All fouled up

Pierce made his move, dribbling to his right to get Artest going. Then, with his off hand, Pierce made sure. He gave Artest a push to make room for his shot. The shove knocked Artest back, and to make sure it didn’t go unnoticed, Artest stumbled all the way to the baseline, eventually landing in the crowd.

The fact that Pierce knocked down the shot made no difference. He was whistled for an offensive foul, taking the ball out of the Celtics’ hands and putting it in Kobe Bryant’s with 27.5 seconds left, precisely when you don’t want him to be anywhere near it. Bryant hit a go-ahead fallaway jumper with 7.3 seconds left and LA held on to win, 90-89.

It was hard not to look at the call against Pierce as a huge factor.

“I thought I made a good move,’’ Pierce said. “I got to my sweet spot. I guess the ref saw it differently and he made a call. That’s part of the game. That’s why you’ve got referees. I thought I made a great move, though.’’

The pushoff was as clear as it is common practice in the NBA. “I just think at that point it’s got to be unbelievable,’’ Boston coach Doc Rivers said.

Said Ray Allen, who missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer and whose top priority was to keep Bryant from going off, “He puts his arm out. That’s part of the game. It’s like even the last play with Paul. I don’t think Paul did anything different from what Kobe had been doing all [day].’’

Bryant had just 17 points at that point and had missed 12 of 19 shots. None of those numbers were relevant. Having lost seven of 13 games this month coming in, the Celtics had the wounds. Bryant brought the salt.

“I didn’t say give me one more chance,’’ Bryant said. “I said give me the damn ball. I never really give [Lakers coach Phil Jackson] much of a choice.’’

Rivers had considered putting Tony Allen on the floor for the final LA possession, but after going back and forth the Celtics stuck with Ray Allen, who had 14 years worth of wars with one of the league’s cockiest finishers.

“I just think the last play you’d rather have a star guarding a star,’’ Rivers said.