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June 12, 2008 - STAPLES CENTER - LOS ANGELES. After having the best first quarter in Finals history, the Lakers showed no reaction in the second half and the game turned out to be one of the worst loses in Lakers history 97-91. The Celtics came back from a 24-point deficit to leave L.A. in a 1-3 situation no team has ever reverted.
It was a dreamed first half. Lamar Odom said present for the first time in the these Finals to lead the team with 13 points in a first quarter the Lakers won 35-14, a 21-point margin that is the biggest for such a quarter since the NBA started to record play-by-play in 1970-71.
With 6:45 left in the second quarter, Sasha Vujacic's three-pointer gave the Lakers a 45-21 lead. Although nobody could have suspected it at the moment, those 24 points of distance were the top of the mountain and everything would start slowly going downhill after that for the Lakers who by halftime led 58-40 even though Kobe Bryant had not made a field goal yet.
It was still a comfortable 70-50 with 6:03 left in the third quarter, but with point guard Rajon Rondo limited by a sprained left ankle and center Kendrick Perkins leaving the game after sustaining a strained left shoulder minutes earlier Celtics coach Doc Rivers went small and put in more shooters with James Posey and Eddie House just to see his team make a 21-3 run and close the gap to 71-73 going into the fourth. Paul Pierce had 9 of his 20 points in the quarter.
The Lakers had already disappeared from the game, and nothing would bring them back. The Celtics finally caught them at 73 on Leon Powe’s jumper with 9:05 remaining, tying it for the first time since it was 2-2 in the first minute. Kobe, who was having another bad shooting night (made only 6 of 19 shots for 17 points) tried to saved his team, scored 6 points in the next 3 minutes but there was always an answer from Boston who finally had their first lead 84-83 when House hit an 18-foot jumper with 4:07 remaining.
The Lakers never led again. James Posey's 3-pointer made it 92-87 with 1:13 left. Derek Fisher’s long jumper got the Lakers within 3 but Pierce invented a fouled and made two free throws. Gasol dunked it assisted by Kobe but in an isolation play Ray Allen left Sasha Vujacic behind to make it 96-91 and secure the victory with 16 seconds left.
In a series full of history the Celtics had written one of the greatest chapters with a comeback that will be remembered forever. The Lakers on their part had just added another bad memory to their big list of bad memories against Boston.
The second half melt down, that unless a big miracle happens will be remembered as the beginning of the end of the Lakers season, left many awful numbers for L.A.: they were outscored, 57-33, made only 13 of 39 shots (33.3%), missing all eight of their three-point attempts. After a strong first half, Lamar Odom made another disappearing act with 4 points.
Sasha Vujacic, the hero in Game 3, had three points on 1-for-9 shooting. Pau Gasol had 17 points and 10 rebounds but he's not having a good time against Kevin Garnett and his lack of confidence is pretty clear, he shot 6-for-13 and is not filling the role of a reliable scorer to complement Bryant.
For the Celtics Pierce scored 20 points, nine of the in the third period, Garnett had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Ray Allen added 19 points.
No team has ever recovered from a 3-1 deficit in the finals.
The previous biggest comeback in records in the Finals was in 1995 when Shaquille O'Neal and his Orlando Magic saw Houston recover from a 20-point deficit in Game 1. |
LAL Bos Game 4
