Kobe Bryant realizes the Los Angeles Lakers are in deep trouble. He believes there’s only one reasonable way to approach such a grim situation. “I’m not thinking about beating them three straight,” Bryant said after the Lakers collapsed in the last 18 minutes Thursday night, resulting in a 97-91 loss to the Boston Celtics that put them on the brink of elimination from the NBA finals. “We’re thinking about beating them on Sunday,” Bryant said. “Then, you move on from there. Take one swing at a time to chop down a tree. We’ll take care of business on Sunday.” The Lakers led by as many as 24 points in the second quarter and by 20 midway through the third before the Celtics began one of the biggest comebacks in finals history to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the comeback was the biggest in the finals since 1971, surpassing Houston’s comeback from a 20-point deficit to Orlando in the first game of the 1995 finals. The odds are stacked heavily against the Lakers. For one thing, no team has ever overcome a 3-1 deficit to win the finals. For another, they’ve got to win Sunday night at Staples Center and then win twice in Boston, where the Celtics have a 12-1 postseason record. “We let a huge opportunity slip away, so I’m upset, hurt, disappointed,” Bryant said. “It’s a huge loss, no doubt about it. We’ve got to take the good things that we did well in this game, understand what we did wrong in the third quarter and move on from there. They played great in the third quarter. We played like crap.” After two free throws by Vladimir Radmanovic with 6:04 left in the third quarter gave the Lakers a 70-50 lead, they were outscored 47-21 to finish the game. It all started with a 21-3 run to finish the third period … Lakers coach Phil Jackson said his players were “very depressed” after the game. He said he told them the series isn’t over. “They’re resilient. They have disappointments, they come back,” Jackson said. “It’s about team effort now, we have to make sure that we have a good collective energy again, come out and play that first half like we did before. “Our back is against the wall, but it’s just a game at a time, and that’s one thing we have to understand.”

HMMM … well, I suppose it’s possible that if the Celtics can come back from such a huge point deficit like they did last night than it’s possible that the Lakers can come back from a 3-1 deficit … right? Yeah, keep prayin’ Becks and we’ll see if that actually happens.

Anyways, here are a few pics of some of the celebs who came out to cheer for their favorite team last night …

… whether it be the Donnie Wahlberg for the Celtics or Ice Cube for the Lakers the celebs seem happy to be cheering on their team (especially the Boston fans). Game 5 goes down in Bean Town on Sunday night. I’m rootin’ for the Lakers but I’ve got mad respect for the Celtics. May the best team win.

[Photo credit: Splash News, Source, Source]