The heated rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers continues with Kobe Bryant and company traveling to Beantown on Thursday and putting on a show in front of the Boston faithful at the TD Garden. This game was neck-and-neck throughout the majority of the contest with both the Celtics and the Lakers having the lead at different times, but at the end of regulation the score was all tied up at 82 apiece.
As usual, the Lakers won the battle on the glass as they out rebounded the Celtics (55-45) with Pau Gasol (14) and Andrew Bynum (17) combining for 31 boards. Gasol really stole the show in this one as the All-Star snub and the recent trade rumors involving Rajon Rondo may have motivated the Spaniard and led to his 25 points, 14 rebounds and game-saving block on Ray Allen in overtime.
Despite only 11 total points being scored in overtime between these two rivals, the Lakers were able to edge out the Celtics with six points to their five. Kobe Bryant had another solid performance with 27 points and some big shots throughout the game. Andrew Bynum also continued to play well on this road trip with 16 points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
The bench production for the Los Angeles Lakers was weak as usual on Thursday night with Matt Barnes leading the way with 11 points. Troy Murphy shot poorly against the Celtics going just 1-for-5 for two points, but made up for it with nine rebounds. Backup point guard Steve Blake finally got back on the floor in Boston and despite being rusty (2-for-7) he outplayed starter Derek Fisher (0-for-7) who failed to score or make any kind of impact.
Sharp shooter Ray Allen was the leading scorer for the Celtics against the Lakers with 22 points. All four of the Celtics’ stars played fairly well in this one with Paul Pierce (18 points, 9 assists, 7 rebounds), Kevin Garnett (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Rajon Rondo (14 points, 7 assists) stepping it up to try and get the win over their arch rivals, but fell just short with time expiring, 88-87.
This win over the Celtics improves the Lakers record to 15-11 and 4-9 on the road. There is still a very good chance that the Lakers make a trade or free agent signing before or immediately after this six-game road trip, but if they continue to play like they did against Boston the inevitable could be postponed until the NBA trade deadline on March 15.
Next Lakers Game: Los Angeles Lakers @ New York Knicks Fri. Feb. 10, 2012 5 p.m. PST
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