Kobe Bryant carries the day, Lakers take game 3
NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.
Kobe Bryant walked off with a victory in game 3 of the NBA Finals
Image details: NBA Finals Game 3: Boston Celtics v Los Angeles Lakers served by picapp.com
Kobe was cool and calm and had an excellent game.
Los Angeles Lakers 87, Boston Celtics 81
Bryant scored 36 points with an MVP-worthy performance; Sasha Vujacic added 20 points and the Lakers, teetering on the brink of falling into an impossible hole in the NBA finals, beat the Boston Celtics 87-81 in Game 3 on Tuesday night.
L.A.’s brightest sports star, Bryant was California cool.
This took the pressure off his teammates and they also played excellent ball.
Vujacic, the self-proclaimed “Machine,” made three 3-pointers, including a crucial one from the left corner with 1:53 left that gave the Lakers an 81-76 lead. Pau Gasol finally flexed his muscles with two inside baskets in the fourth quarter and Derek Fisher, who took an $8 million pay cut to come back and play for the Lakers, made two free throws with 1:33 remaining as the Lakers held on.
Meanwhile the Boston 3 party was going solo with only Ray Allen showing up.
But it took everything they had to keep that streak alive as the Celtics, two wins from their 17th NBA title but only 2-8 on the road in this postseason, made the Lakers play a more physical, Eastern Conference-style game and nearly walked away with a win.
Ray Allen scored 25 points—15 on 3-pointers—for the Celtics, but only one-third of Boston’s Big Three showed up.
Kevin Garnett scored 13 points on just 6-of-21 shooting and Paul Pierce, playing a short drive from his childhood home, had only six points, missed 12 shots and was in foul trouble all night.
Game 4 is Thursday night.
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POSTED IN: Boston Celtics, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA Basketball, Pau Gasol, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen
2 opinions for Kobe Bryant carries the day, Lakers take game 3
Toni
Jun 12, 2008 at 9:35 am
Game three, at least as seen from Italy, told a couple of things about the Lakers’ roster. For the sake of honesty, I am a Lakers fan.
i) Radmanovic and Walton are no players for this level of basketball, sorry to say: they look more like bystanders; Turiaf? I am still giving him a chance, one last though; Ronny you’d better take it in Game 4…;
ii) Lamar Odom has been completely out of the game, sofar; regularly and definitely outplayed by any Celtic (including Leon Powe, ’nuff said); LAL needs him;
iii) Vujacic deserves more minutes, above all because he is the only one (with #24) who seems to have fully understood what’s happening: it’s the NBA Finals dudes!
iv) Pau Gasol, I would rename him Pause Gasol (all rights reserved), truly hope he presses that damn “play” button very soon;
C’mon Lakers!
james
Jun 12, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Pause Gasol, how cool.
Looks like Odom is doing it in game 4.
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