The Celtics knew Game Four was a must win game for them.  And win they did.  Helped largely by the bench, the Celtics were victorious over the Lakers by a score of 96-89, tying the series at 2-2, and guaranteeing a Game Six in Los Angeles.  Glen “Big Baby” Davis was the catalyst, scoring half of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and living up to his name by drooling while celebrating a big bucket down the stretch.  Nate Robinson, Tony Allen and Rasheed Wallace were also key contributors in the fourth quarter off the bench.  That group scored 36 bench points, compared to 18 for the Lakers.  Balanced scoring also led to the C’s victory, as six players were in double figures in points.

For the Lakers, Kobe Bryant had a better shooting performance and finished with 33 points.  Pau Gasol added 21, but was almost invisible in the fourth quarter, while the Celtics energetic (and at times unstable) bench caused the TD Garden to rock.  The key on the Lakers’ side was turnovers, as Kobe had seven.  Additionally, the Lakers were out rebounded by the Celtics 41-34 (16-8 on offensive rebounds).  Whichever team has won the rebound battle this series has been the team to win the game thus far.  Rebounds are definitely a key to watch out for during Game Five.

Game Five is the last home game for Boston this season, and understandably, ticket prices listed on the secondary market for this game are continuing to increase.  Surprisingly, prices for Game Six have dropped, despite that the series is now guaranteed to go at least six games.  Prices for Game Seven have dropped a bit, as well, as each team still has to win one more game each for the series to reach seven games.

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Game Two was the Ray Allen show early, and the Rajon Rondo show down the stretch to clinch the victory and tie the series at one heading back to Boston for Game Three.  Allen put on a shooting clinic, making his first seven shots from behind the arc, scoring 27 first half points before his first three-point miss.  At the end of the day, Allen finished with 32 points, but it was Rondo who stole the show and solidified the win for the Celtics down the stretch.  Rondo ended up with a triple-double, 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.  He had a typically stellar Rondo performance dishing the ball out, and creating for other players to score as well.  The one negative for the C’s, however, was Kevin Garnett’s second poor performance of the series.  As the talks of KG on the decline increase, he only perpetuated the dialogue by scoring 6 points and pulling down only 4 rebounds while in foul trouble the entire game.

On the Lakers’ side of things, Pau Gasol had another great game, scoring a team-high 25 points.  Andrew Bynum put in a great performance, scoring 21, and was largely responsible for KG’s lack of impact for the Celtics.  Kobe Bryant also added 21 points, in an underwhelming Kobe performance.  Ultimately, however, the Lakers fell short on the defensive end.  They had no answer for the Celtics’ guards, especially Allen.  If they are going to regain the series lead, they have to stop the likes of Allen and Rondo, while hoping that the Celtics’ big men, especially Garnett, don’t pick up their play.

With the Celtics evening things up, sending the series back to Boston for three games in a row, SeatGeek has noted a profound effect on ticket prices on the secondary market.  As seen below, tickets have continued to rise, and with the Celtics’ win, the series is guaranteed now to go at least five games.

Note: represents average listing prices

Be sure to follow us on Twitter @SeatGeekNBA, or email justin@seatgeek.com for more NBA Finals news and ticket information.