Celtics defeat Lakers, 96-89, to even series

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics put the NBA Finals back on serve with a 96-89 victory over the Lakers tonight, evening the best-of-seven series at 2-2.

It now makes the Finals a best-of-three series with two of those games in Los Angeles. Game 5 is Sunday in Boston.

The difference-makers for the Celtics weren’t there at the beginning and weren’t there at the very end, but what they did in between -- or at least in the fourth quarter -- was remarkable.

Reserves Glen Davis and Nate Robinson took over the game. In fact, twice in the fourth quarter Celtics Coach Doc Rivers pulled the starters back to the bench from the scorer’s table figuring why ruin a good thing.

Davis, in for Kevin Garnett, seemed to dominate with short drives to the basket that the Lakers just couldn’t seem to stop. His girth (295 pounds) proved more effective than the Lakers’ height. He finished with 18 points, nine in the the fourth quarter.

“It was just their energy,” Rivers said. “Glen was fantastic. It was their whole energy. . . . They kept the game simple for the most part.”

Asked to speak about the Celtics’ bench play, Lakers Coach Phil Jackson expressed his frustration.

“Naw, I don’t want to talk about that.”

Meanwhile, Davis was more than willing to comment.

“I felt like a beast,” the reserve forward said. “I felt like I couldn’t be denied.”

And the starters didn’t mind.

“They were fine” not going back into the game, Rivers said. “They were cheering. This is a good team. This is why we are here. They were cheering, ‘Don’t take them out.’ ”

Robinson, in for a struggling Rajon Rondo, seemed to energize the offense and finished with 12 points, six in the final quarter. His energy was so great that he got hit with a technical when he taunted Lamar Odom. The Lakers missed the free throw.

“Only thing we didn’t like is the no fourth-quarter technical rule,” Rivers said. “And we blew that out of the water.”

Another factor for the Celtics was their dominance on the boards. The Celtics’ edge was 41-34, including a 16-8 advantage in offensive rebounds.

“We outshot them,” Jackson said. “The difference in the game is they had more chances then we did.”

The game was pretty even through the three periods and the Lakers took a 62-60 lead into the final 12 minutes. But that’s when Davis and Robinson made themselves known.

Kobe Bryant had a strong game despite scoring only 12 points in the first half. As the game went on he tried to seize the offensive flow but fell short. He finished with 33 points on 10-of-22 shooting, including six of 11 from three-point range.

“He was tired,” Jackson said of Bryant. “Physically he had to work too hard. The matchups dictated those terms. We’ll have to make changes.”

Pau Gasol scored 21 points for the Lakers but had only six rebounds. Many of his points came on jumpers from outside the paint.

Derek Fisher, whose 11 points in the fourth quarter of Game 3 made him the star, once again was invisible early tonight, not even scoring in the first half. He finished with only six points partly because of the four fouls he picked up. He only played 30 minutes.

One thing to watch for the Lakers as they head into Game 5 is the health of Andrew Bynum, who has been playing with a knee that needs surgery. He only played 12 minutes tonight, scoring two points with three rebounds.

Bynum stayed in the locker room at halftime but was ineffective when he came back.

“He tried for a couple minutes but it wasn’t there,” Jackson said, hoping the extra day off between games will help things.

So, has the momentum swung back to the Celtics? Has their confidence returned?

“We’re going to have one of these games where Kobe is going to go off and have a big game -- and it could be in the next couple games -- and we have to figure out a way to win that game,” Rivers said.

They figured it out pretty well on Thursday.

Lisa Dillman reported from Boston. John Cherwa reported from Los Angeles.