bostondave	Male 35 years old DANVERS, MA
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The Celts won a thriller 108-102 to take a two game lead in the NBA Finals.

The game started off tough The Celts were pushing things so it seemed but the Lakers were desperate and agressive. The missed a bunch of layups early on in the game. Kobe was still rather cool at the start.

The Celts turned over the ball though. Paul Pierce seemed like he was on a mission. He didn't seemed to be having any problems from his knee. Good sign. KG did have some open shots but didn't take them.

The technical called on KG was not good. The Lakers built up a small lead. The Lakers were going at KG with layups. Odum and Gasol made some in your face baskets.

Gotta love see Ray Ray make a three to tie up the game  Great shot. He really needed to continue his great play. He had a good start against Kobe. The Lakers were in early foul trouble and had to go to their bench. The Celts defense stepped it up. The low score reflected it.

Powe was very effective off the bench by drawing fouls. It was so strange seeing the other side getting fouls called on them. Home court advantage early in the game?? The Celts built up a small lead by going on a ten point run to start the second quarter.

The game still remained close. Kobe got a few scores because Ray was out. Powe guarded him. As soon as Ray got back in, Kobe missed his next shot.

The Lakers continued to get foul calls. Crazy. No foul calls on the Celts? Woah. Nineteen free throws for the Celts... The only guy to be in trouble was Perk with three.

The Celts did get a bit sloppy towards the end of the half. Bad defense and poor shot selection. Thankfully, Ray and Paul made a couple threes and settled everything down and got the crowd back into the game.  Rondo had a great first half with his defense and six assists. Paul had sixteen points. The Celts would build up a twelve point lead and had 54-42 lead at half-time.

The game continued to be rather back and forth for a little while... The Lakers did manage to avoid getting too many more fouls through the game which helped the Celts earlier in the game.

Second shot opportunities and rebounds were a big key in the Celts getting their lead. They were able to build up their lead. Perk grabbed a lot of those rebounds. However, he continued to get fouls. Pierce continued his hot shooting. And Leon Powe had the game of his life.

Kobe continued to not get fouls called and got a technical in the process of whining about it.

The Lakers seemed to lose it a bit and were down 24 points. They missed too many shots. It was fun to see. heh

At the start of the fourth quarter it seemed like it'd be a total blowout however, the Lakers to their credit chipped away at the lead. Kobe sparked the lead and scored 13 points in the fourth alone. It was rather insane. The Lakers gave it their all. They made it within two points!!! Nail biting time. I hate when the Celts do this. They have done it far too often this season.

The Celts allowed far too many threes and easy baskets. And they attempted too many jump shots and three pointers. They missed and that was how the Lakers made a game of it.

Fortunately Pierce and Posey built up the lead with free throws and put it away. Still both sides can take lessons from this game. The Lakers can take solace that they can come back even down twenty. The Celts dodged a bullet and will have to play better defense in the fourth quarter.They have to play to win the game and not play to lose it.

The Celts almost gave up a 24pt lead but a win is a win. I don't care how many it is in the NBA Finals. Its puts far more pressure on the Lakers and a little less on the Celts. Kobe and the Lakers certainly will get the foul calls his way in LA. And the Celts certainly can't expect to get as many foul calls. They'll have to work even harder to win. The Celts won't have to win two games in LA but they really need to win at least one. I do hope they don't play another game in Boston this season. That would be great.