Much was made of Kobe Bryants breakout performance in the 3q of yesterdays game. Doc Rivers called him the games best shot maker and I would have to agree with that assessment. It is also quite clear however that in the last 3 playoff seasons no team has defended Kobe Bryant better than the Celtics.

An offensive metric that I really like to use is points per possession - this is much better than any offensive efficiency metric because it takes into account all of the possession altering offensive actions a player might make;

(Shots, turnovers and fouls drawn)

In the Lakers last 3 deep playoff runs 2008,2009 and this year through 5 games, Kobe Bryant has averaged 

1.00 ppp  on 1936 actions.

Which means that for every time Kobe Bryant has the ball and makes an offensive action (shot, turnover or shooting foul) he has netted roughly 1.00 points.

If you take the Celtics out of the equation he has the following numbers;

(every team he has faced in the playoffs in the past 3 years excluding the Celtics).

1.03 ppp on 1597 actions.

His numbers vs the Celtics in the 2008 and 2010 finals are as follows;

.89 ppp on 339 actions.

Which is a stark contrast from the 1.03 he has averaged vs every other team.

Also interesting to note is that the Celtics have done an even better job on LeBron James. 

LeBron James vs all teams other than Boston in the  last 3 playoffs;

1.11 ppp on 752 actions

vs the Celtics;

.86 on 405 actions.