Boston implored their defense and won the game 96-89 as their bench played big minutes in the 2nd half. As the game began the Lakers saw that the Celtics were desperate and guarding the Boston backcourt was going to be a task until this series is over as Derrick Fisher found out the hard way as he found himself in foul trouble early, after he picked up his 2nd foul in the 1st half. The Celtics played a great 1st quarter of defense and held L.A. to 16 pts in the 1st qtr. and led 19-16 behind 10 pts. from "The Captain Paul Pierce".
Laker coach Phil Jackson said "both teams are in good defensive mode in 1st quarter" and then he subsequently puts his team to work and they camped down the defensive hatches on the Celtics. With Nate Robinson in spelling Rajon Rondo the offense seemed to take a positive aggressive form as they started to facilitate the pick and roll nicely and look like a team that wanted to pull even in an NBA Finals Series. Ray Allen, after he hit an early jumper, remained "cold-as-ice-baby" and finished the 1st half of Game 4, 1-22 from the field over the last 6 quarters. Good solid play with very few mistakes allowed the Lakers a 45-42 lead at the half after they led by at many as 8 pts.
After an UNREAL 3 second in the lane call on Garnett 20 seconds into the play clock, which was mathematically impossible, the Lakers took 53-48 lead. Kobe Bryant finally caught fire in the 3rd qrtr. with 9 pts and L.A. finished the 3rd with a 2 pt. lead, 62-60. Coach Doc Rivers stated they "they were getting great shots" and "I want Ray Allen to continue shooting because eventually they will start going in". Turnovers for the Lakers were key as they turned it over often in the 2nd half and allowed the Celtics to take the lead 66-64 at the 9:40 mark after an 8-0 run and stellar defense.
(Glen "Big-Baby" Davis & Nate Robinson celebrate during Game 4 win)
Glen "Big Baby" Davis played long minutes in the 2nd half and played well posting 19 pts. in 22 minutes of play, with 9 pts. in the 4th. He played well on the offensive boards as well as in the set offense while Coach Doc Rivers rested the starters and enabled the Celtics to take the lead and play better as a whole unit.
Late in the 2nd half there were 2 technical fouls called on the Celtics in the 4th and Bryant & Fisher stepped up and clanged both shots in a foreshadowing of things to come. With the Laker offense going cold the Celtics were able to build a 9 pt. lead with 4:00 in the 4th, with 11 pts. being the largest. The Lakers were able to cut the lead to 6 with 1:45 to go in the game but thats as close as they would get. Pierce has a strong drive to the rim and gets fouled by Bryant to push the lead back to 9 pts. as crowd cheers "BEAT L.A." in unison! At the 1:08 mark, Bryant comes right back down the floor, is fouled on 3 pt. attempt by Ray Allen and makes all 3 free throws to cut the lead back to a 6 pt. game. After a wasted trip on offense L.A. heads down court and the Celtic defense forces a bad pass by Bryant which leads to a steal and layup by 1st team All NBA defender, Rondo, with .31 to go. At 17.7 left the fouling strategy starts and the game is over as Garnett & Pierce steps up and hit both of their foul shots to make it an 8 pt. game
Boston scored 20 2nd chance pts. and as I have been preaching, they kept the score under 90 pts. The defense is clearly the key to the Boston attack so we will look to see if it shows up again the remainder of the series. For the first time since 2006 the NBA Finals are tied at 2-2. The Celtics have to play solid defense every game to garner their two needed wins to win the title and keep the L.A. offense under 90 pts. again and the Lakers have to stop turning the ball over to stay in the game at all. Game 5 is set for Sunday in Boston @ 8pm.
Player stats are below (provided by ESPN.com)
L.A. LAKERS
KOBE BRYANT-33 PTS.
PAU GASOL-21 PTS.
LAMAR ODOM-10 PTS.
RON ARTEST-9 PTS.
DERRICK FISHER-6 PTS.
BOSTON CELTICS
PAUL PIERCE-19 PTS.
GLEN DAVIS-18 PTS.
KEVIN GARNETT-13 PT.
RAY ALLEN-12 PTS.
NATE ROBINSON-12 PTS.
ROJON RONDO-10 PTS.
KENDRICK PERKINS-6 PTS.
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