The Good:

• Kobe Bryant: One big question coming into the game concerned the sort of start Bryant would have.  Would he come out gunning? Would he try to feel out the Celtics early, loosening them up by getting everyone involved?  The answer?  Both.  In the first quarter, everyone was a player as the Lakers went 15 for 23 (65.2%), getting the ball inside to Pau Gasol and watching Jordan Farmar and Derek Fisher get to the rack for layups (among other highlights).  Meanwhile, Kobe was drilling shots from the perimeter. He took five threes in the opening quarter, making four.  Overall, Kobe was five for eight from the floor, and with a free throw ended the quarter with 15 points. The rest of the night, though, was brutal for 24, at least as far as shooting goes.  He missed all four shots he took in the second, made only one of four in the third, and two of five in the fourth. Boston, as they've done all series, was determined to ensure that Kobe wasn't going to be the player that beat them offensively. 

Fine. Kobe continued to play a very controlled game, generally avoiding forced shots and continuing to help the Lakers take advantage of those places in which they were finding success - getting the ball inside to Gasol or Odom. Kobe drove and kicked, he drove and dished, he moved the ball, he kept the offense moving and found other ways to contribute, including some huge defensive plays down the stretch. The biggest of his five steals was the last - on Pierce with 41 seconds left, reaching around and recovering to poke the ball away after being wiped out by a KG screen high above the arc.

When it was over, I was surprised to look up and see Kobe with only four assists.  The number was likely suppressed because some of his better feeds led to free throws for teammates, rather than straight buckets. It certainly wasn't indicative of how well he moved the ball. Overall, it was a very solid total floor game for Bryant, despite having a tough night shooting. I wonder whether Boston was daring him to try and "take over" the game. Either way, Kobe didn't oblige. 

• Pau Gasol: 19 points on six for 10 from the floor, plus seven for 10 from the line; 13 boards, including three on the offensive end. Six dimes working the ball from the high post, plus two blocks. Defensively, he helped keep Garnett, who finished with only 13 points, in check.  Gasol was aggressive from the start, attacking Garnett and refusing to be intimidated, starting his night with a great running hook in the lane, and proceeding on from there. Important for the Lakers, his intensity and production was sustained nicely throughout the game.  Nine points in the first, eight in the third, one bucket, but four boards and a dime in the fourth.  He was able to help get KG and PJ Brown into foul trouble, and with Kendrick Perkins out because of his shoulder injury, the Celtics were left shorthanded down low. Gasol was effective on the screen, both on the pass and moving in space. 
  
  Overall, he was a far more physical and consistent presence over the course of 48 minutes.  The Lakers saw they had an advantage inside and exploited it. While I think Pau has been better (not necessarily great, but better) than a lot have given him credit for during the series, tonight he was the force L.A. needs him to be for a full 48.  A pair of repeat performances in Boston would be a big boost to the Lakers' comeback chances.
• Lamar Odom: While I think Pau's play has been dinged a little too much, there's no question LO has been a disappointment, saddled with foul trouble for most of the series and other than a great first half in Game 4, not putting a stamp on much of anything.  Not a good stamp, at least.  Tonight, though, Odom was outstanding: 20 points on eight for 10 from the floor, 11 boards, two dimes, four blocks. And unlike Thursday night, when his entire box score was crammed into the first 24 minutes, Odom was a presence throughout.  9/4 in the second half, with three of the four blocks.  He hit a pair of crucial free throws down the stretch - something his teammates struggled to do - and also had a monster triple early in the fourth to help the Lakers push their lead out to 12. It was one of, I believe, two outside shots he took all night. Maybe there was a third stuck in there, but overall, LO's game was at the rim, and he was able to finish many of the shots that had bounced out for him earlier in the series. It was the first of the five games that he was able to influence from start to finish. 
• Jordan Farmar: The only source of bench production, JF was solid in his 22:18 of burn, earning crunch time minutes in place of Sasha Vujacic. While Farmar was only one for four from downtown, including an airball, he made plenty of noise at the basket, aggressively moving the ball to the rack whenever Boston presented an opportunity, recognizing mismatches on the perimeter when they were there (such as any time he was marked by Eddie House).  The Lakers needed a spark from outside the stars, and Farmar provided it.
• Derek Fisher: He didn't shoot particularly well (3-10), but made it to the basket on dribble penetration, shooting 11 FTs in the second half. Toss in a pair of steals and only two TOs in 35 minutes, and he was able to make a lot of positive contributions.  Yeah, he missed a couple late freebies that could have iced the game a minute or so earlier, but overall, I thought he was solid.
• The third quarter: L.A. finally won one, building a three-point halftime lead to nine. Granted, they'd give it all away in the fourth, but hey, baby steps. 

The Bad:

• Small forwards not named Bryant: Granted, Paul Pierce is a tough assignment for anyone, but Vladdy struggled mightily with him whenever he was given the task.  Offensively, he managed to put in seven points and hit a big three at the start of the third, generated by a steal he created.  On the other hand, he had already turned the ball over twice in the quarter.  Then there was the completely unnecessary T he picked up early in the second. There are nights when Vlad is very good, nights when he's very bad, and nights when he's so erratic it's almost impossible to leave him on the floor. Reading the comments during the live blog, someone wrote that (I believe) one of the ABC crew mentioned Radmanovic was good enough to keep both teams in the game. That sounds about right. It's like having one guy in the room who knows how to defuse a bomb, except he's drunk. You might get the result you want ... but you might blow up the room too. 
  
  Beyond him, Luke Walton struggled through most of his 10-plus minutes on the floor. While he did manage to make a couple plays during his second go-round in the third and into the fourth, he also picked up fouls with incredible speed, and helped rush the Lakers into the penalty.  He couldn't stick Pierce (not that anyone should expect him to), nor could Trevor Ariza, who was lit up a couple of times and picked up a personal, despite playing barely over a minute. The three has been a problem for the Lakers throughout the series, and tonight was no different. 
• PJ's second-quarter rotation: He started the quarter with Farmar, Walton, Sasha, LO and a Finals maiden voyage for Chris Mihm. At the 10:29 mark, he sent Ariza in for Walton. All told, the unit gave up six points of the Lakers lead in under three minutes, before Jackson called time out and put Kobe and Ronny Turiaf back in.  Many of you have asked why Jackson doesn't lean on some of those guys deeper on the bench, just to change things up and try a new look. That's basically why. It's so tough for players like Mihm, who haven't been on the floor, to step onto the court at full game speed, in the Finals no less, and perform.  And to compound things by putting guys like Ariza and Mihm on the floor at the same time, two guys who may not have shared the court at any point during the season, only made the situation worse.
  
  I asked Jackson after it was over why he went that direction, and if he's happy with the bench generally: 

  "Well, you know, we knew that we had laid another first quarter on the Celtics, and it was a great opportunity to get some rest for the players, and we know that we have a travel day tomorrow and another game on Tuesday, and obviously you really don't want to play ‑‑ if you can manage minutes well in a situation like this and manage the score, but we just didn't manage the score well. We went out there, they had five possessions, scored five times, got us in a penalty situation ...
  
  ... We got a couple baskets out of that group, but we really couldn't stop Pierce. He got off, started running, got hot and kept going the rest of the game, and that was really putting us in jeopardy and giving them the edge up, and they basically made up all those points in a matter of a quarter again ...
  
  ... You know, I tried some different players off the bench, Chris Mihm tonight, gave him an opportunity to play a little bit. It wasn't his fault at all. Pierce went right by our defenders and put him in jeopardy. But we tried some different faces out there to see what we could do, but we're not going to stay with that. We won't be comfortable with that on Tuesday."
  
  Good to know.  The logic is a little cart-ahead-of-horse. Get the big lead into the fourth, then sit everyone. 

• Sasha Vujacic: Two for 10 from the floor, including 0 for 5 from downtown.  He just never seemed to get in sync with what was going on, forcing a shot whenever there was even the slightest opening.  He was pesky and as always, the effort was there. The results, however, weren't.
• Screen and roll D on Pierce: The dude is really, really good, and once Kobe was in foul trouble, the Lakers really struggled to find anyone who could mark him.  But the Celtics ran the same play over and over again down the stretch, generally because it worked.  Pierce attracting a screen, almost always from Garnett, high outside the arc, then creating off of it.  The Lakers never really had a good answer for it.  Boston extended their D and made the Lakers pay.  Finally, Kobe was able to force the TO late, but even that was on a pretty tough recovery.  Generally speaking, the Lakers had no answer for Pierce. He had 38 points, 19 trips to the line, eight dimes. Fortunately, it was more or less a one-man show tonight for the Celtics.   

Overall, it was a spirited effort from the Lakers, who fought hard and found some traction inside.  But if I'm the Celtics, I'm not panicking yet.  They played all of Game 5 without Perkins, saw KG and Pierce get into foul trouble, got nothing from Rondo, worked through a tough night for Garnett and Allen, and despite all that erased a couple big Lakers leads and pushed a desperate team on their home floor deep into the fourth quarter before losing.  Still, for the Lakers this was a very positive game. They ground it out, scoring points without a strong offensive night from Bryant.  They showed they could slug it out with the Celtics, and while L.A. wasn't perfect, they were pretty clutch on both ends Sunday night. 

Can they win 6 and 7 back east?  It's still a tall order.  But it can't happen without a win in Game 5, which the Lakers got tonight. One down, two to go. 

More to come tomorrow.

BK

AUDIO

• Ronny Turiaf: Download ronny_turiaf_postgame_boston_5.mp3
• Vlad Radmanovic: Download vlad_radmanovic_postgame_boston_5.mp3
• Luke Walton: Download luke_walton_postgame_boston_5.mp3
• Sasha Vujacic: Download sasha_vujacic_postgame_boston_5.mp3
• Derek FIsher: Download derek_fisher_postgame_boston_5.mp3

Also, Doc Rivers made the following statement regarding Ray Allen after the game: "Ray Allen was forced to leave Staples right at the conclusion of tonight's game due to a health issue of one of his children. We ask that you please respect Ray's privacy at this time, and we'll keep you up to date as best we can moving forward."

As of now, I have no further information on specifically what or how serious the issue is.  But obviously, we wish Ray Allen and his family the best.

AK