Los Angeles Lakers 91, Boston 84

[recap] [box score]

This one stings. A lot.

I have lots of complaints about the officiating and some general thoughts about this game, but I'd be remiss not to mention some things that Boston did wrong in this game:

• Obviously, the 21-5 run to end the first quarter killed us, and it continued into the second period as LA built a 17-point lead. I thought Doc made two mistakes here, both involving Kevin Garnett. KG had gotten off to a fantastic start and Doc removed him a bit early, and then let him sit for too long in the second.
• With Paul Pierce in foul trouble (more on this later), we really bogged the offense down looking for Ray Allen. For a good stretch in the second half, our offense consisted of like 14 seconds of watching Ray run around screens trying to break free. This is bad under normal circumstances, because if it doesn't work, we're left with a bad look at the end of the shot clock. It was particularly bad on this occasion, because Ray went 0-for-13.
• The 1-2 pick-and-roll that LA ran with Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant killed us in the fourth quarter. We needed to switch it more than we did. I know Rajon Rondo on Bryant is not an ideal matchup, but Fisher has shown throughout his career that he can make open shots, particularly in the clutch. Bryant contested by Rondo is better for us than Fisher contested by no one.

Obligatory comment about the officiating: It sucked. It's sucked all series, and it sucked tonight. Kendrick Perkins' second foul, an allegedly moving screen, was awful, and they took Pierce out of the game by calling him for his fifth early in the fourth quarter while fighting Ron Artest for position defensively.

And now, the silver lining: Tonight convinced me, beyond all doubt, that we are good enough to win this series. Ray went 0-fer. Pierce was limited due to fouls. Rondo had a pedestrian game. LA got the majority of the calls. And yet we were right there. LA didn't have a great game offensively, but -- save the aforementioned difficulty guarding Fisher in the fourth quarter -- that was in large part due to Boston's excellent defense. Boston struggled offensively, but it wasn't all because of LA; Ray and Pierce had the same looks they had last game, good ones, but they just didn't knock them down. If we can keep up the same defensive performance, we'll win the series.

But that's a big if. There's zero margin for error now. The next two games are vital.