Celtics not in a foul mood
TD BANKNORTH GARDEN — It would be easy to blame the refs.
The free throw disparity (29 for the Lakers, 20 for the Celtics) was not manufactured. The void left by Kevin Garnett, who fouled out with 4:22 left in the fourth quarter, was not invisible. But the Celtics had their chances, including a final inbounds play when they were down by only one point with three seconds left in overtime.
“We had a lot of chances to win this game,” said Celtics forward Leon Powe, whose 10 points were a surprising contribution off the bench. “Unfortunately, we came out on the short end.”
The Celtics didn’t miss by much. They were the team with a chance to win the game at the end of both regulation and overtime. But playing without Garnett for the end of the fourth and overtime definitely handicapped the home team.
“That’s tough,” said Celtics guard Eddie House. “When you have your superstar power forward get a foul called on him to go out of the game, stuff like that usually doesn’t happen. But it did. This is a team. We had to figure out a way to rally without him, and I think we were there. We had opportunities. We just didn’t get it done.”
Were the fouls a factor?
“That’s something we can’t control,” said House. “We only control what we do on the court. We’re going to try to play hard. If you feel like you’re not getting the breaks, you have to try to make your breaks.”
Despite their exuberant celebration on the court, the Lakers didn’t seem thrilled with their performance after the game, either. Coach Phil Jackson said that “neither of our teams played up to our capabilities”, and scoffed at the notion that Lamar Odom was somehow a hero for knocking down a couple of free throws.
Said Kobe Bryant: “It’s more of a statement game for ourselves, knowing that we didn’t play well for three quarters and still managed to find a way to win.”
It was rare to find a player on either team who put admitted to putting more importance on this game than any other (though the chippy play during the game certainly said otherwise), but Powe did admit to wanting a little “payback”.
“We really felt like we didn’t play our best [on Christmas Day],” said Powe. “We wanted to win…But we have to bounce back. Last time we played the Lakers we went on a little slide. We can’t let this effect us. We have to let this one go.”
The Lakers have now ended 19-game and 12-game winning streaks for Boston, and the Celtics won’t get a chance to redeem themselves against the Los Angeles this season until the Finals, which means they may not get to do it at all.
You would think that would get the Celtics in a foul mood, but Garnett would tell you otherwise.
“Nah,” said Garnett. “We’re the champs, man.”
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