11:49: Vujacic misses a three, Posey gets knocked down on the board, and hits two free throws to ice it 108-102. The late great Gino can dance after all. ABC just said, "A wild finish at the Staples Center!" Glad the C's weren't the only ones who forgot what they were doing down the stretch. The good news: the C's are coming back to Boston, either for Game Six or a parade. This is the kind of game you take the win and get the hell out of the building. Thanks for reading and commenting, everyone!

11:46: Two very pretty free throws by Pierce. As crushing as it would be to blow a 22-point lead, it's gotta hurt to take a 22-point lead down to 2 and never get over the top. We're telling ourselves that, anyway.

11:45: Down to two. Pierce draws a foul. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

11:41: It's a four point game. Um. Eep. Er.

11:38: The Magic/Bird split-screen commercial! It's a little disturbing that those two are now the same size.

11:32: LA's still alive, unlike that cameraman that James Posey just fell on. Not a bad ending for the guy; how many people get their death twitches televised on National TV?

11:26: After a couple sloppy plays whittle it down to 18, Doc wisely(!) calls a time out, hopefully to tell the guys to rein it in a little bit, and not start trying things like Leon shooting over the back of his head.

11:24: Kobe just whiffed on an alley-oop. It might be fair to say it's not LA's night. Doc's standing on the sidelines with a big ol' grin.

11:20: Celebrity montage: Vince Young, Donovan McNabb, Leonardo diCaprio, and Leon Powe. Coast to Coast Leon Powe.

11:13: Leon Powe for mayor! We'll be out tomorrow collecting signatures.

11:11: Doc: 22-point lead, everything going well....now might be the time to ask Michelle Tafoya out and break the tension that's been building this whole playoff run. Just sayin'.

11:07: Leon Powe's been the Human Exclamation Point tonight. He just finished off the third by slamming it over 2 Lakers. 22 point lead after three. Is the late great Gino warming up yet?

11:05: We'll take more shots of Kobe sitting on the LA bench looking thoroughly disgusted, please, ABC. Kthxbye

11:02: Celtics 11-point run, time out L.A. Everything's coming up green right now, up by 20.

10:58: With some bleeding of the lead, Doc called a timeout, and Pierce took over after the time out. Kobe just chucked a bad 3, and Odom just pissed off P.J. Brown by throwing the ball at him out of bounds. Interesting.

10:50: Well, we made it through 2 1/2 quarters before Kobe draws his first real questionable foul. With Stern in the building, though, this could be a long second half of Kobe free throws.

10:49: Banner night for Odom: he just picked up his fourth foul on Rondo, while the ABC guys marvel at Rajon. And why not?

10:45: We're not sure that reaction shot of Phil Jackson (after an Odom foul) wasn't actually a still photograph taken earlier in the night. We're also not completely sure Phil realizes what's going on here.

10:42: KG just embarassed Odom (is that the first time we've typed Odom's name all night?) and Pierce converts a three. This kinda sorta looks like the Celtics of the regular season.

10:40: Kobe just got T'ed up. Do you believe in miracles?!?

10:38: If we learn nothing else tonight, we've learned that Magic Johnson loves him some popcorn.

10:34: Halftime locker room shots: Phil talking to an amazingly glum LA team, the Doctor fired up. The ABC guys are marveling about Paul Pierce. We like these signs.

10:31: You'd kind of have to be made of stone not to be moved by the halftime Personal Glimpse of Leon Powe. He spent a lot of his early life homeless in Oakland, looked after his family, and his Mom died just before he made it big. Of course, in LA, they probably think he was faking it.

10:22: Our table has devolved into a discussion of Michael Wilbon's flowery purple handkerchief. Let's take five.

10:15: The Celtics end the first half, which was not an artistic gem, with an 12-point lead. It was just pointed out that if the C's keep Kobe to three points per personal foul, we're looking pretty good. Three stars so far: Pierce, Powe, Rondo.

10:13: LA just got Rondo'd. Twice.

10:11: Three fouls on Kobe? Well, at least we know what Phil Jackson will talk about at the postgame press conference. And we know three referees who will be visiting Stern's office tomorrow.

10:08: While we were focused on Hungry Hungry Hippos, Pierce and Allen just nailed back to back three's. We're going to spend a little more time thinking about hippos, if that works for you.

10:06: They're showing some clips of Celtics in the community, including Brian Scalabrine playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with some Little Scalabrine Urban Achievers. One of our crew just made the wistful observation that H.H.H. is a lot more fun in the memory than in real life.

10:01: They just showed Antoine, Curt Schilling (flashing a ring), Magic Johnson, David Stern and Jon Lester (the recipient of the Heroes Among Us award). If you're into celebrity spotting. Better than Dyan Cannon, that's for sure.

9:56: Perk just worked Pau Gasol for two and a foul. Perk seems to be healthy. Just stay out of foul trouble, Big Fella.

9:54: Unfortunately, Kobe seems to have found his shot. Luckily for him, Doc Rivers has a policy of never ever ever trying to go after guys who are in foul trouble.

9:51: The C's convert a Kobe turnover (notice Kobe only smiles when it's a rueful smile when a call doesn't go his way?) and Posey nails a 3. And did we mention we LOVE LEON POWE?!?!?

9:46: Commercial update: We have big big plans for the $10 we're not going to spend on Tropic Thunder this summer.

9:44: Leon hits two. Farmar throws a wild brick. Pierce for 3. The Garden is alive. And did we spot Antoine Walker in the crowd??

9:42: Which, of course, was the answer to the question: "Which Celtic looks completely inept from the free throw line tonight?" The Lakers keep turning it over, though, so it's still a close game.

9:41: When PJ Brown's shot is on, it's like watching someone roll a billiard ball across the table and into the pocket. And, in an unrelated matter, LEON POWE!!!!!

9:39: Sam is in for Rondo to start the second, and is immediately frantically calling for the ball. Say what you want about Sam, it would take two broken arms and an IRS audit to discourage him.

9:32: In the first non-Kobe possession by the C's, they pass it around like a struggling hockey team on a power play. Um, guys....attack? Fortunately, KG pops the shot with 22 seconds gone by on the 24-second clock.

9:28: Kobe Bryant has two fouls in the first quarter of a Finals game? We're on 1-800-flowers.com arranging for sympathy bouquets for the widows Javie and Salvatore.

9:26: Derek Fisher's straddling that line between "scares the hell out of us every time he shoots" and "can't his sand if he falls off a camel". We'd much prefer him in the latter category.

9:21: So far, best line of the night at our table: "Every year, Phil Jackson looks just a little more like Colonel Sanders."

9:18: First timeout. If the Lakers were going to come out with an extra burst of energy (like the guy on the radio was so damn sure they would), the C's have handled it pretty well.

9:15: Impressively, Pau Gasol just did a nice job of backing Garnett down for two. Gasol looks kind of like a cross between the archetypal Spaniard and Thomas Jane when he played "Homeless Dad" on Arrested Development.

9:12: Sweet little give-and-go from Rondo to Pierce for two and a foul. He sure isn't playing like he just almost blew out his knee, which should give LA something to holler about for a while.

9:10: Vladimir Radmanovic observes the tradition, that no European player in the history of the NBA has ever committed a foul. Well...maybe Vitaly Potapenko.

9:09: Pierce for 3. We're going to be hopeful and copy that sentence to our clipboard.

9:07: Celts win the tip, then Perk gets an offensive foul. Meanwhile, Steve Javie must be trapped under something to not ref either of the first two games.

9:02: Pierce looks quietly confident. In fact, Jeff Van Gundy looks a lot more nervous than Pierce does. ABC just showed a graphic comparing Kobe in the first 3 rounds to Kobe in game 2, and used comedy/tragedy pictures of Kobe to illustrate.

8:59: Introducing the coaches: Phil's standing there looking like Yoda, and Doc is nervously scribbling on his clipboard. We'd be worried, but...well, we're a little worried.

8:57: Go ahead, ask us if Clint Mansell's "Lux aeterna" and 50's "AYO Technology (Instrumental)" are in heavy rotation on our iPods after the C's playoff run. We'll answer honestly.

8:54: The Boston Pops are doing the National Anthem, with Keith Lockhart wearing a Celtic jersey (#95?) as a nighshirt. At least the Pops stick to the tune, and don't make "wave" a four-syllable word, like some anthem singers we could mention.

8:47: ABC showing shots of Kobe wandering around Boston in the last few days. He was strolling along the Common and down near the Public Garden (we're told the Lakers stay at the Four Seasons, but so do the Charlotte Bobcats). Happily, Kobe never showed up in the Boston Blotter (too soon?)

8:41: We're live! We're online at the Common Ground in Allston. Burgers and chili have been consumed, beer as well, and we've been watching the pregame show, which has featured live shots of Perk and Pierce in pregame warmups and an interview with "Celtics Legend" M.L. Carr. Now Bill Russell's talking, and we can't really hear him, which is a shame. We'll have to wait until he laughs.