3.04.2019

Third Quarter was Key

June 2008

Third Quarter was Key

LOS ANGELES - Celtics coach Doc Rivers said his team has played in quarters during the NBA Finals, failing to play a full game. Last night, the Celtics needed only one quarter - the third - to turn the tide of a game and possibly alter the outcome of a series



If the Celtics end up winning their first NBA title since 1986, it will be the third quarter of Game 4 that will be most remembered.

In those 12 minutes, the Celtics erased a 20-point deficit to trail by just 2 points (73-71), setting the stage for them to pull off the greatest comeback in Finals history (since 1971, when the Elias Sports Bureau started to track stats for the league), rallying from a 24-point first-half deficit to come away with a 97-91 victory and take a 3-1 series lead and a huge step toward banner No. 17

"The third quarter is probably the most important quarter because it sets the tone for how the second half is going to be," said Kevin Garnett

Everything, including Jordan Farmar's 3-point buzzer-beater to end the second quarter, went the Lakers' way in the first half, as they led by 18. The Celtics trimmed the deficit to 12 early in the third, but Los Angeles took a 68-48 lead on a 19-foot jumper by Derek Fisher with 7:08 left in the third quarter

Then NBA history started to unfold. The Celtics, largely with a lineup of Paul Pierce, Garnett, Ray Allen, and reserves James Posey and Eddie House, closed out the third quarter on a 23-5 run to trail, 73-71. Pierce, who had 9 of his 20 points in the third, called the lineup Boston's best offensive quintet, and it was one that forced the Lakers to stay honest on defense because Posey (4 of 8 from beyond the arc) and House (2 of 4 on 3-pointers) were on target

"They played great in the third quarter and we played like [garbage]," said Kobe Bryant, when asked to explain what happened

Boston shot a sizzling 61.1 percent and held the Lakers to 5 for 18 from the floor in the period

Pau Gasol converted an alley-oop dunk with 4:33 left in the third quarter to give the Lakers a 72-57 lead. The next Laker field goal, a driving layup by Bryant (17 points), came with 9:32 left in the fourth quarter. In between, the Lakers missed 10 straight field goal attempts.

Rivers said that Pierce asked him at halftime if he could cover Bryant, who was 2 for 11 for 7 points after three quarters

"He's the MVP, numerous scoring titles," said Pierce. "If you can go out there and make him work for everything he gets, you give yourself a chance. That's all I wanted to do. I just wanted to make him work."
Pierce hit a spectacular up-and-under drive while being fouled for a 3-point play that cut the Lakers' lead to 73-64 with 2:01 left in the third, the first time since the 6:41 mark of the first quarter that Los Angeles didn't hold a double-digit lead.

Pierce said that was when the Celtics began to believe

"Once we started cutting into it, we fed off the energy from our bench, fed off our defense," said Pierce. "Once we got it to under 10 with a lot of time left, we believed we could take it home."
House followed Pierce's hoop with a 3-pointer with 1:24 left in the quarter. Allen made a pair of free throws with 41.2 seconds to go and P.J. Brown's dunk with 1.7 seconds remaining left the Celtics down just 2, a startling turnaround that no doubt left the celeb-soaked crowd at Staples Center stunned

"Some turnaround in this game," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "The air went out of the building. Their defense was up to task in the third quarter. It changed the momentum of the game."
The Lakers still led after three, but it was only a matter of time before the Celtics closed out the comeback. House hit a jumper with 4:07 remaining to give Boston its first lead, one it never relinquished

The Celtics had picked the perfect time to play their best quarter of the series

"I would think so. I thought both ends of the floor we just gutted it out, great energy, great intensity," said Brown. "Guys just found a way. We kept pushing and we never gave up, so this is a very special win for us."

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