Derek Fisher scored 11 of his 16 Game 3 points in the fourth quarter.
The Boston Celtics very well could get back to even with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals Thursday night at home in Game 4. They are three-point favorites with the ‘over/under’ at 191.
But it’s been a mistake to discount the Lakers on the road. Los Angeles won 23 away contests during the regular season and closed out each of its playoff series with road victories defeating Oklahoma City, Utah and Phoenix.
It was the same story last year when the Lakers ended the Western Conference Finals with a victory at Denver and then eliminated the Magic in the championship series with two straight road wins at Orlando. Los Angeles captured those two games on the Magic's floor by a combined 21 points.
Guaranteed NBA Picks
The Lakers held off the Celtics in Boston to win Game 3 on Tuesday, 91-84, as 2 ½-point underdogs. The combined 175 points went ‘under’ the 191 ½-point total.
Kobe Bryant had 29 points and Derek Fisher contributed a huge 16 points, but the big story was Ray Allen missing all 13 of his shots from the floor. Paul Pierce, plagued by foul trouble, also had a subpar game for Boston scoring 15 points on five-for-12 shooting from the field.
The Celtics’ Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Pierce and Allen have yet to all produce in the same game. Garnett scored 25 points in Game 3, only his second 20-point game of the playoffs and just his third since March 24.
But Garnett was completely out-played by Pau Gasol in the first two games.
Allen had a monster Game 2 with 32 points and a Finals-record eight three-pointers, but he’s a combined 3-for-21 shooting from the floor in the first and third games of the series.
Pierce has as many fouls – 13 – in this championship series as field goals. He’s made just 13-of-36 shots from the field, while battling officials and Ron Artest.
The Lakers deserve to own a 2-1 series edge based on statistics. Los Angeles has out-rebounded Boston, 124-110, and blocked 28 shots to the Celtics’ 10. The Lakers are shooting 44.8 percent from the floor (100-for-223), compared to the Celtics’ 43.3 percent (97-of-224).
During the regular season, Boston shot 48.3 percent from the field. The Celtics haven’t been able to get too many good looks at the basket against the Lakers’ tall, imposing front line of Gasol, center Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom.
Betting
Calculator
The foul situation has favored the Lakers, too. Los Angeles has committed nine fewer fouls, while attempting 10 more free throws.
Bynum, though, is far from 100 percent. He tweaked his knee during the Game 3 victory, the same knee that has a slight tear of the meniscus. He played just four minutes during the fourth quarter in Game 3.
Boston won all three of its home contests when it defeated the Lakers in the Finals two years ago. Since then, however, Los Angeles has not lost in Boston winning each of its last two regular-season meetings at TD Garden.
Pierce remains confident in Boston’s ability to win the series.
“I feel great,” he was quoted as saying. “I know we still haven’t played our best basketball and we’re capable of winning these games. Even the game we won, we didn’t feel like we played well. Our best basketball is going to come and I know it’s going to come before it’s too late.”
The road team is 4-1-1 ATS in the past six meetings. The Celtics have covered in seven of their last 10 home contests.
The ‘under’ has cashed in seven of the last 10 times when Boston has played on one day rest. The ‘under’ also is 14-6-1 in the Lakers’ last 21 games as an underdog.
Game 4 tips on ABC beginning at 6 p.m. PT. Game 5 is set for Sunday at 5 p.m.