Powe gets escort to basket

From the Celtics' side, Leon Powe's coast-to-coast dunk was the play of the game. From a neutral observer's perspective, however, it was quite possibly the single worst defensive play of the playoffs.
With Boston up 93-71 and 8:35 remaining, the Lakers decided to make one last push and trap the Celtics in the backcourt. Rajon Rondo saw the trap and lofted the ball over two defenders to Powe, who was a harmless 60 feet from the basket when he caught it. (Side note: In a brazen act of hometown scorekeeping, Rondo got an assist on this play. I've seen some dodgy assists handed out this year, but that one may take the cake.)
Powe began dribbling upcourt ... and dribbling ... and dribbling. Remember, rule No. 1 in basketball is simple: Stop the ball. But as Powe gained speed and crossed halfcourt, it became apparent that nobody on the Lakers seemed interested in halting him. In fact, the middle of the defense opened like the Red Sea as the Lakers stayed glued to the other three Celtics.
Once Powe reached the Laker free-throw line, Pau Gasol finally made a halfhearted effort to close the gap. But by then it was too late. Powe went in for the easiest two of his 21 points, the crowd exploded, and the Lakers were cooked.
"That was a situation where [Vladimir Radmanovic] did a trap in the backcourt and opened it up," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, "and Gasol was afraid to leave [Kevin] Garnett for an easy basket. But it was a poor play, an awful play."
Jackson then tried to make our jobs easier with a play on words, saying his team was so at ease on defense it was "at disease."
"It was a really bad read on our side," said Radmanovic.
The silver lining was that the Lakers rallied from that point, outscoring Boston 31-9 over the next 7:20 to briefly pull within two points. But it was too little, too late, and Powe's play was emblematic of a Laker team that didn't show enough mettle at the defensive end in either of the two games.
"We just can't play any worse than this," said Jackson of his team's defense in the first three quarters.
He'd better hope he's right.