Lakers Will Try To Rally Again

Late Run in Game 2 Could Be Beneficial

BOSTON, June 9 -- The Los Angeles Lakers can't view it as some final frantic act from a desperate team or a momentary rush that produced a scare in a sleepwalking opponent. For them, that improbable, seven-minute run in which they nearly erased the Boston Celtics' 24-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 2 of the NBA Finals has to serve as some hope that the situation will be different as the series shifts to Staples Center on Tuesday for Game 3.

Trailing 0-2 in this best-of-seven series, the Lakers have to do more than think being at home will be enough. Maybe Kobe Bryant has finally found some cracks in that vaunted defense. Maybe with a little ball movement and some aggressive defense, they can give the Celtics 48 minutes of fear. After all, they didn't just chip away at that huge deficit; they stuck a piece of dynamite into it.

"Yeah, we noticed some things in the fourth quarter that we can do that we'll look at and see if we can't use them at Staples," Bryant said. "It's something that we can take from, absolutely.

"I think they learned a lot, because we are a young team and I think that shows you're never really out of a game," Bryant said. "I think being down 24, if you find yourself down eight or 10, that's not something that should discourage you."

The Lakers don't really need another example of their resilience, considering what they accomplished entering this series. They already overcame a 20-point third-quarter deficit to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals and a 17-point first-half deficit in Game 5. The difference in those situations was that the Lakers won those games.

To Lakers Coach Phil Jackson, it's more important to either not find yourself in that situation -- or to get out of it. Nothing -- besides maybe a renewed sense of confidence -- can come as a result of almost erasing a 24-point deficit.

When asked if his team could carry the momentum of that run back with them to Los Angeles, Jackson said: "No, no. It's 2,500 miles away. It's too far to carry it."

After his team missed defensive assignments, took questionable shots and let the Celtics have their way while building a 95-71 lead with about eight minutes left, Jackson said he told his team: "We played as poorly as we could play for two and a half quarters. We just can't play any worse than this."

The worst, they hope, is behind them. The Lakers proved that they can dig themselves out of a hole against the Celtics, but they couldn't get all the way out. The challenge is much greater now that they must win four of the next five games to take this series.

Three teams have come back from an 0-2 deficit to the NBA Finals, most recently the Miami Heat, which was dismantled in two road games against the Dallas Mavericks two years ago but rallied to win the next four behind an standout performance by Dwyane Wade.

The Lakers certainly have a player who is capable of taking control of this series in Bryant, who is considered by many to be the best overall player in the game, a player Jackson referred to as an "unstoppable force" on Saturday.

Bryant was fuming throughout most of Game 2, glaring at the officials who refused to call fouls on drives to the basket and at his young teammates who appeared overwhelmed by the stage for the second consecutive game.