Celtics 1 Lakers 0

The Finals have began. And Boston Celtics drew first blood.

Celtics closed out the Lakers 98-88 in Game One of the Finals. Eventhough they finished with the league best record with 66 wins, they are the underdog in this series. Their performance getting to the Finals raised a lot of questions about their credibility. They needed 7 games to shut down the Hawks and the Cavaliers, and were lucky to get past the Pistons in 6 games.

Lakers meanwhile, swept the Nuggets, closed out the Jazz on the road and trashed the defending champion Spurs comprehensively. They have the league MVP in Kobe Bryant, and a very young team.

Bryant didn't have a good game though. He was 9-26 from the field and only scored 24 points. During the regular season, he also had a tough time against the Celtics, shooting 15-for-46 and averaging 25 points. Boston won both games. Could it be finally the Celtics are showing their defensive mettle, with Kevin Garnett, the league defensive player of the year leading the way?

But Bryant didn't get much help from his teammates. The Lakers wound up shooting 41.6 percent - far below their postseason field goal percentage of 47.8 percent. And they were outrebounded 46-33.

There was drama during the game, when Boston's captain Paul Pierce shook off a sprained knee and scored 22 points. He was carried off from the court midway through the third quarter when he was bumped from behind by his teammate accidentally, that left him sprawling on the court and unable to get up. But he returned soon after, and drained two consecutive 3-pointer that put Boston up by 4 points at the end of the third quarter. They never trailed after that.

The Lakers aren’t in trouble just yet. Losing the opening game of the Finals doesn’t spell instant doom. The Lakers still have Bryant, and he doesn’t typically follow a poor-shooting game with another.

Game 2 is on Sunday, and looking at the way it is, it's going to be another cracker.