Lakers Down Celtics In OT

Lakers Down Celtics In OT

It may not have had the sizzle of many of the Celtics-Lakers match-ups over the last 5 years and certainly not that of the 80’s when Bird and Magic were doing their thing. But Thursday night at the TD Garden, it was still Boston and LA and that still holds a lot more meaning than your average NBA game.

Yes, things are not quite the same for these two storied franchises. There seems to be an air of inevitability surrounding both teams that they are simply too old to make a run at another championship.

Don’t tell Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant that. The two all-stars still proudly lead their teams into battle each night and had quite a battle last night. A battle won by LA 88-87 in overtime.

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Boston led for the entire first half as Ray Allen scored 12 of his 22 points in the first half. Kevin Garnett (12 points, 12 rebounds) had 8 points and 4 rebounds in the opening half while Pierce chipped in with 7 points and 7 boards. It was 47-45 Boston at the break.

Pau Gasol scored 12, Kobe Bryant 11 to lead the Lakers in the closely contested first 24 minutes. Those two would be heard from down the stretch.

The second half was closely contested much like the first but the two teams did exchange leads down the stretch.

With the score tied at 82-82 in the closing seconds, Boston had a chance to win it and put the ball in the hands of Pierce (18 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists). Unfortunately, Pierce picked up his dribble moving right and did not see a wide open Ray Allen (22 points, 6 rebounds) on the left wing. With the clock ticking down, Pierce got the ball to Mickael Pietrus (9 points) who launched a 30-foot shot at the buzzer which missed sending the game to overtime.

In the extra frame, Boston had its chances again including in the final seconds when Pierce missed on a fade-away jumper from 18 feet with 3 seconds left. Ray Allen got the rebound and was in position to lay it in when Gasol blocked his put-back attempt ending the game.

NOTES:

-Before the game, Paul Pierce learned that he would be heading to his 10th NBA All-Star game later this month as he was named a reserve for the Eastern Conference by the coaches. Pierce is the only Celtic who will be in Orlando on February 26th for the game unlike last year when teammates Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo all joined him in the game. For Garnett, his omission snapped a streak of 14 consecutive All-Star appearances. The coaches admitted that picking this year’s reserves wasn’t easy with such a small sampling (approximately 25 games) of games due to the lockout-shortened season.

-Sasha Pavlovic was unable to play Thursday night due to the wrist injury which sidelined him briefly at the start of the season. As a result of his injury, the team activated Marquis Daniels who had been sidelined with an ankle injury.

-The Celtics entered the game as the hottest team in the NBA having won 9 of their last 10 games. Boston started the season (0-3) and was (4-8) through the first 12 games but has rebounded nicely. Still, at (14-11), Boston is currently the 7th seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.

-The Celtics visit Toronto tonight before hosting the Chicago Bulls at 3:30pm Sunday at the TD Gard