Lakers vs Celtics: Allen rips Lakers apart
One of the keys to the NBA finals for the Boston Celtics was whether Ray Allen could shoot the ball well and stay out of foul trouble.
After playing just 27 minutes and scoring 12 points in game one, Allen turned it on for game two, setting an NBA finals record with eight three-pointers to finish the night with 32 points.
"I didn't think it was easy, getting the 3's up in the air. You look up and everybody is probably thinking, 'How did this guy get open?' But there's so much going on there - big screens, misdirection plays. I thought they did everything they could to keep me from shooting 3's, [but we] worked tirelessly,” Allen said.
That 32 points combined with Rajon Rondo’s triple-double was enough to give the Celtics a 103-94 win over the LA Lakers, tying the series at 1-1.
"There's no better place, moment, time... to win a game, and to win in a great fashion. I don't know what record it is that people are telling me that I got, but it's great to have, great to be able to look back on it and say I did that. This is definitely our time,” Allen said.
Rondo’s triple-double was every bit as important as Allen’s 32 point night, of which 27 came in the first half. Finishing the night with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists Rondo kept the Celtics ticking over whilst doing the dirty work for his aging team.
"The best part about getting a triple-double is getting a win, that's pretty much it. It would be pointless to get a triple-double and lose the game,” Rondo said after recording his fifth play-off triple-double.
Kobe Bryant couldn’t replicate his game one performance, spending much of the game in foul trouble but did still manage to score 21 points, but couldn’t prevent the Lakers’ first loss at home on the play-offs since the Western Conference play-offs last year.
"It's a series, you're trying to stay even-keel. You don't get too high, don't get too low after a win or a loss. You just go into the next one and take care of business,” Bryant said.
The series now shifts to Boston for the next three games and if the Lakers don’t get a victory away from home, the Celtics will be crowned champions and Lakers head coach Phil Jackson knows his team has to play better especially on the road.
“In a sequence like this, there's no doubt it's a blow to us to lose the homecourt, but we anticipated this might happen, and we're just going to have to go pick it up."
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