NBAFullCourt - Basketball Daily

Keep the game close, and the Los Angeles Lakers know Kobe Bryant can win it for them. Spot the Boston Celtics 24 points, and that's too much even for the NBA's MVP to overcome. Bryant and the Lakers ran out of time Sunday night, when a 41-point fourth quarter was ultimately futile in a 108-102 loss in Game 2 of the NBA finals, because they scored only 42 in the first half.

Kobe Bryant couldn't take it anymore, so he took it out on his teammates. With Game 2, and perhaps Los Angeles' season slipping away, the league's MVP looked around the huddle and used some harsh words to fire up the Lakers. They responded, dug deep and made a remarkable comeback that fell short. Now they have to make a bigger one.

Phil Jackson mispronounced Leon Powe's name Sunday during his postgame press conference. The Lakers coach apparently didn't hear the fans chanting it properly a few minutes earlier. Powe -- rhymes with toe, not "Pow," the way Jackson mistakenly said it -- was the surprising star of Game 2 of the NBA finals, coming off the bench to score 21 points in Boston's 108-102 victory over Los Angeles.

This time, Paul Pierce picked up his teammates. One game after being carried off the floor following a scary -- but ultimately insignificant -- knee injury, the Celtics forward scored 28 points to help Boston beat the Los Angeles Lakers 108-102 and take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven NBA finals. "I felt pretty good," Pierce said.

Any Celtics fans complaining about the 2-3-2 NBA finals format should keep something in mind: Red Auerbach had a role in its implementation. David Stern revealed that Sunday night during his annual finals press conference, recalling a conversation he had with the Celtics patriarch early in his tenure as commissioner.

Paul Pierce had no trouble with his right knee or the Los Angeles defense, scoring 16 points in the first half and helping the Boston Celtics take a 54-42 lead over the Lakers on Sunday night in Game 2 of the NBA finals. Fellow All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen also had strong halves for the Celtics, who were trying to open a 2-0 lead before the series shifts to Southern California.

Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce practiced without difficulty Sunday and was cleared to play in Game 2 of the NBA finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Center Kendrick Perkins said he would start as well. "I'm not that concerned about Paul. I really am not," coach Doc Rivers said before the game. "He played one-on-one this morning and he looked good, so he's not a concern to me much at all.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss entered a $10,000 7-card stud tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday, the day before his team played the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the NBA finals. The three-day tournament was part of the World Series of Poker being played at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Buss was eliminated on the first day.

Dwyane Wade still believes his knee will be ready for the Beijing Olympics. The Miami Heat guard, who missed the final 21 games of last season because of chronic soreness in his surgically repaired left knee, said Sunday that he's been playing 5-on-5 games for about a week with "no problems." Wade is spending much of his offseason rehabilitating in Chicago, with eyes on both getting a spot on the...

For Brian Shaw, these were the true sights and sounds of Boston. Celtics flags everywhere. Fans shouting at the Lakers' bus, most of them decked out in green. Even the driver taking the team to the arena was wearing a Celtics hat. That was missing in recent years, and so were wins on the basketball court.

Terry Porter will be the Phoenix Suns' next coach, ending the club's monthlong search for a successor to Mike D'Antoni. Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr said Saturday he had agreed to terms with Porter, who was an assistant with the Detroit Pistons. The 45-year-old Porter played in the NBA for 17 seasons and teamed with Kerr in San Antonio.

In the past two days, New England's most celebrated right knee -- and to this point, the focal point of the NBA finals -- has been encased in ice, undergone electrical stimulation therapy, even had lasers fired at it. Paul Pierce's knee has been primped, prodded and pampered like never before. It's not 100 percent, but it's good enough.

In the past two days, New England's most celebrated right knee -- and to this point, the focal point of the NBA finals -- has been encased in ice, undergone electrical stimulation therapy, even had lasers fired at it. Paul Pierce's knee has been primped, prodded and pampered like never before. It's not 100 percent, but it's good enough.

Clay Bennett wants his SuperSonics to play in Oklahoma City next season because it's his hometown. That, and about 80 million other reasons. The Sonics owner says his team would make almost $20 million if it played in Oklahoma City during the next two years. He suggests the team will lose more than $60 million -- about 20 percent of what he paid for it -- if it stays in Seattle for two more "lame...

Doug Collins and the Chicago Bulls won't be reuniting. Concerned that a second tenure as the Bulls' coach would spoil their friendship, Collins told chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to look elsewhere during a phone conversation on Friday. "I called Jerry this afternoon and said, 'Let's move forward and make sure we stay the friends that we have been for 25 years,"' said Collins, who coached Chicago from...