Forget the Kevin Garnett mystique. Forget that "Sleeping Giant" Ray Allen, may have finally woken up. This NBA finals will be remembered for Boston Celtics' "The Man", who before Garnett and Allen arrived was "the man", and who remains "the man"... Paul Pierce. The Boston Celtics were down 24 points in the 4th quarter and steamrolled back to win the game and make history with the greatest come from behind win in NBA Finals History. Last night in game four of the NBA Finals Kobe Bryant scored only 17 points. He was being guarded by Paul Pierce... enough said.
Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - The Boston Celtics used their defense to generate one of the greatest comebacks in playoff history and now stand one win from their first championship since 1986.
Paul Pierce scored 20 points as the Celtics rallied from a 24-point first-half deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 97-91, in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Boston's defense locked down on Kobe Bryant and outscored the Lakers, 57-33 in the second half.
"It's just great mental toughness," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "We've been preaching leaning in. When things get bad, we leaned into each other all year and tonight we did it."
The Celtics, trying for their record 17th championship, lead the best-of-seven series, 3-1, by virtue of just their third road victory in this year's playoffs.
Kevin Garnett added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Ray Allen made a huge contribution with 19 points and nine rebounds. James Posey scored 18, which included a big three-pointer in the final two minutes.
Bryant was limited to 17 points and 10 assists on 6-of-19 shooting for the Lakers, who were ahead by 20 halfway through the third before collapsing and watching their 15-game home winning streak come to a crashing halt. The Lakers had been 9-0 at the Staples Center in the playoffs, but suffered their first home defeat since March 28 to Memphis.
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