BOSTON, (Reuters) – The Boston Celtics rode the outside shooting of Paul Pierce and a superior inside game to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 92-86 in the NBA Finals on Sunday and move within one victory of a record 18th championship.
Pierce had 27 points, mostly from long range, to help send the Celtics to Los Angeles for Game Six on Tuesday with a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“This was huge for us,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers told reporters. “Let’s just be honest. We had to win this game, and that’s the way we felt going into it.
“For them they still have two home games, and they understand that.”
Should the Lakers win Game Six, the winner-take-all series finale between the league’s most celebrated franchises will also be in Los Angeles, on Thursday.
“You don’t want to go into LA down 3-2 with two games in LA,” Pierce said. “So this was the biggest game of the year. Every game gets bigger.
“Great opportunity for us — got two games in LA, we’ve just got to get one. We’ve been a great road team all year. We’re just going to try to get it done.”
Kobe Bryant scored 38 points but the Los Angeles guard received little support, Spanish forward Pau Gasol adding just 12 as the only other Laker to reach double figures.
“We have a challenge, obviously, down 3-2,” said Bryant. “We let a couple opportunities slip away. But it is what it is. Now you’ve got two games at home that you need to win, and you pull your boots up and get to work.”
The Celtics once again dominated under the basket and connected on 56 percent of their shots while the Lakers made just 39.7 percent.
Lakers guard Bryant scored his team’s first 19 points of the second half on seven-of-nine shooting, including all three of his shots from beyond the arc.
But Boston refused to fold, turning a six-point lead at intermission into a 73-65 advantage with one quarter left to play.
“He was shooting fadeaway threes, fadeaway jumpers off the double team,” Pierce said of Bryant. “You knew he was going to come out and be aggressive and try to carry his team.
