Boston Celtics 97, Los Angeles Lakers 91 

The lovely part: that was a classic game.

The tough part: getting Laker fans and hoopheads alike to understand that the Lakers didn't completely, and utterly, blow that one.

The Celtics won Game 4. They won it, they won it, they really won it. The team piled mistake upon mistake defensively for the first 14 minutes of the game, it took most of the second quarter and part of the third quarter to get things going again and to take it to a Laker offense that just hasn't had to work through and learn from tough times like these.

And, though the Celtic comeback was a complete shock and a surprising turn of events, none of us should have been blown away by the turnaround, even though - yeah -- we were all blown away by that magnificent and dominant turnaround. In fact, through all the craziness, and as much as I appreciated the quick passing and the aggressive edge the Lakers brought to that opening quarter, it still felt as if the Celtics were a few mistakes away from making this a game.

Not Lakers mistakes, mind you, but Celtics mishaps gone in the other direction. A few more solid switches, a bit more talking, a bit less swiping for steals (Rajon?), and Boston could have kept it even in that first quarter. Because, remember, more stops for the Celtics mean easier looks on the other end. So take away 13 points worth of mistakes, add eight more points scored off of stops and rebounds, and things are even.

After the game, Doc Rivers essentially credited the impetus for the second half comeback to the 26-23 second quarter that went in Boston's favor, and how the Celtics got it down to 13 points a few times before falling back behind by 18. So, clean up the mistakes, work toward perfection, then work beyond perfection, and a comeback is in the works. Especially because the Lakers have yet to establish themselves offensively in this series.

They just haven't. The team competed over the first two games of this contest, won Game 3, dominated the first quarter of Game 4 with a 35-13 run, and the Lakers still managed to do it without showing us a proper and consistent batch of Triangle execution.

So once the Celtics upped the pressure, covered angles better and stopped making mistakes in the second half defensively, the Lakers had nothing to fall back on. And, as you'd expect, they panicked offensively, and blew a huge, huge lead. The effort was there, the execution was not.

The Lakers were still passing the ball, but they were freelancing. The extra pass and lots of movement is good for this team if it comes within the confines of the Triangle, but not out of it. And that's what the Lakers were up to as the C's came back; with a lot of activity and every hand touching the ball, even if it signified nothing, and even as shot after shot refused to go in. Worse, the team turned it over nine times in the second half, after coughing it up just three times in the first half.

And on the other end, though I don't think the Laker defense was a huge problem, Los Angeles didn't get a single steal in that second half. Could not take advantage of a Boston team that was playing without a point guard for most of the run. There's no excuse for that, even though Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo (who played the first 4:55 of the second half, and didn't see the court after that), Paul Pierce, and Eddie House have all had their issues getting the ball across half court under pressure.

The Boston comeback didn't come alongside a series of over the top, daring moves by the team's defense. There were no huge departures. Essentially, they cut out the mistakes, talked more defensively, and made a point to make Kevin Garnett work for his first championship.

Garnett was trailing the guard every time the Lakers - turned away from a Triangle set - went into a screen and roll play. He'd show on the guard, deny the deep shot or penetrating dive, while still being able to get back onto Pau Gasol in the time it took the Laker guard to find the open (not for long, but open) Laker big man.

It was a dominant performance that didn't happen to come with a litany of blocks, steals, or shots missed in his face. Gasol just had to give the ball up, and the Laker offense would pass the rock around fruitlessly in the seconds afterward. KG made it happen, without much in-game fanfare. Not much post-game fanfare, sadly, either.

Paul Pierce switched onto Kobe Bryant defensively in the second half, and though Kobe had 10 fourth quarter points, he made life a lot easier on the Celtics by taking too many perimeter shots, even though a few of those mid-rangers went in. Doesn't matter, Kobe, drive with the ball. Bryant shot just two free throws the entire second half, after Laker coach Phil Jackson likely got in his ear during a timeout and demanded he drive. Pierce even managed to get an on-ball block of a Bryant turnaround shot in the third quarter.

This came near the beginning of the Celtic comeback, one that really got going once Boston started playing without Kendrick Perkins (injury) and P.J. Brown (P.J. Brown Disease). And, while it was an exhilarating turn, it revealed that Boston still has many, many issues to work through, even if it only has to win one game in three for the ring.

For one, Boston went with a small lineup for most of that second half comeback. Makes sense, makes the Lakers work, and helps the defense. The floor spacing worked for Boston coach Doc Rivers, but there's no way James Posey hits for 4-8 three-pointers again, with one just rimming out. I'm not denying that it didn't play a big part, if not the biggest in, the win. Once Brown sat on the bench Boston turned it around. But once things start to average out, and Posey stops nailing impossible threes, the Celtics might be in trouble.

Worse, Kendrick Perkins was killing Boston defensively in this game, getting caught way too far from the basket as the Lakers moved the ball in the first half, and there's a reason he registered a -18 in just 13 minutes of play during Game 4.

Defensively, Perkins has been on top of things at home during the postseason, but he just appears lost and too willing to make unfortunate decisions on that end while on the road. With another game to play in Los Angeles, Perk has to get it together. Because small ball won't work forever.

As you've likely noticed, I'm not going to be too hard on the Lakers, they've made mistakes, but it's also become clearer and clearer that a lot of us made the biggest mistake in not realizing that Boston is the better team at this point. There's no shame in that, Los Angeles is without its third-best player, this is a very young team, and this is a rotation that still has an awful lot to learn about the offense that Phil Jackson wants to run.

And Boston, wow. There were so many chances to give up on that game, to let the body language go south (especially during one stretch in the third quarter, with Kendrick Perkins in the locker room with a bum shoulder and P.J. Brown not really working out), but Rivers had this team believing.

The Celtics never gave up, the team was unflappable in its belief that it had blown the first half due to its own mistakes, and that a huge second half deficit wouldn't be too tough to overcome just as long as it reintroduced the brand of defense that had won the C's 80 (and now 81) games since the season started.

It was such a fun game, and though both teams went through terrible droughts while only trading baskets and stops for a short spell in the fourth quarter, both outfits should be proud of the effort level. It basically comes down to this - the Lakers aren't ready, and the Celtics are. Los Angeles is going to have to wait for its next championship, while Boston should only be a few days away from its 17^th banner.

Provided, of course, that the defense declines to rest.

Related: Behind the boxscore