It might have been the fact that I was watching it late at night on DVR by myself (since I went to a concert last night) and already knew the final outcome but Game 3 of the 2010 NBA Finals was even stranger than Game 1.
Kevin Garnett played out of his mind with 25 points and six rebounds but it wasn't enough as the Lakers won 91-84 behind Kobe Bryant's 29 points (10-for-29 shooting) and seven rebounds while Derek Fisher was the real closer with 16 points.
Los Angeles took back the homecourt advantage and leads 2-1 with Game 4 tomorrow night at the TD Garden.
Boston came out on fire and led 12-5 as the home crowd was going crazy but it was fool's gold as the Lakers led by 17 in the second quarter and controlled the rest of the game, even though the C's whittled it down to one point or two points numerous times in the fourth quarter.
After setting an NBA Finals record with eight 3-pointers in Game 2, Ray Allen looked completely lost, shooting 0-for-13 overall and finishing with two points on two free throws.
Joining him on the milk carton were Paul Pierce (15 points) and Rajon Rondo (11 points, 8 assists), who had decent numbers but didn't leave their imprint on the game by any means.
Other than KG's resurgence, Glen Davis (12 points) and Kendrick Perkins (11 rebounds) were the only other Celtics that stepped up in the pivotal game.
LA's twin towers of llama Pau Gasol (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Tracy Morgan's half-brother Andrew Bynum (9 points, 10 rebounds) weren't nearly as effective as they had been in their dominant Game 2 performance.
The Lakers were up 26-17 after the first quarter and 52-40 at halftime. Boston recovered with a 21-15 third but thanks to Fisher's clutch plays, including an And-1 where he got hammered by three Celtics, LA won the fourth 24-23.
Los Angeles made five more free throws (21-16) and once again they owned the glass (43-35) but the Celtics had seven more assists (20-13).
Game 4 is a must-win and the most important game of Boston's season. These teams are so even that it seems like it'll go seven games either way but the Celts can't go down 3-1 and hope to win three straight including two at the Staples Center.
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