Incredible comeback has Celtics on brink of title

The Boston Celtics used their defense to generate one of the greatest comebacks in playoff history and now stand one win from their first championship since 1986.

Paul Pierce scored 20 points as the Celtics rallied from a 24-point first-half deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 97-91, in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Boston's defense locked down on Kobe Bryant and outscored the Lakers, 57-33 in the second half.

"It's just great mental toughness," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "We've been preaching leaning in. When things get bad, we leaned into each other all year and tonight we did it."

One of the greatest NBA finals games ever. Congrats to Boston...no team has ever come back in the Finals when down 3-1. Is this series over?