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Celtics Storm Back, Take 3-1 Lead
By TOM WITHERS, AP Sports Writer

Celtics 97, Lakers 91 (F)
Paul Pierce scored a game-high 20 points on Thursday as Boston rallied from a 24-point deficit and beat the Los Angeles Lakers 97-91.
Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE/Getty Images
Ray Allen scored 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the Celtics to a Game 4 win in Los Angeles.

Boston 97, Los Angeles 91 (F)

LOS ANGELES, June 12 (AP) – This was how the Boston Celtics of yesteryear - Cous and Russell and Bird and Hondo and the Chief - would do it. Digging deep, they fought for every loose ball, scrapping with grit and guts, champions clad in green.

These Celtics are no different.

And they are just one win from another NBA title.

"Yeah,’’ Kevin Garnett said. "I can taste it.’’

In their comeback season, Boston saved its biggest one of all for the finals.

The Celtics rallied from a 24-point deficit and beat the Los Angeles Lakers 97-91 on Thursday night to take a commanding 3-1 lead in this history-rich series and move within one victory of a 17th championship that seemed impossible a year ago.

"I don’t want to get overjoyed,’’ Paul Pierce said. "I want to go out there to try and win Game 5 on Father’s Day and then I’ll be able to breathe. Right now, I’m waiting to exhale.’’

He’s not alone.

A rivalry between the league’s two most storied franchises - with some of the game’s biggest names and biggest moments - now has a rally for the ages.

No team had ever overcome more than a 15-point deficit after the first quarter, and Elias Sports Bureau said it was the largest comeback in the finals since 1971. One thing’s for sure, it will forever be remembered in the annals of Celtics-Lakers lore.

When the final horn sounded, Pierce, an L.A. kid playing in front of family and friends, doubled over in exhaustion and exuberance. The Celtics, the team he stuck with through 10 years, including a 24-win season in 2006-07, had done the impossible.

"It’s definitely a great win, one that you’re going to put up there in the library and break back out one day for your kids to watch,’’ Pierce said. "But I want nothing more than that ring right now.’’

Pierce scored 20 points, Garnett had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Ray Allen had 19 points, two coming on a marvelous reverse layup in the fourth as Boston’s Big Three, thrown together last summer by general manager Danny Ainge to revive a franchise accustomed to hanging banners from the rafters, put the Lakers on the brink of a summer vacation.

It took an epic comeback to do it, and now the Celtics can reclaim their place atop pro basketball with a win in Game 5 on Sunday night in Los Angeles.

No team has ever recovered from a 3-1 deficit in the finals.

Kobe Bryant scored 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting but the league’s MVP couldn’t rescue the Lakers when they needed him most. Lamar Odom had 19 points - 15 in the first half - and Pau Gasol, whose addition in a midseason trade was supposed to give the Lakers their final piece to complement Bryant, had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Trailing by 18 points at halftime and seemingly done when they fell behind by 20 with 6:04 left in the third quarter, the Celtics outscored the Lakers 31-15 in the third quarter to pull within 73-71 going into the fourth.

The remarkable rally was reminiscent of what Los Angeles did in Game 2, when the Lakers trimmed a 24-point deficit to two in the fourth quarter before the Celtics regrouped to open a 2-0 lead. But Boston had another 12 minutes to finish off theirs, and the green-and-white did.

"Some turnaround in that game. The air went out of the building,’’ said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who was asked what he told his club afterward. "Well, it’s not over. This is not over. The series is not over.’’

Boston’s comeback included a 21-3 run over the final five minutes, fueled by two 3-pointers from Eddie House, who was getting more playing time because of Rajon Rondo’s tender left ankle. The Celtics were still down by double digits with 2 minutes left in the third but closed the quarter with a 10-1 run, capped by P.J. Brown’s dunk - a slam that could be felt all the way back to Boston’s North End.

The Celtics finally caught the Lakers at 73-all on Leon Powe’s jumper in the lane with 9:05 remaining, tying the score for the first time since it was 2-2 in the first minute.

At that point, the Lakers looked lost, confused, you name it. And when House hit an 18-foot jumper with 4:07 remaining, the Celtics had their first lead, 84-83. Boston’s bench erupted, Lakers fans gasped and it was just a matter of time before they were heading out of Staples Center wondering what went wrong.

Allen, one of the game’s purest shooters, then drove to the basket and made a reverse layup as dramatic as the Celtics’ comeback.

"It was huge,’’ Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "It was really supposed to be a middle pick-and-roll with Kevin and Ray, and Ray waved Kevin off because he liked the matchup that he had already, so he didn’t want to bring another defender in to help. It was a great call by Ray. The layup was just tremendous.’’

Bryant, who except for a 36-point performance in Game 3 has been an ordinary superstar in his try for a fourth championship ring, didn’t score in the first half. He tried to rally the Lakers and got them within 89-87 with one of his patented twisting layups. But James Posey drilled a 3-pointer for Boston to make it 92-87 with 1:13 left. Derek Fisher’s long jumper got the Lakers within three.

But Pierce was fouled and made two free throws, forcing Jackson to call a timeout with 47 seconds to go. As the Lakers headed toward their bench, Pierce pumped his fists, flexed his muscles and let out a yell.

At the other end of the court, Bryant hung his head.

"They were determined not to let me beat them tonight,’’ he said. "I saw three, four bodies every time I touched the ball.’’

Surrounded by Hollywood stars on their own back lot sound stage, the Lakers were seeking their 10th straight win at home in the postseason and were about to drop the "if necessary’’ tag from Game 6. Now, they have to hope they can force the series back to Boston.

For the third time in this series, commissioner David Stern met with the media before the game. It was an unusual step for the league’s long-tenured leader, who went on the offensive to defend the integrity of NBA officials under fire in the Tim Donaghy scandal.

Maybe the next investigation should focus on what happened to the Celtics in the first quarter.

L.A’s crowd, notorious for arriving late, leaving early and spending more time text messaging and talking on cell phones than clapping, was much more involved than in Game 3. They roared when Lakers Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar presented the game ball to officials and were on their feet when Los Angeles blasted to a 16-6 lead.

By then, Odom had scored eight points, doubling his total from Game 3 and the enigmatic forward finished the first quarter having made all six field goal attempts and scoring 13 points. Moments later, Garnett went out with his second personal, and with the NBA’s best defender on the bench, the Lakers ran wild.

Odom made consecutive jumpers from the top of the key to put Los Angeles ahead 26-7. The Lakers eventually pushed their lead to 45-21 when Sasha Vujacic, whose 20 points sparked his team in Game 3, nailed a 3-pointer and it was the Boston Massacre, West Coast style.

But the Celtics wouldn’t quit.

"Once we got the lead, obviously, we were thrilled to death,’’ Rivers said. "As far as we were down, nothing was going right for us, and we just hung in there

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Ray taken the Lakers to Skool

//youtu.be/MTEkQoCvYbM

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Think again…

//youtu.be/idzl95puCfE

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Game 4 highlights

//youtu.be/4oNSitnvoNM

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I believe all this talk of MJ v Kobe is just media hype. Tracey McGrady average 32 in 02 for Orlando. Whilst his numbers have dropped it’s mainly because Houston don’t need that kind of production out of him. I rate him better than Kobe. I would like to see LA v Houston next year in the WC to get a better much of these two.

//youtu.be/1SXpJ06y40I&feature=related

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You think mcgrady, someone who has never been out of the first round is better then kobe? Hey it’s your opinion, your entitled to it. I disagree though, i clearly think kobe is better. I too find the kobe and mj hype funny, because i don’t even think jordan is the GOAT. However, that’s a discussion for another day.

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T-Mac had to carry Orlando, if Grant Hill was healthy who knows what would have happened. Two series that Houston lost in the first round has the NBA refs are under a cloud of suspicion for those series. This year they went on a 22 win streak without Ming. Not having him and Francis is going to make it very hard to get through to WCF.

If T-Mac was in the Lakers teams in 2000-2004, he would have 3 three rings. If you compare Kobe and T -Mac physically, he dominates Kobe. He’s taller at 6’8 more thickly built and Vince Carter could only match his dunking ability. If you swap Kobe & T-Mac in this series, the Lakers win. No one in the league can stop McGrady and having the LA support players ( spot up shooters ) would make him a insurmountable foe in this Lakers unit.

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Betting Market for today’s game.

LA Lakers 1.33 $
Boston 3.15

I’ve already had 1,000 on Boston to win @ $5.50 earlier in the playoffs. I am thinking of having another bet at those good odds for today’s game.

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Game Preview: Celtics at Lakers, Game 5

Two days removed from the superlatives that were draped over the Celtics’ 22-point second half comeback in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, a little perspective has been gained. Nothing will, or can, diminish that historic win, but the true turnaround has yet to be completed, having started before training camp with a simple, everyday Duck Tour.

In the late days of summer, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett gathered at Doc Rivers’ home at 8 a.m. for a very literal manifestation of their goals.

“Doc said, ‘You know, this is what they’re going to do if we win a championship.’” Pierce remembered." And I said, ‘Next time I get on this Duck Tour, it’s going to be when we win the championship.’ And I promised that."

After all, a little over a year ago Pierce and Rivers had their hopes resting on a handful of fluttering ping pong balls. Today, owning a 3-1 series advantage in the NBA Finals, they are now just a single victory away from taking a second amphibious vehicle. Fate, as it were, is far removed from arbitrary lottery machines, but for the time being, the Celtics must still share it with the Los Angeles Lakers.

“The reality is that we’re still in the NBA Finals and we still have a great deal of control over what happens next,” Derek Fisher said. “As far as I’m concerned, I like those odds. I would rather have the ability to have a say-so in what my future is as opposed to someone else controlling it.”

Heading into the Staples Center for Game 5 (9 p.m.) with a cushion of three games and two Garden dates to get the last win, the Celtics will have a commanding voice in how things unravel. But if one small criticism lingers over this team, it’s that they have hardly slammed the door on their opponents.

The Celtics are 0-2 in these playoffs after taking a two-game edge, dropping Game 3’s in Atlanta and Cleveland. Through those first two series, they were 2-2 in closeout games � both losses coming on the road. But when it boils down to “What have you done for me lately” semantics, the Celtics are pulling high marks, having brought the hammer down in Game 6 at Detroit, 89-81,

Even so, Rivers says the formula for the toughest of wins is still a work in progress.

“I don’t know how you fix it, but I’m still working on it,” Rivers said. “But we just have to have great mental toughness and focus, and we can’t � again, when we’ve only focused on the process of playing basketball, we’ve been very good. Whenever we start looking at scores and results, we’ve been very bad, and it’s as simple as that.”

Understandable, but tonight will be hardly as simple as focus (with the exception of the breathing-regulated Garnett). While it may seem that by the fifth game the playing board would be all but folded up to allow emotions to duke it out, there is still plenty of maneuvering to be done. The first question is what to do with the small, spread-the-floor lineup that resurrected the Celtics Thursday night?

Rivers had some crucial lineup decisions decided for him in that game � Rajon Rondo was not at his best playing on an ankle bruise and Kendrick Perkins strained his left shoulder in the third quarter, leading Rivers to call for a boost from Eddie House, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, James Posey and Garnett. It worked beautifully, as the Celtics outscored the Lakers 49-23 over the final 19 minutes.

“It turned out to be something that we weren’t as adept at defending as we felt we could defend the other way around,” Phil Jackson said. “And we should have been ready for it. We saw some of it in the third game and we just didn’t make that adjustment individually staying attached to some of the shooters that came in the game as opposed to some of the power players they had in before.”

But with both Rondo and Perkins both expected to be in the starting lineups tonight, according to Rivers, each lineup will be available to keep the Lakers off balance. Just as there are four players, counting Tony Allen, whom Boston can use on Kobe Bryant, too many options is never a bad problem. But as for wrapping the greatest of comebacks in one, two or three games, the choice is clear.

“To win it will be special. To win it at home [in Los Angeles] would be unreal,” said Pierce, who grew up in nearby Inglewood, CA. “You know, this is where I started playing basketball. This is where I picked up the sport. This is where I got into the game, watching the Celtics and the Lakers, and to win it on this court, you know, even though I wish it was the Forum, but unfortunately it’s not, but just to win it here in your hometown is something that people are going to remember, you know, years and years down the road.”

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Get Rondo Out Of The Game!!! 3rd Quarter

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I think Doc needs to take Rondo out of the rotation. In game 4 when Boston went down 21 in the first quarter he was in the game. Today in the 1st Q when Boston went down 19 again Rondo was in the game. Again in the third at Rondo at the point Boston went down 12points. When he is in the game Lakers defense is so much more effective, Kobe clogs the lane and Rondo can’t hit open jumpers. If I were the Lakers I would hope that Rondo starts again. Because Boston will be down again double digits in the first quarter.

All this talk about Doc out coaching Phil is BS, I mean Boston have three all-stars and crazy bench players. Please don’t start with Rondo. It puts Boston so much behind in the game.

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By Kevin Ding
The Orange County Register
(MCT)
LOS ANGELES - The hard-working types who lift things a lot heavier than a 22-ounce basketball were conspicuously scurrying through the Staples Center corridors Sunday night, readying the huge set pieces meant for the NBA’s on-court championship trophy presentation to the Boston Celtics.
Yet the Lakers, doing a convincing impersonation of any crew of local union workers, kept those laborers - and the scrappy Celtics - from storming their home court by doing in Game 5 of the NBA Finals what they couldn’t do in Game 4.
The Lakers got tough and refused to let anyone take a victory and a championship away from them.
With a 103-98 triumph, the Lakers took the first step of what needs to be a basketball record for the triple-jump for this to end well for them. No team in 28 previous tries has come back from a 3-1 NBA Finals deficit, and the Lakers now need a second longer jump Tuesday in Boston to set the stage for a third and last leap Thursday night in what would be Game 7, also in Boston.
Kobe Bryant embodied the Lakers’ effort and sometimes over-effort in Game 5 with team highs in points (25), turnovers (six) and steals (five). But he couldn’t help but smile when a reporter began a postgame question about how history shows that this comeback isn’t supposed to happen.
We just think about the next game,'' Bryant said. The Lakers do have other reasons for optimism: Last time the teams had one travel day to go from coast-to-coast, Game 3 was a weird scrum. Boston has turned away from sore-ankled starting point guard Rajon Rondo (three points on 1-for-7 shooting and three assists in Game 5), who was a seamless distributor early in this series, and starting Celtics center Kendrick Perkins (shoulder) couldn't play Sunday night. Then there's this: Boston's Game 4 hero Ray Allen has a sudden personal crisis in the form of a health issue with one of his children and quickly departed Staples late Sunday night. We focus tremendously on Game 6, because it’s going to be super hard to be able to get that one,’’
Lakers center Pau Gasol said. And we definitely want to give ourselves a chance to get to Game 7. So we'll see. We'll see.'' Bryant made the play of the game on defense, coming up with his own answer to the befuddling side pick-and-rolls run by Boston's Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to prey on Gasol's inability to get his body in front of a driving Pierce. Bryant came from behind and poked the ball from Pierce with 40.9 seconds left and the Lakers' lead - once 19 points - only at 97-95. The ball went right to Lakers teammate Lamar Odom, who threw a quick and accurate football-style pass back to Bryant for a stress-relieving dunk. For a while, it looked as if Game 5 might mirror Game 4 in the form of a tremendous Lakers start before a colossal collapse. The Lakers led Game 4 after one quarter by 22 points. They led this time after one quarter by 17 points. But Boston scrapped back behind Pierce (38 points, eight assists). The Lakers fought back for a 79-70 lead entering the fourth quarter and stretched it to 88-74 with 9:17 to play, but a Garnett jumper with 4:35 left forged a 90-90 tie. When they took that lead from us, we stayed strong and stayed aggressive,’’ Lakers forward Luke
Walton said.
In fact, the Lakers had gotten their pretty Sunday white uniforms dirty early on this night, with
Sasha Vujacic and Odom both earning offensive rebounds for the Lakers through pesky effort despite
Boston’s James Posey having position both times.
The Celtics did not aggressively double-team Bryant at the start. Bryant saw that and was eager to launch into full offensive thrust, partly to do what he didn’t do late in Game 4 and partly to set the attacking tone that Lakers coach Phil Jackson demanded come back in Game 5.
It was important tonight for me to get off to a quick start - just so my team could feed off that energy,'' Bryant said. Once I did that, it was important for me to step back and bring the other guys along, as opposed to staying hot or continuing to go with it. That’s what has been successful for us.’’
Bryant matched Boston on the scoreboard at the start, 15-15. But the Lakers led, 31-15, because his teammates were also clicking and outscored him with 16.
Then after Boston climbed back into it, the Lakers found some resolve.
It was the sort of game when two Lakers (first Odom, then Derek Fisher) took blows to the groin area and had to shake them off. Odom (20 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks), Fisher (15 points) and Gasol (19 points, 13 rebounds, six assists) all made amends for what they did and didn’t do in Game 4.
They just played harder,'' Jackson said of his players. They played harder than the Celtics consistently for the game, and I think that was a big key in the ballgame.’’

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BEIJING, June 16 Reuters - Yao Ming, China’s most popular sportsman, will make his return from foot surgery to play for his country against Iran in next month’s Stankovic Cup, local media has reported.

The 2.29-metre Houston Rockets center had his NBA season cut short by a fractured foot in February and faced a race to be fit to lead China’s challenge for basketball gold at the August 8-24 Beijing Olympics.

``Yao Ming will definitely play the match and this will be his first match after returning from injury,’’ the organiser of the Stankovic Cup told Sohu.com.

As well as China and Asian champions Iran, the Stankovic Cup will also feature European champions Russia and African champions Angola. It will take place in Hangzhou, China, from July 17-20.

Yao’s agent said the 27-year-old had been given the all-clear by Rockets medical staff to return to China on June 24 but could not confirm whether he would definitely be fit for the Stankovic Cup.

by Jim Slater

LOS ANGELES, June 16, 2008 (AFP) - A 3,000-mile flight and short rest will test the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers long before they meet each other in Tuesday’s critical sixth game of the National Basketball Association Finals.

The Lakers kept their championship hopes afloat with a 103-98 victory here Sunday, pulling within three games to two in the best-of-seven showdown to force a sixth game back in Boston, where game seven would be played Thursday.

It's a terrible turnaround,'' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. Nothing you can do about it. Hell, it’s a tough one. It’s as tough as you can have. Going west to east is tough. Sleep patterns are messed up. There’s no way around it.’’

Monday’s US coast to coast journey will keep both teams from working out upon their arrival and challenge them to regain peak levels in time for a game that could define their careers.

``Both teams have the same issue so it could come down to a game of mental toughness, who fights the fatigue mentally better than the other group,’’ Rivers said.

The Celtics, who seek their first title since 1986 in a bid to stretch their all-time record to 17 NBA crowns, were not helped by the long minutes played in game five by their key players.

Scoring leader Paul Pierce, a top candidate for NBA Finals Most Valuable Player, played the whole game. His 38-point performance will be important to repeat if the Celtics are to avoid a one-game showdown for the crown Thursday.

We will get a nice flight home, get in in the evening and try to stay on schedule. I really don't think about it,'' Pierce said. That’s all you can do.

``Both teams will be ready come Tuesday.’’

Ray Allen played 40 minutes Sunday and departed quickly because one of his children was ill. Kevin Garnett and James Posey went 33 minutes.

I look forward to going home and playing,'' Garnett said. It’s going to be like coming into the amazon, into the jungle.

``The onus is on us. We’ve definitely got to win in game six and come out and set our feet in the cement, so to speak, establish something early and stay with it.’’

The Celtics played Sunday without Kendrick Perkins, sidelined by a sore left shoulder but confident he will play in game six.

Spanish big man Pau Gasol of the Lakers will try to play aggressive and physical inside, especially if Perkins is hurting.

Whether he plays or not we're going to try to be really physical and make sure we give it our best shot,'' Gasol said. We try to be physical. We try to challenge them.’’

The Lakers blew a 24-point lead in game four and squandered a 19-point edge in game five but managed to recover the second time to win.

Thank God we don't have a lead,'' Jackson told his team. It’s important we don’t have something like that because we just don’t know what to do with it anyway.’’

But Gasol said holding off the Celtics gave the Lakers a lift that helped erase the memory of one of the most brutal chokes in NBA history.

It was required to give our best intensity and aggressiveness to be able to bounce back from that loss, painful as it was,'' Gasol said. We played our hearts out. This win definitely helped us to build our confidence back up.

``I know I didn’t want to see the Celtics celebrating on my home floor with champagne and all that crap. I definitely didn’t want to see that.’’

LOS ANGELES, June 15, 2008 (AFP) - Kobe Bryant scored 25 points but made his biggest moves defensively Sunday to sustain the championship dreams of the Los Angeles Lakers and deny the Boston Celtics their first title since 1986.

The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player made a critical steal off Boston’s Paul Pierce and finished he play with a slam dunk in the final seconds to help seal a 103-98 victory in game five of the NBA Finals.

We needed that because we needed to get an easy hoop,'' Bryant said. As soon as I noticed the ball was exposed a little bit it was important for me to go after it.’’

Lamar Odom added 20 points and 11 rebounds while Pau Gasol had 19 points and 13 rebounds as the Lakers pulled within three games to two in the best-of-seven series to force a sixth game Tuesday in Boston. Game seven would be Thursday.

We're two wins away from winning a championship,'' Gasol said. But we know that without the first one, we’re not going to get to the second, so we focus tremendously on game six because it’s going to be super-hard to get that one.’’

No team has recovered from a 3-1 defecit to win the NBA Finals, but the Lakers have confidence they can force a seventh game Thursday and win it.

``We’re young enough and dumb enough to be able to do this,’’ Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.

A superb Pierce scored 38 points but was undone after grabbing a rebound and dribbling upcourt with Boston trailing 97-95 in the closing seconds.

Bryant tapped the ball to teammate Derek Fisher, who flipped it back to Bryant for a breakaway slam dunk.

He made a great defensive play,'' Pierce said. He reached around to take the ball from behind. Kobe is a great player. He made two big steals in the fourth quarter I shouldn’t have allowed. It hurts - a tough one to swallow.’’

Bryant scored 15 points in the first quarter but had only gone 2-for-12 from the field until his slam dunk with 37 seconds remaining. Bryant and Fisher hit free throws in the final seconds to clinch the triumph.

The important thing is for me to push the buttons at the right time,'' said Bryant. The key is setting the tone if we’re going through a drought, make the correct play and generate energy for our ballclub.

``That has really become my role now moreso than in the past where it was 35 or 40 points.’’

After Pierce shut down Bryant late in game four, Bryant returned the favor in a do-or-die game for the Lakers.

He came out and set the tone, had a lot of energy out there, got a rhythm going, got confidence built, just played an overall stellar game,'' Jackson said. Defensively in the fourth quarter he said let me take Pierce.’’

Ray Allen added 16 points but rushed from the arena due to a health issue with one of his children while Kevin Garnett added 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Celtics, who missed a chance to claim their first title since 1986.

``We still had a chance to win this game. We let it slip right through our fingers,’’ Garnett said.

``My play? It was trash. I played like garbage. I can do better than that and I will.’’

The Celtics played without center Kendrick Perkins, who was sidelined by a strained left shoulder but said he expects to be ready for game six, and guard Rajon Rondo struggled.

Rondo is just not playing well right now,'' Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. We still believe in him. What we are trying to get him to do is be aggressive to the basket. He’s got to look to get more plays.

``We’ve still got game six at home. That’s not a bad place to be.’’

The Celtics erased a 24-point lead in winning game four and bounced back from a 19-point hole in Sunday’s second quarter to briefly lead in the third.

We do feel like we're the better team. We just have to get off to better starts,'' Pierce said. It’s tough when you are always fighting back. We don’t thrive on that, letting teams get ahead and expecting to get back in the game.’’

LOS ANGELES, June 15, 2008 (AFP) - Dick Bavetta, a National Basketball Association referee for 32 years who inspired questions in an FBI investigation into match fixing, worked game five of the NBA Finals here Sunday.

Bavetta also handled the opening game of the best-of-seven series but that was before former NBA referees revealed that they had been asked about Bavetta by federal agents looking into claims by another ex-referee.

Disgraced former referee Tim Donaghy claimed there was match-fixing corruption surrounding 2002 and 2005 NBA playoff games, including one that Bavetta worked involving the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento in 2002.

But NBA commissioner David Stern defended Bavetta, noting that while FBI investigators asked about several topics, the only charges brought in their investigation thus far have been against Donaghy, who admitted wrongdoing.

“Keep your filthy mitts off my Dick,” said Stern (maybe:o )

Donaghy will be sentenced next month on charges of betting of games that he officiated and taking payoffs from gamblers. His claims came in a letter to the US District Court in New York he hopes will reduce his sentence.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he hopes NBA supporters can have full confidence in referees and their calls before October’s start of next season.

``We hope the summer brings some things around that will cool this off and we can have some confidence again with the public about our refereeing situation,’’ Jackson said.

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I needed 24 hours away from the net to recovery from Boston’s last loss. Some great pictures KK. Hopefully in game 6- we can post some pictures of Boston with the NBA title.