Kobe Bryant, who scored 25 points, including 2 on a final-minute dunk, shooting over Ray Allen and James Posey.
LOS ANGELES — Nine bright gold banners are stretched in three neat rows high above the south end of Staples Center, a reminder of past glory and present goals. On Sunday night, that loose quilt of championship dreams looked like one big security blanket to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Boston Celtics came within inches of claiming the N.B.A. title on the Lakers’ home court. But the Lakers leaned hard on their veterans as the evening grew late and pulled out a 103-98 victory that extended the finals for at least another two days and sent the series back to Boston.
As confetti fell and “I Love L.A.” played on the loudspeakers for the last home game of the season, Kobe Bryant clapped to the fans, and the public-address announcer Lawrence Tanter proclaimed, “This is not over yet!”
“I know I didn’t want to see the Celtics celebrating on my home floor with Champagne and all that,” said Lakers center Pau Gasol, who — as his comments indicated — played with a rare feistiness. “We didn’t play our best game, but we played our hearts out.”
The Celtics now have two chances to take the title at TD Banknorth Garden, starting with Game 6 on Tuesday, when the Lakers will try to delay their gratification once more. The Celtics’ disappointment was offset by the security of a 3-2 lead in the series, and their 12-1 playoff record at home.
“It’s going to be like coming into the Amazon, into the jungle,” the Celtics’ Kevin Garnett said.
In a near-repeat of Game 4, the Celtics erased deficits of 19 points (first half) and 14 points (fourth quarter), but this time found the Lakers to be more resilient — and crafty.
Bryant and Derek Fisher, the only two starters left from the Lakers’ last championship team, delivered the crushing blows in the final minute.
Paul Pierce, who had 38 points for the Celtics, had a chance to tie the game with about a minute to play. He slipped past Bryant, but Bryant reached in and poked the ball away, raced the other direction, took a looping pass from Lamar Odom and threw down a two-handed dunk that electrified the crowd and gave the Lakers a 99-95 lead with 37.4 seconds left.
“Just a great defensive play,” Pierce said.
It was one of six Laker steals in the fourth quarter, one of three by Bryant, who got Pierce twice.
The Celtics never recovered. Ray Allen missed a runner, and Garnett failed to tip it in. Eddie House missed one 3-pointer, then made his next attempt to cut the deficit to 101-98. But by then it was too late. Fisher hit two free throws with nine seconds left, then stole James Posey’s inbounds pass.
“It definitely hurts,” Pierce said. “Tough one to swallow.”
After giving away their lead, the Lakers slowly built it back again and had a 90-79 advantage with under eight minutes to play. It did not last long. Sam Cassell, the Celtics’ ageless reserve point guard, hit a layup. Pierce followed with two free throws, and Posey hit a 3-pointer — his first points of the night — as the Celtics scored 11 straight points to tie the game.
Boston’s prospects dimmed a minute later, when Pierce and Garnett each picked up their fifth fouls in a span of six seconds. Coach Doc Rivers left both in the game, and Pierce hit four free throws down the stretch.
The foul trouble hurt the Celtics, but so did the absence of center Kendrick Perkins, who sat out with a shoulder injury, and a general lack of aggression. For the first time in the series, the Lakers looked like the more physical team. Gasol had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Odom had 20 points and 11 rebounds.
The Celtics started Leon Powe at center and used a lot of P. J. Brown but seemed to miss Perkins’s brawny presence. They ended the night with other concerns. Allen left the arena immediately after the game because of “a health issue with one of his children,” according to written a statement from Rivers.
No team has ever won the finals after trailing, 3-1, but Lakers Coach Phil Jackson thought his team was up for the challenge.
“We’re young enough and dumb enough to be able to do this,” he said before the game. He said “the light was back” in his veterans’ eyes, an indication that they were over their Game 4 collapse, when the Celtics wiped out a 24-point deficit in the biggest comeback in finals history.
Boston did not have a lead in the first 26 minutes Sunday. The Celtics tied it for the first time early in the third, then went ahead, 58-57, on a Pierce free throw. But the Lakers pushed back.
Gasol drove for a pair of layups, Fisher banked in an 18-footer and the Lakers rebuilt the lead, to 79-70 heading into the fourth. A 3-pointer by Odom made it a 12-point game with 11:04 to play.
Jackson was trying to preserve his chance to win a 10th championship, and break his tie with the Celtics legend Red Auerbach. Rivers was seeking his first ring, and doing it on an emotionally volatile Father’s Day. His father, Grady Rivers, died in November. The mere mention of it on Friday made Rivers choke up.
The opening minutes of Game 5 looked a lot like the opening minutes of Game 4 — dominated entirely by the Lakers. Bryant hit four 3-pointers, Fisher added another and the Lakers raced to a 31-15 lead in the first 10 minutes.
This time, the Celtics did not wait to gather themselves. After the Lakers extended the lead to 19 early in the second quarter, Boston scored 15 unanswered points, knocking the deficit down to 43-39. Pierce did most of the work, with 11 points in the run and 16 in the quarter.
It was a messy stretch for the Lakers. Fisher and Chris Mihm shot air balls. Bryant and Odom each threw passes away. Gasol missed two free throws. But Odom scored on three layups and Jordan Farmar hit a 3-pointer to hold off Boston’s charge.
With nearly three days to burn between games, columnists and talk-show hosts exhausted themselves placing blame for the Lakers’ Game 4 collapse. Jackson took several hits, for being outcoached by Rivers. Bryant was faulted for being overly aggressive in the third quarter, after having great success as a passer in the first half. Even the fans came under fire, for going silent during the Celtics’ rally.
Properly chastened, the crowd responded with the proper enthusiasm and volume Sunday. They booed when the Lakers lost the opening tip. They roared, unprovoked, and started a “Let’s go Lakers” chant in the third quarter, after the Celtics took the lead.
With the series down to a game or two, the age-old rivalry grows more taut. The Celtics need one win for their 17th title. The Lakers need two wins for their 10th in Los Angeles, and 14th over all.
“Well, we wanted to go back home,” Rivers said, “but we didn’t want to play.”
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