As the Celtics and Lakers prepared to battle for the second time in 11 days this season, all eyes were on Ray Allen early, as he began the night with his sight set on breaking Reggie Miller's all-time record for three-pointers. But with the game in the balance late, the focus shifted to Kobe Bryant, who delivered by scoring eight of his 20 second-half points in the fourth quarter to lead L.A. to an important 92-86 win over Boston.
Allen started off hot for the Celtics, scoring 12 first-quarter points while connecting on the two three-pointers he needed to break Miller's career mark of 2,560. The team and the crowd seemed to feed off of Allen's aggressiveness, and Boston was able to jump out to a seven-point lead at the end of one before increasing the margin to as many as 15 in the second quarter.
The Lakers didn't let things get out of hand, though, and put together a 10-0 run to close the gap and keep the game within reach at the half. Bryant was passive to start, and had just three points and three assists at the break, while Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum led the way offensively for L.A. with 12 points apiece.
That would all change in the second half. Bryant was measured, efficient, and calculating in the final two periods, going 8 of 14 from the field in that stretch and playing in a way that would, for the most part, silence even his staunchest of critics. Especially in the fourth quarter.
With the Lakers clinging to an 82-79 lead with 5:04 remaining in the game, Bryant was reinserted into the lineup (along with Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, and Gasol) to finish the job. He immediately began to do exactly that, hitting a turnaround jumper over Allen to push the lead to five. The Lakers got a stop, and Bryant delivered again on the next possession, this time by draining an uncontested 20-footer to increase the lead to seven. And after Paul Pierce turned it over in traffic on the other end, Bryant got into the paint and finished at the rim to push the lead out to nine with 3:11 remaining, which forced a Celtics timeout.
Boston had its chance to get back into it, but trailing by five with two minutes to play, Pierce overthrew Rajon Rondo on a fast break opportunity that should have resulted in an easy two, which would have made it a one-possession game. Instead, Bryant drew a triple-team along the baseline at the other end, and found Gasol all alone at the rim to put the L.A. lead back to seven.
Rondo then hit a free throw on Boston's ensuing possession to trim it back to six. Bryant tried to put the final nail in Boston's coffin with a long three-point attempt, but he couldn't convert. Odom was there, however, and fought off Kevin Garnett for the offensive rebound, giving the Lakers one more chance to put the game in the win the win column for good. Bryant took advantage this time, and hit a step-back 13-footer to put L.A. back up by eight with 48.8 seconds remaining, which all but sealed it.
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