(Sports Network) - The Boston Celtics used their defense to generate one of the greatest comebacks in playoff history and now stand one win from their first championship since 1986. Paul Pierce scored 20 points as the Celtics rallied from a 24-point first-half deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 97-91, in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Boston's defense locked down on Kobe Bryant and outscored the Lakers, 57-33 in the second half.

"It's just great mental toughness," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "We've been preaching leaning in. When things get bad, we leaned into each other all year and tonight we did it."

The Celtics, trying for their record 17th championship, lead the best-of-seven series, 3-1, by virtue of just their third road victory in this year's playoffs.

Kevin Garnett added 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Ray Allen made a huge contribution with 19 points and nine rebounds. James Posey scored 18, which included a big three-pointer in the final two minutes.

Bryant was limited to 17 points and 10 assists on 6-of-19 shooting for the Lakers, who were ahead by 20 halfway through the third before collapsing and watching their 15-game home winning streak come to a crashing halt. The Lakers had been 9-0 at the Staples Center in the playoffs, but suffered their first home defeat since March 28 to Memphis.

"They're very depressed about that," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said of the blown lead. "With the momentum they carried going into halftime and having a 20-point lead in the third quarter...it's very difficult right now."

Game 5 is Sunday night, again at the Staples Center, and the Lakers are going to have to overcome incredible odds to win the series. The previous 28 teams that have gone up 3-1 have never lost an NBA Finals series.

"We let a huge opportunity slip away," Bryant said. "Upset, hurt, disappointed, it's a huge loss."

The Celtics didn't lead until late in the fourth quarter and did it thanks to the quickness of their spread offense and the bench, outscoring the LA reserves, 35-15.

"We fed off our energy from our bench," Pierce said. "We fed off our defense. We made the extra passes and were able to knock down shots. We were the aggressor and we stayed the aggressor."

Eddie House, one of those reserve players, hit the go-ahead jumper from the right side of the lane to finally put Boston on top, 84-83, with 4:07 remaining.

Allen then came up with a steal, an offensive rebound following a Pierce missed three-ball, and surged in for a layup.

Following a pair of missed shots by the Lakers, Garnett got a beneficial bounce in the lane for a basket and an 88-83 advantage with 2:10 remaining.

The Lakers got within 89-87 following a Bryant driving layup with 1 1/2 minutes left, but Posey responded with a three-pointer from the left corner.

LA had the deficit back to three two more times, the last at 94-91 following a Pau Gasol jam with 40.1 seconds to go.

However, Allen then made the defining bucket of the game, driving past Sasha Vujacic and using his left hand to beat the shot clock for a layup with 16.4 seconds left.

"I saw the shot clock running down and Kevin ran out to set a screen," Allen said. "I told him to back off, let me take him one-on-one. With five, six seconds left at least I was going to get a good shot up. I made my move, I looked up and he was behind me. I had the whole basket free and clear."

Vujacic and Gasol missed shots at the other end, and after House drained one free throw in the waning seconds the Celtics celebrated briefly on the court, but focused afterwards on the task at hand.

"I don't want to get overjoyed," Pierce said. "I want to go out there and try to win Game 5 on Father's Day and then I'll be able to breathe. Right now I'm waiting to exhale."

Lamar Odom had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who also got 17 points and 10 boards from Gasol. Derek Fisher scored 13 and Vladimir Radmanovic 10 in defeat.

The Lakers were ahead 70-50 midway through the third quarter before Pierce's driving layup with 5:50 remaining started a 23-3 run.

During that time, Pierce, who asked Rivers at the half to guard Bryant, played fierce defense on the MVP, holding him without a point until the Celtics tied the game early in the fourth.

"I felt like I could be a little more physical on him," Pierce said. "I didn't think he'd be able to post me as easy as he wanted to. I'm a little bit taller than Ray so I could get a hand up and challenge him a little bit more."

Included in the big run was an acrobatic layup from Pierce, as he drove from the left, ducked under the basket before spinning the ball off the glass on the other side, and then hitting the foul shot to complete the three-point play.

A jam by P.J. Brown, off a feed from Pierce, had the Celtics within 73-71 going into the fourth, and Leon Powe's jumper with 10:13 left tied it.

Odom scored 13 on 6-of-6 shooting in the first quarter, as the Lakers surged to a 35-14 lead. The 21-point difference was the largest after an opening quarter in an NBA Finals contest. Odom's 20-foot jumper capped a 15-1 run for a 26-7 margin.

While the Lakers hit 11-of-17 shots in the first, the Celtics struggled and finished 6-of-22 from the field in the period.

Vujacic's three-pointer moved the lead to 45-21 nearly halfway through the second, but the Celtics rallied for the next 12, culminated by a Pierce jumper. However, Fisher countered with a three-ball and eventually the Lakers moved ahead by 18 on Jordan Farmar's running three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

Game Notes

Celtics center Kendrick Perkins departed the contest in the third quarter with a strained left shoulder. He went up to try to block a driving shot in the lane by Odom with 9:35 left in the third, but came down holding his shoulder and immediately bent over as he headed to the bench. Perkins, who was called for a foul, walked to the locker room holding his shoulder in obvious pain...It was the largest comeback in NBA playoff history when trailing after the first quarter...The Celtics are 12-1 at home, but just 3-8 on the road in the playoffs...Pierce also had seven assists.

















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