Lakers-Celtics: Los Angeles Takes Game 5 and Now It's On To Boston

Game 5 is in the books and against all odds, Los Angeles is still breathing. After another attempt to boot away a game they had in hand, the Lakers held on to beat the Celtics at the Staples Center last night 103-98.

Some thoughts about last night's game and the series so far:

Starting Rajon Rondo is a luxury Doc Rivers may not be able to afford much longer. Whether it's because of his injured foot or a lack of confidence, his unwillingness to shoot is giving the Lakers a break on defense. He's rarely guarded, giving his defender the chance to sag off and clog the lane.

Rivers may need to replace him in the starting lineup with either House or Cassell, who are already playing the majority of minutes.

Outside of that, the Lakers' defense sucks. The reason for the fast starts the last two games is they haven't had to guard Rondo. They're lost on pick-and-rolls, no one can stop Pierce and they lose focus at critical times. The Lakers will need to play much better defensively than they have to win in Boston.

House and Posey continue to outplay the Lakers bench, and some of their starters. They've been stone-cold three-point shooters and have played their asses off. Posey's hustle is clearly getting under the Lakers' skin.

Odom and Gasol played better last night, both showed a toughness that had been missing. The Game 4 collapse showed me a Lakers team that checked their hearts at the door, but last night they fought back. Both Odom and Gasol will have to play tougher for the Lakers to have a realistic chance in Boston.

The model of burst out of the gate and then hold on for dear life probably won't work for the Lakers in Boston. The Celtics had their two worst shooting nights of the series in the loses in L.A., but it had little to do with L.A.'s defense. Figure the Celtics to start faster at home, putting a ton of pressure on the Lakers.

Boston's grit and determination continues to impress me. There may be some carping today about the play of Garnett and the officiating, but the Celtics where in it right until the end and almost won despite it all.

An effort that approximates last night's, coupled with a slight increase in shooting percentage looks like a Celtic win to me.

This has been an interesting series thus far, but I wouldn't call it a classic. If the Lakers can win Game 6 in Boston, the build up to Game 7 would certainly create the required drama. And if Game 7 delivered on the hype, maybe then I'd consider this series a classic.

But those are some pretty big if's.