As Darren Misener pointed out yesterday, Boston kept Kobe and the Lakers out of the paint. In addition, they kept them from getting easy baskets in transition.

The Lakers were one of the fastest paced teams in the league this year, averaging 94.6 possessions per game in the regular season and 92.9 per game in the first three rounds of the playoffs. The Celtics played slower, averaging 89.9 possessions in the regular season and 83.9 in the playoffs.

Before Game 1, Doc Rivers said, despite the contrasting styles of the two teams, that the pace of the game was not that much of an issue.

"I'm not concerned about the pace," Rivers said. "I like when we're an up tempo team. We just don't like when the other team is an up tempo team. We don't mind running, we just want to be the only team that does it."

In Game 1, the Lakers had 90 possessions and the Celtics had 91 (an extra one in the third period). The pace was neither too slow for L.A. nor too fast for Boston. But, to Rivers' liking, the Lakers did not get many baskets in transition.

"I thought we did pretty well," he said of his team's Game 1 transition defense a day later. Though, he saw it as having varying quality. "I was a little disappointed in the first quarter, or first half obviously. It doesn't say it on the stats as far as transition baskets, but we allowed them to get in their early offense because we didn't get back and down and ready defensively in the first half."

Indeed, nine of the Lakers first 11 points in the game came in the first eight seconds of the shot clock: a Derek Fisher pull-up jumper, a Lamar Odom catch-and-shoot from the top of the key, a Vladimir Radmanovic three, and a Radmanovic lob to Pau Gasol. It could have been more, but Fisher missed a pair of free throws after Paul Pierce fouled him on a pull-up early in another possession.

But after that, Boston did a better job of getting back. L.A. had just two fast break points in the game after averaging 12.4 in the regular season and 9.9 through the first three rounds of the playoffs. Those two were on a Fisher-to-Kobe alley-oop after a missed three from Rajon Rondo. The Celtics had 14 turnovers in the game without allowing a quick bucket from the Lakers off of one.

"I thought we did a better job in the second half obviously," Rivers said. "In the last five minutes of the game I thought we regressed a little bit. It's a point of emphasis, clearly."

Getting back on defense is one way to prevent transition buckets. Obviously, another is making shots. But the Celtics shot just 42.1 percent in Game 1. So, they also relied on method No. 3: offensive rebounds. Boston grabbed 10 offensive boards on Thursday, four of them coming from Kevin Garnett.

And afterwards, when asked about their lack of transition baskets, the Lakers pointed to rebounding as a way to get running.

"That's why defensive rebounding is so important for us," Lamar Odom said, "creating opportunities where we can get out and run."

Kobe Bryant echoed those sentiments.

"We like to get up and down," Kobe Bryant said Friday, "so we've got to make sure we rebound the ball. Rebound the ball, get a chance to get out a little bit. They beat us up a bit on the boards and gave them some second chance opportunities. So we need to get those rebounds and get out and run."

Method No. 4 for stopping the break is getting to the foul line. The Celtics attempted 35 free throws in Game 1, 10 more than they averaged in the first three rounds. In addition to rebounding, the amount of free throws the opponent attempts is a focus of Lakers coach Phil Jackson.

"Those two things we didn't do [Thursday]," Jackson said. "You have to eliminate fouling and getting in the penalty early in the quarters and then at least maintain some board presence."

No matter how they do it, if the Lakers want to even the series on Sunday, they need to get out and run.