C's Put Stranglehold on Series

June 2008

C's Put Stranglehold on Series

LOS ANGELES - They trailed by 24 points in the second quarter. They had one assist at the end of the first. They were being measured for a Hollywood burial.

But this is, after all, the land of unbelievable scripts.



So here's another. The Celtics, despite opening up in a flatlined state, climbed out of that hole to take a 3-1 NBA Finals lead over the Lakers with last night's improbable 97-91 win at Staples Center.

No team had ever overcome more than a 15-point deficit in the first quarter - the C's hole was 21. The league doesn't have a record for the largest rally in a Finals game.

The win put the C's on the brink of their 17th championship. Game 5 is Sunday night.

``We sucked it up,'' Paul Pierce said. ``We said we weren't going to back down.

``At the end of the third quarter I looked up at the scoreboard and told the fellas, `We just have to go out there and compete and let the chips fall where they may.' ''

For all that will be said of Pierce, who had 20 points, and Ray Allen, who polished this one off with a major league drive past Sasha Vujacic with 16 seconds left, the bench turned in perhaps its finest night of the year.

James Posey's 18-point performance included two fourth-quarter treys, and Eddie House, again chosen to play ahead of an ineffective Rajon Rondo, added 11 points, four rebounds and a lot of energy.

The Lakers led by 21 at the end of the first quarter, by 23 one basket into the second and by 24 with 6:46 left in the first half. The Celtics appeared doomed to chase this billowing deficit the rest of the way.

But a 31-point third quarter, powered by 61 percent shooting and 27.8 percent Laker efficiency, changed everything.

The C's had control with 1:30 left when Bryant spun past Pierce and Kevin Garnett, cutting the Lakers deficit to 89-87. But Posey buried a heartbreaker -his fourth trey of the night from the left corner for a 92-87 lead with 1:13 to go.

Derek Fisher answered with a 20-footer nine seconds later.

But Pierce hit two free throws this time. Pao Gasol was given the easy dunk, and Ray Allen supplied the finishing touch on a drive for a 96-91 lead with 16 seconds left.

The Lakers got two chances on their last possession - misses by Vujacic and Bryant - before the Celtics ran out the clock.

The C's tied the game three times during the first five minutes of the fourth before two straight fast-break hoops from Lamar Odom and Bryant gave the Lakers a thin, four-point cushion (81-77) with 5:47 left.

Posey cut the margin to a point with his third trey of the night, and escape was now a problem for LA. Two Garnett free three throws cut the margin back to a point, and after Odom missed on a drive, House buried a deep baseline jumper for the Celtics' first lead of the night at 84-83.

The Lakers lost the ball, Pierce missed, Allen grabbed the board and drove back down the baseline for a reverse layup and an 86-83 advantage.

Pierce forced Bryant to pass out to Jordan Farmar, who missed a trey attempt. Garnett converted on the other end for an 88-83 Celtics lead with 2:12 left.

Bryant cut the deficit to three with two free throws, and the Celtics missed a beat when Pierce could only hit the second of two 19 seconds later.