Los Angeles Lakers choke Boston Celtics down the stretch to carve out a 97-94 win: NBA Recap
The Los Angeles Lakers might not be the force they used to be a few years back, however when it comes to owning the clutch, they are still the best in the business.
Boston Celtics have a fair idea of that now. In the first game of the series last month, the Lakers edged them out by a point in overtime and on Sunday night at the Staples Centre, they overcame a five point deficit in the last
2:41 to claim a 97-94 win.
The Lakers made a 7-0 start, but the Celtics responded swiftly and tied the game at 12 entering the last four minutes of the first quarter. The C’s however missed the next seven shots, allowing LAL to pull off a 12 point unanswered
run for a 24-12 lead. Kevin Garnett, who finished the night with 14 points and 11 boards, finally managed to drop one late to make it make it 14-24 after the first.
In the second quarter, the Lakers continued to run over the Celtics defense and stretched their lead to 37-22 on an Andrew Goudelock three inside the first five minutes. The shots however stopped falling after that and in nearly
three following minutes, only a couple of free throws from Paul Pierce managed to find the inside of the rim.
After that, Boston took over.
They connected on 7 of their next 9 shots from the floor to start an 18-7 run that capped the first half at 42-44. The C’s continued their hot shooting in the third as well and made 11 of their 13 field goals. They however failed
to get to the line even once and allowed the Lakers to do so 14 times all the while. That differential ensured that the Lakers maintained a two point advantage going into the final quarter.
Pau Gasol started the fourth with a dunk to make it a four point game, but the Celtics responded with an 8-2 spurt to take a 78-76 lead. In the ensuing passage Kobe Bryant drilled two three pointers within a space of 33 seconds,
but the Greens counter punched the hosts every time and led by 89-87 with 4 minutes left on the clock.
Derek Fisher made a couple from the line on the next Lakers possession, but what followed were five consecutive points from the C’s and it seemed that they will hang on for a drawn series. The Lakers however had different ideas.
They shored up the D to start with and Bryant and Bynum then shared 4 points in an 8-0 run, giving the Lakers their 18th win in 20 games at home.
Bryant scored 26 points in the game, including 10 in the 4th while Bynum had 20 points and 14 rebounds. Pau Gasol dropped a 13 point-13 rebound double with 5 dimes and Metta World Peace contributed 13.
All the Celtics started managed double scoring figures with Rajon Rondo posting 24 points and 10 assists to lead the way. He was disappointed by the late Celtics show;
"They made the shots down the stretch and we didn't. We had some good looks at the rim, but shots didn't fall and we couldn't get a stop."
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