1. During the opening introductions, it occurred to me that only two of the five Lakers’s starters went to college. Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum were straight-from-high-school draftees and Pau Gasol was a non-college Euro player. Only Derek Fisher finished four years of college (Ron Artest left St. John’s after two seasons without completing his B.A. in Ridiculous Behavior).

2. Tony Allen is terrible in the open court with the ball (I knew this already but was unfortunately reminded of it once again when TA submitted a hideous unforced turnover on a 2-on-2 with Ray Allen as his running mate). Tony is fine as a wingman on the break but when he has the ball and is the decision maker, bad things almost always happen.

3. The Celtics got schooled in the first quarter to the tune of 30-19 because A) Boston’s defense allowed the Lakers to shoot 61% from the field (Andrew Bynum had 12 points, B) LA outrebounded Boston 9-5, and C) LA had 7 trips to the free throw line versus Boston’s 1, and D) Boston wasn’t able to fully capitalize on the LA strategy of playing Kobe Bryant loose off Rajon Rondo. If Ray Allen had been able to stick it to the undersized Derek Fisher, Rondo would have been given more room to attack the basket and create some more offense.

4. The Celtics turned the table (and then some) on LA in the second quarter. Scratch that. They laid a royal smack-down on those guys. At one point in the middle of the quarter, Boston utterly dominated and in a 5:27 stretch, the Celtics scored 15 unanswered points. During that stretch, the Celtics seemed to rediscover just how good they can be. If so, they have Rajon Rondo to thank for it. Rondo stayed on the floor for every second of the frame and submitted a performance that almost single-handedly resurrected his team (he was certainly helped by the play of Tony Allen, certainly NOT to be confused with Ray Allen today). In the quarter, Rondo racked up 9 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Of Boston’s 33 points, Rondo either scored or assisted on 28 of them. I'm sorry but that’s just sick.

5. If Tony Allen had converted on 3 lay ups, he would have actually scored 18 points in the first half (he came into the game early after Pierce picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter). On the other hand, Allen did sink a long-mid-range jumper and a three point shot. Overall, he played really well, especially on defense against some guy named Kobe Bryant. TA. The man is truly a box of chocolates.

6. Based on what I saw on the JumboTron during a break in action, submitted as definitive evidence: If it’s not on the list already, please add “Music by the Scorpions” to Stuff White People Like.

7. The Celtics came out flat again in the third quarter, a well-documented recurring theme this year, but were rescued by The Passion of Rajon Rondo (again), who scored 8 of Boston’s first 10 points and 10 overall in the quarter. Still, one had the uneasy sense throughout the frame that the Celtics could have been had if the Lakers had been able to step up their game.

8. Remember that feeling of superiority you felt as a Celtics fan, secure in the knowledge that Kendrick Perkins had Andrew Bynum’s number? That feeling is officially gone. Seems the Bynum has finally figured out how to use his size advantage to fend off Perk’s physicality. Bummer.

9. Lamar Odom loves to dribble. If the shot clock didn’t exist, I’m pretty sure fans would be treated to minutes at a time of Odom dribbling around like an oversized AAU showboat.

10. The last minute of the game will be open to much scrutiny, and it should be. On their second-to-last possession, the Celtics had the ball with 45.3 second left, leading 90-89. Rivers chose to call for a classic Pierce isolation play, like it was circa 2005. The fact that Pierce got called for an offensive foul that is also wide open to scrutiny is beside the point. The play call was lousy. Why go away from ball movement to actually create a favorable shot? It’s not like Pierce was a man on fire. He was 4-10 at the time and out of rhythm, not even having a shot attempt in the entire fourth quarter. Why not instead place the ball in the hands of your point guard, by far your most effective offensive player throughout the game, and allow him to create? If you’re looking for where to point the finger, start with the coach. Then move swiftly onto Ray Allen, who shot 2-10, including 0-6 from deep waters. Allen had the biggest mismatch with point guards as his defensive opposition, but came up far too empty to give his team the best chance to win. In short, he was abysmal.

The good news, of course, is that these lessons are not etched in stone. KG will presumably get healthier, and better. The return of Marquis Daniels will help. Rasheed Wallace can fairly be expected to contribute more than he has lately. All of that said, it's impossible to feel good about this team and its chances of title contention right now and anyone who pretends otherwise is willfully ignoring the evidence that has been submitted on the court over the past several weeks. Before the season, Rasheed Wallace boldly predicted that the Celtics could win seventy-something games and nobody blinked an eye. It all seems so pollyanna now and it's not because some important guys got hurt at the same time. It's because of what we've seen form the guys left playing that have given us pause and reason for serious concern. Something is definitely missing from this team right now, be it heart, leadership, accountability....I'll leave it to you speculate along with the rest of us, but this is no Good Ship Lollipop and it's time to stop pretending otherwise.