By MARC BERMAN
June 16, 2008
LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant and Yogi Berra were right. It ain't over till it's over. It's back to Boston, though the Lakers nearly choked again.
Despite a shaky offensive outing from Kobe Bryant, the league MVP made two huge steals on Paul Pierce down the stretch and the Lakers are heading to Beantown. They will try to make history there after surviving Game 5, 103-98, at the Staples Center last night.
Hold up on the Duckboat parade and pack up the champagne. This time, the Lakers weathered the Boston storm. The Lakers blew another big lead - 19 points in the first half, 12 in the fourth quarter - but held on to close the series to 3-2.
Tomorrow's Game 6 and possibly 7 are in Boston. No club has won Games 6 and 7 on the road in the finals.
Playing in their home Sunday whites, Bryant scored just 25 points on 8 of 21 shooting, with six turnovers. He shot 3 of 13 in the final three-quarters. But Bryant had five steals and stripped Pierce from behind in the final minute after Pierce got by him, as the Lakers clung to a two-point lead.
Derek Fisher grabbed the free ball, Bryant went long, caught the deep pass and jammed it with two hands, making it 99-95 with 37.4 seconds left, sealing the win.
"He made a great defensive play, tapped the ball from behind," said Pierce, who scored 38 points. "Kobe's a great player. He made two big steals on myself in the fourth quarter that I shouldn't have allowed."
"We needed that," Bryant said. "We needed to get a easy hoop because the defense tightened on us. Once I saw the ball exposed a little bit, it was important to go after it. I had a bad game, but the key is to push the buttons at the right time."
Bryant, who showed up at the press conference with his two daughters, Gianna Maria and Natalia, on his lap, said it's not always best for him to score a lot.
"A lot of people say, Kobe, you got to go out for 40 or 50, but that's not how we play," Bryant said. "Can I force myself to get 40? Yeah. Is it better for our ballclub? No."
The Lakers got Pau Gasol's grittiest effort of the series. Gasol notched 19 points, 13 rebounds and six rebounds, and Lamar Odom chipped in with 20 (8 of 10) with 11 boards.
"I know I didn't want the Celtics celebrating on our home floor with champagne and all that [stuff]," Gasol said.
After Game 4's heartbreaking 97-91 loss put Los Angeles in a 3-1 hole, Bryant said, "It's far from over."
It's not over because the Celtics, who had fought back to a 90-90 tie with 4:35 remaining, let a championship opportunity slip by.
"We probably have to play better in Boston," Bryant said.
Boston's Kevin Garnett had a lousy, foul-plagued, 13-point outing, capped by missing two free throws with 2:30 to go. The Celtics were without injured starting center Kendrick Perkins and their starting point guard Rajon Rondo played without confidence. Perkins plans to play tomorrow.
Pierce scored 38 points, but Bryant picked his pocket twice down the stretch. Earlier, Bryant knocked it away from Pierce, leading to Fisher getting fouled on the break with 3:02 left.
The Lakers stormed to a 39-22 lead after one quarter. Bryant racked up 15 points in the first 8:25 after scoring just 17 points in the Game 4 disaster. But Bryant petered out.
And in a déjà vu stretch, the Celtics rallied back in the second quarter, with a 15-0 splurge during which the Lakers went scoreless for nearly seven minutes, and the Celtics were behind just 55-52 at halftime. The Celtics outscored the Lakers, 30-16 with Pierce outscoring Bryant 16-0 in the second quarter. Boston had rallied from 24 points down in Game 4.
"I went in at halftime and said, Thank God, we don't have a (big) lead," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "It was important we didn't have something like that because we just don't know what to do with it anyway."
The Celtics said Ray Allen had to leave the arena right after the game because of a health issue with one of his children. Allen has a daughter, Tierra, and sons Walter Ray Allen III and Walker.
