The NBA Finals 2010 continued tonight with Los Angeles and Boston
deadlocked at 2-2 in the series. The Lakers vs Celtics Game 5 score
went in favor of Boston 92-86 to give them the 3-2 series lead and
major momentum towards another NBA Championship. Previous Celtics wins
came thanks to bigtime efforts from Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and the
bench. Tonight it was the captain Paul Pierce as he went head-to-head
with Kobe Bryant in a classic Finals showdown. Pierce came up with big
plays down the stretch as well and the Celts held off the Lakers
despite Kobe’s 38 points.

Through 3 quarters the Celtics had the
lead by 8, despite Kobe Bryant’s impressive third with 19 points. For
the Celts it down to big plays and big shots, plus a shooting
exhibition between Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant. Speaking of big plays,
with just over a minute to go Tony Allen had an impressive block to
stop Pau Gasol on a drive to the basket. Pierce scored on the other end
on a jumper but the Lakers matched that basket as they got a jumper
from Sasha Vujacic. Gasol scored moments later to get the lead under 10.

With
just about six minutes to go, Lamar Odom’s jumper brought the Lakers to
within 6. Moments before an offensive foul on Ray Allen had given the
ball back to LA. After a timeout, KG hit a jumper to extend the lead
back to 8. Next play, Kobe lost the ball near the Lakers baseline and
Ray Allen threw a pass up court to Rondo for the breakaway layup and a
10 point lead. A missed 3-pointer moments later from Pierce saw Rajon
Rondo with an impressive tip-in. Boston lead was now 12. Two plays
later saw Kobe Bryant pick up a costly fifth foul in the game.

With
1:30 remaining and the Lakers down 8, Ray Allen went for heavy defense
on Kobe Bryant, but the contact was too much. To make things worse, it
was a foul on a 3-point shot. Kobe hit all three shots to make it 7
straight points for the Lakers from the FT line. A big call came
moments later as a Ray Allen 3-pointer missed completely as the shot
clock went off. The Lakers argued it was a violation and on the replay
it was tough to tell, however the refs awarded Boston the ball.

A
jump ball situation saw Derek Fisher tip the ball against KG to Kobe
who tossed it down court to Artest. Artest was fouled by Pierce but
missed both free throws. With just 4 seconds to get the ball over the
court, the Celtics had an impressive inbound catch by Paul Pierce. As
Pierce was falling out of bounds, he tossed the ball to a sprinting
Rondo for an amazing layup to put the C’s back up 7. Despite Phil
Jackson’s timeout speech that the Celtics know how to lose games in the
4th, Boston held on for the big win. Pierce finished with 27 points on
12-21 shooting.

The NBA Finals 2010 edition will now head back
to Los Angeles to close this series out in either Game 6 or Game 7.
Game 6 will be Tuesday at 9PM EST with a final Game 7 on Thursday at
9PM EST if necessary. On June 24th will be the 2010 NBA Draft starting
at 7PM EST on ESPN when all the other teams look to get their talent up
so they can make the Finals in 2011 or beyond.

via matt clark gather.com