.

"They broke the game when they got ahead by 23 points at halftime and we didn't respond to it," Gasol said.

Pierce not headed for Beijing

Despite how well Pierce played in the NBA Finals, USA Basketball reiterated that it isn't going to add him to its Beijing Olympics team, managing director Jerry Colangelo said Tuesday.

Pierce was among the long list of core potential players originally named in 2005. But since he didn't participate the past two years because of injuries, he won't be asked to wear red, white, and blue this summer.

U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski said the 12-man roster for this summer's Beijing Games will be released Monday.

"The pool of players that we have have all made commitments and have given time and effort," he said. "We have more people qualified for those 12 spots than we can take, so that's what makes it tough."

Last year, the U.S. team started Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd and Dwight Howard en route to an unbeaten showing in an Olympic qualifying tournament. The roster also included Amare Stoudemire, Chauncey Billups, Deron Williams, Michael Redd, Tayshaun Prince, Tyson Chandler and Mike Miller.

The Associated Press and The Boston Globe contributed to this report.