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Lakers Win Game 5 Series Back to Boston www.jamestowncalif.com Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers win Game Five at Staples Center 103-98 to move the series back to Boston. Kobe Bryant leads the Lakers scoring 25 points on 8-21 FG's, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals, but did have 6 turnovers. The question for the Lakers in Game 5 is whether or not the team was going to recover from the Game 4 second half performance? How will the Lakers come out Game 5 was the question?
The Lakers came out in the 1st quarter strong outscoring the Celtics 39-22. Could the Lakers sustain that lead? The Lakers have had problems with the Celtics when the team had big leads to stay up front. The Celtics have managed to come back from point deficits, and it has shaken the Lakers confidence throughout this series. The Celtics come back to outscore the Lakers in the 2nd quarter 30-16, and at halftime it was a 3 point game with the Lakers leading 55-52.
The Lakers blew Game 4 by allowing the Celtics to win that game, and that made Game 5 add more pressure on the Lakers with their backs against the Wall. The Lakers are now at a one game elimination, and the Celtics had an opportunity to win Game 5. Have the Lakers even recovered from the Game 4 defeat would remain a question throughout Game 5. The Lakers take an early third quarter lead 57-52, but just like that the Celtics came roaring back to tie the game at 57. The fans throughout the game a bit antsy, and the Celtics strengths in the half court inside/outside game was showing. The Celtics throughout this series have been good at the perimeter.
You would think that the Celtics were not going to come out and play a 100 percent to bring the series at home to Boston, but don't tell that to Paul Pierce who had a game high scoring 38 points on 10-22 FG's, 16-19 FT's, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. K Garnett scored 13 points on 6-11 FG's and 14 rebounds had a very strong game. Ray Allen scored 16 points on 4-13 FG's, and Sam Cassell scored 9 points.
The Lakers Kobe Bryant didn't score in the 2nd quarter, and before his first hoop in the 3rd quarter, the Lakers were very stale after the 1st quarter. The Lakers in their home whites matched all Celtics runs after the 57-57 mark, and fought to keep this series going as the Lakers faced a possible embarrassing defeat.
The Question this Game was would the Lakers come out in the 3rd quarter as bad as the last game, and the answer was "No". The Lakers outscored the Celtics 24-18 in the 3rd quarter. The Celtics played well in the 4th quarter, and the Lakers defense made the plays Game 5 as the team was fortunate Sunday Night. The Celtics unable to close out the Lakers do outscore the Lakers in the 4th quarter 28-24 with the final score 103-98.
The play of the Lakers in 3rd quarter was one of the keys Game 5 winning against a very strong and dedicated Celtics Team. At times, fans thought the game didn't matter as much to Boston as it did to LA, but the Celtics did play well enough to win. Instead the Lakers players sucked it up, and made some big shots the final 20 minutes of the game.
Lakers scoring leaders: Lamar Odom scored 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks, P Gasol scored 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists, Derek Fisher scored 15 points on 3-10 FG's, Radmanovic scored 7 points and makes a big three pointer in the 3rd quarter for the Lakers to retain momentum, and off the bench Jordan Farmar scored 11 points.
The difference of this game was the Lakers were able to come out after halftime and play good basketball rather than the team collapsing while missing shots and turning the ball over. Jordan Farmar's 11 points was huge for the Lakers, but the Celtics bench outscored the Lakers bench 28-17. The Lakers shot 36-79 FG's at 46% while the Celtics go 33-77 at 43%. The Lakers had 7 turnovers and the Celtics had 8 turnovers, and a key play of the game was Kobe's steal on Pierce and Kobe makes a dunk from the assist passed back to him at the 1:00 minute mark which put the Lakers up by 4. The Celtics had this game although the Lakers were holding them off. Paul Pierce played an unbelievable game, and has been consistent all series dominating the Lakers mentally on the court. You feel as if the Celtics can score at will at times when the team are making the perimeter shots, and the Celtics have been more consistent than the Lakers from the outside. The Lakers at times seem tense, inexperienced, nervous, and bizarrely as this series could be 3-2 Lakers, that Game 4 could be the game that blows it for them. The Lakers win Game 5 by five 103-98 now play at Boston Tuesday Night going for the series tie. Can the Lakers do it? Will the Lakers come out to play at Boston, and be able to endure that pressure of the road game in the NBA Finals?
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re box scores http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=280615013
re radio play by play broadcast AM 570 LA http://www.xtrasportsradio.com/main.html
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