By Bob Richardson
The Lakers went into tonight’s game needing to show that they can still get a win and look like winning the series. The Lakers lead for most of the night but not for the first time this year Boston fought back hard and beat the Lakers. The game was a very unusual game. The Lakers are not known as a lock down defensive team but they still play good defense. The Celtics are all about defense. This game for some reason was full of offense and not much defense. It provided the fans with a good spectacle but the players would’ve liked a slow more defensive minded battle.
Paul Pierce started off things with four early points but after that the Lakers quickly took control of the game. Kobe Bryant had just two points in the quarter but the Lakers all around play made up for it. They had multiple scorers and were stopping Boston early on from scoring. The Celtics were also giving up easy points thanks to four early turnovers. Both teams shot under fifty percent in the quarter. The Celtics bench had been a strong area all season but in the first quarter the Lakers bench was producing much better than the Celtics bench. At the end of the first quarter the Lakers held a twenty seven to twenty one lead. The margin didn’t really do justice to the Lakers though. They should have been up by at least double digits.
The Celtics continued to have issues with holding onto the ball in the second quarter. They also struggled to knock down open three pointers going 0/6 from deep in the quarter. Ray Allen was having an off night he was 0/4 from deep but thanks to some aggressive driving he had eight points at halftime. Kobe Bryant was still quite he had just four points in the quarter and six points at halftime. Pau Gasol started to get back to his best with seven points in the quarter. He was the reason the Lakers were starting to pull away from the Celtics. At halftime the Lakers held a twelve point lead the scores were fifty seven to forty five. Los Angeles looked like they were just a few good minutes away from running away with the game.
Paul Pierce at halftime rallied the troops and said despite their below average play they still were in the game. Pierce came out in the third quarter with a never say die attitude. The Celtics continually ran the offense through Pierce and he delivered with eighteen points in the quarter. He was also grabbing vital rebounds whenever the Celtics needed a big stop. Kobe Bryant wasn’t going to let Pierce and the Celtics get back into the game easily though. Bryant finally got into the game in the third quarter with eleven points. Boston attacked at every opportunity in the third quarter and shot thirteen free throws making twelve of them. Many of them were shot by Paul Pierce who took it right at the Lakers defense at every opportunity. The Celtics had made a great comeback and had a few opportunities to take the lead in the third quarter but once again turnovers prevented them from taking the lead. At the final break the Lakers led eighty one to eighty.
The Lakers went with an unusual lineup to start the fourth quarter. It contained Steve Blake, Shannon Brown, Devin Ebanks, Derrick Character and Pau Gasol. It worked though as rookie Devin Ebanks came on an contributed immediately attempting three shots and hitting all of them to give him six points. Once again the Celtics were looking down and out trailing by eight points. But the Celtics called for a timeout subbed their starters in with the exception of Kendrick Perkin. Instead of Perkins, Shaquille O’Neal reentered the game and produced very well. The Lakers front court had no answers for O’Neal who was too much of a force down low to stop. Kobe Bryant knows all about Shaq being a force after all he did play with him from 1997 to 2004. The Celtics were right back into the game again thanks to Shaquille O’Neal’s eleven fourth quarter points and Ray Allen’s smooth mid range shooting. With just under a minute to go the Celtics trailed by three and went to their clutch performer throughout the post season Ray Allen. The Celtics ran him off a screen but the first time the play was broken up by some good Lakers defense. Rajon Rondo ran the play again and this time Ray Allen had a good look. Ray not for the first time in his career jumped up, released the ball in his smooth effortless motion and watched the ball go in swish to tie the game. With twenty five seconds to go the Lakers had a chance to win the game. The Celtics and their fans knew all too well that Kobe Bryant would be there to try and win the game. He had done it to the Celtics before and wouldn’t be afraid to do it again. “We were very surprised that they didn’t isolate Kobe or give it to Pau down low.” Celtics forward Kevin Garnett. Instead the Lakers gave it to Steve Blake who looked like he was going to run some sort of play. Instead he crossed over which sent Rajon Rondo flying to the ground and put up a three it looked good but it was just a bit too far to the right and Paul Pierce once again was there to grab his eleventh rebound of the game. Pierce immediately called for a timeout.
There were three seconds on the clock. The Celtics gave the ball to Pierce out of the timeout who caught the ball near half court thanks to good inbounds defense by Ron Artest. Pierce didn’t have much time and was forced to put up a deep three. It just rimmed out and the game was going to overtime. The scores were tied at one hundred and eleven.
Overtime was one of the fast paced offensive minded five minute periods you’ll ever see. Both teams were pushing the ball thinking about nothing but putting the ball in the basket. Ray Allen performed great in overtime with nine points including a big three at the start of overtime that helped the Celtics take a five point lead. Rajon Rondo also performed well with eight points. Kobe Bryant hit his last shot at the eight minute mark of the fourth quarter and he didn’t have any points in overtime until the last two minutes when he hit six points. Ray Allen though hit all six of his free throws which helped the Celtics keep the Lakers out of the game. The Lakers trailed by five with a few seconds to go. Steve Blake threw up a hail mary shot from near half court which went in to cut the lead to two points with three tenths of a second left. The game was over and the margin was really five points. The Celtics won one hundred and thirty five to one hundred and thirty three. The Celtics now have a two games to nothing lead and don’t have to win any games on the road to take the series. I’m sure though the Celtics will be looking to win every game possible to get this series over and done with. Paul Pierce had one of his best games of the season. He had thirty three points, eleven rebounds, three assists and one steal. After overcoming a slow shooting start Ray Allen connected on all three of his three point attempts after halftime to finish the night with thirty points, six rebounds, four assists and three of seven from beyond the arc. Kobe Bryant led the way for Los Angeles with thirty three points, seven assists and three steals. Pau Gasol also bounced back after a poor game one. He had twenty two points and sixteen rebounds. The Celtics now head to Los Angeles to play at least two games there. They will play three if they lose one of the first two in Los Angeles.
