Elise Amendola / AP

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers were more content to complain to referees than show any backbone vs. the Celtics, according to columnist Tom Curran.

“The aggressiveness (of the Celtics) swayed the effective calls,” he noted. “They were aggressive. They went to the basket. We didn’t take charges in situations that we had charges to take, and the first half the contacts subsequently ended up being a foul shot. I thought that that was what we tried to focus on when we came in at halftime is we have to stop the penetration and get that accomplished, but they got off to another big jump in the third quarter and put us back on our heels again.”

The only guy the Lakers hit all night was 170-pound point guard Rajon Rondo, who tried to dunk on Lamar Odom and was knocked on his can. And Odom was quick to help him to his feet. I smell the Lady Byng Trophy, Lamar!

Jackson’s got a little experience on an NBA bench. He knows how to work a series. But he's making a mistake giving his team an out by laying the results of the first two games at the feet of the men with the whistles. A great coach from another sport, Bill Parcells, once said, “If you give a team a reason to make excuses, they’ll take it every time.”

If the Lakers play differently — with just a whiff of toughness — maybe this Finals will get interesting.

If the members of the Lakers vaunted bench take it personally that Rondo’s slaloming through them without a care, maybe he’ll give their defense a smidgen of respect.

But right now, the Celtics aren’t afraid of L.A. because the baby-soft Lakers haven’t given them cause to be.

“I wish I had an answer (for the lack of aggression) but I don’t,” said Lakers reserve Luke Walton. “They’re playing more physical than us right now. That’s something we have to change up back in L.A.”

They’d better. Or this series isn’t coming back to Boston.

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