Celtics forward Kevin Garnett didn?t sound like a player who is just two wins away from a career-defining NBA title after a 108-102 win over the Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.
“We weren?t happy with how we ended the game,” he said. “We haven?t done anything. We won a game at home. We defended home, which is what we?re supposed to do. Now it?s time to take the show on the road and try to apply what we learned [Sunday] on the road.”
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What the Eastern Conference champion Celtics and the NBA?s Defensive Player of the Year learned from their win was how to defend a large second-half lead. Boston led by as many as 24 points in the third quarter, but saw its advantage whittled to two with 38 seconds remaining.
Forward Paul Pierce, however, continued to play like one of the game?s elite players, averaging 25 points, five assists and four rebounds per game in the Celtics? two wins in Beantown. Boston has the chance to take a commanding three-games-to-none lead at the Staples Center tonight at 9 in Los Angeles. Game 4 is slated for Thursday night in L.A. with Game 5, if necessary, on Sunday also on the West Coast.
“I was a little disappointed in our play in the last six minutes of the game,” Pierce said. “I thought we just weren?t aggressive enough to put the game away. I thought we wanted the time to just run out.”
But the Lakers, led by Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant, mounted a monstrous comeback that ultimately fell short. Bryant, who had 30 points in the loss, said there are positives for his team to build upon at the Staples Center, where it is 8-0 this postseason. But no team, however, has rallied to win a series after losing the first three games.
“Understand, we played harder,” he said. “We played with a sense of desperation and more aggression, and I think that?s something for us to take home and learn from. They took care of business at home, and we?ve got to go home and try to do the same thing. It?s not the end of the world. We?ve come too far to really sweat being down 2-0. We?re going to go home and handle our business.”
And Lakers? coach Phil Jackson added it?s not what Boston is doing so far in the series, it?s what his team hasn?t done that has led his team to losing both games.
“I?m not worried about which Celtics team shows up,” he said. “I?m worried about what Lakers team shows up. That?s the one that moves the ball and we do things well on the offensive end, and you saw that as the game progressed that we started finding our rhythm on the offense.”
