The fifteen-minute halftime break felt especially short for the Los Angeles Lakers, who were already exhausted.
When the two teams returned to the court to begin the third quarter, the Staples Center fans tried to help the home team regain their rhythm with a roar.
In the first five minutes of the third quarter, Shaquille O'Neal O'Neal abandoned the style of play he had in the first half, which involved seeking calls from the referees. He calmed down, positioned himself in the paint, and used his massive frame to do what he did best.
"Bang! Bang!"
Big Ben maintained his defensive position, but O'Neal, with his strength advantage, managed to carve out a sliver of space on the left side of the basket and scored with a hook shot.
In the next two possessions, O'Neal dominated inside and even passed the ball to Marion was cutting to the perimeter, for a dunk.
An 8-2 run brought the Lakers within 10 points at 46-56.
The Staples Center erupted in cheers once again, with the DJ leading the fans in chants of "Defense!"
In their view, Los Angeles ' counterattack was imminent.
With seven minutes left in the third quarter, the Lakers attempted to capitalize on their momentum. Jason Kidd called for a screen at the top of the key, trying to use his speed to break past Gary Payton.
But this veteran, also from Oakland, knows Kidd's dribbling habits all too well.
When Kidd attempted to use a sharp crossover to get past the defender, Gary Payton accurately seized the momentary opening. He aggressively stepped forward half a step, reached out with both hands, and cleanly sliced the lower half of the basketball.
"Smack!"
The basketball slipped from his grasp.
Kidd instinctively turned to look at the referee. But the steal was clean, and there was no whistle.
Gary Payton scooped up the basketball that had rolled to the ground, dribbled straight to the frontcourt, and scored a layup. Staples, which had just begun to show signs of hope, immediately fell silent.
Without the frequent fouls and free throw pauses, the high-intensity, physically demanding game began to expose the Lakers players' declining stamina.
With nine minutes remaining in the third quarter, O'Neal had just reached the three-point line when he instinctively placed his hands on his knees, panting heavily. His jersey was completely soaked with sweat, and his defensive movement was noticeably slower.
By the fourth quarter, the game had completely turned in Boston's favor.
Without frequent referee intervention, the Boston Celtics, with their superior roster depth, completely controlled the game defensively. While the Lakers ' starters were panting from exhaustion, Boston's defensive rotations remained highly intense.
With three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Lakers forward Lamar Odom faked a shot on the perimeter, barely getting past Chris Paul Pierce by half a body length, and drove straight into the paint. Seeing the empty basket, Odom gathered the ball and jumped, preparing to boost morale with a dunk.
But just as he reached his highest point and was about to slam the ball into the basket, a green figure quickly came to the rescue from the weak side baseline.
That's Kevin Garnett.
Garnett seized the opportunity, leaping into the air the instant Odom raised the ball above his head. He used his speed and wingspan to create a defensive barrier in mid-air.
"Bang!"
With a dull thud, Garnett forcefully slammed the basketball from Odom's hands onto the backboard.
A clean nail board cap.
The basketball bounced and landed in Big Ben's hands. After landing, Odom lost his balance and fell out of bounds. He looked at the baseline referee, but the referee did not react.
In the ensuing offensive possession, Chauncey Billups Billups controlled the tempo from the top of the key.
He glanced at the shot clock and gestured. Garnett quickly set a screen, blocking Kidd. Billups took a step to the side, facing Odom who had switched onto him, and decisively pulled up for a three-pointer.
"Whoosh!"
The basketball went through the net cleanly.
The score is now 88 to 65, a difference of 23 points.
That block followed by a three-pointer completely extinguished the Los Angeles Lakers' last bit of fighting spirit.
Staples Center fell silent. Twenty thousand fans stared at the scoreboard, the placards they had held up at the start of the game now placed beside their seats. Jack Kerr, in the VIP section, took off his sunglasses and chewed gum expressionlessly.
With four minutes remaining in the game, the outcome was already decided for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Phil Jackson sighed helplessly. He walked to the scorer's table and requested the final timeout of the game, subsequently substituting all the starting players, including O'Neal and Kidd.
They raised the white flag and surrendered.
As O'Neal walked to the bench, he plopped down in a chair, pulled a towel over his head, and gasped for breath. Without the rest time afforded by the whistles, he finally understood the wear and tear that the Boston defenders could put on him.
The last three minutes of the game became garbage time.
Los Angeles fans in the stands began to leave early, and the aisle leading to the exit was crowded with the backs of people wearing purple and gold jerseys.
"Drop--!"
The red light indicating the end of the match came on.
102 to 81.
The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers by 21 points on the road, winning this pivotal Game 5 and taking a 3-2 lead in the series.
The Boston players simply gave each other calm high-fives and hugs. They knew that as long as the officiating was fair, victory would be a natural outcome.
Lin Qi stood up in front of the away team's bench.
He glanced at the Lakers players heading towards the player tunnel, then at the gradually emptying stands, his expression calm.
Stern kept his promise and gave the game a fair playing field. Lin Qi's team responded with their performance.
The PR manager walked over and asked in a low voice, "Boss, shall we go back to the hotel to celebrate? We've got the match point."
"There's nothing to celebrate." Lin Qi turned to look at the stadium dome. "Notify the crew that the whole team should shower and head straight to the airport to fly back to Boston tonight."
"Understood." The PR manager nodded.
"Also, follow up on the reception arrangements for the VIP boxes at the sixth game the day after tomorrow. Raise the security level to the highest." Lin Qi straightened his suit sleeves and continued, "Many important people will be there; there can't be any mistakes."
The PR manager's expression turned serious, and he immediately took out a memo and wrote it down, "I'll get on it right away."
Lin Qi looked up and took one last look at the Lakers ' championship banners hanging in the Staples dome.