Banged-up Celtics back home

Lakers need two wins in Boston to capture crown

The Boston Celtics are home, not home free.

Unable to finish the Los Angeles Lakers and wrap up their first championship since 1986, the NBA's best team since November flew back across three time zones Monday for a Game 6 they were hoping they wouldn't have to play.

But injuries, another big first-half deficit and a subpar performance by center Kevin Garnett cost the banged-up Celtics, who lost 103-98 on Sunday in Game 5 at Los Angeles and left Staples Center kicking themselves at the missed opportunity.

"Not what we wanted," coach Doc Rivers said of the team's stay in Southern California. "We wanted two more [wins]. Obviously, the blanket was that we get to go home, but we really believed that we could win one of these games. We won one, and we'll take it. But that's obviously not what we wanted."

The Larry O'Brien Trophy, given each year to the league's top team, was nearly Boston's. At one point, it appeared to be on its way to the floor for an awards ceremony now on hold. Instead of being hoisted by the Celtics, it was hauled off to LAX and loaded into a jet's cargo hold for the six-hour flight to New England.

Despite the loss, the tradition-drenched Celtics feel good about their chances of winning a 17th title -- on the 17th.

"We're one up, with two games to go at home," said Paul Pierce, who scored 38 in Game 5. "It still feels like we have the advantage."

So the 11th installment of Celtics vs. Lakers, the league's signature rivalry and one of the best in pro sports, has at least one more 48-minute episode.

Now five games old, this series has had plenty of drama (Pierce's return from a Game 1 knee injury), history (Boston's finals record 24-point comeback in Game 4), surprises (Leon Powe's emergence as a Game 2 star) and even a little scandal as former referee Tim Donaghy's allegations of fixed playoff games has hung over the finals like a layer of L.A. smog.

The Lakers are trying to become the first team in finals history to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a title, and they're one step closer. If they can win Game 6 tonight in TD Banknorth Garden, they'll force a decisive Game 7 to cap a season as trying as any in commissioner David Stern's career.