Sports Redux: Hanging On For Dear Life

Sure, the Lakers were shorthanded, missing a future Hall-of-Famer whose basket beat the Celtics in Boston back in January. But the Celtics were shorthanded, too, with one backup PG en route to the Knicks and the new one on his way to join the team out West. So the C's sympathize.

OK, missing Eddie House/Nate Robinson isn't quite the same thing as missing Kobe Bryant. But the Lakers were 4-0 without Kobe, and are now 4-1, after the C's built a big lead, watch it slip away, then found themselves again down the stretch to come out of the Staples Center with an 87-86 win. It was a team effort, with all five starters in double figures and Rondo and Perk adding double-doubles in their respective specialties.

But the happiest news of the night came from the trade the C's didn't make, as Ray Allen found his shot again to lead the team with 24 points. Including 4-of-6 from long range, which is a welcome sight. "I think we should threaten to trade him all the time and then pull him back," marveled Doc Rivers, who has to know that Ray is basketball-savvy enough to know the trading deadline has passed and that ship has sailed. Ray also got right in the face of Derek Fisher as he tried to win the game with 2.2 seconds left and flung up an airball instead. Welcome back, Ray.

So this marks the C's' first win against a legitimate contender since Christmas, and their second since Opening Day. They go to Portland tonight, who's good but not at that level, and finish their road trip Sunday against Denver, who is. Robinson is expected to be in Portland tonight; the Globe's Gary Washburn thinks he'll fit in just fine. As for the ever-tantalizing Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens, who were packaged with House to make the numbers work, we wish them well as far as their interests don't conflict with ours.

Today is a sports day that's bigger than the Olympics, bigger than the Super Bowl, bigger than a day at Hershey Park with Charles Barkley. That's right; it's the day Tiger Woods appears before a handpicked collection of journalists and reads a statement that we're positive won't answer any questions we have, such as (a) what made him completely freak out two months ago, (b) what exactly it is they do at a sex addiction camp, (c) is this for real, (d) why do we care, and (e) what people who have sex addictions are supposed to do when they don't have millions of dollars and a hot wife. Which makes it too bad that he's likely going to read a toothless prepared statement and then go back to therapy. ESPN wonders if it will crack the Top 25 Apologies in Sports History. 6 of them are from guys who have or had local connections, if you count John Calipari and UMass.

Lori Shepler/Associated Press.