Celtics one win away from NBA championship
LOS ANGELES – Just a season ago, the Boston Celtics were down to a pathetic 24 victories. Refurbished, they came back to win 66, more than any team in the NBA.
Just a game ago, the Celtics were down a seemingly overwhelming 24 points. They came back to stun the Los Angeles Lakers, 97-91, and wrap a stranglehold around the Finals.
Erupting as a sudden storm inside the Staples Center on Thursday night, the Celtics took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 championship series. They left Lakers star Kobe Bryant stranded. They left his teammates reaching for life preservers.
“I just told them as a team they had their heart ripped out,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. “It’s tough to recover from that, but they will.”
The Lakers’ recovery process is mostly psychological. The Celtics’ issue revolves around injuries: Kendrick Perkins left Game 4 with a left shoulder problem, while Paul Pierce tweaked both a knee and an ankle and Rajon Rondo struggled with a left ankle problem left over from Game 3. Celtics coach Doc Rivers said that Perkins’ injury “could be significant,” and that it’s “clearly not looking great right now.”
With Game 5 tonight on the same floor, history says this is all but over. No team has ever recovered from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals.
“It can always happen,” Pierce said. “We aren’t counting on that statistic. We want to take care of this.”
It is the most realistic stance the Celtics can take, even though they have the comfort of knowing that a potential Game 6 or even a Game 7 would be played in Boston.
They have been counseled by teammates James Posey and Sam Cassell, the only two in their locker room who have previously won titles: The close-out game is the hardest.
“We know we’re (up) 3-1, but the job isn’t finished,” Boston’s Kevin Garnett said. “Yeah, we seem a little closer, a little closer to the goal … We’re obviously one win away from our goal, and that’s the focus; nothing more, nothing less than that.”
Pierce has been asked repeatedly what it would be like for him to win a championship in the city where he was born and raised.
“They said, ‘Hey, the close-out game is the hardest game. You thought (Thursday night) was hard?’ ” Pierce said. “So, hey, I don’t want to get overjoyed. I want to try to go out there to try to win Game 5 on Father’s Day and then I’ll be able to breathe.”
Bryant, who didn’t have a field goal until the third quarter Thursday night and never did place his imprint on the game, was as disappointing with his postgame comments as he was with his performance.
Asked how the Lakers could bounce back, he said: “Whine about it tonight. A lot of wine, a lot of beer, a couple shots, maybe like 20 of them. Digest it, get back to work tomorrow. Nothing you can do.”
There wasn’t much he was able to do to stave off the Celtics in Game 4, finishing 6 for 19 from the floor, defended mostly by Ray Allen in the first half and by Pierce – who asked for the assignment during intermission – in the second half.
“There was no difference,” Bryant insisted. “They were determined to not let me beat them. I saw three, four bodies every time I touched the ball.”
The Celtics have time and history on their side. The Lakers have barely a shred of hope. To win the title, they would have to win three straight games.
“I’m not thinking about beating them three straight,” Bryant said. “We’re thinking about beating them on Sunday. Then you move on from there. Take one swing at a time to chop down a tree.”
Right now, the odds favor the tree.