Celtics come all the way back to stun Lakers, take 3-1 series lead

There is a reason why it is hard to play with a big lead. The team ahead gets too loose and doesn’t stick to their game plan by taking ill-advised shots and making stupid turnovers. That wasn’t quite the case for the Lakers, but in the end they saw their once controlling 24-point lead evaporate to a better Celtics team. The Celtics turned up the heat defensively, starting in the third quarter, allowing them to make a historic comeback, winning Game 4 97-91 to take a insurmountable (teams that have taken such a lead have never lost a Finals game, 28-0) 3-1 series lead.

Although his team was unstoppable in the first half, the Lakers Kobe Bryant wasn’t. He was taken out of the game plan, shown in his 6-19 shooting for 17 points. The defense of Paul Pierce, James Posey and Ray Allen, those who guarded Bryant at different times, was the difference, especially in the second half. They didn’t allow Kobe to go off or allow his team regain their 1st quarter magic when they were making their comeback bid. You can’t make a comeback without good defense. The Celtics, who were down by 18 at halftime, gradually cut the lead down throughout the 3rd quarter with good sound offense, with plenty of defense thrown in. They outscored the Lakers in the third 31-15, ending the quarter on a decisive 21-3 run to lower the margin to two, 73-71 heading into the final period.

Although Bryant scored 10 of his points in the 4th, Boston’s defense wouldn’t let the rest of the Lakers team get into the scoring act. The rest of the team mustered only 8 points in the quarter. It wasn’t just the lack of offense that killed them in the second half, it was their defense that was the decider. They couldn’t stop the Celtics from coming back even if they tried, ( by the way they played defense it didn’t see like they gave much effort) allowing the Celtics to gain confidence, their chemistry and eventually the lead. Eddie House’s jumper with 4:07 remaining completed the remarkable comeback, giving them their first lead of the game at 84-83. The building full of die-hard fans and celebrities went silent. Did the Celtics comeback or did the Lakers collapse. This is one of many really pointless questions asked in the post-game coverage by the ESPN announcers. Don’t they know that it takes a bit of both? Did great defense hold the Lakers to 13-39 shooting in the second half or was it the Lakers fault for not taking and making more shots? A little bit of both, right? As the Celtics are put together, with three all-stars, they can score all the points they want, but if they don’t hold down the other team like thy did, they don’t win the game.

The injury bug once again hit the Celtics, as Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins went down again with their respective ankle and shoulder injuries. That didn’t stop the Celtics comeback bid in the least as their bench played a crucial role in the outcome. Particularly James Posey, 18 points, 4 threes, and Eddie House, 11 points. They hit many a big shot in the final period, the biggest coming when Posey drained a corner three with just over a minute left to stretch their lead to five. Sure Pierce bounced back and scored 20 points and dished 7 assists, sure Kevin Garnett got into his groove, 16 points and 11 rebounds, sure Ray Allen continued his consistent play in the Finals, 19 points, including two on a uncontested lay-up to put the game away late, but the real stars were Posey and House. They outplayed the Lakers bench considerably, outscoring them 35-15. House’s play was very much a necessity with Rondo getting hurt. Not only do he anchor the point guard spot as well as he did, he scored his points in big spots in the game. Everyone stepped up, as much as needed to make the first quarter debacle a distant memory.

Even though the Lakers grabbed a 35-14 lead after the first 12 minutes, they couldn’t make it stick, like many previous teams in these here playoffs. Except Kobe’s crappy start, 3 points, all from the free throw line, L.A. was firing on all cylinders in the first quarter. Lamar Odom rebounded from a rough Game 3 performance, scoring 13 points in the first quarter after posting just 4 in the previous game. Despite his great first quarter play, he didn’t do much the rest of the game, scoring just 6 points the rest of the game. The teams’ heralded bench was all but in this contest. Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton and Jordan Farmar each scored just 3 points, all coming in the first half.

After asked in the post-game press conference ‘What the hell happened’ Kobe Bryant summed up his answer for the stunning loss like this: “We wet the bed, a big one… not one you can put a towel over.” Kobe and the Lakers can try to put a huge towel over this game to regain composure for Game 5, but the loss will still smell.