After blitzing through their first three playoff opponents for 105.8 points per game, the Lakers are scoring about 14 points less against Boston in the NBA Finals. The Celtics defense is so stingy that in 16 quarters the Lakers have topped 25 points only four times.
Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, with 18 years as an NBA assistant, is just now being hailed as a defense-minded guru, capable of containing offenses potent and meager.
Jeff Van Gundy, former New York Knicks and Houston Rockets coach, is irritated that Thibodeau is pigeon-holed as a defense-oriented coach when his knowledge encompasses the entire game. "Heck," Van Gundy said, "the guy's been a good coach for years."
Better late than never.
Thibodeau's name has not emerged on a public stage before, but he is conducting a penny-pinching Celtics defense that is limiting the Lakers' prolific offense, shepherding them to the cusp of an NBA championship.
Celtics assistants are not allowed to talk to the media, so don't expect to hear the man's story in his own voice. But those who know Thibodeau say he'd prefer it that way, quietly going about his business away from the limelight.
Van Gundy had Thibodeau on his coaching staffs with the Knicks and the Rockets. "You get an honest day's work from this guy every day. There's no tidy two paragraphs that will capture 30 years of coaching."
He credits Thibodeau for helping Yao Ming show his great offensive potential in Houston. But it's on the defensive end where Thibodeau has made a name for himself this season.
Only, he's been at it for a while.
Just ask Kobe Bryant, who came to know Thibodeau as a high schooler in Pennsylvania when Thibodeau was an assistant for the Philadelphia 76ers.
"He has an unfair advantage," Bryant said recently, only half kiddingly. "He started drilling me, NBA basketball drills, when I was 14. So he kind of has inside information on what I like to do because he taught me most of the stuff. I've been facing his defenses here for some time, and they're tough, very, very tough."
Celtics Coach Doc Rivers had the confidence in his own coaching ability to hand the defensive reins to Thibodeau in his first season with the team.
During the regular season the Celtics gave up 90.3 points per game, the second-fewest in the league. And when their offense has stagnated in the Finals against the Lakers, they could always turn to their swarming defense.
