Celtics choke out Kobe, Lakers

No one will ever confuse Kobe Bryant with Michael Jordan again.
Thursday night's Game 4 of the NBA Finals sealed Kobe's fate as a just another great player in the league's history who couldn't achieve supernova status. There's no way that Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson or anybody in that conversation would have allowed his team to blow a 24-point lead at home in a must-win game, but Kobe and his Los Angeles Lakers did just that in a crushing 97-91 loss to the Boston Celtics at Staples Center.
This series is as good as over. Banner 17 is halfway up to the rafters at the TD Banknorth Garden, the product of a game that will go down with all the other great ones in Celtics' lore. Boston outscored the Lakers 31-15 in the third quarter and finally overcame Los Angeles in the fourth with 4:07 to play, the product of a desperate effort by Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and key performances by role players like James Posey (18 points) and Eddie House (filling in for injured point guards Rajon Rondo and Sam Cassell). 
And where was Kobe while all of this was going on? He may as well have been trying to beat the traffic on I-5, because he certainly didn't show up at all for this one. Kobe missed 13 of his 19 shots and finished with 17 points, hardly an effort worthy of a man who feels like he is one of the greatest to ever play the game. Kobe was swarmed by a Celtics defense that slumbered its way through the opening half before roaring to life over the final 24 minutes, sealing off the paint and stopping the Lakers from generating anything on the offensive end. Sasha Vujacic, the hero of Game 3 with 20 points, finished 1-for-9 in Game 4. Lamar Odom followed up a 7-for-7 first half by retreating to the shadows and going 1-for-4 in the second half. Pau Gasol remained soft and lost against Garnett. Vladimir Radmanovic isn't scaring anybody. Derek Fisher has been MIA the entire series. 
Which brings us back to Kobe. This is what he wanted when he ran off Shaq. Kobe insisted that it was his turn to be the lead dog on a title contender. He was tired of being a "sidekick." He wanted to take all the big shots down the stretch and bask in the glow of his own brilliance. Kobe wanted to hear the home crowd chant 'M.V.P.' as he stepped to the foul line late in a game for some clinching free throws. He never could have imagined that crowd sitting on its hands in the second half Thursday night, paralyzed by fear when the Celtics made their run. And now he has to answer for one of the biggest collapses in NBA playoff history, one that will cost the Lakers a title that every expert had going their way. Kobe will have to respond to all the tough questions, now and in the future, and not even his petulant nature will be enough to keep his critics from taking their shots right to his face. That old saying about being careful what you wish for? It never seemed as appropriate as it does right now.