The AP reports:
Somewhere during the second quarter in Game 2 of the NBA finals, Ray Allen slipped into that shooting zone only visited by real-life superstars and movie characters.
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With his fundamentally flawless jumper snapping crisply from his wrists, the Boston guard hit 3-pointers in dizzying bunches against the helpless Los Angeles Lakers. He made seven in the first half and finished with a finals-record eight 3’s in the Celtics’ 103-94 victory Sunday night.
Allen’s wry smile after he hit three straight 3-pointers in a two-minute span evoked memories of Michael Jordan shrugging his shoulders during his 35-point half against Portland in the 1992 finals. Even Jesus Shuttlesworth— you know, the sharpshooting kid Allen played in “He Got Game”—would have been proud.
The AP reports:
While Allen scored 27 of his 32 points in the first half with a record-setting 3-point shooting display, Rondo completed his fifth playoff triple-double down the stretch. Taking charge after Allen cooled down, the point guard racked up 19 points—including the quick-reflex basket that put Boston ahead for good—along with 12 rebounds and 10 assists…
Kobe Bryant scored 21 points while battling more foul trouble for the Lakers, who couldn’t catch up to Boston’s dynamic guards in Los Angeles’ first home playoff loss since last season’s Western Conference finals. Pau Gasol had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, and Andrew Bynum added 21 points and six rebounds.
The AP reports:
Andrew Bynum also had five fouls in between tying his career playoff high with 21 points and swatting seven blocked shots. Artest fouled out with 47 seconds remaining in the game.
Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 25 points, eight rebounds and six of their finals-record 14 blocked shots.
The AP reports:
Rondo made the go-ahead basket with 3:21 remaining, reacting quickly to a loose ball after Kendrick Perkins’ shot was blocked and putting it in to make it 91-90. He blocked Derek Fisher’s shot shortly after, then knocked down a huge jumper that extended the lead to 95-90 with 1:50 to play.
Allen powered the Celtics with seven 3-pointers and 27 points in the first half, but it appeared that would be wasted when he cooled off in the second half. Boston was getting nothing from its other big stars, as Pierce shot only 2 of 11 for 10 points and Garnett battled foul trouble and scored only six.
The AP reports:
Rondo hadn’t been as sharp recently as he was in the second-round stunner, battling a sore lower back after some hard falls in the Orlando series. But he played 42 minutes Sunday and appeared in good shape.
Suddenly, so do the Celtics.
“Anything I can do to help the team win is big,” Rondo said. “I take pride in my game and how I play the game.”
The Orange County Register reports:
The Lakers’ defense was so stout that it set an NBA Finals record with 14 blocks yet could not hold Boston off quite to the end. The Celtics shot 11 of 21 (52.4 percent) from the field to break a 72-72 tie entering the fourth quarter. The catalyst was Rajon Rondo, usually guarded by Kobe Bryant, and Rondo finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists, two steals and one block.
The Lakers’ resolve was shaken when Bryant committed a charging foul for his fifth foul of the game with 11:15 still to play. Bryant’s foul trouble limited him to 34 minutes – five fewer than the sore-kneed Bynum, who again had to pick up slack left from Lamar Odom’s foul trouble – and the Lakers’ rhythm was profoundly affected by tilting too far toward Bryant when he was available…
Ron Artest was 1 for 6 on 3-point shots and 1 for 10 overall from the field, offsetting his fine defense on Boston’s Paul Pierce. But Artest wasn’t as big a bust as Odom, who had said Saturday that “the most important thing” was for him to avoid foul trouble again.
Instead, the game knocked Odom on his heels right after he entered it. His first-half absence contributed to a 14-point deficit – double the Lakers’ largest deficit in a home game this postseason.
The Orange County Register reports:
The Lakers got strafed at the 3-point line but could have overcome it. They were outscored by 10 in the paint (and Rondo had much to do with it) even though they got early fouls on Garnett, Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis . None fouled out, and the Lakers wasted a precious 39-minute game from Andrew Bynum. He will have only one day of rest before Games 4 and 5.
The ball got to Bryant and stuck there far too much, and the Celtics rarely let him roam to the opposite side. He missed 12 of 20, with five turnovers and only three free throw tries.
