First act had a bad ending

The Zen Master needs to start channeling Pat Riley and get through to his soft-as-Charmin Lakers that unless they rebound the basketball like they own it, there are two chances his team will beat the Celtics in this series: slim and none . . . and slim is blocking out.

Howard Cohen

North Hills

After the award-winning dive, being carried off the court by fellow teammates, and subsequent jogging back out of the locker room minutes later, Paul Pierce has received many offers from the English Premier League.

Dave Eng

Thousand Oaks

The only thing Paul Pierce heard pop was Kobe putting him in Chick Hearn’s popcorn machine.

Ed Donchey

Orange

Dispelling any doubt about the primacy of the medical care in Boston, the same healer responsible for the miraculous recovery of Paul Pierce’s knee must have also been in the dugout tending to Curt Schilling’s ankle.

Michael Miyamoto

Mission Viejo

Let’s not forget that Paul Pierce is originally from L.A. -- the acting capital of the world.

Hector Reyes

Burbank

Pro athletes suffer debilitating injuries all the time, which keep them out of their sport for months, years, and sometimes forever. Paul Pierce probably had those thoughts going through his mind, as he obviously felt an extreme amount of pain, which most of us (Bill Plaschke) non-athletes may have a hard time understanding.

Pierce had been waiting so long to play in the Finals, he must have been totally devastated, believing his knee was torn. For Plaschke to dismiss his actions after the injury as “fake” is a total joke and makes me wonder if he has any understanding of injuries at all or is he just plain clueless.

Thomas Conrad

Valencia

All a Lakers fan can do is hope the zebras don’t understand that this may be the final chance for Kevin Garnett to win a championship.

Jim Leffler

Inglewood

By my count, the Lakers had at least 11 shots in the basket and spin out in Game 1 and half were by Kobe alone. That won’t happen again. They were and are the better team and will win in six.

Marty Ross

Carlsbad

Anyone who has watched the Lakers in these playoffs knows that both Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol have been skirting on the brink of disaster in virtually every game.

Between their timidity going to the basket, their mediocre passing, and their tendency to completely disappear at times, it is somewhat miraculous that the Lakers have gotten this far.

They can’t beat Boston with this sort of weak stuff. Those two must step up and they must step up Sunday, or this is going to be a short series.

David Weber

West Hollywood

I guess Phil Jackson is saving Trevor Ariza for the big exhibition game against the Warriors in Bakersfield. We wouldn’t want to waste him in such a meaningless series against the Celtics.

Russell Hosaka

Torrance

With Lamar Odom’s repeated attempts at perfecting the gracefully missed layup, perhaps it’s time for the Zen Master to intercede and have L.O. deeply search his soul and get in touch with his inner slam dunk.

Kathy Ross

Long Beach

It’s ironic that Phil Jackson enjoys needling Vladimir Radmanovic so much, referring to him as a space cadet, favorite Martian, etc.

I remember the hippie-like Jackson loping up the court for the Knicks decades ago. Long hair, far-away look, giddy smile. But hey, they weren’t testing back then, so it’s all good, right Coach?

Gregg Freeman

Thousand Oaks