Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Ray Allen set an NBA Finals record by making eight shots from beyond the arc on the way to a 32-point night, as the Celtics evened the championship series with a 103-94 Game 2 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Rajon Rondo recorded his fifth career playoff triple-double with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for Boston. Rondo had 10 points in the fourth quarter, including six during a big 11-0 run that gave Boston the lead for good.
The defending NBA champions won Thursday's game, 102-89, behind Kobe Bryant's 30-point, seven-rebound, six-assist performance. He had 21 points Sunday.
Pau Gasol recorded 25 points, eight boards and six blocks, while Andrew Bynum notched 21 points and seven blocks.
The next three contests of the best-of-seven series are in Boston, starting with Game 3 Tuesday.
Bryant was in foul trouble most of the night and played the majority of the final quarter with five, but his jumper provided a 90-87 lead with 5:21 remaining.
Rondo came back with a driving layup to start Boston's big 11-0 push. Allen, who went 8-of-11 from three-point range, missed one, but Bryant couldn't capitalize at the other end as he missed a jumper.
Rondo was again at the right place at the right time, putting his team ahead. Gasol blocked Kendrick Perkins' hook shot, but Rondo got the ball in the lane and with his left hand lofted it over Gasol for a 91-90 edge with 3:20 remaining.
Kevin Garnett sank a turnaround shot, Rondo canned a jumper from the left elbow and Perkins made a reverse layup for a 97-90 cushion with 1:21 left. Perkins went 1-of-2 from the foul line nine seconds later to cap the monumental rally, sending the Lakers tumbling after they won 12 straight home playoff games.
Allen's eight three-pointers broke the record he shared with Houston's Kenny Smith (1995) and Chicago's Scottie Pippen (1997). He also eclipsed the old mark for most three-balls in one half of a Finals game with seven in the first half.
Allen had 27 points in the first half, but the Celtics held just a six-point lead. Boston, which beat the Lakers in six games in the 2008 Finals, had just two turnovers over the final 24 minutes.
Allen made his first seven three-point shots in the first half. That performance was already a sharp contrast to his 12-point effort in the opener on Thursday.
Garnett was forced to sit for a big portion of the first half after picking up two fouls less than three minutes into the game and his third with 8:09 left in the half.
Gasol's jumper provided the Lakers with a 21-20 lead with nearly four minutes left in the opening quarter, but Rasheed Wallace's three-ball gave Boston the lead and started a 9-1 spurt to end the period. He capped it with another jumper inside the final minute for the 29-22 advantage.
Allen's sharp long-distance shooting widened the gap in the second. He made four attempts from beyond the arc in less than a four-minute span for a 45-32 lead. Every time the Celtics seemed to get the ball in the post, Allen was open, and the 34-year-old kept sinking shot after shot. A 13-point lead was attained after a make from the left corner with under six minutes left.
Bynum went 1-of-2 at the foul line, but Paul Pierce then drained two from the charity stripe for a 47-33 difference, Boston's biggest of the night.
Allen's pull-up from the right wing went in for a 52-39 lead, making him 7-for-7 from long distance. He finally missed with about a minute left.
Bryant's late surge, combined with Boston's 18 personal fouls in the first half, allowed the Lakers back into the game as they were within 54-48 at the break.
LA finally moved to a 57-56 edge, courtesy of Gasol's jumper two minutes into the third. The back-and-forth battle continued, and Allen's record-breaking three game with 4:40 left in the third, giving Boston a 68-66 edge. It was tied at 72 going to the fourth.
Nate Robinson made a three-pointer and a layup to provide the Celtics with an 83-80 advantage with 8 1/2 minutes remaining.
Bynum and Gasol are the first teammates in NBA Finals history to block at least five shots in the same game...The Lakers set an NBA Finals single-game record with 14 blocks...Rondo had the first triple-double in a Celtics uniform since Larry Bird in 1986. It's the first triple-double in a Finals game since Tim Duncan for San Antonio in 2003...Pierce had 10 points, two fewer than Garnett...Boston finished 11-of-16 from three-point range, while the Lakers ended 5-of-22...Ron Artest scored just six points on 1-of-10 shooting for LA...Pierce went 2-of-11.