LA regains control of NBA title series, winning Game 3

Associated Press

BOSTON

Kobe Bryant scored 29 points and Derek Fisher added 16 to lead Los Angeles to a 91-84 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night and give the Lakers a 2-1 lead in the NBA finals.

Bryant had 25 points after three but did not score for the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter. That’s when Fisher took over, adding four key baskets after Boston winnowed a 17-point first-half lead to one point.

The Lakers regained home-court advantage they had lost when Boston took Game 2 in Los Angeles.

Game 4 is Thursday night in Boston.

Kevin Garnett, who had just six points in Boston’s victory Sunday, had 25 in Game 3. But Ray Allen, who had 32 points in Game 2, missed all 13 field goal attempts — one shy of the NBA finals futility record.

Bryant had 16 points and six rebounds, helping the Lakers take a 52-40 lead at halftime.

Lamar Odom had eight points and the Lakers seized control late in the first quarter, helped by some awful Boston shooting. The Celtics went without a field goal for nearly six minutes spanning the quarters as Los Angeles built a 17-point lead.

Garnett scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting for the Celtics, but Allen and Paul Pierce were off to miserable starts.

Allen missed all five shots and was scoreless. Pierce was 1 of 8 for five points and had three fouls.

The finals were tied after two games for the first time since 2004, when the Detroit Pistons split two games in Los Angeles before winning three straight at home. The Celtics were hoping they could duplicate that feat, which would give them an 18th NBA title.

But other than Garnett’s strong play after he struggled in Los Angeles, there wasn’t much partying going on inside the TD Garden, where the Celtics were only 2 of 10 on 3-pointers and missed half of their 12 free throws.

The familiar “Beat L.A.! Beat L.A!” chants picked up right where the national anthem left off.