Celtics Counter Lakers' Punch
Boston Clamps Down on Defense, Overcomes 24-Point Deficit to Stun Los Angeles

By Michael Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 13, 2008

LOS ANGELES, June 12 -- The Boston Celtics had already completed the hard part -- digging themselves out of a 24-point first-half deficit against the Los Angeles Lakers -- and in the final minute, it was about finishing the job. They used stellar defense and timely shooting to come back, but needing one more basket to secure the win, the ball was in Ray Allen's hands.

Allen brushed off Kevin Garnett and decided he would take Lakers reserve Sasha Vujacic in isolation. With their season likely in the balance, the Lakers did what they had done the entire second half: They broke down. Allen let the clock dwindle, then blew past Vujacic, knocking him off-balance with a wicked dribble. Lakers center Pau Gasol slid over late to help, but Allen finished with a left-handed layup as the Celtics stole Game 4 of the NBA Finals with a stunning 97-91 victory.

"I made my move, I looked up and he was behind me," Allen said of Vujacic. "I had the whole basket free and clear."

How the Celtics were even in position to win the game was a shock to the Lakers and their fans, as Los Angeles blew a 20-point second-half lead to fall behind 3-1 in this best-of-seven series. After the buzzer sounded, Celtics reserve Eddie House leapt into the air, and grabbed his jersey to show the "Celtics" across his chest. Allen coolly high-fived his teammates as the Celtics moved one win closer to banner No. 17 behind the largest comeback (24 points) in NBA Finals history.

The previous best was when the Houston Rockets came back from a 20-point deficit in Game 1 of the 1995 NBA Finals against Orlando. The Celtics outscored the Lakers 47-21 over the final 18 minutes, and as Paul Pierce walked through the tunnel toward his locker room, he shouted: "One more! One more!"

Allen played all 48 minutes and scored 19 points with nine rebounds. Pierce had 20 points and seven assists, spending most of the second half defending Kobe Bryant, who scored just 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting. James Posey, one of two players on the Celtics' roster with a championship ring, came off the bench and scored 18 points. He made four three-pointers, including a decisive one with 73 seconds remaining to give the Celtics a five-point lead.

Gasol brought the Lakers to 94-91 when he caught a pass from Bryant and dunked, setting up Allen's clinching layup.

"I don't want to get overjoyed," Pierce said. "I want to go out there to try to win Game 5 on Father's Day and then I'll be able to breathe. Right now, I'm waiting to exhale."

No team has come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals, but Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said he told his team: "It's not over. This is not over. The series is not over."

The Lakers needed about seven minutes to cut a 24-point fourth-quarter deficit to two in Game 2. On Thursday night, the Celtics found themselves down 45-21, but they had almost 31 minutes to whittle away at the lead.

The Lakers led 70-50 when Vladimir Radmanovic hit two free throws with 6 minutes 4 seconds left, but the Celtics closed the third period with an incredible 21-3 run. Boston scored the final 10 points of the period, as Pierce had a three-point play, House hit a three-pointer, Allen had two free throws and P.J. Brown dunked to bring his team to 73-71. The Celtics tied the game at 73 when reserve Leon Powe hit a short jumper off the backboard with 10:13 left.

They finally caught the Lakers and took a one-point lead when House (11 points) nailed a pull-up jumper with 4:07 remaining.

"Once we got the lead, obviously we were thrilled to death," Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said. "Just great mental toughness. We've been preaching leaning in. When things get bad, lean into each other . . . and tonight we did it."

The Lakers built their first-half lead without a single Bryant field goal, but as their precision ball movement and accurate shooting faltered, the offense stalled and Bryant's teammates leaned more on the league MVP to bail them out. He tried.

With the score tied at 75, Bryant passed out of the double team and fed Lamar Odom for a layup. Then, Bryant forced Pierce into a difficult miss and sprinted down the floor for a spirited dunk that put his team ahead by four points. Posey hit a three-pointer to bring the Celtics within one point, and after Gasol hit a leaning layup to give the Lakers an 83-80 lead, the Celtics scored the next eight points, with Garnett (16 points, 11 rebounds) hitting a short jumper to silence a stunned crowd.

"Some turnaround in that ballgame. The air went out of the building," Jackson said, adding that his players "are very depressed about that. It's very difficult right now."

Odom hit his first seven shots and finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. But he scored just four points on 1-of-4 shooting in the second half. Gasol finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Bryant was stunned in the wake of the collapse. Asked what his team could do to rebound, he said: "Whine about it tonight -- a lot of wine, a lot of beer, a couple of shots, maybe 20 of them. Digest it, get back to work. Nothing you can do."

"We just wet the bed," Bryant said. "A nice big one, too. One of the ones you can't put a towel over. It was terrible."