the Lakers' lead to 76–73. Although Artest exhibited shooting difficulties throughout the game, he answered in spectacular fashion by sinking a three-point goal to restore his team's lead back to six with a minute remaining in the game. It would prove to be the lethal blow for the Celtics. The Celtic offense suffered heavily in the fourth quarter as four key players (Garnett, Davis, Pierce, and Wallace) earned four or more personal fouls. Wallace would later depart from the game after fouling out. After Artest's three, Allen would respond with a three-pointer of his own to cut the Lakers' lead to three again. In the ensuing play, Bryant attempted a three, but the three missed. Fortunately for the Lakers, Gasol was there to get the crucial offensive rebound. Gasol then passed the ball to Bryant, who was then fouled by Wallace, fouling him out. Bryant attained two more free throws on Wallace's foul to extend the lead to five, 81–76. After a Celtic timeout, Allen attempted a three-pointer but he missed it. Rondo grabbed the offensive rebound and hit a three-pointer to bring the Celtics within two, 81–79. However, the Celtics were forced to foul Sasha Vujačić, consequently enabling the Laker guard to complete two free throws and help his team take a four-point lead, 83–79, over Boston. With 11.7 seconds left in the game, Rondo made one last-ditch effort to revive the Celtics' hopes by attempting a three-pointer. The ball missed the basket enabling Gasol to make a defensive rebound. Gasol passed the ball to Odom who quickly threw it to the opposite end of the court as the buzzer sounded. Bryant, despite shooting 6 for 24 from the field, scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter. He was named the Finals MVP for the second straight season. Pierce led the Celtics with 18 points and ten rebounds, but he shot 5–15 from the field. The Lakers had 23 offensive rebounds and out-rebounded the Celtics, 53–40. Gasol had 18 rebounds and Bryant added 15. Los Angeles shot 37 free throws to Boston's 17. After the game, Lakers head coach Phil Jackson hailed Artest, who scored 20 points in Game 7 including his last-second three-pointer, as the "Most Valuable Player" of the game. Statistics Rosters Los Angeles Lakers Boston Celtics Player statistics Los Angeles Lakers |- | align="left" | || 7 || 7 || 35.9 ||