Celtics-Lakers, Game Four, First Half: Rerun

Will this be the last game of the year? We Shall See. The Celtics start without Kendrick Perkins, and Leon Powe wins the tap in his stead. Pierce falls on a catch and turns the ball over, and that, combined with the presence of Dick Bavetta, says the series is going back to Boston. Perkins being out might help the Lakers biggest problem in this series, which is that their bigs have been crushed. A Kobe 3 after a Gasol make gives the home team a quick 5-0 lead. Three fast Celtics turnovers emphasis the point.

A missed Kobe 3 is followed by another bad Pierce turnover -- where was this defense in Game Four? -- and Kobe misses again, very aggro but still ineffective. Garnett makes from outside, but Fisher responds for 3, and it's 8-2. Kobe makes again after a KG miss, and the lead is 8, but KG responds. You get the feeling that the Lakers need a large lead, but two straight no calls and a big mess of Celtics o-boards and Laker foul calls makes this game have the Celtics' pace. If I've learned anything about this Celtics team, is that they don't get blown out...

Rondo goes 1 for 2, and it's 10-5. Gasol feeds Radmanovic for an easy one, and it's amazing to me how small Radmanovic is at 6'-10". Gasol gets an o-board and follow, and really looks like he's enjoying the absence of Perkins. With the make, it's 14-5, and the Lakers have their largest lead.

Rondo misses badly, and Bryant answers with a 3; it's a 13-point lead after an 8-0 run. Game Four, of course, means that no first quarter lead is meaningful, but it doesn't look like the Celtics are very interested in clinching this on the road.

House and Brown in for the Celtics to change the mood. Pierce hits from mid-range, and Odom answers with an ugly travel. The Lakers don't put Bryant on House, but Brown misses at point-blank range, and Bryant hits another 3 to make it a 14-point lead. Kobe has 11 on 4 shots, but House responds with a 3 over Fisher. Kobe answers with another 3, and egads, he looks driven tonight. Brown responds, and it's 12, 24-12. Bryant has 4 3's in the first quarter, and that's all good, so long as he starts driving and getting calls.

Allen hits a 3, and both teams are really starting to find the range. Radmanovic misses from distance, but Kobe follows for an easy board and gets to the lane. With 39 and a half minutes left in the game, Bryant has nearly as many points as he did for all of Game 4... but he misses the second, and it's 25-15.

Brown misses, and he's looked lost in LA. Fisher drives and scores, and he's looked good here. Ah, the magic of home cooking. House misses from 3, Bryant feeds Radmanovic for another effete layup, and we're back to 14. Allen misses a reverse, Brown can't finish as Gasol, of all people blocks him, and after another make, it's the Lakers' latest biggest lead of 16. No one is fooled, of course, but man, the Celtics don't seem all that concerned about this game.

Celts come out of timeout with a make, and Luke Walton, the Lakers' answer to Sam Cassel, misses. Garnett leans in with an easy follow, but commits his second foul with 1:08 left in the first. Brown comes in as Walton makes both, and we're back to 14. Gasol has 7 and 5 in the early going.

Vujacic steals and slams, as Farmer pressures House. Pierce goes to the line after a possession where his body language was terrible; he makes both, and it's 14 again. Farmer finally looks good in the series with quickness off the dribble, and it's 37-21. Pierce goes to the line on Walton's second. Pierce makes one of two, Gasol has a goaltend credit, and the Lake Show shoots 65% in the first and leads, 39-22.

Farmer makes, and there is a Chris Mihm sighting! Yes, that's not much of a vote of confidence for Rony Turiaf. Vujacic hits from just inside the arc, and it's 19; will the Laker bench finally make a positive contribution? Not on defense, as Pierce scores and goes to the line. After the make, it's 43-27. Vujacic misses. Pierce back to the line and misses; Ariza in for Cass -- oh, Walton. Second is made, and it's 15.

Farmer misses a 3 off a Mihm screen, but Radmanovic fights for the board and gets a team bounce. Mihm throws up an airball, then picks up a blocking foul, so this bizarre strategy isn't working out. Walt -- oh, I mean Cassell -- is in. Pierce makes another, and Tony Allen with a steal -- it's garbage time in the second, and Tony Allen dunks to cut it to 11. I don't know why on earth both coaches feel that it's necessary to play deep bench scrubs, given the ridiculous amount of commercial time and days between games, but it's played into Green's hands, and they've made an 8-0 run. Until the Lake Show can stop Pierce, they can't do enough. 43-32.

Vujacic misses off the timeout, but Odom saves the possession. He then gets bumped on the block and turns it over. Tony Allen makes another, and woof, that's kind of amazing. Bryant feeds Turiaf, but Posey draws a bad charge call, and that's another turn. Bryant d's up on Pierce and the Truth misses. Cassell elbows Turiaf hard, and yes, that's a foul. Fisher, Gasol and Garnett return, and KG probably wishes that he didn't, as Gasol draws the third. It's a call that Green Fan hates and will call in the Bavetta Conspiracy, but Gasol sold it well. He misses the throws and shows hoop divine justice.

Pierce slams off a Brown screen, and it's matador time again for the Lake Show. Bryant misses the 3, and Tony Allen misses in tight, but the Celtics keep it, and it's down to 7. A Pierce 3, and it's a 4-point game. How gutless is the Lake Show? Vujacic misses, but Odom keeps it. Fisher tries to draw a foul and airballs it. Lakers haven't scored in forever, in that five minutes in the NBA is forever. Bryant turns on a whip pass to Gasol, and that's the kind of play that real playmakers don't make. Once again, with the tide turning against his team, Bryant isn't driving, isn't getting to the line, isn't stopping the bleeding. At all. Is it too late to re-vote on that MVP thing?

Coming out of the timeout, the announcers bury Gasol, and Cassel and Tony Allen combine for turnover magic. Bryant misses, Odom boards and misses, and Gasol is smacked for no call, but the Lakers keep possession. Is there some law that the Laker bigs can't dunk? Fisher misses, and Green recovers. Cassel misses, but Gasol can't get the board, and the goat horns are clearly being fitted for the big Spaniard. Cassel forces another and misses. Bryant to Gasol to Odom finally works, and the 7.5 minute drought is over. As the game almost had flow there for a second, Rivers calls time, and yes, we're well on track for over a 2.5 hour game. But on the plus side, we're all getting to see more of "Wall-E."

Posey misses from 3. Bryant does as well, but Odom gets a board and follows, only to see Radmanovic get a technical. If you are a Laker fan, you have to wonder why your bigs aren't dominating more in a game without Perkins and Garnett. Radmanovic gets crushed on a drive by Tony Allen, but Gasol feeds Odom, who scores and gets to the line. Odom makes for his 9th poiint and Gaosl's 4th assist.

Pierce misses, and Odom boards. A Farmer 3 is embarrassingly short, and Ray Allen's 3 cuts it to 5, but Farmer gets his feet set and scores off a Kobe feed. Fisher and Ray Allen get double technicals for no reason that I can see, but it looks like Ray-Ray got away with a push. A six point lead is pushed back to 8 as Odom scores while falling; he has 9 in the quarter. Farmer steals, but misses the 3 on the other end, and after a lot of contact all over, it's still Green ball. For a game with a ton of techs, there's a lot of contact being allowed here.

Brown scores off trouble with 40 seconds left. Bryant gets turned and he's bent at the refs, like everyone else in this game. Kobe hasn't scored in 15 minutes, and after a Pierce three, and another Kobe miss, the Laker lead is all but gone, and poor Michelle Tafoya gets the nasty assignment of talking to Kobe. Lakers 55, Celtics 52.