BOSTON — The Lakers were dominant down low, the Celtics unable to stop Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, when good fortune smiled upon the Celtics as a most unusual event took place, something called the start of the fourth quarter.
Gasol had one shot, Bynum had two over the final 12 minutes, and the Celtics evened up the NBA Finals with a 103-94 victory in Game 2 on Sunday.
Gasol had 25 points but only one in the fourth quarter, and Bynum had 21 in the game, four in the fourth quarter, part of the reason the Lakers headed to Boston in a deadlocked series that resumes Tuesday with Game 3 at certain-to-be-raucous TD Garden.
Or as Celtics forward Kevin Garnett said, "I feel good going back to the jungle."
Neither Garnett (six points) nor Paul Pierce (10 points) were problems for the Lakers in Game 2, though Pierce could be heard proclaiming, "Ain't coming back to L.A.," after helping up Kendrick Perkins near the baseline on a late fourth-quarter play.
The Lakers' issues, more specifically, were Ray Allen hitting from the outside (eight 3-pointers), which is never a shocker, and Rajon Rondo also shooting well from the perimeter, somewhat surprising for the 24-year-old who drives and rebounds as well as any guard in the league but isn't known for his steady shot.
The Lakers are looking internally, however, at getting more touches for their big men.
Gasol made 7 of 10 shots and Bynum made 6 of 10, but should Ron Artest really have taken 10 shots, especially since he made only one?
"Our big guys played great, Bynum and Pau," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "We didn't get the ball often enough to them or in good enough position many times, and a lot of our shooting outside was not that well."
Both post players took the diplomatic approach, presumably because the series is so young.
"Obviously, we can get more touches," Bynum said. "But that's still not going to help us beat this team because you can't beat them one-on-one. We have to create more movement and more motion to create confusion, and that's what we did during Game 1."
Gasol said the work he and Bynum did down low was not wasted.
"We didn't win," he said, "but our effort was good and it's going to have to be even better."
mbresnahan@tribune.com