Lakers have a collapse for the ages
They lead by as many as 24 points, but Celtics rally to take a 3-1 lead in the Finals.
History wrapped its arms around the Lakers, though not nearly the type they ever hoped to embrace.
The Lakers lost a 24-point lead in historic fashion, a stagger turning into a numbing collapse against the Boston Celtics, who took Game 4 of the NBA Finals, 97-91, Thursday at Staples Center.
It was shocking, stunning, and a whole string of whatever anti-superlatives could be dug up and heaped on the Lakers, who allowed the biggest comeback in Finals history since Elias Sports Bureau became the official stat-keeper of the NBA for the 1970-1971 season.
The Celtics now lead the best-of-seven series, 3-1, bringing up another list of near-impossibilities for the Lakers.
An NBA team has never come back to win the Finals after facing a 3-1 deficit. Eight teams have done it in NBA playoff history, most recently Phoenix against the Lakers two years ago in the first round.
Even if the Lakers, now 9-1 at home in the playoffs, win Game 5 Sunday at Staples Center, an NBA team has never won Games 6 and 7 on the road since the 2-3-2 format began in 1985.
Other than that, the Lakers are in fine shape.
"A lot of wine, a lot of beer, a couple shots, maybe like 20 of them, digest it, get back to work [today]," Kobe Bryant said when asked how the Lakers could possibly bounce back.
"Nothing you can do."
The first half couldn't have been better scripted for a team trying to forge a tie in the series, the Lakers cruising to a 58-40 lead.
Then came the second half, and the apparent beginning of the end of the Lakers' season after they were outscored, 57-33, in the last 24 minutes.
Hope slowly turned to misery as the Celtics turned up their defense and the Lakers turned away, leaving a trail of disheveled statistics.
The Lakers made only 13 of 39 shots (33.3%) in the second half, missing all eight of their three-point attempts.
Bryant had 17 points on the night, making only six of 19 shots. Sasha Vujacic, the hero off the bench in Game 3, had three points on one-for-nine shooting.
Vujacic's three-pointer gave the Lakers a 45-21 lead with 6:45 left in the second quarter, and the slow, steady slide began from there.
"Some turnaround in that ballgame," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said in an understatement. "The air went out of that building."
And the players, too, after a second half that was one of the most forgettable in franchise history.
"They're very depressed about that," Jackson said. "With the kind of momentum they carried into the locker room at halftime and having a 20-point lead in the [third] quarter, it's very difficult right now."
As comebacks in the Finals go, the Lakers took the top historical spot from Orlando, which saw Houston come back from a 20-point deficit in Game 1 of the 1995 Finals. The league could go as far back only as the 1971 Finals because written play-by-play of Finals games was not recorded before that time.
And to think the Celtics made their second-half surge primarily without two starters.
Lakers' meltdown to Celtics is hard to swallow
They didn't choke.
By definition, when one chokes, there is noise, movement, desperation.
The Lakers didn't choke.
They blew the NBA Finals without making a sound.
They botched their entire season while standing still.
They lost a 24-point lead -- the biggest collapse in the NBA Finals in at least 37 years -- by staring dreamily into the hardened eyes of a Boston Celtics team that angrily shoved them into next fall.
Choke? On Thursday night in front of a Staples Center crowd whose early cheers lapsed into a stunned and horrified silence, the Celtics' 97-91 victory was more like a smote.
The Lakers led by 21 points after the first quarter, the biggest first-quarter lead in NBA Finals history.
The Lakers led by 20 points midway through the third quarter, an insurmountable margin for a team playing at home and possessing the MVP.
And, yeah, they lost by six.
They gave the game away, but not before one of them walked away.
You know how Los Angeles fans are famously criticized for leaving games early.
Add Kobe Bryant to their list.
He walked off the court with three seconds remaining as the Lakers were bringing up the ball for a final shot.
It was a most egregious act for a most valuable player.
Meltdowns everywhere.
Even the NBA stat folks melted down, as they have no detailed records of Finals games before 1971, thus this can only officially be the biggest collapse in 37 years.
Unofficially, though, it also probably gives the Celtics the championship, as the Lakers now trail three games to one, an historically insurmountable Finals deficit.
When asked afterward how his team was going to recover from this loss, Bryant said, "Lot of wine, lot of beer, lot of shots, like 20 of them."
That quote would have been a lot funnier if Bryant hadn't actually taken 19 shots in the game, and made just six of them.
