Crowd Support Helps the Lakers Win in Game 3 Print E-mail
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Written by Darren Odellot   
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Crowd Support Helps the Lakers Win in Game 3


It seemed like the only thing that has been keeping the Los Angeles Lakers from winning in the NBA Finals is the crowd support. In Game 3, they finally got all the cheering they needed as they won against the Boston Celtics 87-81. It was an important victory for the Lakers as they managed to get themselves out of a slump for a 2-1 series, although it is still in favor of the Celtics. The crowd was so into it that it seemed like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were still playing in the building. Even though the two legends are away from the game, the fans were still entertained by the best players in the league today.

Leading the charge for the Lakers squad is their superstar Kobe Bryant. He was simply unstoppable during this contest as he scored 36 points, 19 in the first half. He was a terrific 12 out of 20 from the field. KB24 also added 7 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals to his stat line. He was the real difference maker for the contest since he had little offensive help from his teammates on this game. The only shining star for the Los Angeles team is Sasha Vujacic who scored 20 points off the bench. He dropped three 3-pointers, including a crucial one in the final minutes.

Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics were stumped on their lack of shooting skills. As a team, they only had a 34% shooting percentage. The Big Three combination of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were terrible as they combined for only 44 points. Allen led the way for the Celtics as he scored 25 points. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. The inside presence of Garnett was not clicking. The Big Ticket only had 13 points although he managed to grab 12 rebounds. Paul Pierce was almost non-existent in the offensive flow as he scored only 6 points for the entire game.

The game was controlled by the Lakers during the first half, led by Kobe’s 19. However, the tide turned quickly as Boston made its charge during the third quarter. Not losing hope, the Lakers looked to Bryant – the league’s Most Valuable Player – to give them a spark of hope. He then delivered by making plays that allowed Vujacic to score from the outside. It was too much for the Celtics as they lost for the first time in this year’s NBA Finals. Trying to muster a comeback in the end game, the Celtics made good plays but were unable to score the needed baskets.

The Lakers will continue to feed off their crowd’s energy as they host Game 4 of this best-of-seven series. They know that they still have a chance to win the championship as long as they retain their composure. The Lakers’ head coach Phil Jackson has seen so many tight battles that he is no longer fazed in these kinds of situations. The Lakers can still win it but Kobe knows he will need help from his teammates, especially from their big time acquisition Pau Gasol.



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