NBA Finals Game 2: Lakers vs. Celtics

The NBA Finals are tied at 1 game apiece after the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 103-94 in Game 2 at the Staples Center, handing the Lakers their first home loss of these playoffs. After being down by as many as 14 in the second quarter, the Lakers closed the gap to 9 at the half when Kobe Bryant stole an outlet pass and hit a long three pointer with 7 seconds remaining. The Lakers evened the game at 72 after three quarters, but the Celtics pulled away in fourth. Boston was able to seal the deal due to the efforts of point guard Rajon Rondo, who scored 8 of his 19 points during a 15-4 Celtic run to end the game. In addition to his impressive play down the stretch, Rondo posted his fifth career playoff triple double, scoring 19 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and dishing out 10 assists.

The Lakers were able to keep it close in the first half despite a historic shooting performance by Ray Allen, who set an NBA Finals record with 8 three point field goals in the game, 7 of which came in the first half. Allen finished the game with 32 points, 27 of those coming the first half. Allen and Rondo shouldered the scoring load for Boston, with the other three Celtic starters (Garnett, Pierce, Perkins) combining for just 28 points. After Garnett and Perkins got into early foul trouble, Glen “Big Baby” Davis provided tremendous energy off the bench, recording 8 points and 7 boards.

For the Lakers, Pau Gasol had another outstanding game, scoring 25 points, snagging 8 rebounds and blocking 6 shots. Gasol has been much more effective in these NBA Finals than he was in the 2008 Finals when Kevin Garnett dominated him in every facet of the game. His play while Kobe Bryant was on the bench in foul trouble was the main reason why the Lakers were able to keep pace with the Celtics. Despite the aforementioned foul trouble Bryant managed to score 21 points, drop 5 dimes, and record 4 steals in the game. Andrew Bynum, the other Laker big man also played exceptionally well. Playing through a partially torn meniscus, Bynum had 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 blocks.

It seems the Celtics took my advice from the Game 1 article to heart. They were physical and limited the scoring of Kobe Bryant, and it led to a 9-point victory. The series now heads across the country to Boston for 3 games, where the Celtics have played very well thus far in the post-season. In order to bring the series back to Los Angeles, the Lakers must steal a game at the TD Garden, not an easy task by any means. However, if there is a team that can pull of such a feat it is the Los Angeles Lakers. Game 3 will be played on Tuesday night at 9 pm on ABC, and we can only hope the series continues to be as exciting as it has been up to this point.