NBA Finals - Game 5 - LA Lakers 103 Boston Celtics 98

LA Lakers 103 Boston Celtics 98: This game started off pretty similar to Game 4, with the Lakers building a 17 point lead in the first quarter and leading by as many as 19. The Celtics were able to make a comeback but unlike Game 4 they were not able to win the game. The Celtics seemed seemed to miss Kendrick Perkins down low in this game as the Lakers outrebounded them 41-38. It also hurt them that Rajon Rondo was ineffective for the second straight game after spraining his ankle in Game 3.

The story of this game for the Lakers was the fact that Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom showed up to play and they played well. Gasol finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists, while shooting 6 of 10 from the floor. Odom finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks, while shooting 8 of 10 from the floor. It's possible that the absence of Kendrick Perkins really hurt the Celtics in this game after seeing Gasol and Odom shoot a combined 14 of 20 from the floor. Either way, they definitely stepped it up in Game 5 for the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant had another good but not great game for the Lakers. He is still struggling to shoot a good percentage from the floor, hitting only 8 of his 21 shots. However, he 4 of 9 from three and finished with 25 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 steals. Kobe made a big steal at the end of the game with the score 97-95, he reached in and knocked the ball away from Paul Pierce and Odom threw it back to him for a dunk to give the Lakers a little cushion.

For the second straight game the Celtics got themselves in a big hole right out the gate. I'm not really sure why they keep getting down by so much early on but it is definitely something they will have to work on heading home to Boston. It's a shame the Celtics couldn't start off better because they really wasted a great game by Paul Pierce. Pierce finished with a game high 38 points on 10 of 22 shooting, including 16 of 19 from the free throw line. He also had 8 assists and 6 rebounds.

Kevin Garnett was effective from the floor, shooting 6 of 11 but I'm not sure why he didn't shoot more. Maybe because Paul Pierce was having such a big night, so they went away from Garnett but he probably should have seen a few more touches. Garnett also missed two huge free throws down the stretch, which I thought was the key moment in the game along with Kobe's steal. Ray Allen had a decent night before fouling out and finished with 16 points, while shooting 4 of 13 from the field.

The Celtics bench played well again in this game, picking up some of the slack for an injured Perkins and a struggling Rondo. The bench finished with a combined 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists. Tony Allen even made an appearance and played well scoring 6 points and shooting 3 of 4 from the floor. Sam Cassell played surprisingly good as well, scoring 9 points on 4 of 8 shooting.

Boston will now head home, where they will try to finish the Lakers off by winning 1 of the 2 remaining games. I would expect the Celtics to start Game 6 off a lot better defensively than they have in Games 4 and 5. The Celtics are in good shape having to win only 1 of the 2 games on their home court to win the championship but if Perkins and Rondo continue to be hampered by injuries, then the Celtics can't afford too many other things to go wrong or it could let the Lakers sneak in and steal the NBA Finals. Without any bad breaks, I think it will be extremely tough for the Lakers to win this series by winning the last two games in Boston and the Celtics should be able to find a way to finish this thing out at home and win the NBA championship.