Celtics-Lakers: Lakers Have a Historic Collapse; Celtics lead series 3-1

The Boston Celtics, down by as many as 24 points, come storming back to win 97-91. The Lakers collapsed in the second half; Boston grabs the series by the throat and takes a commanding 3-1 series lead.

This game reminded me of the Marvelous Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas “The Hit Man” Hearns fight, when Tommy Hearns challenged Marvin Hagler for the Middleweight Title.

The fight was considered the greatest three rounds of boxing. What made me think of this fight and the correlation between the two was that both events started fast and exciting and both ended in knockouts.

Game Four was the tale of two halves. A lot of NBA history was made in game four| The Lakers had the biggest lead after one quarter, the biggest lead at halftime and the biggest collapse in blowing a 24 point lead.

The Lakers came out on fire. Lamar Odom had a near perfect first half finishing with 19 points, his best game of the series. Kobe Bryant & Pau Gasol had 17 points a piece. Lakers reserve Trevor Arizza provided a spark off of the bench with his energy and effort on both ends of the court.

Everything went right early for the Lakers who enjoyed an avalanche of points and led 35-14 after one quarter.  The Lakers maintained their high level of play in the second quarter and cruised to a 58-40 lead at halftime.

The first half couldn’t have been scripted better for a team attempting to forge a tie and getting back into the series. Boston cut the Lakers 24 point lead down to 18. This was something that would in a sense foretell what would happen in the second half of game four.

Coach Phil Jackson told his team during his halftime speech not to be complacent with the lead and said three times to win the third quarter—something the Lakers haven’t down all series.

The Celtics began to chip away at the Lakers lead in the third quarter. The Lakers went on an 8–0 run to push the lead back to 20 at 68-48 with 7:06 remaining. Then the Celtics went on a historic 21-3 run to stun the Lakers and close the third quarter, 73-71 Lakers.

Several have asked how the Celtics did come back from such a large deficit and the answer to that question was simple, their bench outplayed the Lakers bench, which was the difference.

The Lakers starters out-scored the Celtics starters 76 to 62. The Celtics big three finished with 55 combined points.

James Posey finished with 18 points and Eddie House finished with 11 huge points. The Celtics made the third quarter surge without two of their starters.

The game was tied at 73 early in the fourth quarter, but the damage was already done. Kobe Bryant had another bad shooting game and couldn’t bring his team.

The Lakers last lead was 83-82 but the Lakers couldn’t stop the Celtics charge.

If it was a boxing match, the Lakers were in need of a standing eight count toward the end of the third quarter.

I know for a fact that if Richard Steele were in the building he would’ve stopped the contest early.

Make no mistake—the Celtics astounding third-quarter run was a championship level run. This game was an instant classic for the Celtics, winning a game on the road after being down by 24 points.

On the other hand, the Lakers lost a golden opportunity to tie the series at two games apiece. The Lakers were at home where they were undefeated in the playoffs, had a huge lead, and couldn’t hold on for the much needed win.

The Lakers are clearly in need of a standing eight count.

The Lakers have their backs against the wall. They’re fighting off of the ropes and need a knockout to win.

There have been teams that have come back from being down 3-1 in the playoffs. My heart tells me winning three games in a row is doable, my gut tells me to forget about it!