LOS ANGELES — Postgame Gatorade never tasted so bad.
The champagne remained corked and the humidor remained closed, because the Lakers spoiled any Boston Celtics’ championship celebration Sunday, winning Game 5 of the NBA Finals, 103-98. Afterward, all the Celtics could do was wash the bad taste out of their mouths.
“I knew I didn’t want to see the Celtics celebrating on our home court,” Lakers center Pau Gasol said. “We didn’t play our best game, but we played our hearts out.”
Still in command with a 3-2 series lead, the beleaguered Celtics will have to travel across the nation to try to close out the Finals on their parquet floor. No team has ever trailed a Finals 3-1 and won the series, but the Lakers are sure making it interesting.
Similar to Game 4, when the Lakers let a 24-point lead slip through their hands like Venice Beach sand, they blew a 19-point lead Sunday when Boston took its first lead in the third quarter. But, unlike Game 4, the Lakers rose to the moment in the fourth quarter, thanks to three steals by league MVP Kobe Bryant, including the clincher with 37.4 seconds left.
Boston’s Paul Pierce played arguably the best game of the Finals. The Los Angeles-bred Pierce scored 38 points with eight assists, both game-highs, and shot an amazing 16-for-19 from the free-throw line.
With Boston trailing 39-22 after the first quarter, Pierce constantly bulldozed to the basket in the second quarter, making tough layups while pinballing off defenders, totaling 16 points in the quarter. By halftime, Boston trailed just 55-52, and the sellout crowd at Staples Center worried about seeing another astonishing collapse, this one to end their team’s season.
The Celtics were without center Kendrick Perkins (shoulder), who said Saturday he thought he could play, but by Sunday morning had to call his coach to break the bad news. And though he started, guard Rajon Rondo (ankle) was ineffective in the backcourt, scoring three points and adding three assists in 14 minutes.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers said the lack of Perkins’ physical play hurt Boston. It was apparent. Whereas the Celtics have done a steady job smothering the Lakers’ frontcourt in the past two games, that same frontcourt was overwhelming in Game 5. Gasol finished with 19 points and a team-high 13 rebounds, and power forward Lamar Odom scored 20 points, shooting 8-for-10 from the field, while tallying 11 rebounds in his most-complete Finals performance.
Boston power forward Kevin Garnett, who had to carry the low-post load, struggled with foul trouble and scored 13 points with just seven defensive rebounds.
“I played like garbage,” Garnett said.
As for Bryant, in the first quarter, he continually pulled up for long- range jumpers, oblivious to defenders or pressure. And once, when he worried that a defender might actually alter his shot, Bryant simply just jumped in the air, as if to shoot, and then zipped a pass to Gasol for a low-post basket. Bryant was locked in. He finished the first half with four 3-pointers and 15 points, two fewer than he scored in all of Game 4.
While there were murmurs about Finals scoring records on press row, the Celtics clamped down on Bryant the rest of the night. He was just 3-for-13. Uncharacteristically, he missed clutch shots in the final minutes, but he made up for it with the big steals.
“I had a bad game,” Bryant said. “But the important thing for me is to push the buttons at the right time. That’s the key. Set the tone and generate energy for our ballclub.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
