Paul Pierce had his shot rim out and Ray Allen was blocked by Pau Gasol at the buzzer as the Lakers held on for an 88-87 overtime win over the Celtics Thursday night at TD Garden. Allen scored 22 to lead four Celtics in double figures. Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 12 rebounds. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 27 points while Pau Gasol had 25. Andrew Bynum added 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. The Lakers outrebounded the Celtics 55-45.
Bryant and Steve Blake hit shots to open overtime. But the Celtics responded with the next five points, including a Pierce trey with 1:51 left to give the Celtics an 87-86 lead. But Bynum was again a monster on the glass with an offensive rebound and field goal.
Allen's 3-pointer with 1:08 left in the fourth quarter gave Boston an 82-80 lead before Pau Gasol put back a Kobe Bryant miss with 9.8 seconds left to tie the game, 82-82. Pierce had a wide open Allen on the left wing for a 3-point shot but couldn't get the ball to him, settling for Pietrus and a desperation trey that went long, forcing overtime.
The Celtics lost for just the second time in 11 games and fell to 14-11 on the season whilie the Lakers improved to 15-11.
As has been the case during the team's rise in the standings, the Celtics defense dominated in the first half, holding the Lakers to 18-of-44 shooting (40.9 percent). Gasol and Bryant led the Lakers with a combined 21 points. Ray Allen had 12 at the half as the Celtics grabbed a 47-45 lead.
The Celtics went cold at the end of the third quarter as the Lakers ran off eight straight points to take their first lead of the game. Bryant had 12 points in the quarter. Pierce and Garnett were a combined 6-for-20 through three quarters before finally coming alive in the fourth.
Mickael Pietrus hit a 3-pointer with 4:25 left to give the Celtics their first lead of the fourth quarter but Bryant came right back with a fadeaway to tie it, 77-77. Rondo hit a runner in the lane with 3:01 left to put Boston up 79-77.
The Celtics hit the road on Friday for a game in Toronto before returning home Sunday for a home game against the Bulls.
For more, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics and the Green Street blog.
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