Kobe Bryant starred as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 87-81 in Game Three of the NBA Finals on Tuesday evening, lowering Boston's advantage to 2-1.

With Jack Nicholson and Slyvester Stallone watching on along with Laker legend Magic Johnson , Bryant scored 36 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

But for once, it wasn't all about No. 24, as the Lakers managed to hold off the Celtics despit blowing an 11-point lead.

Sasha Vujacic came off the bench to bag 20 points in a showing that saw him net three three-pointers in five attempts - including an important one with just under two minutes left that gave the Lakers a five-point cushion.

And the Lakers' defence was red hot, too, keeping everyone but Ray Allen (26 points) and Kevin Garnett (13) to under double figures and creating 13 turnovers.

But Bryant assured the media after the game that the Lakers didn't go into Game 3 worried about getting out of the 2-0 hole caused by their back-to-back defeats in Boston.

"What I tried to do with my teammates is just stay calm," he said. "It wasn't the end of the world.

"They did a great job of defending home court. We knew we had to come here and do the same.

"They feed off of my confidence and I have all the confidence in the world that we can come here and win."

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