Lakers vs. Celtics Game 5 Live Blog: Who Will Win the Decisive Game 5?
In a crucial game 5 match-up in Boston, the Lakers and Celtics will duel tonight at 8 pm on ABC to see who will get the edge in the series. This game holds particular value; the winner of game 5 in a tied match-up goes on to win the series 75 percent of the time. In addition, no team has ever lost the series when they hold a 3-2 lead and has home court advantage.
With Andrew Bynum's status up in the air and the Lakers struggling in game 4 without him, it will be important for the Celtics to take advantage of the smaller lineups of the Lakers, with 6' 9" Lamar Odom in, instead of the monstrously-long Bynum.
For the Lakers, if Bynum is limited again, Odom must play very well, and the rest of the bench must step up as they play a more significant role, especially Josh Powell, if he is thrust into action.
Check back at 8 pm Eastern Time for the start of the game and the coverage tonight, because it is sure to be a good one, if the last few games have been any indication.
Pregame: Word is that Bynum's knee is feeling great and he will play tonight. Great news for Los Angeles.
Two keys for each team:
Lakers
1. Lamar Odom must play well. Bynum will likely be limited to 25 minutes and Odom must show up to fill the other minutes. If he can rebound, defend, and score a little, the Lakers will not feel the loss of Bynum as badly.
2. The Lakers must be patient and find good shots in the triangle offense if they want to win tonight. In game four, far too often the Lakers were relegated to shooting long, contested jumpers instead of taking the ball to the basket and if that continues, they will not be returning to Los Angeles with the lead in the series.
Celtics
1. Paul Pierce is the single most important player on the floor for the Celtics tonight. If he can score effectively against Ron Artest he will open up the entire offense for the Celtics as the Lakers will have to focus more of their efforts on him. If his shots are dropping, the Lakers will have to rotate off of other players to double him, possibly opening up Ray Allen for good looks and help him get out of his shooting slump.
2. Rebound the ball. The team that won the rebound battle has won each game thus far in the series and the Celtics must take advantage of Andrew Bynum's limitations to win the battle on the boards. In game four, the Celtics asserted themselves early on the glass and that helped propel them to the lead and later the victory over the struggling Lakers team.
1st Quarter
12:00 To start off the much anticipated game five, the Lakers win the tip, with Bynum looking much better on the jump.
11:30 While Bynum misses an ugly shot to start the game, the other player playing with a repaired knee, Kevin Garnett, makes a nice shot over Bynum to put the Celtics on the board first.
9:36 After a 6-0 run to start the game for the Celtics, Bynum hits a terrific shot through a foul before missing the free throw for the and-one.
8:14 Bynum shows he can still get up with a nice alley-oop from Kobe Bryant but grimaces and limps down the court after the shot. A story to keep track of for sure.
6:01 The Celtics put together a terrific 24-second defensive possession to draw a 24-second violation for the Lakers.
4:58 Derek Fisher fouled on a 3-pointer by Paul Pierce before an official timeout. Boston leads 14-12.
4:36 Ray Allen makes his first shot. Huge for the Celtics because it could get Ray Allen going after a really poor shooting slump.
3:15 Glen Davis sighting! If he can channel his inner Shrek again, the Celtics will be looking very good to win tonight. Official timeout with Boston up 18-15.
30.2 Pierce is starting to heat up, hitting jump-shots with confidence and helping the Celtics to a 22-20 lead.
End of the first quarter The Celtics lead 22-20 behind strong starts by Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. In a shocking development, Derek Fisher leads all scorers with nine points. Maybe I should rethink naming him in my five worst starters in the league article.
Second Quarter
11:09 We see the beginning of the quarter as a battle of the benches, with each team only playing one starter. Boston leads 26-22.
8:46 The Boston bench is clearly outplaying their Lakers counterpart and that forces Phil Jackson to call an early timeout with Boston leading 30-22.
8:25 Kobe is really struggling to start the game. He is taking the same difficult shots he always takes, but is not making them.
5:39 The Lakers have responded nicely to an early run cutting the lead to 32-31. On a related note, why is Ron Artest playing so much? He's 1-3 from the field and his defense has been less than stellar against Paul Pierce, who has found his groove early.
4:42 Brief altercation after a dirty foul on Kevin Garnett by Ron Artest. Rondo pushes Artest and flops his way into a technical foul on Rondo.
3:59 Lakers take their first lead after a 5-0 run led by Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest.
2:42 Paul Pierce gets the lead back for the Celtics after a Pau Gasol incidental tip gives the Celtics two points and a four point lead. Los Angeles timeout with the score 41-37.
1:19 Ron Artest picks up his third foul on a borderline loose ball, relegating him to the bench for the rest of the half. Boston leads 43-39.
End of the first half Boston has a 45-39 lead mostly on the backs of Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce, who are 5-8 and 7-10 respectively from the field. Kobe has struggled and the Lakers are missing shots left and right from the field yet still find themselves withing six points at the half due to a major turnover disparity.
Third Quarter
11:10 Great run to start the half to give Boston its biggest lead of the night. 50-39 Boston.
10:45 Bryant nails an incredible jump shot through a double team to give Los Angeles its first points of the half.
9:00 Boston needs to watch out. Kobe looks very, very hot to start the half. Eleven straight points for Kobe.
8:15 Kobe is playing outrageously well to start the half and he has the Lakers' last 14 points but the Lakers still find themselves trailing 58-49.
7:37 Despite Kobe's stellar play, the Celtics are asserting themselves to start over this half and Los Angeles is forced to burn a timeout.
6:48 This game is turning into the Kobe Bryant-Paul Pierce show. Despite Kobe's wish to guard Paul Pierce, Ron Artest stays on him. Kobe is now 6-6 with 14 points in the quarter and has all of the Lakers' points.
6:09 This is getting ridiculous. Kobe nails another huge shot from a good three feet outside the three point line.
4:13 Derek Fisher is officially the league's worst offender in terms of flopping. Tried to flop a charge and that leads to an easy Ray Allen lay in.
2:42 Von Wafer on twitter puts it best when he says "where is Pau Gasol is he in LA already?"
2:16 Right on cue, Pau Gasol makes a tremendous, aggressive move to the basket for an and-one.
1:26 Tony Allen with the play of the night on an outrageous block on the 7-footer Pau Gasol.
End of third quarter In a shootout, Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant dueled in a tremendous third quarter which Pierce scoring twelve while Bryant added nineteen. The Celtics take a 73-65 lead to the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter
10:57 Doc Rivers decides to stick with his bench and Rasheed hits a huge three to put the Celtics up nine.
10:10 It appears that Kobe hasn't cooled off in the least bit, scoring another difficult runner against the tough defense of Tony Allen.
8:25 Paul Pierce shaken up after a pretty hard foul from Kobe Bryant and friends. First free throws for any Celtic not named Kevin Garnett. Timeout with the Celtics up 78-69.
6:52 Nate Robinson checks out after great play to start the fourth quarter. After a fairly quiet start to the playoffs, he has really come on strong backing up Rajon Rondo.
6:29 The referees are clearly trying to clean the game up. After a double foul on Fisher and Allen, back to back touchy offensive fouls were called. Boston with the lead at 81-75.
6:09 Following Von Wafer's twitter during the game is pretty darn funny, "Big baby is playin the game with so much emotion I love that [expletive]. I'm gettin crunk in my living room I wanna play"
4:52 The Lakers look like they are on life support at this point. The momentum is clearly in the Celtics' favor and they are up 85-75 with less than five minutes left.
3:56 An incredible, acrobatic tip in by Rajon Rondo to put the Celtics up twelve. He's proving to be the Celtics' best player in this postseason.
2:55 With the Celtics up twelve inside of three minutes, is it over? Not if Kobe can have anything to do with it.
2:25 Pau Gasol makes a free throw to narrow the lead to nine and join the elite club of double digit scorers for the Lakers. Right now, he and Kobe are the only ones, showing why the Lakers are losing right now.
1:41 Ron Artest is showing us that he is still crazy, almost drawing a cheap technical foul in the fourth quarter of a crucial NBA Finals game.
1:30 Ray Allen commits the cardinal sin of fouling a jump shooter, letting Kobe get three free throws and allowing the Lakers to come back with the clock stopped.
1:05 With the lead closed to five by Kobe Bryant's three free throws, the Celtics get an offensive rebound after an awful possession. Kendrick Perkins bailed out the Celtics big time there.
43.3 After a jump ball goes the Lakers' way, the Lakers get a quick transition foul but Ron Artest missed both from the line to keep the Celtics ahead by five. Bryant wanted a jump ball on the rebound but Pierce stole it away.
35.2 The Celtics get the ball into Paul Pierce who leads Rajon Rondo for a game-icing lay-in.
18.4 After a Lamar Odom lay-in, the Celtics manage to get Ray Allen the ball for the foul and he makes both to put the Celtics up by three possessions.
8.9 Kevin Garnett gets two free throws to put the Celtics up by three possessions again and makes one. 92-86 Celtics.
0.0 After a shot only Kobe would consider taking, the Lakers fall 92-86 and go back to Los Angeles trailing 3-2 in the series. They wasted a tremendous game from Kobe Bryant, who had 38 points on 27 shots, but couldn't get more than twelve points from any other player on the team. If Kobe doesn't get anymore help in game six, the Celtics should start drawing up designs for their championship ring.
Thank you for joining me and we'll do this again.
