Sports

The Boston Celtics seem to be living up to the legacy of the NBA-record of the 16 championship teams that have gone before them. They won against their rivals – the L.A. Lakers in a 98-88 win. The home team used a destructive defense to frustrate Kobe Bryant.

The contest had its stunning debuts – Kevin Garnett, the Celtics forward making his first final appearance, had 23 points and 13 rebounds – just as it had its dramas. Paul Pierce, the six-time Boston all-star, sprained his right knee in a scary-looking third-quarter collision with teammate Kendrick Perkins. He was carried off the floor by teammates and placed into a wheelchair. With the Celtics down 62-58, and with the team’s best scorer incapacitated, the outlook was grim.

“A guy grabs his knee,” said Boston Doc Rivers, “there are no good thoughts.” But when Pierce skipped out of the tunnel a few minutes later with a knee brace, the crowd reignited. And by the quarter’s end, after Pierce hit a pair of three-pointers during a Celtics charge en route to a 22-point performance, the home team led 77-73.

“I couldn’t move it at first, I didn’t want to sit down and let it get stiff,” said Pierce, who was diagnosed with a strained meniscus. “So I thought I’d go out there and see how it feels.” The atmosphere was electric, and, as you’d expect in a series featuring the two franchises that have claimed a combined 30 of the previous 61 league titles, legends were in attendance. Bill Russell, the Celtics great, spent a light-hearted pre-game moment blindsiding Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Lakers great, with an affectionate bearhug.

On the floor, the action was similarly full contact. Bryant, who finished with 24 points and four turnovers, missed five of his six field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter, and both teams shot 42 per cent from the field. And while Bryant’s struggles didn’t appear to be hurting the Lakers in the early going – he shot just 3 for 10 for the first half and the Lakers found themselves leading at the break, 51-46 – that changed as the game went on.

Bryant, who forced the issue in the latter stages, airballed a fallaway 18-footer in an attempt to defy an approaching double team early in the fourth quarter. He turned it over four times in all. The Celtics, meanwhile, commanded the backboards, outrebounding the Lakers 46-33 and scoring 12 second-chance points to L.A.’s four. They outscored the Lakers 52-37 in the second half, when their defence was at its best.
“That was a tale of two halves,” said Phil Jackson, the Lakers coach. “We’ve got to do a better job on the boards.”

The winner of the series opener has gone on to win 72 per cent of NBA finals. “We didn’t play any (defence) in the first half,” said Rivers. “We didn’t get back in the first half. In the second half we did our jobs.”