NBA Finals: Game 4

SI Staff | Jun 13, 2008

NBA Finals: Game 4 /

NBA Finals: Game 4

Ray Allen and Paul Pierce celebrate the Celtics' historic comeback victory in Game 4. Boston overcame a 24-point deficit to beat the Lakers 97-91 and move within one win of its first NBA championship since 1986.

Paul Pierce rebounded from a poor Game 3 to score 20 points and hand out seven assists. He also played strong defense on Kobe Bryant down the stretch.

new.14600-mid.jpg — John W. McDonough/SI

Lamar Odom had a dream start, scoring 13 points (on 6-for-6 shooting) in the first quarter, but he was a non-factor during the Lakers' second-half collapse.

Kobe Bryant scored 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, but he shot only 6-for-19 from the field against Kevin Garnett and the Celtics' defense.

Ray Allen played the entire game and finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Allen essentially sealed the Celtics' victory with a layup with 16.4 seconds left.

Kevin Garnett scored six of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, when the Celtics outscored the Lakers 26-18.

Pau Gasol put up decent numbers (17 points, eight rebounds), but he failed to rotate defensively on Ray Allen's game-clinching layup.

Kobe Bryant's game-high 10 assists weren't enough for the Lakers, who scored fewer points in the second half (33) than they did in the first quarter (35).

Limited by an ankle injury, Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo played only 17 minutes. But his replacement, Eddie House, gave Boston 11 big points.

Leon Powe was part of a Celtics bench that came up big with a combined 35 points and 14 rebounds.

Published Jun 13, 2008

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