Jun 16, 2008 12:13 am US/Eastern
Lakers Hold On To Win Game 5 103-98
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
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Kobe Bryant No. 24 of the Los Angeles Lakers has a break away slam dunk in the final minute of Game Five of the 2008 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics on June 15, 2008, at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images
Pack up the championship trophy and book a flight back to Boston, the NBA finals aren't over yet.
The Los Angeles Lakers are headed East to try a historic comeback of their own.
Kobe Bryant scored 25 points, including a decisive dunk in the final minute — and Lamar Odom added 20 as the Lakers, playing with pride on their star-studded stage, prevented the Celtics from winning a 17th title with a 103-98 win in Game 5 on Sunday night to close to 3-2 in this restored rivalry.
No team has overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals to win a title. The first 28 failed, and now the Lakers, who blew a 24-point lead and lost Game 4 and nearly squandered a 19-point lead in Game 5, have a chance to do something extraordinary.
They'll have to win on the Celtics' parquet floor Tuesday night to force a winner-take-all Game 7, where anything is possible.
Especially with Bryant, the game's best player, on hand.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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