I tried to write the intro for this post earlier this afternoon, but my prediction of Kendrick Perkins scoring 36 on the way to a big Celtics lead at the half didn’t exactly pan out.

We’ve had some surprises early. First Kobe came out and hit more three’s in the first quarter than he’s hit in the entire series. Then the Lakers built a 20-point lead. Then Phil Jackson fell asleep on the bench. And then Chris Mihm took Phil’s catnap as an opportunity to sneak into the game. By the time the assistant coaches woke Phil, Mihm had put together a pretty impressive line of 1 airball, 1 turnover and 2 fouls. Say what you will - the man knows how to fill a score sheet.

In less surprising game news the Lakers jumped out to an early lead, TBL deemed the game over and the Celtics immediately came back. Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant are doing their respective “thing(s)” - Pierce is scoring and Kobe is glaring and yelling at his teammates.

At the half:

LA 55, Boston 52