Paul Pierce and the Celtics could not finish off Pau Gasol and the Lakers Sunday afternoon. (AP)

It had all the makings of a momentum-builder. The Celtics overcame a 13-point first-quarter deficit to go up by five at the half. They even held on in the third quarter, a period in which they had struggled recently, and led 73-66 going into the final 12 minutes.

The game was theirs until the final 10 seconds.

Kobe Bryant scored a go-ahead jumper with 7.3 seconds left to give the Lakers a 90-89 lead. Ray Allen was unable to hit a game-winning trey and the Celtics were dealt a crushing one-point loss to the Lakers in Boston.

Player of the Game: Kobe Bryant scored just 19 points, his fewest since Jan. 18, but his final basket was the most important of the game. Had the Celtics won, the honors would have gone to Tony Allen, whose team-high 12 points in the first half gave the C’s control of the game.

Turning Point: With the Celtics up 89-88, Paul Pierce was called for an offensive foul with 27.5 seconds to go. The Lakers regained possession to hit the final bucket of the game.

— Rondo’s 21 points and 12 assists were career-highs against the Lakers. Going into the game, his career average against the Lakers was 6.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. The most points he had scored vs. LA was 16.

— Rasheed Wallace was whistled for his 13th technical foul in the first quarter. Wallace got involved in a spat with Pau Gasol after being fouled. Gasol received a personal and technical foul.

— The Celtics are 0-3 against the Lakers since beating them in the 2008 NBA Finals.

— The C’s have lost three in a row. They will take on the Wizards on Monday in Washington, D.C.

One Comments for “Fast Break: Celtics vs. Lakers”

1. Yasmin Says:
   April 3rd, 2010 at 10:35 am

   This is a really good read for me. Must admit that you are one of the coolest bloggers I ever saw. Thanks for posting this useful article.

Leave a Reply