NBA finals shift to Boston as Celtics try to close out series

BOSTON —Kevin Garnett said he was looking forward to returning to Boston as his team bids to claim a trio of home wins over the Los Angeles Lakers to lock up an 18th NBA title.

The best-of-seven series is tied at 1-1 ahead of Game 3, which is played on Tuesday night. Two further games take place in Boston, on Thursday and Sunday, meaning the title could be wrapped up before the series goes back west.

Garnett said Sunday he was feeling good “going back to the jungle," the site of perhaps the most miserable moment of Kobe Bryant’s career the last time he and the Lakers were here for the finals.

The finals are deadlocked after two games for the first time since 2004.

The Celtics evened the series with their 103-94 victory in Game 2, with guards Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen taking turns punishing the Lakers, and Bryant often powerless to stop them because of foul trouble.

A fuming Bryant had little to say afterward, offering terse responses as he looked back on that game and ahead to the next one.

“It’s the most important game. Game 1 was the most important, Game 2 was the most important, now it’s Game 3," Bryant said. “It’s just the next game, simple as that."

The Detroit Pistons split a pair of matches in Los Angeles in 2004 before coming home and winning three straight to take the series. That was Bryant’s first loss in the championship round.

His other one came two years ago, on a night the Lakers will never forget.

The Celtics pummeled them 131-92 in a Game 6 rout that was decided after mere minutes.

While Garnett, Allen and Pierce celebrated their long-awaited first NBA title, the humiliated Lakers sat trapped in their team bus as Boston fans taunted them from the street.

“Obviously there are feelings involved and there are memories that are in there, which should help us, should help us to push through and to battle even harder," Lakers forward Pau Gasol said of that night.

Both teams were off Monday following the cross country flight from Los Angeles. The 2-3-2 format in the NBA finals was instituted in the mid-1980s, when Lakers-Celtics matchups were as common in June as graduation parties, to limit the amount of coast-to-coast trips. But a return to California won’t be needed if either team can win three straight.

“We took home court, so we’ve got a chance to play three games (at home)," Celtics forward Paul Pierce said Sunday. “But I told you all … doesn’t guarantee we’re going to win the games because we’re at home. We’ve got to go out there and play the game. They’re going to be coming into our house and we can’t assume anything. We can’t take it for granted."

The Celtics turned things around following their 102-89 loss in their opener by toughening up their defense, limiting the Lakers to 41 percent shooting. Rondo tracked down the long rebounds of many missed shots to ignite Boston’s fast break, and Allen capitalized on the open looks that created by making an NBA finals-record eight 3-pointers while scoring 32 points.

The Lakers were frustrated by the foul trouble for Bryant and top reserve Lamar Odom, who has been ineffective in both games. Bryant was more annoyed with his team’s defense against Boston’s guards, wasting strong efforts from Gasol and center Andrew Bynum.

“It has nothing to do with scoring. Nothing. It’s all defensively," Bryant said. “We gave them too many easy baskets and blew too many defensive assignments. That’s it."

Now they’ll have to play better on the road than they have in some previous series, having lost twice at both Oklahoma City and Phoenix earlier in the postseason.