BOSTON, June 8 (AP) -- Banner No. 17 is halfway to the rafters. The Celtics are two wins from another NBA championship.

And maybe a little lucky to be there.

Paul Pierce, darting around the parquet floor with ease, scored 28 points, Boston's defense mobbed Kobe Bryant long enough and unknown Leon Powe scored 21 points as the Celtics held off a remarkable Los Angeles rally for a 108-102 win over the Lakers on Sunday night. The Celtics have a 2-0 lead in these trip-down-memory-lane NBA finals.

The Celtics had to work every second to get the win.

The Lakers trailed by 24 with less than 8 minutes to go, but pulled to 104-102 on two free throws by Bryant with 38.4 seconds left. But Pierce made two free throws, then blocked a jumper by Sasha Vujacic, and James Posey made two free throws with 12.6 seconds left to ice it for Boston.

"I think we got kind of complacent with the lead,'' Pierce said. "We weren't staying aggressive. We let them pick up their pressure. We stopped guarding. We got to take a lesson from this fourth quarter to keep playing regardless of the score and finish the game.''

Boston was 27-for-38 from the line, while the Lakers were 10-for-10.

Pierce wasn't slowed by a sprained right knee suffered in the series opener, when he was carried from the court and plopped into a wheelchair. The Boston captain paced the Celtics, who are back in the finals for the first since 1987, when Larry Bird was the main man and gasoline cost 91 cents per gallon.

As usual, Boston's Big Three -- Pierce, Ray Allen (17 points) and Kevin Garnett (17) -- were the ringleaders but Powe, a second-year reserve had the game of his career, adding his 21 points in 15 minutes that may make him a Celtics fan-favorite for life.

Powe, who played a total of 68 seconds during one stretch of 13 games during the season, scored six points to close a 15-2 run ending the third quarter that gave the Celtics a 22-point lead, a burst had the Lakers California dreaming. At one point in the fourth quarter, Boston fans discarded the familiar chants of "Beat L.A.'' for cries of "Le-on Powe!''

Rajon Rondo had 16 assists and Garnett added 14 rebounds for the Celtics, back in the finals for the first time since 1987.

Game 3 is Tuesday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where the Lakers are 8-0 in the postseason and have won 14 in a row at home since March 28. Bryant had better hope the rims there are a little kinder than the ones in TD Banknorth Garden.

"We knew we had to get this win this was a big win going out West,'' Pierce said. "Our mind-set is to get Game 3 and try take away their confidence and win this series in L.A.. We knew it was going to be tough, but nobody said it was going to be easy.''

Bryant, who pledged to bounce back from a sub-par Game 1, scored 30 points -- 13 in the fourth -- on 11-of-23 shooting. In four losses to Boston this season, Bryant is just 35-of-93 from the field and can't seem to get the same easy looks he enjoys against every other team.

Pau Gasol had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who were down 95-71 with 7:55 when they mounted a comeback that fell just short.

Bryant's 3-pointer made it 102-91 and then the self-proclaimed "Black Mamba'' slithered down the lane for two quick baskets that got the Lakers, who scored 41 points in the final 12 minutes, within 104-95. The Celtics, meanwhile, began to stand around on offense, thinking the game was in hand.

It was anything but.

After Vujacic hit a 3-pointer, Vladimir Radmanovic made a steal and dunk to make it 104-100 and Celtics fans, who had been dancing moments earlier, began to panic. None of Boston's players seemed to want the ball as it moved around like a hot potato before Rondo missed a jumper with 44 seconds left.

Bryant's free throws brought Los Angeles to 104-102 before Pierce slashed down the lane and got fouled by Derek Fisher. As a few of his teammates locked arms on the bench like a college team trying to advance in March, Pierce knocked down both foul shots. Then, on defense, he got just enough of Vujacic's shot from the left wing with 14 seconds left.

Posey was fouled on the play and calmly made his two free throws. The Lakers rushed the ball down but missed on a couple jumpers, and when the final horn sounded, a collective sigh of relief rushed through the exits as the Celtics and their fans left the building confident, if not shaken.

Called "unstoppable'' by Lakers coach Phil Jackson, Bryant got off to another slow start. He missed his first two shots, one an uncontested layup underneath and was unable to get the looks he wanted as the Celtics followed the MVP around like a pack of hungry wolves on the hunt.

Bryant was just 1-of-4 from the floor when he was called for pushing off on Allen -- his second personal foul -- and spent the final 1:59 of the opening period a few seats away from Jackson. Soon, Bryant was joined by Lamar Odom and Jackson was forced to give his reserves extended early minutes.

They weren't good ones.

The Lakers' heralded bench bunch struggled, and the Celtics took advantage. Trailing by two after one, Boston opened the second quarter with a 10-0 run, capped by Pierce's 3-pointer. As bad as Los Angeles was playing, the Lakers hung around and closed within 41-37 on Gasol's three-point play.

But Pierce knocked down another 3, Allen followed with one of his own and the Celtics closed the half with a 13-5 burst to open a 54-42 halftime lead.

Notes: Jackson, a renowned world traveler who often reviews trips to his destinations, was asked for an overview of his extended stay in Boston, where the weather this week ranged from chilly, October-like conditions to sweltering heat. "It's very green,'' Jackson deadpanned, drawing laughter at the reference to the Celtics' primary colors. "Boston Commons, the Public Gardens. Very green.'' ... Among the celebrities in attendance: Boston Red Sox Curt Schilling -- wearing a Larry Bird jersey, Jon Lester and Josh Beckett, NFL quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Vince Young and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Lester, a cancer survivor who recently pitched a no-hitter, was honored during a timeout in the second quarter.

In the past two days, New England's most celebrated right knee - and to this point, the focal point of the NBA finals - has been encased in ice, undergone electrical stimulation therapy, even had lasers fired at it.

Paul Pierce's knee has been primped, prodded and pampered like never before.

It's not 100 percent, but it's good enough.

Pierce, who sprained his knee and made a dramatic return in Boston's series-opening win over the Los Angeles Lakers after being carried off the floor in the second half, said Saturday that he will "definitely'' play in Game 2 on Sunday.

"Once those lights come on and the popcorn starts popping, I'll be ready,'' declared the Celtics' All-Star forward and captain.

Wearing a black elastic brace and white sleeve over his injury, Pierce reported that his knee was less swollen. He's still not able to bend it the way he'd like, but Pierce feels with another 24 hours of rest and treatment that he'll be able to start.

How effective he'll be is another story.

"Knowing my threshold of pain, to go out there and play shouldn't be a problem,'' said Pierce, who only planned to shoot free throws and walk through some plays on Saturday. "It should be something I should be able to do.''

Celtics center Kendrick Perkins also expects to be in the starting lineup after spraining his left ankle in Game 1.

Following his news conference, Pierce walked gingerly toward the court in TD Banknorth Garden with only the slightest sign of a limp. When he finally joined his teammates on the floor, Pierce grabbed a ball and was soon being playfully guarded by teammate Sam Cassell, who jammed his forearm into Pierce's back and dared him to shoot.

"You gonna talk all day?'' Cassell chirped, "or are you gonna ball?''

Pierce's playing status, and skepticism about the severity of his injury, have been the dominant topics of conversation in the renewed rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics, who are meeting in the finals for the first time since 1987.

On Friday, Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson raised a few eyebrows by wondering if Pierce had been overly dramatic about the injury.

Moments after he was lifted from the floor by teammates and placed in a wheelchair, Pierce jogged back out of the tunnel to a thundering ovation and quickly made consecutive 3-pointers as the Celtics took control and went on to a 98-88 win. Jackson dismissed comparisons between Pierce's comeback and one made by Willis Reed in the 1970 NBA finals, and even joked that noted faith healer Oral Roberts must have been in Boston's locker room to perform a miracle.

Jackson said he had not received any negative feedback about his pithy comments, which he hoped were being taken in the proper vain.

"Well, we really should have a lot of fun about this; this is sports, after all,'' Jackson said. "These are fun and games. "I kid the NBA about taking the fun out of the finals, but this is still fun. We try to make this fun.''

Fun? The Lakers and Celtics? They're supposed to feud and fight, right?

Back in the 1980s during the height of their rivalry, the idea of laughter and any good-natured kidding between the clubs would have been greeted with a sharp elbow to the ribs. But these days, the league's signature franchises aren't nearly as blood thirsty as their predecessors.

Gone are the days when the showers in the visiting locker room at the old Boston Garden dispensed only cold water, and Lakers players no longer have to worry about being turned away at local restaurants because of their affiliation to the purple-and-gold.

"Beat L.A.'' remains this city's rallying cry. The hatred, though, seems to have been replaced by a kind of harmony.

"I've heard stories in the past of them coming here and not getting room service and stuff like that,'' Kobe Bryant said. "I mean, my room service is cool. I got the nice apple pie with the ice cream on top, a la mode. I didn't even ask for the ice cream, but they hooked me up.

"I've heard horror stories in the '80s when the guys came here. It's not like that. There's a healthy competition, and they obviously want to win, the city wants to win, but it's not like, 'I hate your guts.'''

Boston fans would show more love for Bryant, if the superstar continues to struggle with his outside shot.

He went just 9-for-26 in Game 1 and has only made 33 percent (24-of-72) of his attempts in three games - all losses - against the Celtics this season. It would be hard to imagine Bryant having another clunker, and Jackson wouldn't even consider the possibility.

"He's been an unstoppable force in this game,'' Jackson said. "He usually doesn't have two games in a row that are bad. He comes back and plays better. So we anticipate that's going to be a pattern.''

The Celtics, too, are expecting a more consistent effort from Kevin Garnett, their defensive leader who may have to carry more of the offensive load if Pierce is slowed by his bad knee. Garnett started strongly in Game 1 and finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds. But he was only 3-for-13 in the second half, missing nine consecutive shots in one stretch and went only 1-of-6 from the floor in the fourth quarter.

Garnett has promised to make amends for his poor finish, and Pierce is sure the ultra-intense KG will keep his word.

"He's so hard on himself. He wants to play the perfect game,'' Pierce said. "We're all like that in our ways. And if a bad game is 24 and 13, I can't wait until he has a good game.''