BOSTON — This time, Paul Pierce picked up his teammates.
One game after being carried off the floor following a scary — but ultimately insignificant — knee injury, the Celtics forward scored 28 points to help Boston beat the Los Angeles Lakers 108-102 and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals.
“I felt pretty good,” Pierce said. “I didn’t really think about the injury, because once I step on the court, it pretty much goes out the window. You hear the crowd; the adrenaline is going.”
Pierce hit two free throws with 23 seconds left after Los Angeles cut a 24-point deficit to just two points at 104-102. The Lakers tried a quick 3-pointer, but Pierce partially blocked Sasha Vujacic’s shot to protect the lead.
Walking back down the court, he finally let loose, slapping hands with the fans in the courtside seats — including actor Donnie Wahlberg — and pumping his fists in celebration.
“We did our job. We held home court, and now we can break it back with another win in Game 3,” Pierce said. “We’re not settling on a 2-0 lead. We want to go out there and win two games in L.A. That’s our focus, and that’s what we want to go out there and try to do.”
Pierce was 9-for-16 from the field — hitting all four 3-pointers — while adding eight assists and four rebounds.
“I thought before the game he felt great, he looked great,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “So I liked what he was going to do.”
NBA Finals
HERO
Paul Pierce.
With two victories recorded in this best-of-seven series, the Celtics are halfway to their 17th league championship, and the Boston forward might be 75 percent of the way to being named MVP of the Finals. He is shooting a jaw-dropping 62 percent from the field.
ZERO
Lakers’ bench.
Los Angeles got nothing of real worth from its bench. Heading into the championship round, role players Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, Ronny Turiaf and Jordan Farmar were believed to be real advantage for the Lakers. But the L.A. subs were scrubs in Game 2, being outscored 35-23 by Boston reserves.
X’S AND O’S
Where’s the D?
It’s time to go back to the chalkboard for Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The breakdown in the L.A. defense starts with the inability of Vladimir Radmanovic to stick with Boston’s Pierce, and ends with the Lakers being late on every defensive rotation as a result.
WINNING TIME
Powe’s run.
NBA games seldom are decided in the opening minutes of the second quarter, but the banging and bruising of Boston backup Leon Powe dazed Los Angeles in the opening 4 minutes, 16 seconds of the period, when his seven points led the Celtics on a 16-6 run that put them in control.
THE SCENE
Red alert.
The 2-3-2 format for the Finals was born of grousing by a grumpy old man, when Celtics legend Red Auerbach, above, complained about too many long plane flights in 1984. As commissioner David Stern recalls, “Red said to me back in ’84: ‘This is too much: Play, travel, play, travel, play, travel.’ ”
Mark Kiszla, The Denver Post
