The Celtics have evened the 2010 NBA finals with a 103-94 victory over the Lakers, the first home loss for LA in this postseason (click here for the complete recap). Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen get the gold stars for the winners, who will now host the next three games. Game 3 is set for Tuesday night.

What Went Right

Ray Allen sets a record: After a very quiet (in no small part due to foul trouble) Game 1, Allen put on perhaps the greatest shooting display in finals history in the first half of Game 2, hitting seven-of-eight 3-pointers on his way to 27 first-half points. The seven 3′s matched a finals record, a mark he would break in the third quarter. Throw in terrific defense on Kobe Bryant (4-of-11) and I’m not sure any player has ever had a better half in the finals.

Rondo was Rondo again: This was the guy that was the best player on the floor in the Miami and Cleveland series. Not a shooting night to remember (8-of-18), but from Minute One of Game 2 it was clear that Rondo was going to be the most aggressive player on the court. That led to some forced stuff, to be sure, but the good outweighed the bad. Rondo finished with a triple-double (19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists), the biggest play of the game (jumper to go up 95-90) and played a huge role in Allen’s first-half outburst. And he made the “only Rondo does that” kind of plays, like the strip of Kobe (which led to foul No. 4) in the third quarter, the block of Fisher late in the fourth and of the course the ball fake and layup on Bynum early on. Looks like Rondo is plenty healthy, which is a must for the Celtics to have any shot in this series.

Bigs come up big off the bench (Non-Shelden Williams division): OK, Glen Davis missed nine shots in his 18:10 on the court and only hit four shots. But he made plays, didn’t he? Blocking Bynum’s shot (terrible call), stopping Odom one-one-one in the post, drawing offensive fouls on Kobe and producing an And One on Gasol. Good things seemed to happen when Davis (eight points, seven rebounds) was on the court and Doc would have been justified to leave him in over Garnett in crunch time. And two good games in the finals for Rasheed Wallace, who had a plus/minus of +15 in Game 2 (highest total in the contest). Seven points and seven rebounds in 18:07 for ‘Sheed, who has been the player we were sold on before the season began.

What Went Wrong

Garnett: KG had his moments in Game 1, but it was a struggle. Game 2, however, was a near-disaster (have to give him some points for the  jumper in the lane to go up 93-90) and hard to figure. Foul trouble played a role, but Garnett simply flustered for the entire game. The Celtics would have signed for a split before the series started, and to do so without getting anything from Garnett in Game 1 and 2 must feel like stealing. But make no mistake — they need the KG of the Cleveland series to get to No. 18.

Can’t stop Gasol: Gasol has easily been the best player in this series. An easy 24-13 in Game 1 followed by 24 more points on 7-of-10 shooting in Game 2 (10-of-11 from the line). The Celtics have done a nice job on Kobe Bryant, now they have to figure out a way to at least slow Gasol down.

(And yes, “How Can Pau Gasol only take 10 shots????” should be question one for Phil Jackson in the post-game press conference.)

Pierce struggles: Just a 2-of-11 night for Pierce. If I told you before Game 2 that Pierce and Garnett would combine to shoot 4-of-16 you would have booked a 102-88 loss, right? Strange game.