The best NBA Finals Game 4 showdowns of the David Stern Era

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If you’re looking for an illustration of why Celtics-Lakers is the best rivalry in the NBA – and perhaps the most enduring of any in the four major pro sports – then read the piece below.

Before each game throughout the NBA Finals, we have been encapsulizing the top five Game 1s, Game 2s, etc.

As the Thunder and Heat steel themselves for what should be a pretty intense Game 4 tonight, we offer you our top five Game 4 showdowns in recent NBA history.

All five games include the Lakers, and all but one of the matchups includes the Celtics.

Keep in mind that our historical cut line is 1984, when David Stern first became commissioner and the playoffs first went to a 16-team format that required all teams to play four postseason rounds. So we are not even including some of the classic Celtics-Lakers matchups of the 1960s, when the teams met a staggering six times in the Finals.

All of those showdowns were won by the Celtics. The rivalry has been much more balanced during Stern’s reign, as you will see below.

And if you’d like, you can also catch up on our picks for best Game 1, Game 2 and Game 3.

5. THE CELTICS STORM BACK: In 2008, the Celtics and Lakers met in the Finals for the first time in 21 years. Neither team broke through on the road through the first three games, and that trend looked like it would continue in Game 4 as the Lakers opened a 35-14 lead after one quarter. The lead grew to 24 points with less than five minutes before halftime and was still 70-50 midway through the third period when the Celtics finally awoke. Boston got a huge boost from bench players Eddie House, James Posey and P.J. Brown while LA was getting nothing from reserves Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf. The Celtics closed the quarter with a 21-3 run, and when Leon Powe scored to open the final period, the game was tied. “The air went out of the building,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. The Lakers briefly rebuilt a four-point lead before the Celtics took control for good with an 11-2 burst triggered by Posey’s 3-pointer as a swarmed Kobe Bryant went without a shot for three minutes. Posey stuck in the dagger with another 3 for a 92-87 lead at the 1:13 mark, and the Lakers never again had the ball with a chance to tie. Posey scored 18 points, three more than LA’s reserves. The Lakers were limited to 33 second-half points in a crushing 97-91 loss that virtually assured Boston’s 17th championship, which the Celtics secured five days later on their home floor.

4. DJ DRILLS A DAGGER: The 1985 Finals between the Celtics and Lakers featured huge momentum swings. Boston won the first game on its home floor by 34 points, then abruptly lost the next two and found itself fighting for its series life in Game 4 at the Fabulous Forum. In the final minute of a tense fourth quarter, the Celtics forced a miss on a baseline skyhook by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But Magic Johnson – who had a triple-double with 20 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds – sneaked in for the offensive rebound and putback that tied it, 105-105, with 17 seconds to go. With the luxury of holding for the last shot, the Celtics initiated their set with Dennis Johnson at the top and Larry Bird coming off a right side curl. On the catch, Bird was doubled by Magic. He took one dribble to freeze Magic, then pitched back to Dennis Johnson, who buried an 18-footer at the horn for the win that evened the series. The shot capped a simply spectacular game for Dennis Johnson, a Finals MVP in 1979 with Seattle who had 27 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds while adding to his resume as a clutch performer. The Finals went 12 years before seeing another pure buzzer-beater.

3. KOBE BRYANT COMES OF AGE: Despite Kobe Bryant’s meteoric rise to superstardom over his first four years, the Lakers were still Shaquille O’Neal’s team when they met the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 Finals. O’Neal won MVP honors that season, and Bryant was still the beta dog, intermittently picking his spots in and around O’Neal’s dominance. But in Game 4, he fully emerged from Shaq’s shadow. Bryant badly sprained his ankle in Game 2 and sat out Game 3, which the Pacers won on their home floor to get back in the series. O’Neal was his usual unstoppable self with 36 points and 21 rebounds. But he missed a potential game-winning jumphook at the end of regulation and fouled out with 2:33 left in overtime, handing the reins to Bryant, who wasted no time proving he was up to the challenge. On consecutive possessions, he answered baskets by Rik Smits with jumpers. After the second one, he retreated on defense while pushing his palms downward, as if to tell his team, “Calm down, I got this.” Which he did, putting home a reverse layup off Brian Shaw’s miss with 5.9 seconds to go. The Lakers survived a potential game-winning 3-pointer by Reggie Miller and held on for a 120-118 win, regaining control of the series in one of the more underrated Finals games in NBA history. At practice the following day, I bumped into Bryant as he left his media session and headed down a back corridor for treatment on his ankle. I told him that Game 4 would always be remembered as the day when he emerged from Shaq’s shadow. “Really?” he responded, sincerely pleased. “I hope so.”

2. THE JUNIOR, JUNIOR SKYHOOK: In 1987, the Lakers and Celtics met in the Finals for the third time in four years. The Lakers were rested and won the first two games at home rather easily, averaging 133.5 points. The Celtics got back in the series with a home win in Game 3 and appeared positioned to win even the series as they opened a 16-point lead in the third quarter. The Lakers staged a furious rally to tie the game with 5 1/2 minutes to go, then rallied again after Boston rebuilt an eight-point lead two minutes later. An alley-oop dunk from Magic Johnson to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gave the Lakers a 104-103 lead with 29 seconds to go. Larry Bird drilled a 3-pointer to reclaim the lead for Boston, and LA went to Abdul-Jabbar, who was fouled. He made the first shot and missed the second, and the ball was ruled out of bounds off Kevin McHale, allowing the Lakers to retain possession with seven seconds to play. The Lakers called timeout and went to Johnson, who used a hesitation dribble to get into the lane and floated a running hook – which he later called a “junior, junior skyhook” – over the outstretched arms of McHale and Robert Parish with two seconds left, silencing the Boston Garden crowd. Bird was able to get free of James Worthy for a 3-pointer from the left corner that bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded, giving the Lakers a 107-106 win and a 3-1 series lead. In the moments after the game, James Brown of CBS interviewed Johnson in the cramped corridors of Boston Garden. During the interview, shouting could be heard in the background. It was Celtics GM Red Auerbach, reading the referees the riot act.

Go to the 3:45 mark of the video below for Red’s rant.

1. THE CELTICS BULLY THE LAKERS: The 1984 Finals began with the Lakers nearly taking the first two games on the road from the Celtics, who were rescued by a timely steal by Gerald Henderson to win Game 2. Back in Los Angeles, the Lakers pounded the Celtics in Game 3, and Larry Bird called out his team in the media, calling it “a bunch of sissies.” Only he didn’t say “sissies.” He said a word that begins with P and is a synonym for a cat. The Celts decided that they would go down fighting. Bird shoved Michael Cooper in the second quarter and nearly came to blows with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the third period. But the most memorable altercation was Kevin McHale’s clothesline takedown of Kurt Rambis on a fast break that resulted in several scuffles with multiple players coming off both benches. In today’s game, McHale would have been suspended for at least five games, and many others would have been facing bans of at least one game. But incredibly, no one received as much as a technical foul. Despite the rough stuff, the Lakers led by five points with a minute to play but allowed a three-point play on a follow shot by Robert Parish, who later stole a pass by Magic Johnson after Larry Bird sank the tying free throws. In overtime, a three-point play by James Worthy gave the Lakers a 123-121 lead before Bird tied it with two free throws and – after Magic missed a pair from the line – gave the Celts the lead for good with a turnaround jumper with 16 seconds left. Worthy drew a foul, but when he missed the first free throw, Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell walked across the lane and made the “choke” sign. Boston held on for a 129-125 win as Bird had 29 points and 21 rebounds, Parish added 25 and 12 and Dennis Johnson had 22 and 14 assists. Abdul-Jabbar scored 32 points, Worthy had 30 and Magic Johnson had a triple-double with 20 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds. It is inarguably one of the greatest Finals games of all time.

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Playoffs Day 25: Sixers beat Celtics, force Game 7

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Wednesday was my 16th wedding anniversary.

It also was the 30th anniversary of one of the most anticipated playoff games in NBA history – Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Boston Celtics.

The rivals met in the conference finals in three consecutive years from 1980-82. In 1981, the Sixers opened a 3-1 lead before the Celtics won the next three games by a combined five points. The following year, the Sixers again opened a 3-1 lead before the Celtics won Games 5 and 6 to force Game 7 on their home floor.

Celtics fans coined two crowd chants in that series. The first was “See You Sunday,” which they began at the end of a Game 5 home win. They were telling the Sixers that they would be back in Boston after losing Game 6 at home, just as they had done the previous year. And they were right.

No one gave the Sixers a chance to win that game. To paraphrase Sixers reserve forward Mike Bantom, there were 12 people in Boston Garden who believed the Sixers could win, and they were all in the visiting locker room.

There were actually at least 13, because I was in the building – fourth row, center court; thanks, Dad – and thought the Sixers could win, even after a half-dozen fans wearing sheets that said, “Ghosts of Celtics Past” paraded around the court just before tip-off.

Andrew Toney scored 34 points, cementing his reputation as “The Boston Strangler.” Julius Erving added 29, outplaying Larry Bird. And the Sixers won, 120-106, to advance to the NBA Finals and face the Los Angeles Lakers.

With about a minute remaining and the outcome no longer in doubt, Celtics fans acknowledged defeat by chanting, “Beat LA!” That is where the phrase began. When asked about the chant afterward, Erving said, “It was nice. But it wasn’t as loud as ‘See you Sunday.’”

And now, 30 years later, these rivals will play another Game 7 in Boston that will add to their storied history. The Sixers saw to that, calling on some of their own history with an ugly but spirited 82-75 home win in Game 6 that sets up Saturday’s showdown.

From John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News: “These were the type of moments that made Allen Iverson a legend in Philadelphia – season on the line, odds all against you, desperate situation. I guess it was only fitting that Wednesday was the night that Sixers management persuaded Iverson to come home. If ever the Sixers needed the kind of inspiration that Iverson provided for a decade in South Philadelphia, it was Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, trailing the Boston Celtics, 3-2. I’m not really the metaphysical type. Wearing a Lou Williams No. 23 jersey and a red Sixers Liberty Bell hat sideways, Iverson looked every bit like a guy who hadn’t played in an NBA game since February 2010. He looked like a shell of his former self. Iverson’s presence provided a little extra juice to the Wells Fargo Center, but The Answer to the Sixers’ hopes of staying alive in the playoffs was not sitting next to chief executive officer Adam Aron in the stands. There was nothing magical about his appearance, nothing more than a legend coming home to provide a bit of support. Still, there was something Iversonesque about the Sixers’ effort in a must-win situation to push this to limit, to a Game 7. They played hard – Iverson hard. They played like it was their last game, which it could have been for the 2011-12 season. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t neat. It wasn’t perfect. But it was all heart, dug deep from that reserve in the Wells Fargo Center that Iverson always seemed to tap into. To be honest, it’s the way that these surprising Sixers had played all season. It just seemed a bit more pronounced with Iverson in the house. Who knows? Perhaps the next all-expenses trip the Sixers pay for will bring Iverson to Boston on Saturday, because that’s where the Sixers will be after their 82-75 victory. Now this series that was supposed to be an easy walk for the Celtics into the Eastern Conference finals comes down to a winner-take-all Game 7. Sure, the Celtics will be favored. They will be at home and this is a situation with which they have plenty of experience. But this is the last thing they wanted to see. They didn’t want to have a Game 7 against a scrappy Sixers team that has shown game after game that it doesn’t matter that it doesn’t know what it isn’t supposed to know. The Sixers didn’t know they weren’t supposed to be able to win in Boston, but they already did that in Game 2. The Sixers didn’t know that they weren’t supposed to fight through a close-out game against a savvy, veteran squad with a core that has an NBA championship in its pocket. But that’s what they did on Wednesday. We all know what they aren’t supposed to know for Game 7. We also know that doesn’t matter. “Game 7s are what they are,” said Boston coach Doc Rivers. “It’s nice to have it at home, but you still have to go get it.”

The Sixers got 20 points from Jrue Holiday, 12 apiece from Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner and 11 from Lou Williams. Four wing players, all in double figures, all of whom had things just a bit easier because the Celtics look too old and banged up to stay in front of them.

Ray Allen is hobbling on painful bone spurs in his ankle, which is affecting him on both ends of the floor. He was benched for defensive purposes for a portion of the fourth quarter, then missed a 3-pointer in the final minute that was really Boston’s last gasp. Avery Bradley, a solid on-ball defender, missed his second straight game with a shoulder separation and likely is done for the season. So the Sixers took full advantage.

From Dan Duggan of the Boston Herald: “Doug Collins told a lie last night before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Celtics. The Philadelphia 76ers coach said there was no advantage for his team to exploit with Celtics defensive wizard Avery Bradley sidelined with a shoulder injury. The way the Sixers attacked in their 82-75 win made a liar of their coach. Philly’s trio of guards — Jrue Holiday (20 points), Evan Turner (12) and Lou Williams (11) — blew past the Celtics perimeter defenders all night. Collins identified points in the paint as a key stat in his pregame interview session and the Sixers held a 42-16 advantage in that category. But the close range baskets weren’t the result of Philly pounding the ball inside. Of the combined 17 field goals for the backcourt trio, 14 came on drives to the basket. “We just wanted to be aggressive, especially in the second half,” Williams said. “We saw where the high screen-and-roll was working for us. We realized we had some mismatches and we wanted to exploit them and we had success with it.” The pick-and-roll change was a counter to an adjustment the Celtics made earlier in the series. In Game 3, the Celts effectively began forcing Philly’s pick-and-rolls to the sideline. After watching film, Collins made the wise decision to attack with the pick set in the center of the floor. “It was tough for them to trap us on the side of the court. You trap in the middle of the court, you’ve got options,” small forward Andre Iguodala said. “You can go to the left side or the right side and you can swing the ball across the court. Whereas if you get trapped on that one side in the corner, there’s only one or two places you can go and those are high-risk passes that you’re making out of the corner.” Still, the adjustment might not have been as successful if Bradley had been in the lineup. The guard is likely done for the postseason, which means the Celtics can expect to see a similar Philly approach in Saturday’s Game 7 at the Garden.”

The Sixers also played outstanding team defense, which they have done all season but has been overlooked in this postseason. They were third in points allowed (89.4 ppg) and opponents’ field-goal percentage (.427) despite the absence of a true rim protector. In the playoffs, they have allowed 85 points or less in half their 12 games and 88.2 points per game overall while holding foes to 44 percent shooting.

And on Wednesday, they put the clamps on Rajon Rondo, who may have been torn between creating offense for himself and his teammates. Rondo managed nine points – his second-lowest total of the postseason – and a playoff-low six assists while taking foolish gambles on defense that helped the Sixers get shots at the basket.

From Ron Borges of the Boston Herald: “For all the problems their ailments have caused the Celtics, up until last night the one constant had been the smallest man on the floor. With Pierce’s left knee aching, Allen’s swollen ankle robbing him of his lift and Avery Bradley’s shoulders feeling the way Matt Light [stats]’s usually do around Nov. 15, Rondo had been often dominating and almost always comforting. Last night he was neither, going 4-of-14 from the field, taking only two foul shots because he didn’t attack the basket and, most damning of both his own play and his team’s, had only six assists, which is less than half his playoff average. That performance played perfectly into what Sixers coach Doug Collins said before the game he hoped to achieve. He wanted Rondo shooting more and passing less and he got what he wanted, although it’s difficult to know on a night when the Celtics shot 33 percent how much of that was the Sixers defense’s doing and how much what the Celtics were not doing. “I think he’s a passer first,” Collins said of Rondo. “He can get into the paint any time he wants, but I think he really wants to pass (first). The numbers on him show when he scores more than he assists their record is not as good. Last game he had five assists in the first half and we led by three. He had nine in the second half and you saw what happened.” Statistically, Game 5 was far from Rondo’s greatest night despite the 16-point victory, but it was the kind of night Rivers craves because Rondo was both a facilitator and director, running the Celtics offense rather than being just a high-scoring part of it. Last night he was neither.”

So the Celtics and Sixers and go to another Game 7, the sixth all-time between the clubs.

The Celtics won in 1965, escaping with a 110-109 home win en route to their seventh of eight straight titles. They won again in 1968, erasing a 3-1 deficit and dethroning the champs with a win in Philly. And they won in 1981, when Sixers GM Pat Williams was taking congratulatory handshakes at the end of Game 5.

The Sixers won in 1977, dethroning the aging defending champs with a home win fueled by Lloyd Free, known as “The Prince of Mid-Air” before legally changing his name to World B. Free. They also won in 1982, when before tip-off I shook hands with Red Auerbach with my right hand and gave his organization a Sicilian curse with my left.

Sixers-Celtics. Game 7. This is the way it’s supposed to be.

From Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Daily News: “Elton Brand strode through the corridors of TD Garden dressed like a stockbroker, as amiable as a preacher. A security guard congratulated Brand on his exceptional effort in a losing cause. “Thanks,” said Brand. “See you Saturday.”

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Playoffs Day 9: Rivals Sixers, Celtics win, inch toward first playoff meeting in 10 years

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We’re not gonna get excited about Melo cracking open a 40 and the Knicks fighting off elimination, OK?

Win again Wednesday night in Miami. That will make you the lead of the playoffs roundup.

Here’s what everyone should be excited about: the 76ers and Celtics look like they will be playing each other in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Thirty years ago, this was the best rivalry in all of sports. Here’s all you need to know about how much these teams hated each other: During a skirmish on the court, Celtics GM Red Auerbach came out of his seat at Boston Garden and onto the court to challenge 76ers center Moses Malone to a fight.

During an exhibition game.

From 1980-85, the teams met four times in the Eastern Conference finals. Each team won twice, once in five games and once in seven. In 1981, the Celtics rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Sixers, winning the last three games by a combined five points. The following year, the Sixers again built a 3-1 lead, lost the next two games and faced the specter of a repeat collapse with Game Seven at Boston Garden.

I was at that game as a fan. It began with a half-dozen fans parading around the lower level wearing white sheets that read, “Ghosts of Celtics Past.” It ended with the Garden crowd originating the chant “Beat LA!” for the Sixers, who rode 34 points from “Boston Strangler” Andrew Toney to a 120-106 win.

But the teams have met in the playoffs just once since – a best-of-five first-round set in 2002 that went the limit with the home team winning every game and Boston taking the finale by 33 points, firing 3-pointers until the final horn.

Philadelphia and Boston both won Sunday and moved within one win of reprising their rivalry for the first time in 10 years. If you have any appreciation for the history of this game, you should be rooting for the Sixers and Celtics to win their next games.

First, the Sixers, who have the top-seeded Chicago Bulls on the ropes after Sunday’s 89-82 win. Since losing the opener, they have won three straight games, a streak certainly helped along by a certain reigning MVP not playing for the Bulls.

But it also has been helped by the play of center Spencer Hawes, who is having his way at the offensive end since being moved into the starting lineup after Game 1.

From Marc Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer: “Center Spencer Hawes learned to slow down in order to pick up his offensive game. To do that, he spent time with the 76ers second unit and had plenty of conversations with his family and coaches. It was obvious on Sunday that Hawes has learned his lesson. For the second straight home game, Hawes was a major offensive factor as he scored 22 points in the Sixers’ 89-82 win over the Chicago Bulls. That left the Sixers just one game away from closing out the Bulls in the series and provided Hawes with a needed jolt of confidence. Sunday’s game came on the heels of his performance on Friday when Hawes scored 21 points in the Sixers 79-74 win. How rare are back-to-back games of 20 or more points for Hawes? Before these two he had never scored more than 19 points in a game in his two seasons with the Sixers. And the last time he had consecutive 20-point games was in 2009 as a member of the Sacramento Kings. On Oct. 31, 2009, he scored 22 points in a loss to San Antonio. On Nov. 2, 2009, he scored 21 points in a win over Memphis. And it’s all about slowing down. “It is something my dad has been telling me since high school, to slow down, and you don’t have to play as fast,” Hawes said, referring to his father, Jeff, a former University of Washington player. “It is finally starting to resonate, and I kind of figured it out, and it took me a while.”

Hawes is the first Philly center since the aforementioned Malone in 1985 to score at least 20 points in back-to-back playoff games. He had some help as Jrue Holiday shook off a horrible first half to drain consecutive 3-pointers down the stretch.

The Sixers had been in this spot before. In 2008, they held a 2-1 lead and a 16-point advantage on the Pistons in Game 4 before totally collapsing and losing in six. In 2010, they held a 2-1 lead on the Magic and were tied in the final seconds of Game 4 before Hedo Turkoglu’s 3-pointer swung the entire series.

Philadelphia needed to hold serve and try to be something more than a first-round out, and it did.

From Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Daily News: “The Bulls lost their heart when Derrick Rose ruined his knee in Game 1. The Bulls lost their soul when Joakim Noah turned his ankle in Game 3. Sunday, the 76ers stepped on their necks. As a franchise, the Sixers took a giant step forward. Their 89-82 win gave them a 3-1 first-round lead over the top seed in the Eastern Conference. As an emerging franchise, anything but a win would have created a different image; one having to do with the Sixers’ throats, and their inability to breathe and swallow. As it stands, to borrow and to alter a phrase, this is not a choking situation. That was averted.

“Absolutely accurate. Absolutely accurate,” said veteran Elton Brand, who in his reconstructed career has turned into Dennis Rodman. “If we lost today, it would affect our mentality. Our organization. Our franchise. Our talent level. Just all we’re doing here. We still have to fight to win this series. But this game, at home, to really take the driver’s seat – we had to have this. For the growth of the young guys.”

Since Rose went down, Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has said his team “has more than enough to win with.” He has maintained that stance even as Joakim Noah went down with a badly sprained ankle in Game 3 and Luol Deng tries to play through a left wrist ligament injury. But the words are starting to ring hollow.

Instead, the Bulls complained about the officiating, which awarded 31 free throws to Philadelphia and just 14 to Chicago.

From Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com: “Carlos Boozer tried his best to ignore the fact that his Chicago Bulls went to the free throw line 17 fewer times than the Philadelphia 76ers in Sunday afternoon’s 89-82 Game 4 loss, but he couldn’t help himself when the topic came up. “It’s crazy,” Boozer said of the 31-14 disparity. “I thought we were driving. I thought Luol [Deng] was driving almost every time he got the ball. He was getting contact on a lot of his shots. I thought C.J. [Watson] was driving the ball. There was one play at the end of the game [when] he got hit right in the face. I saw the whole play and he didn’t get that call.” But then Boozer channeled his inner Tom Thibodeau. As much he would like to blame the officials for the fact that his team is now down 3-1 in its Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, he knows better. “Listen, we’re not going to sit here and blame the referees for our loss,” Boozer said. “It was our fault we lost the game. We gave up 25 points in the fourth quarter. There were too many points in the fourth quarter. We didn’t lose the game because of the refs, but the discrepancy was huge. And I thought we were being pretty aggressive, we got in the penalty early, but we didn’t get as many free throws as they did. That’s tough, but at the same time that’s not why we lost. We lost because we didn’t contain their guards in the fourth quarter.”

On Tuesday, the Bulls will try to avoid becoming the fifth top seed – and second in as many years – to lose in the first round. That same night, the Atlanta Hawks will try to do the same against the Celtics, who also have won three in a row in their first-round series.

Boston absolutely annihilated Atlanta in a 101-79 home win, trailing for just 15 seconds and leading 80-43 less than four minutes into the second half. The Celtics could have gone scoreless over the final 20 minutes and still won.

From Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: “The C’s own a 3-1 Eastern Conference quarterfinals lead, and they can close out the series in Atlanta tomorrow night. As Paul Pierce said with a laugh after the Celtics’ grinding Game 3 overtime win, there’s nothing wrong with ugly. There’s also nothing wrong with 60 percent of your shots falling — which is how well the Celtics shot over the first three quarters last night, before garbage time lowered that number to a more earthly 51.2 percent. It’s a far cry from the Celtics’ Game 1 loss in Atlanta, when they shot 39 percent and scored 74 points. Garnett called for better offense after that game, and his gift finally arrived last night. “We were all locked in. Sometimes individually we get a little dysfunctional at times, but (last night) everybody was very communicative,” Garnett said. “Guys were giving tips. I don’t like to bring up the past, but these were some of the things we’ve done in the past. There was a lot of dialogue (yesterday). You could tell in the layup lines how guys were focused in. We could feel it. And we carried that onto the court. That was big.” The result was an extension of the tone set by Paul Pierce, and his 36-point Game 2 performance.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Celtics win without another injury. This time it was captain Paul Pierce, who had 24 points in just 18 minutes before departing, returning and leaving again with a left knee ailment. He joins walking wounded Ray Allen (bone spurs in ankle) and Avery Bradley (dislocated shoulder) as celtics playing through injuries.

The Hawks aren’t playing any violins for the Celtics. They had control of the series until losing Josh Smith to a sprained knee late in Game 2, losing Game 3 in overtime without him. Trying to avoid a 3-1 deficit, Atlanta started both Smith and center Al Horford, who was playing for the first time since tearing a pectoral muscle in early January. Smith led the Hawks with 15 points and Horford added an equally empty 12 off the bench.

From Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “If the Hawks weren’t in such desperate need of a victory against the Celtics Sunday, forward Josh Smith might have sat this one out. “I would probably be more cautious with the decision but this is a must-win game for us,” Smith said before Game 4. So Smith played with a sore left knee and center Al Horford returned after four months out following pectoral surgery. The Hawks were healthier than they’d been in a long time and encouraged by pushing Boston to overtime in Game 3. It took a little more than 18 minutes for the Celtics to make all of that irrelevant and send the Hawks to the brink of playoff elimination. Boston jumped the Hawks early and rolled to a 101-79 victory. The score only hints at the beating delivered by the Celtics, who led by 37 points less than halfway through the third quarter. “Their aggressiveness just totally took us out of our game,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “We didn’t respond to it all. We didn’t have the zap, we didn’t have the speed. We were doing everything at about 60 percent. This is the playoffs. How can you not have it?”

Good question. Both the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets had it. But the Lakers also had clutch shooting down the stretch from a couple of unlikely sources, which spelled a 92-88 victory that gave Los Angeles a 3-1 series lead as it heads home for Game 5.

In the final minute, the biggest shots were not taken by Kobe Bryant. Or Andrew Bynum. Or even Pau Gasol. They were 3-pointers by Ramon Sessions, who snapped an 86-86 tie with 48 seconds left, and Steve Blake, who stuck in the dagger with 18 seconds to go.

From Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times: “In a frantic game with 18 lead changes and 16 ties, Sessions’ shot from the right wing, after a rock-solid screen by Gasol floored Danilo Gallinari, gave the Lakers an 89-86 lead with 48.1 seconds left. Not to be outdone, Blake drilled a three-pointer from the left corner with 18.9 seconds left. Make that the much-maligned Blake. He came into Sunday with 26.7% accuracy in the series and exactly three points since the second quarter of Game 1. Bryant’s biggest play was a pass to Blake, not a shot, another surprise for the Lakers in a season teeming with them. Bryant passing to Blake? Even Blake couldn’t stifle a laugh. “Yeah, I was ready,” he said. “Those [other] guys are so good at drawing double teams. They trust us. That’s what it’s going to take to be a really good team is to trust each other.” Bryant grabbed Blake after the shot and threw his arms around him. “It’s always a good moment when you get a hug from Kobe,” Blake said. “You know you did something right.” Blake deserved similar recognition a few minutes earlier, coming from behind to block Gallinari’s layup attempt. Gallinari is 6 feet 10. Blake is 6 feet 3. “I don’t think he saw me,” Blake said. “Probably my first or second of the year.” It was actually his third blocked shot. Even he was trying to shortchange his accomplishments.

There was a bizarre moment in the first half when a female fan ran out onto the floor while the ball was in play. TNT’s Craig Sager reported that the woman has a history of stalking at least one Nuggets player and had been banned from the Pepsi Center but apparently found a way to get into Game 4 – literally.

Two games tonight, as the Spurs look to break out the brooms for the Jazz in Salt Lake City and the Grizzlies try to even matters with the Clippers in Los Angeles. We will have previews of both games later today.

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