Ron Artest is a really good defender.  In fact, we have talked about his ability to defend the basketball here in the past.  People are talking about this matchup, and rightfully so, but I think they talking about it for the wrong reasons.  I am not worried about this matchup for the first 47 minutes of the game.  Pierce is going to get his buckets, and if the Lakers take him away, others (like Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Kevin Garnett) are going to be able to get their points through Doc Rivers’ sets and such.

What I am worried about is when the Celtics absolutely need a bucket, and when they need a bucket late in the game they go to Pierce and let him work.

They can’t do that with Ron Artest covering him.  We have the proof.  Remember the game earlier in the year when the Lakers beat the Celtics?  Let’s look at the Celtics final two possessions:

The play above is basically the same play as the one from the Heat game, except for 1 thing.  The Celtics need to bring a screener.  This is a huge difference because now there are two defenders in Pierce’s area.  Fisher’s help also forces Pierce into taking an indirect route to his sweet spot.  Ron Artest gets back in time and gets his body into Pierce (which is something the Heat defender doesn’t do), drawing the offensive foul.

Here, the Celtics run another pick for Pierce, but this time it is a pick and pop that is well defended by the Lakers.  The Celtics run this play a ton, but you never see it late in games, as they are much more comfortable getting the ball in Pierce’s hands late.  Ron Artest on Paul Pierce forces the Celtics to do stuff they aren’t comfortable doing late in games.