Kobe Bryant, Lakers look to even series with Boston

This should be David Stern's and the NBA's shining moment. Instead, a rather sloppy Game 3 coupled with former referee Tim Donaghy's recent comments has clogged talk shows and print with a lot of negative comments about the league. Can Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers add some positive buzz with a Game 4 win over Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics to knot the Finals?

Tuesday was not a good day for NBA basketball.

Fans at the Staples Center in Los Angeles were buzzing about the Tim Donaghy scandal before Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Boston Celtics. Then they were treated to a rather shoddy performance from both clubs.

Paul Pierce shot 2-for-14, Kevin Garnett wasn’t much better at 6-for-21, and everyone in the Los Angeles starting rotation other than Kobe Bryant went 7-for-28 combined. L.A. came out on top 87-81, skimming 27½ points under the posted total of 195½.

Only some of that awful shooting can be credited to defense. However, that portion of the credit should go to Lakers coach Phil Jackson and his staff. They made what could prove to be the defensive switch of the series, putting Bryant on Boston point guard Rajon Rondo and choking some of the life out of the Celtic attack. Rondo is an excellent passer, rebounder and defender, but his shooting remains his weakness. His assist total dropped from 16 in Game 2 to just four playing against the league MVP.

Rondo also suffered the fourth Boston injury of the series. He played 22 minutes in Game 3 after spraining his ankle and developing a bone bruise. In relief, Eddie House saw 20 minutes and hit a pair of threes, while Sam Cassell (wrist) played only seven minutes. Pierce (knee) and Garnett had eight assists between them, but couldn’t get the shots they were looking for thanks in part to Bryant’s work on Rondo. Kendrick Perkins (ankle), who doesn’t need the ball, was a very effective plus-6 on Tuesday – the only Celtics starter to finish in positive territory.

This basketball war of attrition bodes well for Los Angeles in Game 4. The longer this series goes, the more tired Boston should become relative to the younger Lakers; the C’s played 20 out of the maximum 21 games over the first three playoff series, while the Lakers took care of business in 15 games. Los Angeles also has the luxury of bringing in Trevor Ariza fresh after a long injury layoff; he was 2-for-3 in nine minutes as part of Jackson’s three-headed small forward solution with Vladimir Radmanovic and Luke Walton.

Jackson has taken heat from stats-minded hoops fans for leaving Radmanovic in the starting lineup. But it’s not which five players are on the floor at the start of the game that matters. Radmanovic is there to provide a burst of offense, usually in the first half. He sat out nearly the entire second half as the Lakers went smaller with Sasha Vujacic. That move paid off as Vujacic scored 20 points and played his usual firebrand defense. Boston’s entire bench scored 21 points.

Because the outcome of Tuesday’s matchup at the Staples Center was hanging in the balance down to the last minute, the betting odds have dropped the Lakers to 7½-point faves, down from 9½ points in Game 3. The score probably wouldn’t have been that close if the Lakers hadn’t shot 21-for-34 (61.8 percent) from the charity stripe. Bryant himself was 11-for-18 on a night when he was finally both willing and able to drive the lane. The C’s will make adjustments for Game 4, but they can’t defend free throws.

Boston was a -150 series favorite after winning the first two games at home. Now that the Lakers have avoided the dreaded 0-3 deficit, the series price has moved to even money. That’s a lot of confidence to put in the Western Conference champions. They’re still down 2-1 with two games in Los Angeles and two more (if necessary) in Boston.

Then again, the 2-3-2 format gives L.A. an opportunity to take a series lead back to the East Coast. You can be forgiven for thinking the NBA has every interest in extending the Finals as long as possible.

Game 4 is a 9:00 p.m. Eastern start on ABC.