Payback Time for Lakers

Last night the Los Angeles Lakers got a little payback against league rivals the Boston Celtics, enjoying a 110-109 overtime victory at TD Bandknorth Garden. With last year’s 39-point season-ending loss (the second-largest blowout in NBA Finals history) against the Celtics fresh in their minds, the Lakers played a physical game admist a chorus of booing Celtics fans, ultimately triumphing in the last few excruciating seconds. The win moved the Lakers 5-0 on their six-game trip and put an end to the Celtics’ 12-game winning streak.

Referring to the Lakers’ Game 6 loss last June, Kobe Bryant told the L.A. Times, “We came in this building and got beaten pretty badly,” continuing to say, “I think we kind of took the challenge upon ourselves coming in here and seeing how much we’ve grown since then.” Bryant made only 10 of 29 shots, scoring 26 points with 10 rebounds and five assists while Pau Gasol made 10 of 14 shots, coming away with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Lamar Odom scored 20 points and helped lead the Lakers to victory by making two free throws with 16 second left in overtime, later telling the Times, “We play a finesse game — offensively, it’s based on ball movement and not just pounding and beating. I think people take that for granted sometimes. Tonight I think the momentum switched a little bit. We couldn’t back down any more.” To see the full article to go the LATimes.com.

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