Lakers send series back to Celtics' court

Source: Agencies  |   2008-6-17  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE Los Angeles Lakers kept their title hopes alive with a 103-98 victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday to trim their National Basketball Association finals deficit to 3-2.

Kobe Bryant scored five of his 25 points in the final 2:14 to help extend the Lakers' season and send the best-of-seven series back to Boston for Game 6.

"I didn't want to see the Celtics celebrating in my home floor with champagne and all that," said the Lakers' Pau Gasol. "We didn't play our best game, but we played our hearts out."

Boston went on a 16-2 run midway through the final period to turn a 74-88 deficit into a 90-90 tie with just over four minutes left.

Bryant, however, stepped up and sealed the game with a defensive gem, poking the ball away from Paul Pierce as the Lakers clung on to a 97-95 lead with 40 seconds left.

Lakers forward Lamar Odom scooped it up and passed the ball downcourt to a streaking Bryant, whose jam pushed the lead to four points with 37 seconds left.

"He made a heck of a steal," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "He made a really last-ditch effort because Paul had him beat. He had no choice.

"He just came from behind and got a piece of the ball. Give him the credit."

Bryant hit only eight of 21 shots and had six turnovers but came up big down the stretch.

"I had a bad game," said Bryant, the league MVP. "You're not going to shoot the ball too well against this team because they're going to throw everybody at you.

"But the important thing for me is to push the buttons at the right time."

With Bryant struggling offensively, the Lakers had big games from Odom (20 points), Gasol (19 points, 13 rebounds), and Derek Fisher (15 points).

Pierce, who had 38 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the floor and 16-of-19 from the free-throw line, said stopping Bryant was "the whole focus" defensively for the Celtics.

"He's a guy who can beat you all by himself, so the whole game plan is surrounding on stopping him and making other guys beat us," said Pierce.

"It's just unfortunate that we let the other guys beat us." No team has overcome a 1-3 deficit in the finals to win a title. The first 28 failed, and now the Lakers, who blew a 24-point lead and lost Game 4 and nearly squandered a 19-point lead in Game 5, have a chance to do something extraordinary.

They'll have to win on the Celtics' parquet floor on Wednesday to force a winner-take-all Game 7.

Kevin Garnett added 13 points and 14 rebounds, and Ray Allen had 16 points. But Boston's Big Three couldn't close out their first chance at winning it all, and now will get two cracks at home. Following the game, Allen left the arena immediately because of an undisclosed health issue with one of his children.

The Celtics, trying to win their first title since 1986, are consoled by the fact they are going home. They are 47-7 in Boston this season.