Boston’s Kevin Garnett tries to get a shot off against the Lakers’ Ronny Turiaf during the second quarter of Game One of the NBA Finals last night in Boston.

AP / Winslow Townson

BOSTON – As Kobe Bryant saw one jump shot after another fall off the rim last night, his frustration level grew along with the heat inside the hearts of the Boston Celtics’ defenders.

One fed off the other, the misses leading to more of the East Coast grit that’s defined the NBA’s best defense all season long. That toughness ended up wearing out Bryant and his Los Angeles Lakers in a tight, hard-fought 98-88 victory in Game One of the NBA Finals at TD Banknorth Garden.

Bryant missed 17 of his 26 shots on his way to 24 points. Even so, the Lakers were in striking distance in the final few minutes, trailing 92-86 with less than two minutes to go. But that’s when Kevin Garnett slammed in an offensive rebound and then followed two Bryant free throws with two clutch ones of his own with 1:01 left that preserved enough of a lead to give the Celts a critical series-opening win.

“I just missed some bunnies. I just missed some really, really good looks,” said Bryant. “I’ll be thinking about those a little tonight.”

While thrilled with their win, the Celtics will spend the next two days thinking about Paul Pierce’s right knee. The captain left the game midway through the third quarter after crumpling to the court following a collision with Kendrick Perkins. Pierce said he heard his knee "pop" and thought he was severely hurt. “A lot of things were going through my head. I thought I tore something. Once I heard the pop, I thought that was it,” he said.

Pierce was carried from the court but returned quickly to a roaring ovation from the sellout crowd of 18,624. Pierce certainly didn’t play hurt. He made two huge 3-pointers at the end of the third quarter that helped the Celtics carry a 77-73 lead into the fourth quarter. Pierce added one hoop and two free throws in the final quarter but was walking gingerly when he addressed the press. He said he was told by team doctors that he has a strained meniscus, an injury that can only be fully healed by rest.

If Pierce can play at full strength in Sunday night’s Game Two, the Celtics will be thrilled. That certainly includes Garnett, the team’s defensive leader who did a fine job clogging up the lane but wasn’t happy that he missed 5 of 6 shots in the fourth quarter. He still led the C’s with 24 points and 13 rebounds.

“Terrible. My fourth quarter was plain out terrible. I’ll be honest,” he said.

Pierce survived a slow first half (and the knee injury) to score 19 of his 22 points after the break. Ray Allen added 19 points and lots of defensive stands against Bryant.

“Kobe and I have a lot of history. I played against him many years. We've always gone at it,” said Allen. “Tonight I knew he was going to attack me and I wanted to try to make sure that I just tried to stay in front of him, not foul him, put him on the foul line, and just stay solid. He's going to take shots, he's going to make shots, so we just want to keep a swarm around him, and just giving him the easy buckets was something we didn't want to do.”

While Bryant wasn’t at his best, his teammates didn’t deliver enough, either. Neither Pau Gasol (15 points) nor Lamar Odom (14) hurt the Celtics badly. The Lakers shot 41 percent from the floor and managed only seven assists in the decisive second half.

“It was a tale of two halves tonight,” said L.A. coach Phil Jackson. “We had some control in the first half, played the kind of game we wanted to play, and the second half we came out and immediately wiped out the lead we had established in about 20 seconds. A matter of two possessions. So it was quite a flurry that they came out and played that third quarter with, put us back on our heels.”

The Lakers closed the first half with Gasol scoring twice in a 10-2 run and Derek Fisher (15 points) closing out the scoring with a jumper for a 51-46 edge. That’s a number Celtics coach Doc Rivers was not happy with.

“We didn’t play any [defense] in the first half,” he said. “We didn’t get back in the first half, we gambled in the first half, we gave them uncontested shots on the first half. In the second half we did our jobs.”

The Celtics saw that instant improvement both on defense and in a spark from Pierce. He responded right out of the gate in the third quarter as he tallied his team’s first eight points, with four coming on a 3-point heave while getting fouled by Vladimir Radmanovic. When Garnett swished a 16-footer over Odom, the Celtics led 56-53.

The game’s biggest drama came with 6:51 left in the third quarter. With Bryant driving to the hoop, Pierce slid over to help on defense but crumpled to the court with Perkins below him as Bryant’s shot fell in for a 62-58 lead.

Pierce remained on the court through a full timeout and was eventually carried into the locker room by Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine. He gripped his right knee and was clearly in pain as he disappeared into the tunnel.

“Honestly, I thought the worst,” said Rivers. “When they carried Paul off -- I've had the injury, I've seen it. I just assumed it was the knee.”

After a Rajon Rondo free throw and Ray Allen's 3-pointer tied the game at 62-62, a roar went up at one end of the arena as Pierce began jogging back to the bench. Pierce was back in the game at the 5:04 mark. Time elapsed: about five minutes and just 1:47 off the game clock.

Bryant kept firing and making tough shots, the most difficult a spinning corner jumper over Allen that put the Lakers up, 71-69. But Pierce answered by swishing an open 3-pointer and then Garnett deflected a Gasol shot at the rim. The Celts ran the miss back up the floor and when Pierce nailed another 3-pointer, the Celts were up 75-71. The exciting third quarter ended with Pierce scoring 15 points, Bryant netting 12 and Boston clinging to a 77-73 lead.

Boston opened the final frame with an important early rush with its bench players on floor. Leon Powe crashed inside for an offensive rebound and two free throws and a James Posey 3-pointer gave the Celts a 86-78 cushion. Hoops by Fisher and Sasha Vujacic cut the deficit to four points, but Pierce knocked home another shot and then made two free throws for a 90-82 lead with 3:43 on the clock.

With Bryant making one of his six fourth-quarter shots and the Lakers shooting 25 percent in the quarter, the Celtics defense answered the call.

“We got a little stagnant [on offense],” Bryant said. “I think our rhythm wasn't there, wasn't what we like it to be. Still we played well enough to almost steal the game. Some balls bounced their way tonight. They scrapped and they clawed their way to this victory. They played a lot more physical than we did, and I think that's something we have to adjust to and get ready for Game Two.”

kmcnamar@projo.com