Sunday afternoon, the Celtics beat the Miami Heat 100-98, hanging on at home in double overtime. In so doing, they snapped a horrific six-game losing streak that involved dropping three games to sub-.500 teams (including two blowouts), two tough-luck losses to playoff squads (the Bulls and Knicks), and, most recently, a blown 27-point lead in a double overtime loss to the Hawks. This stretch, which followed a six-game winning streak, left Boston at 20-23 heading into the game with Miami, their grip on the eighth and final playoff spot seemingly loosening every day.
Given the above, the cynic would read the title of this post and chide me for being a more than a little bit late.
As I've said before, however, I refused to write off Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Doc Rivers. I acknowledged that the team's chances of making any noise in the playoffs were slim, but after last season, I wasn't going to rule anything out. Even with Pierce's noticeable decline, Garnett's ever-limited minutes, Rondo's general moodiness, and the inability of the restructured supporting cast to provide any sort of consistent contribution, I thought that those four guys were capable of pulling it all together again and making a run.
The Big Three, of course, had morphed into the Big Four by the time Ray Allen left, and none of those guys is Bigger, in terms of Boston's success, than Rondo. So when news broke around halftime of the Miami game that the hyperextended knee keeping him on the sideline was actually a torn ACL, ending his season and probably ensuring that he wouldn't be ready for the start of the next one, whatever hope I had of something like last year repeating itself disappeared. Doc said after the game that he's not writing the obituary yet, but everyone outside that locker room is.
It's going to be an interesting, rumor-filled couple of weeks around the Celtics. With Rondo out, Boston probably isn't a favorite to even make the playoffs. And because of that, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce become expendable. Garnett has been terrific this year, but on even more limited minutes than last year, and Pierce has declined noticeably. (Even as Pierce, who has been mired in a terrible slump, nailed the game's biggest shot in double OT, he almost cost us the game with a late turnover and an inexplicably late contest on Lebron James' game-tying three at the end of regulation.) The revamped supporting cast, saddled with Jeff Green's albatross of a contract, has disappointed, and the lone bright spot among the new faces, Jared Sullinger, has been balanced out by the mysterious dropoff of Brandon Bass. Keeping Garnett and Pierce around makes very little basketball sense.
Whether Danny Ainge can get anything for either is an open question. Garnett apparently has a no-trade clause, and it wouldn't surprise me if he refused to be moved. (Maybe I'm being naive.) And Pierce shouldn't bring that much in a trade at his salary and level of performance, although I have been surprised at the trade ideas I have read from people I respect (perhaps I'm underestimating his value). Danny has to kick the tires on those guys, though.
Oddly, all of this made Sunday's win all the more satisfying. I've been fortunate to have learned about sports and life from a number of people who taught me to appreciate the fight as much as the success. That's why I'm as proud of Game 7 of the 2010 Finals and the whole Miami series last year as I am of the championship run in 2008. Watching those guys -- who apparently didn't know of the severity of Rondo's injury until after the game -- fight to pull out the win against a better team was made that much more important by the fact that it may be the last time we see them do exactly that.
There's a part of me -- and it's not the rational part of me -- that doesn't want to see Danny do what undoubtedly should be done. There's a part of me that wants to see Pierce and KG retire as Celtics even though it'll likely set any rebuilding we try to do back a bit.
The reality is that only a few teams each season legitimately playing for a championship. For the first time in a while, we're not one of them -- and it's likely to be a while before we are again. The stakes, undoubtedly, have changed. But it's the same game. And so if Doc and Danny and Paul and Kevin decide they want to put up the same fight, I won't be too mad.
Showing posts with label Miami Heat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miami Heat. Show all posts
Monday, January 28, 2013
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Miami 120, Boston 107
[recap] [box score]
Pretty entertaining season-opener. For posterity's sake, let the record show that Miami broke this game open in the third quarter, leading by as many as 18. But LeBron James had to sit the final nine minutes due to muscle cramps, and Boston was able to cut the lead to four before going scoreless over the final 2:09.
Given the unique composition and playing style of these two teams -- no true center played a single second of this game, for either side -- it's pointless to draw any real conclusions about lineups and how Doc Rivers is planning on using all of his newfound depth. At one point in the fourth quarter, Jeff Green and Paul Pierce were in the frontcourt with Rajon Rondo, Jason Terry, and Leandro Barbosa in the backcourt. I don't expect we'll see much of the three-point guard, two-small forward lineup this year.
The defense was awful, too, as bad as it has been in the last five seasons. For now, I'm going to chalk that up to all the fresh faces, and offseason rust. I'd be surprised if defense was a major problem with this team all season. (With that said, I do wish we'd stop giving up so many easy transition buckets to the Heat, something we could do simply by paying a little more attention as we run back on defense.)
I don't want to get too far ahead of things and read too much about the team into one game. But I do think it's appropriate to give some quick thoughts on how particular players looked in this one.
Courtney Lee, replacing the departed Ray Allen and the injured Avery Bradley in the starting lineup, looked very good guarding Dwyane Wade in the early going. He got into foul trouble, though, for the same reason that Bradley often found himself in trouble with the referees last year: Neither has a good feel for when, on a given play, to dial down the physicality. Bradley is young enough to develop that instinct and to earn some more respect from the officials as his career goes on; Lee's already got several years in the league under his belt, so it's a concern worth keeping an eye on. Offensively, Lee was pretty passive, but did find a couple of open jumpers by running the floor.
Rondo put up another gaudy stat line, picking up where he left off last season. His aggressiveness on offense in looking for his own shot was good to see; he rarely took an ill-advised, and we're so much more effective offensively when the defense has to respect his scoring ability. He was a little sloppier with the ball than I'm comfortable with, but at this point, I think that's just something we'll have to live with.
Leandro Barbosa exploded for all 16 of his points in the fourth quarter, looking like the Brazilian Blur of old. Barbosa clearly can still fill it up off the bench, the kind of player we've been lacking the last several years. Barbosa was basically an afterthought this offseason, signed solely for depth. He showed in his first game in green, however, that he's more than that. He's one of several players we supposedly have who will bring much-needed scoring punch to the second unit.
I say "supposedly" because the other two -- Jason Terry and Jeff Green -- were uniformly awful. Terry's shot was off all night, and when he's not hitting, he's not effective. I'm not worried about him. Green, on the other hand, still worries me. The ball just stops when it gets to him. It's not that he's selfish -- at least, I don't think he is. He honestly looks like he just doesn't know what to do with the ball once he gets it. He's too indecisive, which allows the defense to recover. Even his on-court demeanor is disconcerting -- facially, he looks meek and overwhelmed out there. Given that this is the same stuff I was worried about when I saw him during his first half-season after he came over from Oklahoma City for Kendrick Perkins (he missed all of last year), I'm worried. I'm not hitting the panic button yet, but I'm worried.
Not to alarm anyone, but I didn't think that KG looked right. Nothing noticeable like a limp; it simply looked like that he maybe didn't have his legs under him yet. Hopefully, that's all it is. But he was mostly a non-factor on offense, and he let Chris Bosh beat him for a huge bucket down the stretch after the Celtics had cut the lead to four. Boston would do well to remember how effective Garnett was offensively last year against Miami in the Eastern Conference finals. Even when we're playing small-ball, we shouldn't forget the favorable matchups we might have underneath.
Brandon Bass turned in a typical Brandon Bass game. And that's a good thing.
Pierce had a strong first half but faltered a bit in the second. He looked like a different player than the one who limped to the finish line last year. It sounds like he doesn't have any lingering injuries.
Due to the unique circumstances of the game, rookie Jared Sullinger didn't get a lot of action in his regular season NBA debut. I didn't see much to report on, other than I think he found himself in a switch situation matched up against James, and he actually forced James into a jumper. Given that defense is the biggest concern around Sullinger (well, that and his health), I'd consider this a good sign, too.
Two other quick notes. First, Wade said that Rondo's flagrant foul on him in the waning seconds was a "punk move." That's up for the individual to decide; Rondo did get him around the head and neck area from behind. Either way, though, I find it ironic that Wade would speak out, given that he basically did the same thing to Kobe Bryant last year -- in the All-Star game (breaking Kobe's nose in the process). And isn't it some fundamental principle of basketball that if you take the ball to the basket in the waning seconds of a game you already have in hand, against perhaps your chief rival, you're gonna get hit?
Secondly, damn you, Ray Allen, for making it so hard to quit you. After saying all the wrong things in the weeks leading up to the game, he said all the right things in the post-game interview with Craig Sager. I was all set to write him off, and then he has to go and talk about how much he loves his former teammates and how he's a New Englander for life. I know I' being played for a sucker here, that he's just telling me what I want to hear. But I guess I'm not ready to hate Ray yet. (Although if he consistently plays as well against us as he did on Tuesday, that day will come soon. Also, how jarring is this? Say it ain't so, Flo!)
Don't despair. It's one game out of 82, and we have a lot of new pieces to integrate. Plus, at least we're not the Lakers, who marked the debut of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash with a listless loss to the Dirk Nowitzki-less Dallas Mavericks.
Milwaukee's up next, on Friday, and their deep front line should be an interesting contrast to Miami's small lineup. That should afford us our first extended look at Sullinger, as well as give an idea of how Doc plans to use Darko Milicic and Jason Collins. (I don't think Chris Wilcox will be ready.) Heck, we might even see Darko in the starting lineup. Anyway, NBA League Pass is running its annual free preview week to start the season, so check this one out. And if you're in the Washington Metro area, we're at the Wizards on Saturday.
Pretty entertaining season-opener. For posterity's sake, let the record show that Miami broke this game open in the third quarter, leading by as many as 18. But LeBron James had to sit the final nine minutes due to muscle cramps, and Boston was able to cut the lead to four before going scoreless over the final 2:09.
Given the unique composition and playing style of these two teams -- no true center played a single second of this game, for either side -- it's pointless to draw any real conclusions about lineups and how Doc Rivers is planning on using all of his newfound depth. At one point in the fourth quarter, Jeff Green and Paul Pierce were in the frontcourt with Rajon Rondo, Jason Terry, and Leandro Barbosa in the backcourt. I don't expect we'll see much of the three-point guard, two-small forward lineup this year.
The defense was awful, too, as bad as it has been in the last five seasons. For now, I'm going to chalk that up to all the fresh faces, and offseason rust. I'd be surprised if defense was a major problem with this team all season. (With that said, I do wish we'd stop giving up so many easy transition buckets to the Heat, something we could do simply by paying a little more attention as we run back on defense.)
I don't want to get too far ahead of things and read too much about the team into one game. But I do think it's appropriate to give some quick thoughts on how particular players looked in this one.
Courtney Lee, replacing the departed Ray Allen and the injured Avery Bradley in the starting lineup, looked very good guarding Dwyane Wade in the early going. He got into foul trouble, though, for the same reason that Bradley often found himself in trouble with the referees last year: Neither has a good feel for when, on a given play, to dial down the physicality. Bradley is young enough to develop that instinct and to earn some more respect from the officials as his career goes on; Lee's already got several years in the league under his belt, so it's a concern worth keeping an eye on. Offensively, Lee was pretty passive, but did find a couple of open jumpers by running the floor.
Rondo put up another gaudy stat line, picking up where he left off last season. His aggressiveness on offense in looking for his own shot was good to see; he rarely took an ill-advised, and we're so much more effective offensively when the defense has to respect his scoring ability. He was a little sloppier with the ball than I'm comfortable with, but at this point, I think that's just something we'll have to live with.
Leandro Barbosa exploded for all 16 of his points in the fourth quarter, looking like the Brazilian Blur of old. Barbosa clearly can still fill it up off the bench, the kind of player we've been lacking the last several years. Barbosa was basically an afterthought this offseason, signed solely for depth. He showed in his first game in green, however, that he's more than that. He's one of several players we supposedly have who will bring much-needed scoring punch to the second unit.
I say "supposedly" because the other two -- Jason Terry and Jeff Green -- were uniformly awful. Terry's shot was off all night, and when he's not hitting, he's not effective. I'm not worried about him. Green, on the other hand, still worries me. The ball just stops when it gets to him. It's not that he's selfish -- at least, I don't think he is. He honestly looks like he just doesn't know what to do with the ball once he gets it. He's too indecisive, which allows the defense to recover. Even his on-court demeanor is disconcerting -- facially, he looks meek and overwhelmed out there. Given that this is the same stuff I was worried about when I saw him during his first half-season after he came over from Oklahoma City for Kendrick Perkins (he missed all of last year), I'm worried. I'm not hitting the panic button yet, but I'm worried.
Not to alarm anyone, but I didn't think that KG looked right. Nothing noticeable like a limp; it simply looked like that he maybe didn't have his legs under him yet. Hopefully, that's all it is. But he was mostly a non-factor on offense, and he let Chris Bosh beat him for a huge bucket down the stretch after the Celtics had cut the lead to four. Boston would do well to remember how effective Garnett was offensively last year against Miami in the Eastern Conference finals. Even when we're playing small-ball, we shouldn't forget the favorable matchups we might have underneath.
Brandon Bass turned in a typical Brandon Bass game. And that's a good thing.
Pierce had a strong first half but faltered a bit in the second. He looked like a different player than the one who limped to the finish line last year. It sounds like he doesn't have any lingering injuries.
Due to the unique circumstances of the game, rookie Jared Sullinger didn't get a lot of action in his regular season NBA debut. I didn't see much to report on, other than I think he found himself in a switch situation matched up against James, and he actually forced James into a jumper. Given that defense is the biggest concern around Sullinger (well, that and his health), I'd consider this a good sign, too.
Two other quick notes. First, Wade said that Rondo's flagrant foul on him in the waning seconds was a "punk move." That's up for the individual to decide; Rondo did get him around the head and neck area from behind. Either way, though, I find it ironic that Wade would speak out, given that he basically did the same thing to Kobe Bryant last year -- in the All-Star game (breaking Kobe's nose in the process). And isn't it some fundamental principle of basketball that if you take the ball to the basket in the waning seconds of a game you already have in hand, against perhaps your chief rival, you're gonna get hit?
Secondly, damn you, Ray Allen, for making it so hard to quit you. After saying all the wrong things in the weeks leading up to the game, he said all the right things in the post-game interview with Craig Sager. I was all set to write him off, and then he has to go and talk about how much he loves his former teammates and how he's a New Englander for life. I know I' being played for a sucker here, that he's just telling me what I want to hear. But I guess I'm not ready to hate Ray yet. (Although if he consistently plays as well against us as he did on Tuesday, that day will come soon. Also, how jarring is this? Say it ain't so, Flo!)
Don't despair. It's one game out of 82, and we have a lot of new pieces to integrate. Plus, at least we're not the Lakers, who marked the debut of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash with a listless loss to the Dirk Nowitzki-less Dallas Mavericks.
Milwaukee's up next, on Friday, and their deep front line should be an interesting contrast to Miami's small lineup. That should afford us our first extended look at Sullinger, as well as give an idea of how Doc plans to use Darko Milicic and Jason Collins. (I don't think Chris Wilcox will be ready.) Heck, we might even see Darko in the starting lineup. Anyway, NBA League Pass is running its annual free preview week to start the season, so check this one out. And if you're in the Washington Metro area, we're at the Wizards on Saturday.
Friday, June 8, 2012
Thoughts in Advance of Game 7
Lately, my recap posts seem to be focusing on the intangibles; the story, rather than the Xs and Os. The Celtics' resilience and LeBron James' ability to rise to the occasion will no doubt play a part in determining who wins Saturday night, but there's actual basketball to be played, too. I want to spend a few minutes talking a little bit about some "basketball things" that I've got my mind on heading into Game 7. They're in no real order.
1. Paul Pierce is due for a big game. We showered him with praise after he that dagger in Game 5, so it's fair to say that he was awful in Game 6. I'm inclined to forgive him more for the defensive end (no one was stopping LeBron in that one) than for the offensive end, where he shot 4 for 18, including missed layups and clanged jumpers. The problem is that Pierce really hasn't been very good all series, with just two games of shooting that could even be considered decent. Given the shots he's getting, and missing, I assume that it's his knee, and I'm not bringing this up to criticize him. Rather, I mention it to say that anyone who expects him to come to our rescue with a huge game akin to Cleveland in 2008 is probably going to be disappointed.
2. With that said, Pierce is still a key component to our offense and one of the game's most clutch performers. To that end, we need to figure out a way to keep him on the floor. He's fouled out twice this series (in addition to getting DQ'd from Game 7 against Philly), and he picked up 3 fouls in the first half of Game 6. He's had success guarding James in the past, and he hasn't gotten any favors from the officials, but I think it's clear that the knee is hampering his performance on that end, as well, just as you'd expect it to. Some of this is on Pierce, who needs to play smart and not take bad fouls, but some of it is also on Doc. If you're willing to let Mickael Pietrus and Marquis Daniels and even Brandon Bass check James when Pierce is out of the game, then you have to be willing to put one of those guys on him to protect Pierce when he's in the game. For example, in Game 6, when Pierce came back into the game in the second quarter with two fouls, he went right back on James, picked up his third foul with like six minutes to go, and had to sit the rest of the half. To start the third, Doc put Bass on James, ostensibly to protect Pierce. But by waiting until Pierce was already in serious foul trouble before making a move, Doc kept Pierce off the court for a big chunk of the second quarter. The key is to start protecting him before it affects his playing time.
3. We only saw a possession or two of zone in Game 6, and absent truly exigent circumstances, I hope that means we've seen the last of it in this series. Miami was reasonably effective scoring against the zone in Game 5; what worked is that Boston was changing defenses and disguising what they were running, and that led to confusion and some wasted possessions when we went back to man-to-man. The element of surprise is gone, however, and Miami not only is ready for the zone, they are ready for us to switch it up. That particular trick isn't going to work anymore, and the zone itself isn't effective enough on its own.
4. Rajon Rondo has to be aggressive. He is charged with a nearly impossible task; he's the only Celtic who is able to consistently get easy baskets for himself, and yet he also has to get the other guys going, too. What Rondo must realize is that his offense opens up the floor for everyone else; when he is penetrating and getting into the lane, shots open up for others, whether it's Kevin Garnett on the pick and roll, Garnett and Bass on the pick-and-pop, or Pierce and Ray Allen spotting up along the perimeter. It's fine to run a few plays for Pierce and Allen early to try and get them a few jumpers, but if that isn't working, Rondo needs to shoulder a heavier scoring load himself, quickly. We can't afford to waste half a quarter trying to get the other guys going. If Rondo's attacking, then the rest of the offense should establish itself.
5. We need something from the bench. While a performance like the one we got from Pietrus in Game 5 would be nice, something to that degree isn't even necessary. I expect Rondo to play the full 48 minutes, and I expect that James will, as well. But Garnett won't, and neither will Pierce and Allen. Pietrus, Daniels, and Keyon Dooling must play their usual strong defense while scoring at least enough to keep us in striking distance.
6. I don't think that home court advantage will affect the players; we've played our two best games of the series in Miami's barn. I do worry that the home crowd will affect the refs. Officiating played a huge role in Boston's Game 2 loss. While I don't know who is assigned to Game 7, I do know that I don't want to see Eddie Malloy or Billy Kennedy, two officials who have shown anti-Boston proclivities and who seem overmatched by big games. And regardless of who is officiating, the players need to put any bad calls behind them quickly.
7. Finally, Boston must be resilient. Miami is a strong defensive team with a couple remarkably talented offensive players. It's nearly impossible to play a game against the Heat without them going on a couple of six- or eight-point runs. The key will be preventing them from turning those spurts into 12- and 14-point surges. Boston can win this game if they are down a few points entering the fourth quarter, but if they're down double-digits after the third, the task may be too hard. The Celtics were resilient in Game 5, and it paid off; Boston stayed in it when things weren't going right in the first half, then made their run when the shots started falling in the third quarter. They were resilient in Game 6, too; the difference is that we couldn't get anything to fall even as we continued to hang around. As long as we stay resilient, then we'll have a great shot at this. Fortunately, staying resilient is one of the things we do best.
Game 7 starts at 8:30 Eastern on ESPN. Let's do this!
1. Paul Pierce is due for a big game. We showered him with praise after he that dagger in Game 5, so it's fair to say that he was awful in Game 6. I'm inclined to forgive him more for the defensive end (no one was stopping LeBron in that one) than for the offensive end, where he shot 4 for 18, including missed layups and clanged jumpers. The problem is that Pierce really hasn't been very good all series, with just two games of shooting that could even be considered decent. Given the shots he's getting, and missing, I assume that it's his knee, and I'm not bringing this up to criticize him. Rather, I mention it to say that anyone who expects him to come to our rescue with a huge game akin to Cleveland in 2008 is probably going to be disappointed.
2. With that said, Pierce is still a key component to our offense and one of the game's most clutch performers. To that end, we need to figure out a way to keep him on the floor. He's fouled out twice this series (in addition to getting DQ'd from Game 7 against Philly), and he picked up 3 fouls in the first half of Game 6. He's had success guarding James in the past, and he hasn't gotten any favors from the officials, but I think it's clear that the knee is hampering his performance on that end, as well, just as you'd expect it to. Some of this is on Pierce, who needs to play smart and not take bad fouls, but some of it is also on Doc. If you're willing to let Mickael Pietrus and Marquis Daniels and even Brandon Bass check James when Pierce is out of the game, then you have to be willing to put one of those guys on him to protect Pierce when he's in the game. For example, in Game 6, when Pierce came back into the game in the second quarter with two fouls, he went right back on James, picked up his third foul with like six minutes to go, and had to sit the rest of the half. To start the third, Doc put Bass on James, ostensibly to protect Pierce. But by waiting until Pierce was already in serious foul trouble before making a move, Doc kept Pierce off the court for a big chunk of the second quarter. The key is to start protecting him before it affects his playing time.
3. We only saw a possession or two of zone in Game 6, and absent truly exigent circumstances, I hope that means we've seen the last of it in this series. Miami was reasonably effective scoring against the zone in Game 5; what worked is that Boston was changing defenses and disguising what they were running, and that led to confusion and some wasted possessions when we went back to man-to-man. The element of surprise is gone, however, and Miami not only is ready for the zone, they are ready for us to switch it up. That particular trick isn't going to work anymore, and the zone itself isn't effective enough on its own.
4. Rajon Rondo has to be aggressive. He is charged with a nearly impossible task; he's the only Celtic who is able to consistently get easy baskets for himself, and yet he also has to get the other guys going, too. What Rondo must realize is that his offense opens up the floor for everyone else; when he is penetrating and getting into the lane, shots open up for others, whether it's Kevin Garnett on the pick and roll, Garnett and Bass on the pick-and-pop, or Pierce and Ray Allen spotting up along the perimeter. It's fine to run a few plays for Pierce and Allen early to try and get them a few jumpers, but if that isn't working, Rondo needs to shoulder a heavier scoring load himself, quickly. We can't afford to waste half a quarter trying to get the other guys going. If Rondo's attacking, then the rest of the offense should establish itself.
5. We need something from the bench. While a performance like the one we got from Pietrus in Game 5 would be nice, something to that degree isn't even necessary. I expect Rondo to play the full 48 minutes, and I expect that James will, as well. But Garnett won't, and neither will Pierce and Allen. Pietrus, Daniels, and Keyon Dooling must play their usual strong defense while scoring at least enough to keep us in striking distance.
6. I don't think that home court advantage will affect the players; we've played our two best games of the series in Miami's barn. I do worry that the home crowd will affect the refs. Officiating played a huge role in Boston's Game 2 loss. While I don't know who is assigned to Game 7, I do know that I don't want to see Eddie Malloy or Billy Kennedy, two officials who have shown anti-Boston proclivities and who seem overmatched by big games. And regardless of who is officiating, the players need to put any bad calls behind them quickly.
7. Finally, Boston must be resilient. Miami is a strong defensive team with a couple remarkably talented offensive players. It's nearly impossible to play a game against the Heat without them going on a couple of six- or eight-point runs. The key will be preventing them from turning those spurts into 12- and 14-point surges. Boston can win this game if they are down a few points entering the fourth quarter, but if they're down double-digits after the third, the task may be too hard. The Celtics were resilient in Game 5, and it paid off; Boston stayed in it when things weren't going right in the first half, then made their run when the shots started falling in the third quarter. They were resilient in Game 6, too; the difference is that we couldn't get anything to fall even as we continued to hang around. As long as we stay resilient, then we'll have a great shot at this. Fortunately, staying resilient is one of the things we do best.
Game 7 starts at 8:30 Eastern on ESPN. Let's do this!
Miami 98, Boston 79
[recap] [box score]
Two stories are dominating the headlines in the aftermath of Game 6. LeBron James' incredible 45-point (deservedly) gets top billing, and Boston's inability to keep the game close in the second half plays second fiddle. Here, I'm going to address them in reverse order.
How to explain the way Boston played tonight? It's a question I've been mulling since the game ended. I'm sure there are no shortage of theories floating around out there among the media and in the blogosphere, but I'm avoiding those outlets for now. I can imagine what they're saying, though:
The Celtics choked. I don't know if anyone is actually saying this. I do know that if, say, Miami had played a closeout game the way Boston did tonight, the talking heads would be all over the Heat (and James) for not coming through in big moments. Mostly by virtue of their title in 2008, this group of Celtics should evade that particular criticism. (It's amazing what a ring will do, isn't it?)
The Celtics didn't fully appreciate the magnitude of the moment. Miami was facing elimination, and teams facing elimination generally take their play to another level (that's why Game 7s are often so intense). Might Boston not have realized this and failed to match Miami's intensity? I suppose it's possible, but again, their playoff experience over the last five years makes this unlikely. The Celtics know exactly what it takes to close out a series. I'd believe that the opposite was true -- that the Cs were overhyped for the game, something that's happened with KG before -- before I believed this.
The Celtics are out of gas. The conference finals started just two days after Boston finished a seven-game series with Philly, and the Celtics expended an extraordinary amount of energy in games 2 through 5, including two overtimes. All this with a short rotation, on old, tired, injured legs.
The Celtics were complacent. The more I think about this one, the more I have to give it at least a little credit. I don't think the players ever thought "this one's in the bag," but after outplaying the Heat for four straight games and hearing two days' worth of stories about the Miami being on the ropes, maybe the mindset wasn't quite right. Professional athletes are always walking a fine line between confidence and over-confidence, between not psyching themselves out and having appropriate respect for the moment. Maybe, for whatever reason, the formula was a little out of whack. It wouldn't be the first time -- look at the Philly series. It was just one of those nights. This, more or less, is what I believe. All the other things may have played smaller roles in the defeat, but there are nights when things just don't go right. Your shots don't fall while the opponent's shots do, the ball bounces the other way a couple times, your timing is just a fraction of a second off. It's not because you aren't prepared or succumb to the moment -- it's just one of those nights.
I thought Boston's effort level, at least up until the early part of the fourth quarter, was good. The Celtics weren't flying around the court or anything, but they were getting back on defense, running when they had the opportunity, hitting the boards, and fighting for loose balls. Everything was just a little off, and as James made tough shot after tough shot, Boston started pressing a little bit. When that happens, unless you start making shots, the game can get out of control in a hurry. In the third quarter, Boston threatened to make it a game, but they never got to the point where they were making shots consistently. Eventually, that was too much to overcome.
In other words, I don't really know what caused Boston to turn in what must be fairly described as a disappointing performance in Game 6. I do know, however, that these guys have earned the benefit of the doubt. So I'm not going to criticize their effort or preparation.
On to James. What a performance! Truly one for the ages. James at least temporarily shut up his critics who say that he doesn't perform in big games. He was a one-man show, no doubt.
That's the thing, though: He was a one-man show. Udonis Haslem was a monster on the boards, a few other guys hit a few shots, but for the most part, this was all LeBron -- scoring machine LeBron, not facilitator LeBron.
Here's the honest truth, though: I don't mind 45 points from LeBron James. If you had shown me only Miami's half of the box score before the game, I would have taken it. LeBron was prolifically, brutally efficient, but his team members weren't involved, and when the other guys aren't involved, they they don't defend as well and miss more often when they are finally called upon. That's not meant as a criticism of James -- I fully recognize how brilliant he was tonight -- it's just a fact. I've said it before and I'll say it again now: One player cannot defeat a great team if that team is playing well. Kobe couldn't do it in Game 5 in 2010. LeBron himself couldn't do it in Game 7 of the 2008 Eastern Conference semis.
The difference between Boston wins like those two games an what happened Thursday night is, of course, the Celtics. Against the Lakers in 2010, when Kobe scored 23 straight LA points during one stretch, the Cs scored 33 points, and every Boston player on the court had at least one bucket, and the team had assists on 10 of its 15 baskets. Against the Cavs in 2008, Paul Pierce matched LeBron nearly point for point (41 points to James' 45), and the Celtics supporting cast took care of the rest. Tonight, however, Boston's offense wasn't clicking. Rajon Rondo and Brandon Bass did their best to keep the team in it during the first half, but unlike the second half of Game 5, the shots just didn't fall. Boston can beat the Heat even with James playing like a deity, but to do so, they have to put the ball in the basket.
Towards the very end of the game, maybe with two-and-a-half minutes left and the benches emptied, a "Let's go Celtics!" chant slowly emerged from the Boston fans still on hand. As the game dragged on longer than it needed to, the cheer continued, and in fact grew even louder. Quite a few fans had left the Garden early, but by the final buzzer, there wasn't a green-clad fan in the stands who wasn't on his or her feet, yelling and clapping. On the bench, the Celtics' starters -- Pierce and Allen, Rondo and KG -- slowly nodded their heads, their mental preparation for Game 7 already begun.
Game 7 is in Miami on Saturday, and could mean the end of Boston's season, and so the question has to be asked: Were the fans cheering on the Celtics in advance of Game 7, a "we believe in you!" type message? Or were they thanking them for a great run this year -- and, let's face it, for the last five years, since there's a good chance that if Boston loses on Saturday, we won't see at least one key piece of this team in a Celtics uniform again?
We'll never know what the person who started the cheer intended, and the answer to the question will probably be provided by what happens in Game 7. But I ask you to consider Boston's performance following a loss in these playoffs. They are 4-1 in such games this year, including wins without Rondo (Atlanta Game 2) and without Pierce in the final minutes (Philly Game 7). The sole loss, the lone exception, was Game 2 against Miami just days ago -- when Boston played arguably its best game of the playoffs.
I'm not going to go so far to say that Boston has Miami right where they want them. "Right where they want them" is home on their couches in Miami, while we get three days to rest up for Oklahoma City. But every time their backs have been against the wall over the last six weeks or so, the Celtics have responded. They clearly aren't ready to say goodbye. And I'm not ready to say goodbye to them.
Two stories are dominating the headlines in the aftermath of Game 6. LeBron James' incredible 45-point (deservedly) gets top billing, and Boston's inability to keep the game close in the second half plays second fiddle. Here, I'm going to address them in reverse order.
How to explain the way Boston played tonight? It's a question I've been mulling since the game ended. I'm sure there are no shortage of theories floating around out there among the media and in the blogosphere, but I'm avoiding those outlets for now. I can imagine what they're saying, though:
The Celtics choked. I don't know if anyone is actually saying this. I do know that if, say, Miami had played a closeout game the way Boston did tonight, the talking heads would be all over the Heat (and James) for not coming through in big moments. Mostly by virtue of their title in 2008, this group of Celtics should evade that particular criticism. (It's amazing what a ring will do, isn't it?)
The Celtics didn't fully appreciate the magnitude of the moment. Miami was facing elimination, and teams facing elimination generally take their play to another level (that's why Game 7s are often so intense). Might Boston not have realized this and failed to match Miami's intensity? I suppose it's possible, but again, their playoff experience over the last five years makes this unlikely. The Celtics know exactly what it takes to close out a series. I'd believe that the opposite was true -- that the Cs were overhyped for the game, something that's happened with KG before -- before I believed this.
The Celtics are out of gas. The conference finals started just two days after Boston finished a seven-game series with Philly, and the Celtics expended an extraordinary amount of energy in games 2 through 5, including two overtimes. All this with a short rotation, on old, tired, injured legs.
The Celtics were complacent. The more I think about this one, the more I have to give it at least a little credit. I don't think the players ever thought "this one's in the bag," but after outplaying the Heat for four straight games and hearing two days' worth of stories about the Miami being on the ropes, maybe the mindset wasn't quite right. Professional athletes are always walking a fine line between confidence and over-confidence, between not psyching themselves out and having appropriate respect for the moment. Maybe, for whatever reason, the formula was a little out of whack. It wouldn't be the first time -- look at the Philly series. It was just one of those nights. This, more or less, is what I believe. All the other things may have played smaller roles in the defeat, but there are nights when things just don't go right. Your shots don't fall while the opponent's shots do, the ball bounces the other way a couple times, your timing is just a fraction of a second off. It's not because you aren't prepared or succumb to the moment -- it's just one of those nights.
I thought Boston's effort level, at least up until the early part of the fourth quarter, was good. The Celtics weren't flying around the court or anything, but they were getting back on defense, running when they had the opportunity, hitting the boards, and fighting for loose balls. Everything was just a little off, and as James made tough shot after tough shot, Boston started pressing a little bit. When that happens, unless you start making shots, the game can get out of control in a hurry. In the third quarter, Boston threatened to make it a game, but they never got to the point where they were making shots consistently. Eventually, that was too much to overcome.
In other words, I don't really know what caused Boston to turn in what must be fairly described as a disappointing performance in Game 6. I do know, however, that these guys have earned the benefit of the doubt. So I'm not going to criticize their effort or preparation.
On to James. What a performance! Truly one for the ages. James at least temporarily shut up his critics who say that he doesn't perform in big games. He was a one-man show, no doubt.
That's the thing, though: He was a one-man show. Udonis Haslem was a monster on the boards, a few other guys hit a few shots, but for the most part, this was all LeBron -- scoring machine LeBron, not facilitator LeBron.
Here's the honest truth, though: I don't mind 45 points from LeBron James. If you had shown me only Miami's half of the box score before the game, I would have taken it. LeBron was prolifically, brutally efficient, but his team members weren't involved, and when the other guys aren't involved, they they don't defend as well and miss more often when they are finally called upon. That's not meant as a criticism of James -- I fully recognize how brilliant he was tonight -- it's just a fact. I've said it before and I'll say it again now: One player cannot defeat a great team if that team is playing well. Kobe couldn't do it in Game 5 in 2010. LeBron himself couldn't do it in Game 7 of the 2008 Eastern Conference semis.
The difference between Boston wins like those two games an what happened Thursday night is, of course, the Celtics. Against the Lakers in 2010, when Kobe scored 23 straight LA points during one stretch, the Cs scored 33 points, and every Boston player on the court had at least one bucket, and the team had assists on 10 of its 15 baskets. Against the Cavs in 2008, Paul Pierce matched LeBron nearly point for point (41 points to James' 45), and the Celtics supporting cast took care of the rest. Tonight, however, Boston's offense wasn't clicking. Rajon Rondo and Brandon Bass did their best to keep the team in it during the first half, but unlike the second half of Game 5, the shots just didn't fall. Boston can beat the Heat even with James playing like a deity, but to do so, they have to put the ball in the basket.
Towards the very end of the game, maybe with two-and-a-half minutes left and the benches emptied, a "Let's go Celtics!" chant slowly emerged from the Boston fans still on hand. As the game dragged on longer than it needed to, the cheer continued, and in fact grew even louder. Quite a few fans had left the Garden early, but by the final buzzer, there wasn't a green-clad fan in the stands who wasn't on his or her feet, yelling and clapping. On the bench, the Celtics' starters -- Pierce and Allen, Rondo and KG -- slowly nodded their heads, their mental preparation for Game 7 already begun.
Game 7 is in Miami on Saturday, and could mean the end of Boston's season, and so the question has to be asked: Were the fans cheering on the Celtics in advance of Game 7, a "we believe in you!" type message? Or were they thanking them for a great run this year -- and, let's face it, for the last five years, since there's a good chance that if Boston loses on Saturday, we won't see at least one key piece of this team in a Celtics uniform again?
We'll never know what the person who started the cheer intended, and the answer to the question will probably be provided by what happens in Game 7. But I ask you to consider Boston's performance following a loss in these playoffs. They are 4-1 in such games this year, including wins without Rondo (Atlanta Game 2) and without Pierce in the final minutes (Philly Game 7). The sole loss, the lone exception, was Game 2 against Miami just days ago -- when Boston played arguably its best game of the playoffs.
I'm not going to go so far to say that Boston has Miami right where they want them. "Right where they want them" is home on their couches in Miami, while we get three days to rest up for Oklahoma City. But every time their backs have been against the wall over the last six weeks or so, the Celtics have responded. They clearly aren't ready to say goodbye. And I'm not ready to say goodbye to them.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Boston 93, Miami 91 (Overtime)
[recap] [box score]
This team really is unlike any other I've ever seen.
When it's clicking, Boston's offense is as pretty as anybody's in the NBA, unselfish, the ball flowing from the hands of a young point guard whose creativity and court vision is unmatched, to one of history's best passing big men, to the franchise's second-leading scorer, to the greatest outside shooter in the history of the game, ending in a jumper so pure you can feel the snap of the net even as you're sitting in your chair. In the same game -- hell, in the same quarter -- that same offense can deteriorate into what ESPN's Bill Simmons calls a clogged toilet, a series of forced isolations that are now in their fifth straight year of accomplishing nothing but letting the opponent back in the game. They've played more playoff games than any other team over the last five years -- more often than not getting the job done -- and yet they have inexplicable trouble closing out a game, or a playoff series. They do nothing easily, and watching them barely scrape by or hang on, you get the feeling that it's going to come back to bite them in the collective ass.
Watching this team, in essence, is an exercise in waiting for the other shoe to drop.
You'll forgive me, then, for thinking that Dwyane Wade -- standing alone, 24 feet from the home goal at the Garden, with Boston up two and the final seconds of overtime ticking away -- was that proverbial other shoe. You'll forgive me for thinking that his three-pointer was going in.
But it didn't. It was short -- just barely, maybe an inch (probably less) -- but short. And so Boston, which had given up all of an 18-point first half lead, was let off the hook. Doc Rivers was let off the hook for mismanaging the end game in regulation (more on this later). Paul Pierce was let off the hook for fouling out for the third time in five games. Kevin Garnett was let off the hook for the late offensive foul that gave Miami a chance to win it in regulation. Mickael Pietrus was leaving LeBron James wide open -- and I mean [i]wide open[/i] for the game-tying three with 37 seconds left. Rajon Rondo was let off the hook for his petulant kick at Shane Battier (and ensuing technical) late in the first half. Marquis Daniels was let off the hook for letting Wade shake him with a pump fake for that final look. I could go on, but I won't.
If you read the above, you're probably under the impression that the Celtics were lucky to win this game and go back to Miami tied 2-2 instead of in a 3-1 hole. And it's true: Boston was fortunate to win, as any team must be when it continually lives so close to the edge. But it's also true that you make your own luck, and for everyone in the above list (and everyone else who played, for that matter), I could point to something they did that was absolutely instrumental in this win, whether it was helping build the big first-half lead or recovering after Miami surged ahead. It was yet another mix of brilliance, horror, and resilience -- and everybody played a part in all of it.
A few scattered thoughts:
1. I mentioned earlier that I thought Doc blew the endgame in regulation. Specifically, when James hit that three to tie it up with 37 seconds left, Boston had two timeouts remaining. This was a perfect two-for-one opportunity; Doc could've called timeout to advance the ball, then drawn up one of his signature out-of-bounds plays for a quick shot, leaving enough time on the clock that they'd get the ball back after a Miami possession (after which they'd once again be able to advance the ball with a timeout). It's basic NBA strategy -- you get two possessions to your opponent's one -- and while I think it can be overused and teams often end up getting two bad shots, there was enough time to get something good on the first possession and still leave enough time for a good look on the second possession. And it would have been particularly appropriate in Sunday's game, when Boston had basically gotten nothing in the flow of the offense in the second half. But, to my shock, Doc let them go, and Garnett was called for a foul for trapping James' arm as a way of preventing him from challenging Rondo's drive. Boston was able to survive Miami's potential game-winning possession due to some strong defense and a really poor play on the part of the Heat and coach Erik Spoelstra, but had they been able to score and win the game there, Doc's error in the fourth would have the lead of this post.
2. Rondo turned in what is becoming a typical Rondo performance: brilliant first half, some dicey moments in the second half, big buckets when the team needed them down the stretch, and the frustrating, if momentary, loss of his cool (the Battier kick). He added something new: unprecedented candor during the halftime interview. After a 61-point outburst over the opening 24 minutes, Doris Burke asked him what holes the Celtics were exploiting. His response: "Them complaining and crying to the referees in transition."
I'm curious what the reaction will be. What he said was true: In what is becoming an annoyingly common occurrence in the NBA, the Heat actually were giving up buckets in transition because they were barking at the officials instead of getting back on D. The Heat players might try to use it as some sort of motivation, though I imagine Spoelstra wouldn't mind someone else pointing out to his guys that all the bitching actually hurts them. I also wonder if it was a calculated move on Rondo's part, or just him being honest. There certainly shouldn't be any fallout with the league -- he wasn't criticizing the officials.
3. I'm beginning to wonder if Boston's habit of slowing the pace down in the second half is an energy-conserving tactic. The Heat have been going to increasingly small lineups, which has shortened Doc's big man rotation (Greg Stiemsma played all of 32 seconds in Game 4 and Ryan Hollins didn't get off the bench). Garnett is playing too many minutes (43 on Sunday) and Pierce and Allen are battling injuries. I don't think we'll find out if that's the case -- it's not the kind of thing you admit during a series. But it's hard to find another rational explanation for why Boston goes to an offensive strategy that almost never works, then goes back to running their normal offense when they absolutely have to.
4. The officiating in the fourth quarter and in overtime was just bizarre. James flopped trying to deny a Garnett post-up, and the official -- Billy Kennedy, I think -- whistled a double foul. Pierce's sixth foul, a late call by Kennedy early in overtime, came on a minor bit of contact between him and Shane Battier, who flopped to the ground on the play. And James was disqualified with his sixth foul later in overtime by Joey Crawford for muscling Pietrus to the floor. I think that it was inconsistent enough that both teams had gripes and that you really couldn't say one team had the advantage over the other, but there were a bunch of weird calls, particularly late, that had me scratching my head once again.
5. Ray Allen looked more like himself on Sunday than he has since he came back. That's a great sign. I've got no doubt he's still hurting, but it's not affecting his shot as much as it was.
I think we should be feeling good heading back to Miami. Boston had some trouble closing out these last two games, but they outplayed Miami for big chunks of Games 2, 3, and 4. The Celtics seem to have figured out how to keep James and Wade out of the lane as much as possible, which is crucial to beating the Heat. Miami has been making big adjustments on what seems to be an almost constant basis -- playing different people at center, going small, trapping the pick-and-roll, switching the pick-and-roll, putting James on Rondo, etc. That makes them a little bit hard to game plan for, but it also suggests to me that we're a bit more comfortable than they are. There's also been some rumbling that Chris Bosh might return for some part of this series, which would be interesting -- I'm honestly not sure whether that'd be bad or good for Boston.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Miami, at 8:30 Eastern on ESPN. We've got the momentum, but it's crucial to remember something that I keep reminding my girlfriend (an avid Spurs fan): Nothing's happened in this series yet. Both teams have held serve at home, and Miami has the advantage of being able to win the series without winning on the road. Boston, on the other hand, has to win at least once on South Beach. No better time than Tuesday -- if that's not too easy.
This team really is unlike any other I've ever seen.
When it's clicking, Boston's offense is as pretty as anybody's in the NBA, unselfish, the ball flowing from the hands of a young point guard whose creativity and court vision is unmatched, to one of history's best passing big men, to the franchise's second-leading scorer, to the greatest outside shooter in the history of the game, ending in a jumper so pure you can feel the snap of the net even as you're sitting in your chair. In the same game -- hell, in the same quarter -- that same offense can deteriorate into what ESPN's Bill Simmons calls a clogged toilet, a series of forced isolations that are now in their fifth straight year of accomplishing nothing but letting the opponent back in the game. They've played more playoff games than any other team over the last five years -- more often than not getting the job done -- and yet they have inexplicable trouble closing out a game, or a playoff series. They do nothing easily, and watching them barely scrape by or hang on, you get the feeling that it's going to come back to bite them in the collective ass.
Watching this team, in essence, is an exercise in waiting for the other shoe to drop.
You'll forgive me, then, for thinking that Dwyane Wade -- standing alone, 24 feet from the home goal at the Garden, with Boston up two and the final seconds of overtime ticking away -- was that proverbial other shoe. You'll forgive me for thinking that his three-pointer was going in.
But it didn't. It was short -- just barely, maybe an inch (probably less) -- but short. And so Boston, which had given up all of an 18-point first half lead, was let off the hook. Doc Rivers was let off the hook for mismanaging the end game in regulation (more on this later). Paul Pierce was let off the hook for fouling out for the third time in five games. Kevin Garnett was let off the hook for the late offensive foul that gave Miami a chance to win it in regulation. Mickael Pietrus was leaving LeBron James wide open -- and I mean [i]wide open[/i] for the game-tying three with 37 seconds left. Rajon Rondo was let off the hook for his petulant kick at Shane Battier (and ensuing technical) late in the first half. Marquis Daniels was let off the hook for letting Wade shake him with a pump fake for that final look. I could go on, but I won't.
If you read the above, you're probably under the impression that the Celtics were lucky to win this game and go back to Miami tied 2-2 instead of in a 3-1 hole. And it's true: Boston was fortunate to win, as any team must be when it continually lives so close to the edge. But it's also true that you make your own luck, and for everyone in the above list (and everyone else who played, for that matter), I could point to something they did that was absolutely instrumental in this win, whether it was helping build the big first-half lead or recovering after Miami surged ahead. It was yet another mix of brilliance, horror, and resilience -- and everybody played a part in all of it.
A few scattered thoughts:
1. I mentioned earlier that I thought Doc blew the endgame in regulation. Specifically, when James hit that three to tie it up with 37 seconds left, Boston had two timeouts remaining. This was a perfect two-for-one opportunity; Doc could've called timeout to advance the ball, then drawn up one of his signature out-of-bounds plays for a quick shot, leaving enough time on the clock that they'd get the ball back after a Miami possession (after which they'd once again be able to advance the ball with a timeout). It's basic NBA strategy -- you get two possessions to your opponent's one -- and while I think it can be overused and teams often end up getting two bad shots, there was enough time to get something good on the first possession and still leave enough time for a good look on the second possession. And it would have been particularly appropriate in Sunday's game, when Boston had basically gotten nothing in the flow of the offense in the second half. But, to my shock, Doc let them go, and Garnett was called for a foul for trapping James' arm as a way of preventing him from challenging Rondo's drive. Boston was able to survive Miami's potential game-winning possession due to some strong defense and a really poor play on the part of the Heat and coach Erik Spoelstra, but had they been able to score and win the game there, Doc's error in the fourth would have the lead of this post.
2. Rondo turned in what is becoming a typical Rondo performance: brilliant first half, some dicey moments in the second half, big buckets when the team needed them down the stretch, and the frustrating, if momentary, loss of his cool (the Battier kick). He added something new: unprecedented candor during the halftime interview. After a 61-point outburst over the opening 24 minutes, Doris Burke asked him what holes the Celtics were exploiting. His response: "Them complaining and crying to the referees in transition."
I'm curious what the reaction will be. What he said was true: In what is becoming an annoyingly common occurrence in the NBA, the Heat actually were giving up buckets in transition because they were barking at the officials instead of getting back on D. The Heat players might try to use it as some sort of motivation, though I imagine Spoelstra wouldn't mind someone else pointing out to his guys that all the bitching actually hurts them. I also wonder if it was a calculated move on Rondo's part, or just him being honest. There certainly shouldn't be any fallout with the league -- he wasn't criticizing the officials.
3. I'm beginning to wonder if Boston's habit of slowing the pace down in the second half is an energy-conserving tactic. The Heat have been going to increasingly small lineups, which has shortened Doc's big man rotation (Greg Stiemsma played all of 32 seconds in Game 4 and Ryan Hollins didn't get off the bench). Garnett is playing too many minutes (43 on Sunday) and Pierce and Allen are battling injuries. I don't think we'll find out if that's the case -- it's not the kind of thing you admit during a series. But it's hard to find another rational explanation for why Boston goes to an offensive strategy that almost never works, then goes back to running their normal offense when they absolutely have to.
4. The officiating in the fourth quarter and in overtime was just bizarre. James flopped trying to deny a Garnett post-up, and the official -- Billy Kennedy, I think -- whistled a double foul. Pierce's sixth foul, a late call by Kennedy early in overtime, came on a minor bit of contact between him and Shane Battier, who flopped to the ground on the play. And James was disqualified with his sixth foul later in overtime by Joey Crawford for muscling Pietrus to the floor. I think that it was inconsistent enough that both teams had gripes and that you really couldn't say one team had the advantage over the other, but there were a bunch of weird calls, particularly late, that had me scratching my head once again.
5. Ray Allen looked more like himself on Sunday than he has since he came back. That's a great sign. I've got no doubt he's still hurting, but it's not affecting his shot as much as it was.
I think we should be feeling good heading back to Miami. Boston had some trouble closing out these last two games, but they outplayed Miami for big chunks of Games 2, 3, and 4. The Celtics seem to have figured out how to keep James and Wade out of the lane as much as possible, which is crucial to beating the Heat. Miami has been making big adjustments on what seems to be an almost constant basis -- playing different people at center, going small, trapping the pick-and-roll, switching the pick-and-roll, putting James on Rondo, etc. That makes them a little bit hard to game plan for, but it also suggests to me that we're a bit more comfortable than they are. There's also been some rumbling that Chris Bosh might return for some part of this series, which would be interesting -- I'm honestly not sure whether that'd be bad or good for Boston.
Game 5 is Tuesday night in Miami, at 8:30 Eastern on ESPN. We've got the momentum, but it's crucial to remember something that I keep reminding my girlfriend (an avid Spurs fan): Nothing's happened in this series yet. Both teams have held serve at home, and Miami has the advantage of being able to win the series without winning on the road. Boston, on the other hand, has to win at least once on South Beach. No better time than Tuesday -- if that's not too easy.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Boston 101, Miami 91
[recap] [box score]
Going to do just a few quick points, since I didn't get a chance to post after the game last night:
1. Huge contribution in this one from Marquis Daniels, who basically has been out of the rotation ever since we got Mickael Pietrus and Avery Bradley stepped up. Daniels was part of the second unit that took control of this game at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, and with Brandon Bass in foul trouble, was on the court for much of the stretch when Boston's lead ballooned as high as 24 in the third quarter. Daniels biggest contribution was probably defensively; LeBron James scored his share of points when Daniels was checking him, but those points did not come easily. Offensively, Daniels doesn't have the range Pietrus supposedly has, but his knack of finding the open spot moving off the ball -- something sorely lacking ever since Bradley was shut down -- was crucial to the Celtics' offensive success. I expect we'll see more of him.
2. Keyon Dooling's ball pressure off the bench during that same first half stretch was crucial. Miami didn't score for like seven minutes while Boston ripped off a 15-0 run, and Dooling's perimeter defense should get a lot of credit for taking the Heat out of an offensive rhythm that had put up 28 points in the first 9 and a half minutes.
3. It's rare that the bench -- particularly one as weak as Boston's -- is the difference in a playoff game, but these are unusual circumstances. With Chris Bosh out, Miami's been going small, and that means Brandon Bass has to chase guys out on the perimeter, which got him into foul trouble. Daniels and Pietrus replaced him, and in effect became "starters." I expect we'll see more of Daniels moving forward.
4. Dooling and Daniels scored some points, but their defense was really the big key. Boston had played fairly terribly on defense in the early minutes, and Dooling's tenacity, especially, changed the defensive tone of the game.
5. Boston went to Kevin Garnett early and often, which was key. And the officials finally recognized that Miami has been holding and grabbing KG as he tries to get position. If that trend continues, KG will be close to unstoppable.
6. Rajon Rondo's numbers aren't nearly as gaudy as they were in Game 2, but he made a number of momentum-shifting plays. I thought his layup in transition in the closing minutes was huge. The Heat had shifted to a super-small lineup with James at the 5, which not only spread the Celtics thin on defense, but also induced them into walking the ball up and trying to exploit size mismatches in the post -- a strategy which, surprise, didn't really work.
7. For the most part, Boston turned James and Dwyane Wade into jump shooters. James was red-hot to start, but even as he was draining jumper after jumper, I was thinking that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing -- that it might induce the Heat to fall in love with the long game and not take advantage of their ability to penetrate and the favorable treatment they get from the officials. We've had success doing this in the past, and it will be crucial to continue to do so moving forward.
8. One thing that needs to be fixed is Boston's transition defense. Miami burned us for easy layups several times in the first quarter, even after Boston hoops, and it's been a problem all series. It's inexcusable for a team that sends as few people to the offensive glass as Boston does. One problem is that as Rondo has become more of a scoring threat, the rest of the team hasn't adjusted to need to balance the floor, but really, just making a concerted effort to not let someone run by you and way downcourt is probably the only fix necessary.
9. Game 4 is Sunday, same bad time, same bad place. Game 3 means nothing if we don't win the next one.
Going to do just a few quick points, since I didn't get a chance to post after the game last night:
1. Huge contribution in this one from Marquis Daniels, who basically has been out of the rotation ever since we got Mickael Pietrus and Avery Bradley stepped up. Daniels was part of the second unit that took control of this game at the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second, and with Brandon Bass in foul trouble, was on the court for much of the stretch when Boston's lead ballooned as high as 24 in the third quarter. Daniels biggest contribution was probably defensively; LeBron James scored his share of points when Daniels was checking him, but those points did not come easily. Offensively, Daniels doesn't have the range Pietrus supposedly has, but his knack of finding the open spot moving off the ball -- something sorely lacking ever since Bradley was shut down -- was crucial to the Celtics' offensive success. I expect we'll see more of him.
2. Keyon Dooling's ball pressure off the bench during that same first half stretch was crucial. Miami didn't score for like seven minutes while Boston ripped off a 15-0 run, and Dooling's perimeter defense should get a lot of credit for taking the Heat out of an offensive rhythm that had put up 28 points in the first 9 and a half minutes.
3. It's rare that the bench -- particularly one as weak as Boston's -- is the difference in a playoff game, but these are unusual circumstances. With Chris Bosh out, Miami's been going small, and that means Brandon Bass has to chase guys out on the perimeter, which got him into foul trouble. Daniels and Pietrus replaced him, and in effect became "starters." I expect we'll see more of Daniels moving forward.
4. Dooling and Daniels scored some points, but their defense was really the big key. Boston had played fairly terribly on defense in the early minutes, and Dooling's tenacity, especially, changed the defensive tone of the game.
5. Boston went to Kevin Garnett early and often, which was key. And the officials finally recognized that Miami has been holding and grabbing KG as he tries to get position. If that trend continues, KG will be close to unstoppable.
6. Rajon Rondo's numbers aren't nearly as gaudy as they were in Game 2, but he made a number of momentum-shifting plays. I thought his layup in transition in the closing minutes was huge. The Heat had shifted to a super-small lineup with James at the 5, which not only spread the Celtics thin on defense, but also induced them into walking the ball up and trying to exploit size mismatches in the post -- a strategy which, surprise, didn't really work.
7. For the most part, Boston turned James and Dwyane Wade into jump shooters. James was red-hot to start, but even as he was draining jumper after jumper, I was thinking that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing -- that it might induce the Heat to fall in love with the long game and not take advantage of their ability to penetrate and the favorable treatment they get from the officials. We've had success doing this in the past, and it will be crucial to continue to do so moving forward.
8. One thing that needs to be fixed is Boston's transition defense. Miami burned us for easy layups several times in the first quarter, even after Boston hoops, and it's been a problem all series. It's inexcusable for a team that sends as few people to the offensive glass as Boston does. One problem is that as Rondo has become more of a scoring threat, the rest of the team hasn't adjusted to need to balance the floor, but really, just making a concerted effort to not let someone run by you and way downcourt is probably the only fix necessary.
9. Game 4 is Sunday, same bad time, same bad place. Game 3 means nothing if we don't win the next one.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Miami 115, Boston 111 (Overtime)
[recap] [box score]
I don't believe in moral victories in professional sports, especially in the playoffs. However, as fans, we're allowed -- in special situations -- to appreciate, even in defeat, when a team plays its guts out and leaves everything it has out on the court. And that's what the Celtics did in Game 2 on Wednesday. Boston battled age, injury, adversity, the officials -- and, oh yeah, the Miami Heat -- to come within a possession, or an inch, or a whistle, of winning the game and tying this sucker up at one apiece. As fans, we pick a team to root for, and then we're kind of stuck with whatever we get. Over the years, of course, Celtics supporters have been very fortunate with the hand they've been dealt. But even now, down 2-0, staring elimination and the possible end of an era in the face, there's isn't a franchise I'd rather root for. There's isn't a team I'd trade for the guys who put on the green jerseys Wednesday. That's the honest truth.
Miami put this game away in the final minutes of overtime, but it was lost in regulation. Not during the third quarter, when Boston let the last of a 15-point first-half lead slip away. And not on Miami's last possession of the fourth quarter, when Kevin Garnett couldn't corral a LeBron James miss, costing Boston a chance at a buzzer-beating game-winner. It was lost during the two-minute stretch beginning with 3:13 remaining, when Ray Allen missed an open three-pointer in transition, and ending with Udonis Haslem's baseline jumper with 1:07 to go. During that stretch, Garnett missed a 12-footer in the lane over James and Allen missed another good look coming off a screen, while Shane Battier supplemented four James free throws on the other end with a three-pointer from the right corner. During that stretch, the score went from 94-89 Boston to 98-94 Miami, and though Boston battled back to tie the score on a three from Allen to send it into OT, they had lost their best chance to win it.
That's not meant as a criticism of Allen and Garnett. All three shots were on line and missed by the tiniest of margins: the first was maybe an inch short; the latter two perhaps an inch long. Basketball games are often won and lost by those small margins. Doc likes to say it's a make or miss league, and in the final minutes, the guys named Battier and Haslem made, and the guys named Allen and Garnett missed. It happens. I'd take those guys, those shots, in that situation again in a heartbeat.
If you watched the game, or saw the highlights, or looked at the box score, what I'm about to write is obvious: Rajon Rondo was straight-up unbelievable. He played every second of the game's 53 minutes, obliterated his career high with 44 points, added ten assists and eight rebounds, and tossed in three steals against just three turnovers. Miami had no answer for him, while he was Boston's answer to nearly everything Miami did. In the postgame, Magic Johnson called it one of the best performances he's ever seen in all his years in the game. I lack the writing ability to adequately describe the way Rondo played, and the technical details of just how he turned in his finest performance as a pro wouldn't do justice to the gravity of the moment. I'll say only this: From this moment forward, anyone who questions that kid's heart and his value to this team is wrong. Flat-out wrong.
I hate doing this, but I have to: The officiating was bad again. And unlike Game 1, it likely cost Boston the game. It was bad all night, uneven, overly protective of James and Dwyane Wade, but one call, or no-call, stands out: The reverse layup Rondo missed in the final 90 seconds of overtime with the score tied at 105, when he was raked across the face by Wade. This was an inexcusable miss by the officials, and it had double the consequences. Not only was Boston cheated out of a trip to the line, but -- because Rondo was on the deck, checking to make sure his eyes were still in the right place -- the Heat had a five-on-four going the other way that they quickly turned into a Haslem dunk. It was a huge, momentum-shifting play.
It's frustrating for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that this wasn't an isolated miss, but rather part of a pattern of calls going against the Celtics. But mostly, I'm irritated that this unbelievable performance, by Rondo and by the team, might have been enough if not for a missed call the the officials would have made 100 times out of 100 had it happened on the other end. (Perhaps Rondo should have thrown his arms in the air and kicked his legs out, the way Wade does when anyone breathes on him, in order to draw the foul.) As swollen with pride as my heart is as I type this, it also aches. Not because we lost, not because we're down 2-0, but because, to a man, the Celtics deserved to win this game, and certainly deserved to not have the opportunity taken from them in this fashion.
Game 3 is Friday. It's in Boston, in front of the home crowd, and with any luck, maybe we'll get a few calls. The most concerning thing for me is all the minutes the Celtics played tonight. I already mentioned that Rondo played all 53, but Garnett played 45 and Pierce and Allen played 43 on bad legs. It was necessary, but how these guys will have anything left is beyond me.
Knowing these Celtics, though, I wouldn't bet against them finding something.
I don't believe in moral victories in professional sports, especially in the playoffs. However, as fans, we're allowed -- in special situations -- to appreciate, even in defeat, when a team plays its guts out and leaves everything it has out on the court. And that's what the Celtics did in Game 2 on Wednesday. Boston battled age, injury, adversity, the officials -- and, oh yeah, the Miami Heat -- to come within a possession, or an inch, or a whistle, of winning the game and tying this sucker up at one apiece. As fans, we pick a team to root for, and then we're kind of stuck with whatever we get. Over the years, of course, Celtics supporters have been very fortunate with the hand they've been dealt. But even now, down 2-0, staring elimination and the possible end of an era in the face, there's isn't a franchise I'd rather root for. There's isn't a team I'd trade for the guys who put on the green jerseys Wednesday. That's the honest truth.
Miami put this game away in the final minutes of overtime, but it was lost in regulation. Not during the third quarter, when Boston let the last of a 15-point first-half lead slip away. And not on Miami's last possession of the fourth quarter, when Kevin Garnett couldn't corral a LeBron James miss, costing Boston a chance at a buzzer-beating game-winner. It was lost during the two-minute stretch beginning with 3:13 remaining, when Ray Allen missed an open three-pointer in transition, and ending with Udonis Haslem's baseline jumper with 1:07 to go. During that stretch, Garnett missed a 12-footer in the lane over James and Allen missed another good look coming off a screen, while Shane Battier supplemented four James free throws on the other end with a three-pointer from the right corner. During that stretch, the score went from 94-89 Boston to 98-94 Miami, and though Boston battled back to tie the score on a three from Allen to send it into OT, they had lost their best chance to win it.
That's not meant as a criticism of Allen and Garnett. All three shots were on line and missed by the tiniest of margins: the first was maybe an inch short; the latter two perhaps an inch long. Basketball games are often won and lost by those small margins. Doc likes to say it's a make or miss league, and in the final minutes, the guys named Battier and Haslem made, and the guys named Allen and Garnett missed. It happens. I'd take those guys, those shots, in that situation again in a heartbeat.
If you watched the game, or saw the highlights, or looked at the box score, what I'm about to write is obvious: Rajon Rondo was straight-up unbelievable. He played every second of the game's 53 minutes, obliterated his career high with 44 points, added ten assists and eight rebounds, and tossed in three steals against just three turnovers. Miami had no answer for him, while he was Boston's answer to nearly everything Miami did. In the postgame, Magic Johnson called it one of the best performances he's ever seen in all his years in the game. I lack the writing ability to adequately describe the way Rondo played, and the technical details of just how he turned in his finest performance as a pro wouldn't do justice to the gravity of the moment. I'll say only this: From this moment forward, anyone who questions that kid's heart and his value to this team is wrong. Flat-out wrong.
I hate doing this, but I have to: The officiating was bad again. And unlike Game 1, it likely cost Boston the game. It was bad all night, uneven, overly protective of James and Dwyane Wade, but one call, or no-call, stands out: The reverse layup Rondo missed in the final 90 seconds of overtime with the score tied at 105, when he was raked across the face by Wade. This was an inexcusable miss by the officials, and it had double the consequences. Not only was Boston cheated out of a trip to the line, but -- because Rondo was on the deck, checking to make sure his eyes were still in the right place -- the Heat had a five-on-four going the other way that they quickly turned into a Haslem dunk. It was a huge, momentum-shifting play.
It's frustrating for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that this wasn't an isolated miss, but rather part of a pattern of calls going against the Celtics. But mostly, I'm irritated that this unbelievable performance, by Rondo and by the team, might have been enough if not for a missed call the the officials would have made 100 times out of 100 had it happened on the other end. (Perhaps Rondo should have thrown his arms in the air and kicked his legs out, the way Wade does when anyone breathes on him, in order to draw the foul.) As swollen with pride as my heart is as I type this, it also aches. Not because we lost, not because we're down 2-0, but because, to a man, the Celtics deserved to win this game, and certainly deserved to not have the opportunity taken from them in this fashion.
Game 3 is Friday. It's in Boston, in front of the home crowd, and with any luck, maybe we'll get a few calls. The most concerning thing for me is all the minutes the Celtics played tonight. I already mentioned that Rondo played all 53, but Garnett played 45 and Pierce and Allen played 43 on bad legs. It was necessary, but how these guys will have anything left is beyond me.
Knowing these Celtics, though, I wouldn't bet against them finding something.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Sunday Thoughts
Scattered thoughts on last night, and the upcoming series with Miami:
1. I'm a little surprised at how unimpressed the NBA world seems to be with Rajon Rondo in the aftermath of Game 7. If you asked people how Boston would win a Game 7 with Paul Pierce on the bench for the final four minutes, Rondo hitting 50 feet worth of jumpers and going 4-for-4 from the foul line would be pretty far down the list. I suppose that in essence, all Rondo did was knock down a couple of open jumpers, but this was a most improbable way to close out a playoff series. And I'm guessing that if, say, Jrue Holiday had hit some similar shots to propel Philly to victory, we'd be hearing a lot more about him individually. As it stands, most of what I've read has framed everything in the context of the Celtics grinding out a series win, with less of a focus on Rondo's jumpers.
2. Maybe I'm making too much of it, but I think this was a big step forward for Rondo. As I've said before, while he's had plenty of big-time performances in crucial games in his career, he rarely has stepped up in big *moments*. A big part of that, of course, has to do with the fact that he has three Hall of Fame teammates who naturally get the ball in those moments, so he hasn't had a lot of opportunity. But coming through in the clutch -- in a Game 7, no less -- is big step, particularly since he did via the shakiest parts of his game (his jumper and his free throw stroke).
3. One last note here about Rondo: I thought he took a disproportionate amount of the blame for the Game 6 loss (he was bad, but so was everybody else) and in reading some stuff today, people weren't really in love with his Game 7 performance until the final few minutes, either. I agree that he wasn't spectacular Saturday night, but I really think that people are underestimating just how extraordinarily much Rondo is being asked to do. He is in charge of running an offense which has two of its biggest weapons significantly hobbled by injury. There is no one else to create offense for others, and maybe one other guy who can create his own shot. Boston's offense is, at this point, little more than a bunch of jump shots, which means Rondo is encouraged to push the tempo in order to get some easy early offense -- only there's no one to run with him. Everyone expects him to know exactly when he should abandon his struggling teammates and look for his own shot, even though he's never had to do that before and it goes against all his instincts. He's a table-setter, not a high-volume scorer, and of all the point guards in the NBA, the only one I can think of who shifts as effortlessly between the two roles as we seem to expect Rondo to is the Clippers' Chris Paul. The dude deserves a little slack if he doesn't always do the right thing.
4. Jackie MacMullan touched on it a bit in her column for ESPN, but Boston's defense didn't get enough credit for winning Game 7 -- or the whole series, really. Last night's telecast really annoyed me because Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy kept talking about Philly's defense and how it was keeping them in the game despite a poor shooting night, while making almost no mention of the fact that Boston was shooting nearly as poorly and actually leading the game.
5. I didn't get a chance to mention this last night's recap column, but Keyon Dooling had a key steal late, reaching in from behind and knocking the ball off of Holiday's leg with Boston up eight and 53 seconds left. Holiday had a clear path to the basket and a bucket there certainly would have tightened the Celtics up a bit; we probably still would have won, but there's no doubt the basket would have gotten a little bit smaller on Boston's ensuing free throws had it been just a two-possession game.
6. Miami's next, and the big question has to be how we're gonna guard Dwyane Wade. Without Avery Bradley, the primary responsibility for Wade will fall on Ray Allen. Wade is a tough cover for Allen even when Allen is healthy, and we all know that Allen isn't healthy.
7. In reality, stopping Wade and Lebron James will be a team effort, and Boston has been pretty good in the past at taking away the pair's opportunities at the rim, turning them (and the rest of the Heat) into jump shooters. We'll have to do that again, and the possible absence of Chris Bosh would help. Bosh missed most of the Indiana series with a strained abdominal muscle, and his status for the Boston series in unclear. Bosh is not the toughest of customers, and so I have to think that even if he does return, he won't be quite as dangerous as he normally is. However, his mere presence on the court would require Kevin Garnett to pay attention to him in a way that he wouldn't have to worry about his replacement in the lineup, whether it be Rony Turiaf or Joel Anthony.
8. As good as LeBron James is, I think I'd rather have that he, and not Wade, have the mismatch. Wade will exploit a mismatch the entire game if you let him, while James' unselfish nature occasionally prevents him from taking full advantage of the opportunities he gets on the court. I don't think doing something crazy like switching Pierce on to Wade is a good idea -- this is just an observation.
9. Offensively, option number one has to be Garnett. He's been pretty much unstoppable in the playoffs, and we need him to be even better against a Heat team that isn't going to make scoring any easier than it was against Philadelphia. Similarly, we're going to need Brandon Bass to step up the way he did at times against Philadelphia.
10. Allen's obviously hurting, but one way to limit Wade's effectiveness is to make him work on defense. As hard as it is going to be one Ray's bone-spur-afflicted ankles, I think we need to run him off of and around screens as much as we typically do, to try and tire Wade out. Wade also hates getting hit and has shown a tendency to lose his cool, so this could have some added benefits, as well. I'm not talking about anything dirty; just making life as physically taxing as possible.
11. As much as I hate to say it, especially after my opening few paragraphs of this post, we absolutely need a monster series from Rondo if we're going to win. He needs to be careful with the ball, because Miami is deadly in transition. He needs to be in attack mode from the get-go, recognizing that James can neutralize Pierce to an extent and that Ray isn't himself. And on the other end, he needs to not lose track of Mario Chalmers, Miami's third-most dangerous offensive player if Bosh is out. It's a huge ask, but I'm afraid I just don't see another way around.
1. I'm a little surprised at how unimpressed the NBA world seems to be with Rajon Rondo in the aftermath of Game 7. If you asked people how Boston would win a Game 7 with Paul Pierce on the bench for the final four minutes, Rondo hitting 50 feet worth of jumpers and going 4-for-4 from the foul line would be pretty far down the list. I suppose that in essence, all Rondo did was knock down a couple of open jumpers, but this was a most improbable way to close out a playoff series. And I'm guessing that if, say, Jrue Holiday had hit some similar shots to propel Philly to victory, we'd be hearing a lot more about him individually. As it stands, most of what I've read has framed everything in the context of the Celtics grinding out a series win, with less of a focus on Rondo's jumpers.
2. Maybe I'm making too much of it, but I think this was a big step forward for Rondo. As I've said before, while he's had plenty of big-time performances in crucial games in his career, he rarely has stepped up in big *moments*. A big part of that, of course, has to do with the fact that he has three Hall of Fame teammates who naturally get the ball in those moments, so he hasn't had a lot of opportunity. But coming through in the clutch -- in a Game 7, no less -- is big step, particularly since he did via the shakiest parts of his game (his jumper and his free throw stroke).
3. One last note here about Rondo: I thought he took a disproportionate amount of the blame for the Game 6 loss (he was bad, but so was everybody else) and in reading some stuff today, people weren't really in love with his Game 7 performance until the final few minutes, either. I agree that he wasn't spectacular Saturday night, but I really think that people are underestimating just how extraordinarily much Rondo is being asked to do. He is in charge of running an offense which has two of its biggest weapons significantly hobbled by injury. There is no one else to create offense for others, and maybe one other guy who can create his own shot. Boston's offense is, at this point, little more than a bunch of jump shots, which means Rondo is encouraged to push the tempo in order to get some easy early offense -- only there's no one to run with him. Everyone expects him to know exactly when he should abandon his struggling teammates and look for his own shot, even though he's never had to do that before and it goes against all his instincts. He's a table-setter, not a high-volume scorer, and of all the point guards in the NBA, the only one I can think of who shifts as effortlessly between the two roles as we seem to expect Rondo to is the Clippers' Chris Paul. The dude deserves a little slack if he doesn't always do the right thing.
4. Jackie MacMullan touched on it a bit in her column for ESPN, but Boston's defense didn't get enough credit for winning Game 7 -- or the whole series, really. Last night's telecast really annoyed me because Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy kept talking about Philly's defense and how it was keeping them in the game despite a poor shooting night, while making almost no mention of the fact that Boston was shooting nearly as poorly and actually leading the game.
5. I didn't get a chance to mention this last night's recap column, but Keyon Dooling had a key steal late, reaching in from behind and knocking the ball off of Holiday's leg with Boston up eight and 53 seconds left. Holiday had a clear path to the basket and a bucket there certainly would have tightened the Celtics up a bit; we probably still would have won, but there's no doubt the basket would have gotten a little bit smaller on Boston's ensuing free throws had it been just a two-possession game.
6. Miami's next, and the big question has to be how we're gonna guard Dwyane Wade. Without Avery Bradley, the primary responsibility for Wade will fall on Ray Allen. Wade is a tough cover for Allen even when Allen is healthy, and we all know that Allen isn't healthy.
7. In reality, stopping Wade and Lebron James will be a team effort, and Boston has been pretty good in the past at taking away the pair's opportunities at the rim, turning them (and the rest of the Heat) into jump shooters. We'll have to do that again, and the possible absence of Chris Bosh would help. Bosh missed most of the Indiana series with a strained abdominal muscle, and his status for the Boston series in unclear. Bosh is not the toughest of customers, and so I have to think that even if he does return, he won't be quite as dangerous as he normally is. However, his mere presence on the court would require Kevin Garnett to pay attention to him in a way that he wouldn't have to worry about his replacement in the lineup, whether it be Rony Turiaf or Joel Anthony.
8. As good as LeBron James is, I think I'd rather have that he, and not Wade, have the mismatch. Wade will exploit a mismatch the entire game if you let him, while James' unselfish nature occasionally prevents him from taking full advantage of the opportunities he gets on the court. I don't think doing something crazy like switching Pierce on to Wade is a good idea -- this is just an observation.
9. Offensively, option number one has to be Garnett. He's been pretty much unstoppable in the playoffs, and we need him to be even better against a Heat team that isn't going to make scoring any easier than it was against Philadelphia. Similarly, we're going to need Brandon Bass to step up the way he did at times against Philadelphia.
10. Allen's obviously hurting, but one way to limit Wade's effectiveness is to make him work on defense. As hard as it is going to be one Ray's bone-spur-afflicted ankles, I think we need to run him off of and around screens as much as we typically do, to try and tire Wade out. Wade also hates getting hit and has shown a tendency to lose his cool, so this could have some added benefits, as well. I'm not talking about anything dirty; just making life as physically taxing as possible.
11. As much as I hate to say it, especially after my opening few paragraphs of this post, we absolutely need a monster series from Rondo if we're going to win. He needs to be careful with the ball, because Miami is deadly in transition. He needs to be in attack mode from the get-go, recognizing that James can neutralize Pierce to an extent and that Ray isn't himself. And on the other end, he needs to not lose track of Mario Chalmers, Miami's third-most dangerous offensive player if Bosh is out. It's a huge ask, but I'm afraid I just don't see another way around.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Boston 115, Miami 107
[recap] [box score]
This win's even better than the one back in Boston ten days ago. Any good team, like the Heat, can have an off night on the road, especially at the end of a long trip away from home. Any good team, like the Celtics, can put together a dominant performance in its own barn and wax a good opponent. Beating that same opponent on their floor in a payback game less than two weeks later, however, is not something every team can do.
I hope you watched this one, because it was an entertaining basketball game, but if you didn't, here's how it went: Miami predictably jumped out to a hot start, but Boston kept it close; Boston went on a big run to end the first quarter and led by double digits for most of the rest of the half; Miami kept chipping away in the third quarter to stay within striking distance; Boston lost their composure on a couple of early possessions and the Heat cut the lead to one point; Doc Rivers brought Rajon R-ndo and Kevin Garnett back a bit earlier than usual and, with the building going crazy and the game seemingly slipping from their grasp, they (along with Paul Pierce) calmly put the game away.
Those are the broad strokes, but there are some interesting details, and the most interesting is Boston's shooting a percentage: a torrid 60.6% for the game. Some will no doubt point out that the fact that the Celtics shot better than 60%, made 9 of 14 three-pointers and 20 of 25 free throws, and still only won by eight, is worrisome. There's some truth to that; Boston had to make a ton of plays to win this game, and they played exceptionally well -- a few more empty possessions at the wrong time could have brought a different result. But there are a couple counter-points to that.
First, while it's true that by the end of the game, Garnett and Pierce had to make some really tough shots, the whole game wasn't like that. Boston got pretty much anything it wanted in the first half, in which they scored 65 points, the most by a Heat opponent this season.
Second, the Heat had to make a bunch of tough shots, too, just to stay in it. And yeah, maybe Miami is more capable of making tough shots on a consistent basis because they have superior one-on-one players who don't rely as much on the jumper as the Cs do, but Boston has always been comfortable with letting individuals do their own thing against them. James had his usual game against Boston: huge numbers (36 points, even boards, seven assists) and a loss. Dwyane Wade was assertive in stretches (the second and fourth quarters), but when they play Boston, the two Heat superstars still take turns more than they seem to play together. Chris Bosh was once again a non-factor for much of the game, and once you get past him, you simply have to hope that the rest of Miami's unspectacular supporting cast doesn't have a big night. Those are chances I'm willing to take.
The big downside to this win was the minutes: 40-plus for R-ndo and Pierce; 39 for Brandon Bass; 33 for Garnett. (It's hard not to contrast Doc Rivers with San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, who left Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili at home on Monday night for a road game in Utah, even though the Spurs were tied atop the Western Conference at the time and fighting with Oklahoma City for home-court advantage.) The big concern with the minutes is the schedule; Boston heads back home on Wednesday to play the Hawks, then get one day off before a back-to-back-to-back in Toronto, New Jersey, and Charlotte. That many minutes, and that short of a rotation (Doc only played eight guys) could really come back to hurt the team.
Only eight guys played, but all played well. Garnett was the star, shooting 11-for-14 and finishing with 24 points and nine rebounds, but Pierce led the team in scoring with 27 points. R-ndo had 18 points and 15 assists (the 18th straight game he's had double-digit dimes), and Bass also notched a double-double with 12 points and ten boards. Avery Bradley had five early points, keeping the Heat from getting going, and finished with 11. Off the bench, Greg Stiemsma (eight points, seven boards) and Sasha Pavlovic (2-for-2 from deep) did most of their damage in the first half. Ironically, Ray Allen, who was 3-for-7 on the night, was the only Celtic who didn't make at least half his shots from the field.
Speaking of Ray, he came off the bench for the fourth straight game. I've gotta post about this...
This win's even better than the one back in Boston ten days ago. Any good team, like the Heat, can have an off night on the road, especially at the end of a long trip away from home. Any good team, like the Celtics, can put together a dominant performance in its own barn and wax a good opponent. Beating that same opponent on their floor in a payback game less than two weeks later, however, is not something every team can do.
I hope you watched this one, because it was an entertaining basketball game, but if you didn't, here's how it went: Miami predictably jumped out to a hot start, but Boston kept it close; Boston went on a big run to end the first quarter and led by double digits for most of the rest of the half; Miami kept chipping away in the third quarter to stay within striking distance; Boston lost their composure on a couple of early possessions and the Heat cut the lead to one point; Doc Rivers brought Rajon R-ndo and Kevin Garnett back a bit earlier than usual and, with the building going crazy and the game seemingly slipping from their grasp, they (along with Paul Pierce) calmly put the game away.
Those are the broad strokes, but there are some interesting details, and the most interesting is Boston's shooting a percentage: a torrid 60.6% for the game. Some will no doubt point out that the fact that the Celtics shot better than 60%, made 9 of 14 three-pointers and 20 of 25 free throws, and still only won by eight, is worrisome. There's some truth to that; Boston had to make a ton of plays to win this game, and they played exceptionally well -- a few more empty possessions at the wrong time could have brought a different result. But there are a couple counter-points to that.
First, while it's true that by the end of the game, Garnett and Pierce had to make some really tough shots, the whole game wasn't like that. Boston got pretty much anything it wanted in the first half, in which they scored 65 points, the most by a Heat opponent this season.
Second, the Heat had to make a bunch of tough shots, too, just to stay in it. And yeah, maybe Miami is more capable of making tough shots on a consistent basis because they have superior one-on-one players who don't rely as much on the jumper as the Cs do, but Boston has always been comfortable with letting individuals do their own thing against them. James had his usual game against Boston: huge numbers (36 points, even boards, seven assists) and a loss. Dwyane Wade was assertive in stretches (the second and fourth quarters), but when they play Boston, the two Heat superstars still take turns more than they seem to play together. Chris Bosh was once again a non-factor for much of the game, and once you get past him, you simply have to hope that the rest of Miami's unspectacular supporting cast doesn't have a big night. Those are chances I'm willing to take.
The big downside to this win was the minutes: 40-plus for R-ndo and Pierce; 39 for Brandon Bass; 33 for Garnett. (It's hard not to contrast Doc Rivers with San Antonio's Gregg Popovich, who left Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili at home on Monday night for a road game in Utah, even though the Spurs were tied atop the Western Conference at the time and fighting with Oklahoma City for home-court advantage.) The big concern with the minutes is the schedule; Boston heads back home on Wednesday to play the Hawks, then get one day off before a back-to-back-to-back in Toronto, New Jersey, and Charlotte. That many minutes, and that short of a rotation (Doc only played eight guys) could really come back to hurt the team.
Only eight guys played, but all played well. Garnett was the star, shooting 11-for-14 and finishing with 24 points and nine rebounds, but Pierce led the team in scoring with 27 points. R-ndo had 18 points and 15 assists (the 18th straight game he's had double-digit dimes), and Bass also notched a double-double with 12 points and ten boards. Avery Bradley had five early points, keeping the Heat from getting going, and finished with 11. Off the bench, Greg Stiemsma (eight points, seven boards) and Sasha Pavlovic (2-for-2 from deep) did most of their damage in the first half. Ironically, Ray Allen, who was 3-for-7 on the night, was the only Celtic who didn't make at least half his shots from the field.
Speaking of Ray, he came off the bench for the fourth straight game. I've gotta post about this...
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Boston 91, Miami 72
[recap] [box score]
One of my friends texted me after the final buzzer and asked me if this was a "statement win" for the Celtics. I didn't respond, in part because I hate communicating via text, in part because I'm not sure I believe that such games exist in today's NBA, and in part because I didn't really know how to answer. Let me take a moment now to address it.
What statement might Boston have made? A statement to the Heat that they wouldn't be a pushover in the playoffs? That's hardly a statement that needed to be made; anyone who thought that this group of aging but competitive veterans would simply roll over in May and June hasn't been paying attention. A statement to the rest of the league that they're a contender? Not with the game at home and the Heat so obviously disinterested, and playing their third game in four days.
In today's NBA, there are simply too many games and too many variables for any single regular-season game to have much meaning beyond its effect on the standings. It was a big game for Boston in the sense that the Celtics had to have it to stay a game ahead of Philly in the standings, and the Celtics played like it. It was a big game for Miami, too, as Chicago's loss to Oklahoma City gave the Heat an opportunity to close the gap between them and the Bulls for the East's top seed and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. But the Heat didn't play it was a big game, and it would be folly to judge them too harshly by it. (More on this later, though.)
Honestly, the fact of the matter is that Boston is probably still a dog to win the Atlantic, which likely means the seven seed, and it seems a bit silly to talk about statement wins when you're the seven seed. Moreover, the Celtics and Heat clash two more times before the regular season runs out, and Sunday's win really will only be a small part of the conversation should these two teams end up linking up in the playoffs.
So I guess my answer is no, I don't consider this a statement win, and I am skeptical that any such thing exists.
With that said, this was a fun game to watch from a Boston perspective and it does give us fans some hope that our team can make a bit of noise in the playoffs. Rajon R-ndo was spectacular, establishing himself early by going hard to the basket for seven of Boston's first nine points, then spending most of the rest of the game setting the table for his teammates. His final statline included 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 14 assists, yet another triple double (he's the league leader in that category, by the way). R-ndo has been extremely passive offensively the last several games, but he was aggressive from the beginning and pushed the tempo throughout; on one second half play, you could see him gesturing at his teammates to run the floor with him. We're a different team (in a good way) when he's aggressive on offense and we're a different team (in a bad way) when we slow the pace down. If anything, hopefully this game gives Doc something to remind the guys about later in the year when we inevitably start trying to ice games with isolations late in the shotclock.
R-ndo was spectacular; everyone else wearing white was somewhere between solid and very, very good. Avery Bradley continues to play extremely well in Ray Allen's absence -- it's the same old song with him, really; a tenacious on-the-ball defender who bails his teammates out a couple of times a game on offense with timely cuts to the basket. Paul Pierce led the way with 23 points; Brandon Bass had a double-double, making all ten of his free throws; and Kevin Garnett chipped in with 10 points, eight rebounds, and his usual terrific defense that shut Chris Bosh completely down. Greg Stiemsma and Keyon Dooling did a nice job off the bench for a second unit that has seen a couple of its members promoted to the A-team due to injuries to the regular starters.
As for Miami, there's really nothing good to say here. Aside from the second quarter, when Dwyane Wade put the team on his shoulders for a bit, the Heat didn't look engaged at all. LeBron James was unassertive, Wade seemed distracted, and Bosh was a total non-factor (I think he had their first four points, then didn't score again). No one came in and sparked them. I kept waiting for a hard foul or some jawing to wake them up a bit, but no one -- not even newly acquired Ronny Turiaf -- could muster even that.
The buzz around the NBA is that the Heat have been wretched, by their standards, on the road since the All-Star break, and it's for that reason that I don't want to read too much into this game. For it to be a big game, both teams have to be aware of the importance of it, and nothing Miami did on the court on Sunday suggested that they were. My hunch is that it'll be a different story down in South Beach next Tuesday, that the Heat will regain their motivation during their upcoming five-game homestand, and that the postseason questions surrounding them will once again be not whether they'll feel the urgency of the situation, but whether they'll wilt under the pressure of it.
One of my friends texted me after the final buzzer and asked me if this was a "statement win" for the Celtics. I didn't respond, in part because I hate communicating via text, in part because I'm not sure I believe that such games exist in today's NBA, and in part because I didn't really know how to answer. Let me take a moment now to address it.
What statement might Boston have made? A statement to the Heat that they wouldn't be a pushover in the playoffs? That's hardly a statement that needed to be made; anyone who thought that this group of aging but competitive veterans would simply roll over in May and June hasn't been paying attention. A statement to the rest of the league that they're a contender? Not with the game at home and the Heat so obviously disinterested, and playing their third game in four days.
In today's NBA, there are simply too many games and too many variables for any single regular-season game to have much meaning beyond its effect on the standings. It was a big game for Boston in the sense that the Celtics had to have it to stay a game ahead of Philly in the standings, and the Celtics played like it. It was a big game for Miami, too, as Chicago's loss to Oklahoma City gave the Heat an opportunity to close the gap between them and the Bulls for the East's top seed and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs. But the Heat didn't play it was a big game, and it would be folly to judge them too harshly by it. (More on this later, though.)
Honestly, the fact of the matter is that Boston is probably still a dog to win the Atlantic, which likely means the seven seed, and it seems a bit silly to talk about statement wins when you're the seven seed. Moreover, the Celtics and Heat clash two more times before the regular season runs out, and Sunday's win really will only be a small part of the conversation should these two teams end up linking up in the playoffs.
So I guess my answer is no, I don't consider this a statement win, and I am skeptical that any such thing exists.
With that said, this was a fun game to watch from a Boston perspective and it does give us fans some hope that our team can make a bit of noise in the playoffs. Rajon R-ndo was spectacular, establishing himself early by going hard to the basket for seven of Boston's first nine points, then spending most of the rest of the game setting the table for his teammates. His final statline included 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 14 assists, yet another triple double (he's the league leader in that category, by the way). R-ndo has been extremely passive offensively the last several games, but he was aggressive from the beginning and pushed the tempo throughout; on one second half play, you could see him gesturing at his teammates to run the floor with him. We're a different team (in a good way) when he's aggressive on offense and we're a different team (in a bad way) when we slow the pace down. If anything, hopefully this game gives Doc something to remind the guys about later in the year when we inevitably start trying to ice games with isolations late in the shotclock.
R-ndo was spectacular; everyone else wearing white was somewhere between solid and very, very good. Avery Bradley continues to play extremely well in Ray Allen's absence -- it's the same old song with him, really; a tenacious on-the-ball defender who bails his teammates out a couple of times a game on offense with timely cuts to the basket. Paul Pierce led the way with 23 points; Brandon Bass had a double-double, making all ten of his free throws; and Kevin Garnett chipped in with 10 points, eight rebounds, and his usual terrific defense that shut Chris Bosh completely down. Greg Stiemsma and Keyon Dooling did a nice job off the bench for a second unit that has seen a couple of its members promoted to the A-team due to injuries to the regular starters.
As for Miami, there's really nothing good to say here. Aside from the second quarter, when Dwyane Wade put the team on his shoulders for a bit, the Heat didn't look engaged at all. LeBron James was unassertive, Wade seemed distracted, and Bosh was a total non-factor (I think he had their first four points, then didn't score again). No one came in and sparked them. I kept waiting for a hard foul or some jawing to wake them up a bit, but no one -- not even newly acquired Ronny Turiaf -- could muster even that.
The buzz around the NBA is that the Heat have been wretched, by their standards, on the road since the All-Star break, and it's for that reason that I don't want to read too much into this game. For it to be a big game, both teams have to be aware of the importance of it, and nothing Miami did on the court on Sunday suggested that they were. My hunch is that it'll be a different story down in South Beach next Tuesday, that the Heat will regain their motivation during their upcoming five-game homestand, and that the postseason questions surrounding them will once again be not whether they'll feel the urgency of the situation, but whether they'll wilt under the pressure of it.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Celtics Drop Two to Start Season
I've been in DC since last week, spending time with friends and family over the holidays. I've been too busy to blog, but I haven't been too busy to catch Boston in their season-opening games -- a 106-104 loss in New York on Christmas Day, and a 115-107 defeat in Miami Tuesday night.
In both games, Boston started out very slowly, digging a double-digit hole for themselves in the first half. In both games they clawed back to have a realistic shot at winning, taking the lead into the fourth quarter against the Knicks and getting to within three of the Heat late in the fourth.
It's a disappointing start to the season, and yet we should take it with a grain of salt -- the same grain of salt, I should point out, that would accompany our gloating over a 2-0 start, had the ball bounced that way.
The first way to put these losses in perspective is to remember that Paul Pierce hasn't seen the floor yet due to a sore heel. Boston badly missed his offense in a stagnant fourth quarter against the Knicks, and his presence on the defensive end of the floor could have meant a Boston win in either game (or perhaps in both).
The second is to remember that we just played the Knicks and the Heat, two of the better teams in the league. Miami is the odds-on favorite to win the title this year and are in great form (they absolutely took apart Dallas in a Finals rematch on Christmas Day) and New York just might be the third-best team in the East. Even if the Knicks aren't quite as good as some think they are, it's indisputable that Boston's first two opponents are two of the tougher teams in the league to guard. So the fact that we've surrendered 110.5 points per game -- normally a very alarming number -- is tempered by the fact that we've done so against two of the league's best offensive outfits (teams that play at a fast pace, to boot). If New Orleans lights us up Wednesday night, then I'll start to worry about the D.
Honestly, we're not that far from 2-0. We didn't deserve to win either game, really, not with the way we played in the first half, but we hung around, like we always seem to. Carmelo Anthony got hot in the fourth quarter in New York and a rookie named Norris Cole beat our zone (!) in the fourth quarter in Miami -- if not for those guys, we really could have opened with two wins. Two road wins, without the Captain.
That's probably stretching it. My point is, I'm not too concerned. The season ahead is lockout-shortened, but it's still long. Losing on the road to the Knicks and Heat was likely to happen.
Here's what I do hate: Ray Allen has played 38 and 40 minutes, respectively, in the first two games. Allen is, as always, in outstanding physical condition, but that's just too many minutes. Way too many. I'm going to give Doc a little bit of a pass because of the bodies he's missing (Pierce and the newly-signed Mickael Pietrus play the wing), but given Doc's tendencies, I'm expecting that I'll be complaining about the minutes situation all year. Doc did do a nice job limiting Kevin Garnett to 33 minutes Tuesday after KG played 37 in the opener, and this despite the fact that Chris Wilcox sat the whole second half with some sort of (hopefully minor) injury. But Rajon R-ndo can't play 40-plus minutes a game, either, if we're going to make a deep playoff run after what will be a very grueling season.
Save for one absolutely critical turnover in the waning moments against Miami, by the way, R-ndo has been almost flawless. He followed up a 31/5/13 performance against New York with a 22/8/12. Even better: He hit nine of 12 free throws against New York and seven of 11 against Miami. Seventy percent from the line from your point guard isn't normally something to get excited about, but normally your point guard didn't shoot under 60 percent from the stripe last season. What's more, I think this improvement could be permanent; he's slowed his pace at the line way down and everything about the shot looks smoother. A somewhat reliable free throw stroke should give him the confidence to go to the bucket more this year, which we're going to need.
Another bright spot, offensively, has been the bench. Brandon Bass had 20 points and 11 rebounds against the Knicks, while Keyon Dooling did the heavy lifting with 18 off the bench against the Heat. I'm more confident in Bass' ability to contribute regularly than Dooling's; Dooling will rarely shoot as well as he did Tuesday night, and the confidence these strong evenings brings may end up doing more harm than good if it convinces him to play outside his rather modest offensive abilities. Put another way, I'm going to need to see several more games of solid shooting from Dooling before I get comfortable watching him cock the ball way back -- behind his shoulder, to the side of his head -- truly one of the more bizarre shooting strokes in the NBA.
A lot to improve on, but no need to panic just yet.
In both games, Boston started out very slowly, digging a double-digit hole for themselves in the first half. In both games they clawed back to have a realistic shot at winning, taking the lead into the fourth quarter against the Knicks and getting to within three of the Heat late in the fourth.
It's a disappointing start to the season, and yet we should take it with a grain of salt -- the same grain of salt, I should point out, that would accompany our gloating over a 2-0 start, had the ball bounced that way.
The first way to put these losses in perspective is to remember that Paul Pierce hasn't seen the floor yet due to a sore heel. Boston badly missed his offense in a stagnant fourth quarter against the Knicks, and his presence on the defensive end of the floor could have meant a Boston win in either game (or perhaps in both).
The second is to remember that we just played the Knicks and the Heat, two of the better teams in the league. Miami is the odds-on favorite to win the title this year and are in great form (they absolutely took apart Dallas in a Finals rematch on Christmas Day) and New York just might be the third-best team in the East. Even if the Knicks aren't quite as good as some think they are, it's indisputable that Boston's first two opponents are two of the tougher teams in the league to guard. So the fact that we've surrendered 110.5 points per game -- normally a very alarming number -- is tempered by the fact that we've done so against two of the league's best offensive outfits (teams that play at a fast pace, to boot). If New Orleans lights us up Wednesday night, then I'll start to worry about the D.
Honestly, we're not that far from 2-0. We didn't deserve to win either game, really, not with the way we played in the first half, but we hung around, like we always seem to. Carmelo Anthony got hot in the fourth quarter in New York and a rookie named Norris Cole beat our zone (!) in the fourth quarter in Miami -- if not for those guys, we really could have opened with two wins. Two road wins, without the Captain.
That's probably stretching it. My point is, I'm not too concerned. The season ahead is lockout-shortened, but it's still long. Losing on the road to the Knicks and Heat was likely to happen.
Here's what I do hate: Ray Allen has played 38 and 40 minutes, respectively, in the first two games. Allen is, as always, in outstanding physical condition, but that's just too many minutes. Way too many. I'm going to give Doc a little bit of a pass because of the bodies he's missing (Pierce and the newly-signed Mickael Pietrus play the wing), but given Doc's tendencies, I'm expecting that I'll be complaining about the minutes situation all year. Doc did do a nice job limiting Kevin Garnett to 33 minutes Tuesday after KG played 37 in the opener, and this despite the fact that Chris Wilcox sat the whole second half with some sort of (hopefully minor) injury. But Rajon R-ndo can't play 40-plus minutes a game, either, if we're going to make a deep playoff run after what will be a very grueling season.
Save for one absolutely critical turnover in the waning moments against Miami, by the way, R-ndo has been almost flawless. He followed up a 31/5/13 performance against New York with a 22/8/12. Even better: He hit nine of 12 free throws against New York and seven of 11 against Miami. Seventy percent from the line from your point guard isn't normally something to get excited about, but normally your point guard didn't shoot under 60 percent from the stripe last season. What's more, I think this improvement could be permanent; he's slowed his pace at the line way down and everything about the shot looks smoother. A somewhat reliable free throw stroke should give him the confidence to go to the bucket more this year, which we're going to need.
Another bright spot, offensively, has been the bench. Brandon Bass had 20 points and 11 rebounds against the Knicks, while Keyon Dooling did the heavy lifting with 18 off the bench against the Heat. I'm more confident in Bass' ability to contribute regularly than Dooling's; Dooling will rarely shoot as well as he did Tuesday night, and the confidence these strong evenings brings may end up doing more harm than good if it convinces him to play outside his rather modest offensive abilities. Put another way, I'm going to need to see several more games of solid shooting from Dooling before I get comfortable watching him cock the ball way back -- behind his shoulder, to the side of his head -- truly one of the more bizarre shooting strokes in the NBA.
A lot to improve on, but no need to panic just yet.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Metal Monday: A Message For LeBron James
(It's a bit of a cheap shot, and I'm sure it's very unoriginal, but it's just too perfect. I mean, really, read the lyrics; it's like Hetfield wrote this song just for this occasion. Besides, I've been planning on doing this since I dreamed up "Metal Monday," and I plan on making it an annual tradition to post this song on the occasion of LeBron's exit from the playoffs. At least until he gets a ring. My real advice for LeBron and the rest of the Heat, as well as my long absence from these pages explained, after the song.)
First things first, congratulations to the Mavericks. There isn't an NBA team, other than the Lakers, that I wouldn't have been cheering for against Miami in the Finals, but they quickly became a team worth cheering for. I've been a Jason Kidd fan since his days at Cal, and so it's great to see him get a ring, but it wasn't until this postseason that I developed the proper appreciation for Dirk Nowitzki. The Mavericks play team basketball, are humble and business-like, and are worthy champions. Sure, they have DeShawn Stevenson, but no team is perfect.
So, I said I had some advice for the Heat. It's probably not really correct to call it advice -- I'm not sure it can be advice, anyway, if they'll never read it. But I'm among the few who isn't surprised that Dallas beat Miami in this series, and, especially amid all the post-Finals chatter from the talking heads, I want to take a minute to explain why.
So much of the discussion surrounding the Heat this season focused on whose team this was. Is it Dwyane Wade's team? Is it LeBron's team? To their credit, there was never any real fighting about it, though there was never a resolution, either. Moreover, they never embraced the idea that it whose team it was is irrelevant when it comes to putting the ball in the hole. A discussion of who a team belongs to is relevant for leadership purposes only. You win basketball games as a team. It's a lot subtler than saying "Wade is selfish" or "LeBron is selfish." To me, the Heat just don't yet "get" what it takes to beat an excellent basketball team in a championship series, the same way Kobe Bryant didn't "get it" until the fourth quarter of Game 7 in the 2010 Finals.
In the Eastern Conference playoffs, particularly the Chicago series, LeBron seemed to take over at the end of games. Then the Finals started, and after Wade turned in two outstanding performances in Games Two and Three, talk started shifting to how Wade was taking over, since he had succeeded in the Finals before.
That mentality, even if it's not motivated by selfishness, is destructive. When everyone one is so focused on who is getting the ball, the guy who gets it has a tendency to keep it. And if Wade has the ball and LeBron is just standing around, or vice versa, then there's no Big Three to speak of. Putting the ball in one guy's hands -- putting the responsibility of winning on one guy's shoulders -- minimizes the impact of his teammates, and when one of those teammates is one of the five best players in the league, that's a serious problem.
I'll never forget an interview that Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen did early in the 2007-2008 season (it may even have been before the season). The ESPN interviewer asked the newly-formed Big Three who would get the ball in a final shot situation. Pierce, the career Celtic, and Garnett, the much ballyhooed new arrival, both answered "Ray." And Allen said, simply, "the open man."
I recognize that the Heat don't have the luxury of turning the keys to the car over to someone like Rajon Rondo, and that the ball necessarily must more often than not be in the hands of James or Wade. And I recognize that early-season injuries to Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller prevented what could have been Miami's most effective five-man unit from ever jelling. But if you watched and listened to the Heat all season, you never would have gotten the impression that "the open man" was an answer James or Wade would ever give.
I'm not going to delve into any specific post-game comments that the Heat players made. But Magic Johnson talked after the game about how the Heat needed to get into the gym over the summer. To me, that misses the point. Miami didn't lose this championship because their stars didn't shoot well enough. Teams have won championships with less than what the Heat have. But it won't be until how they figure out to play together that they'll get their ring. And the first step is a culture shift. Until they truly embrace basketball as a team game, I predict I'll be posting "King Nothing" more or less the same time every year.
***
Hey Doc, where you been?
Nearly two months without a post, which means I missed the entire playoffs. My apologies. I got busy with graduation, and, frankly, I think the Perk trade broke my spirit a bit. I was absolutely convinced, before the Perkins deal, that we were going to win the championship, and I believe in my heart that without the trade, we would've.
I had written, in my head, an end-of-the-season, "this is a dark chapter in Celtics history" post, but it didn't feel right to post it. I considered ceasing this blog altogether, letting its lifespan last as long as Boston's real championship window. But then Doc re-signed, and quitting didn't seem appropriate. But now that I'm studying for the California bar exam, I haven't had a lot of time -- or any time -- to blog.
I don't really know where I'm headed in life at the moment. I'm taking the bar in July, but I don't have a job lined up yet. Assuming I get one, I may very well have to stop blogging, or severely cut back on my game-watching and writing frequency. If I can't find one right away, on the other hand, I may try to create a more comprehensive basketball site and fold this one into that one. And, of course, there's a real chance of a shortened season, or even no season, next year. We'll just have to see.
In the meantime, I'll probably check in with a post or two before and/or after the NBA Draft, since I'm such a sucker for it. Other than that, barring big news, I probably won't update this site, at least not until August, when the bar is over. Thanks for following me this season.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Boston 115, Golden State 93
We'll get to the game in a minute. First, a few words about Bill Walton.
The former Celtic filled in as color commentator alongside play-by-play man Mike Gorman for Tuesday night's broadcast. (Tommy Heinsohn doesn't often make the West Coast swings these days.)
I've done a complete 360 in my opinion of Walton, the broadcaster. (I've always appreciated Walton, the player, though I've only been able live his career through listening to others talk about him, because I was just a little too young to remember him.) Like many, I grew tired of Walton's boorish exaggerations ("John Stockton is one of the true marvels, not just of basketball, or in America, but in the history of Western Civilization!") and forced catchphrases ("Throw it down, big fella, throw it down!"). Over time, however, I came to appreciate him. He's still over the top, but he knows he's over the top. I don't want to use the term "schtick" because Walton's enthusiasm is genuine, but he certainly has a modus operandi.
One of his tendencies is to poke fun at middling NBA players, either by insulting them outright ("The only way Danny Schayes is getting into the Hall of Fame is if he pays the admission fee") or by so exaggerating their abilities that you know his tongue is planted firmly in his cheek ("If Eric Piatkowski continues playing at this level, he's going to replace Jerry West on the NBA logo.")* Tonight's target? Warriors starting center Andris Biedrins, who has fallen off a cliff -- he went from averaging 12 points and 11 rebounds two seasons ago to five and eight last year -- despite not yet turning 25. In the first quarter alone, Walton dropped the following gems:
- After Biedrins fouled Kevin Garnett: "You don't want fouls on Biedrins, if you're Boston. You want him in the game."
- A few moments later: "What does this Biedrins fellow do?"
- After Biedrins bricked a pair of free throws when Delonte West, who had missed the last 39 games with a broken wrist, entered the game for the first time: "Biedrins is the one who looks like he has a broken wrist."
- And finally, after Biedrins missed a layup: "He's playing scared. He's playing ... like his feet hurt."
No, I don't know what the last one means, either. And yes, it's probably unnecessarily mean to pick on Biedrins. But it's Walton, and we, as Celtics fans, can forgive him. His undying loyalty to the franchise probably colors my opinion of him.
Walton's playing career, of course, was abbreviated due to injury, and it appeared that his broadcasting career would similarly be cut short thanks to a debilitating back condition. Walton has taken a lot of time off from the microphone in recent years. I'm not sure if he's planning on making the rest of the trip with the Celtics or whether this was a one-shot deal because the Cs were in his native California -- and I won't be able to tell (the Celtics play on TNT on Thursday and at the Clippers on Saturday, which means I get the local broadcast here in LA instead of the Boston telecast on League Pass). But it's good to see him healthy enough to put on the headset, even if only for a few hours.
Bullets:
- Walton and the numerous Celtics fans in attendance at Oakland's Oracle arena were treated to a vintage Rajon Rondo performance. 19/6/15 with two steals, and one of those nights where it just feels like he can get wherever he wants, whenever he wants.
- Kendrick Perkins banged knees with someone in the third quarter and didn't return. It doesn't seem serious, and it's the left knee, which is not the one he ripped up in the Finals last year. Something to watch, but probably nothing to worry about long-term. The short term is a different story; Boston has to keep winning to stay ahead of Miami in the race for home-court advantage in the East, so even a brief Perkins absence -- especially with Shaq still out -- could be disproportionately costly.
- This was Boston's first win in Golden State in seven years, which is fairly remarkable considering that the Warriors have made the playoffs once in the previous six seasons and compiled a combined record of 213 wins and 279 losses over that time (they are 26-30 this year).
- One thing that makes playing the Warriors so difficult is that they have some really talented offensive players. After a poor defensive showing in a first half in which they surrendered 60 points, the Celtics held Golden State to just 33 second-half points.
- Another thing that is difficult about playing the Warriors is their style. They have no conscience whatsoever, and opposing players can get caught up in the hoist-the-first-halfway-decent-shot-you-get mentality. Nate Robinson fell victim to this a couple of times, though at this point it might be safe to just assume that Nate will always do the wrong thing.
- Fortunately, Golden State is really quite bad defensively (they are second in the league in steals, but that's due in large part to the pace of the game -- more possessions for the other team means more steals, and they do encourage more risk-taking on the part of the opposition's offense). Their deficiencies on that end allowed Boston to win handily despite a 14-point deficit at the free throw line.
Next game is at Denver on Thursday, at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT. In their first game without Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups** -- and with the quartet of players from the Knicks not yet in uniform -- the Nuggets hung 120 points on Memphis Tuesday night in a comfortable win. It's still too early to say what the new-look Nuggets are going to be like, but my money's on a continued emphasis on running (Ty Lawson is better-suited to an uptempo game than Billups) and the three-point shot. Wilson Chandler, acquired from the Knicks, brings a little bit of a defensive mindset that was lacking in every key Denver player other than Arron Afflalo, so there might be some minor improvements there. But probably not enough to worry about, though I might well be underestimating the "We're out to show everyone that we don't need 'melo" factor.
*All the past Walton quotes come from this Web page, which has a great compilation of his hits.
** Thoughts on the Carmelo Anthony trade:
1) There was a time when I was pretty sick of all the trade talk, but by the time the deal was close to being done, I found the whole thing very interesting. It was really a staring contest between Anthony, the Nuggets, and the Nets, with the Knicks sort of lingering around the outside. The Nets had extended the Nuggets a Godfather offer: Very-good-but-not-great point guard Devin Harris, promising rookie big Derrick Favors, the third overall pick in last summer's draft, and an incredible four first-round picks. It was a better deal than the itself attractive package the Knicks were offering, which was breakout PG Raymond Felton, Chandler, sharpshooter Danilo Gallinari, and bruising Timofey Mozgov, plus a first and two seconds, but it came with a caveat: New Jersey wouldn't pull the trigger unless Anthony signed an extension.
Once the Knicks -- Anthony's preferred destination -- upped their offer to include Gallinari, it was good enough for the Nuggets to take, which effectively gave no teeth to New Jersey's insistence that Anthony sign an extension prior to a deal going through. Anthony could more or less insist he be shipped to New York under those circumstances by refusing to sign a contract extension, which I'm guessing he did (because I believe Denver would rather have taken Jersey's offer).
Of course, the Nets could have called Anthony's bluff. 'Melo didn't have a no-trade clause or something similar that they were trying to get him to waive; he was just using the extension as a tool to get what he wanted. New Jersey could have rolled the dice by doing the deal anyway, forcing 'Melo to decide between signing an extension with a depleted Nets squad and losing tens of millions of dollars in free agency.
Here's the thing. 'Melo signed an extension worth three years and $65 million. Because of rules that allow teams to pay their own free agents more, that's more than he would have made in the first three years of a new contract with the Knicks in free agency (my calculations have it at around $6 million more, but my understanding of this part of the CBA is severely lacking).
But that's the current CBA, which expires this summer. It's a near-certainty that the new agreement will restrict player salaries below what they currently are, and thus the difference between signing an extension and waiting for free agency could easily climb into the tens of millions of dollars. So the Nets could simply have called Anthony's bluff and agreed to the trade, banking on Anthony not wanting to give up that much money. The same holds true for the Nuggets; Anthony said he wouldn't sign an extension, but if Denver wasn't getting value for him, it might have been a good strategy to simply hang on to him and hope he'd stick around for the money. It's a lot of money to give up.
Instead, the Nets and Nuggets blinked and the Knicks and Anthony got what they wanted.
2. Or, at least, what they think they wanted. Anthony has non-basketball reasons for wanting to play in New York, and I can't criticize those. And I can't say that I think it's a bad move, necessarily, for the Knicks. But I do think it's hardly a sure thing that the Knicks will be materially better for it, both now and in the future.
For starters, I think there are serious deficiencies with a Anthony-Amare' Stoudemire core. There's no commitment to defense in either of those players, and head coach Mike D'Antoni is famously focused on offense. Even if we assume that Boston will be out of the picture after this year and that Orlando has irrevocably screwed up its team with its trades this year, the Knicks are still going to have to deal with Miami and Chicago for the next several years. Both are outstanding defensive teams that aren't slouches on the offensive end, either. You can't beat either of them in a seven-game series simply by being very good on offense, and at best, that's all the Knicks will be: very good on offense. Additionally, the pairs and trios of stars that have worked of late have worked because of complementary skill sets: The Big Three in Boston, for example, work because they fit together (Garnett on the inside, Paul Pierce as a slasher, Ray Allen as a shooter), because of Rondo, and because Garnett can affect a game so profoundly without doing much offensively; LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh have worked in Miami because of defense and James' uncanny passing ability. A couple of guys who need the ball a ton -- paired with a point guard, Billups, who isn't a traditional playmaker and might not be a great fit, at his age, for D'Antoni's offense -- don't really fit together all that well.
Secondly, if we think of these teams as engaging in some sort of arms race, the Knicks are already one star behind Miami. The new CBA might even make it all but impossible to build a core consisting of three studs the way the Heat have. But even if it doesn't -- even if, say, Chris Paul or Deron Williams makes it to New York the offseason after this one to take Billups' place -- they'll be a full two years behind in chemistry. And the way things are currently set up, with the draft and various salary cap exceptions, you can add a player or two per year to your core. That is, the Heat, having already assembled their "Big Three," can start adding role players to join Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem this offseason. The Knicks will have to make do with surprising rookie Landry Fields alongside Anthony and Stoudemire, saving their cap room until they can get another stud, and then adding free agents in the seasons following. So they'll be another player behind Miami because of that, too.
This all assumes that the model the Heat have followed is a successful one. Time will tell on that, though it certainly can be argued that competing with James/Wade/Bosh is too tall a task for Anthony/Stoudemire/whomever.
3. Again, I'm not saying it was a bad deal for the Knicks. They'd placated their fan base for two years by explaining that they were clearing cap room for a big move last year, and having missed out on James, they needed to do something. And they might not have wanted Anthony to go to the Nets, who are scheduled to move to Brooklyn in a couple of years. (I think this is overstated, though, as is the argument that Anthony will drum up interest in the team. That's a decent argument for most NBA franchises, but not the Knicks, one of the league's most popular outfits. They've got no problems selling tickets and merch at MSG.) But I don't think it gets tem any closer to contending for a title, this year or beyond.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Thoughts in Between the Lakers and the Heat
First of all, congratulations to Ray Allen on becoming the all-time three-point king. Prior to his arrival in Boston, my exposure to Ray was more or less limited to his days at UConn. It wasn't until he came over from Seattle in 2007-08 that I truly appreciated what a beautiful shooter he is. Despite that, I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little emotional watching the Boston crowd salute him during the break after the first quarter. He helped us win at least one championship. He's one of us now.
Anyway, moving on, the Celtics lost to the Lakers on Thursday. Give credit to LA for playing a smart game, especially Kobe Bryant. In essence, they played the way I and so many others have repeatedly said they need to play in order to beat the Celtics: focus on their advantage in the post. What was especially impressive was how patient the Lakers were, not panicking as Boston built a 15-point lead. Bryant didn't try to do too much; he had faith in his teammates as they closed to within striking distance at halftime. Kobe came alive in the third quarter as the Lakers took the lead (and retook it after Boston briefly surged back ahead). But LA was able to extend the lead in the fourth quarter even with Kobe on the bench.
More than anything, I see Thursday's loss as making Danny Ainge think even harder about going out and getting another small forward before the trade deadline, with Marquis Daniels' return this season uncertain. Scott Foster hit Allen with his fourth foul on a dubious call midway through the third, and Doc Rivers' only real option on the bench was Von Wafer. Wafer's offense has really come around lately and he's worked harder on defense than I previously thought him capable of, but he's not going to be able to hang with Kobe. And while Delonte West may be able to help with that specific matchup, he won't be able to help with, say, LeBron James. And someone other than Paul Pierce is going to have to guard James for stretches should the Celtics meet the Heat in the playoffs.
What that move might be, I don't know. I don't know who's available, and I don't know what we're willing to offer. We don't have many attractive expiring contracts, and our rookies don't make enough money to bring in any significant salary. But both Doc and Danny suggested in the days after Daniels' injury that a move might need to be made, and Thursday night couldn't have done anything but strengthen that opinion.
The temptation, by the way, is to blame injuries on Thursday's loss. Boston started the game with just ten men in uniform, and in the second quarter, Nate Robinson joined West, Daniels, Jermaine O'Neal, Shaquille O'Neal, and Semih Erden on the list of unavailable players, victim of a bruised knee. But as a Celtics fan pointed out on a Laker message board after the game, Boston's starters played plenty of minutes, substantially the amount of minutes you might expect with a full complement of bench players. And the second unit actually did alright -- the game was lost with our starters on the floor.
I do think that simplifies things a bit, and not having a real backup for Allen is a problem that would be solved in this instance if either Daniels or West was healthy. But Boston's starters didn't play well enough for fans to complain that a healthy bench would have made a difference. It might on any one particular night, but it won't for a whole playoff series. If I was going to make an excuse, I'd point to the illness that kept Pierce out of practice on Wednesday. He didn't look to be close to 100% in the game.
As Sports Illustrated's Zach Lowe (a former Celtics Hub writer) pointed out, the Lakers were successful defensively by sagging Kobe off of Rajon Rondo, daring Rondo to beat them with jumpers while Kobe disrupted passing and driving lanes. (Read that Lowe article if you're interested in the Xs and Os.) LA has defended Boston like this for several years now, with varying degrees of success. (A flashback to the 07-08 Finals provides a good example. The Lakers used it to jump out to their huge lead in Game 4; Boston's historic comeback came with Eddie House on the floor. Rondo was similarly in effective in Boston's Game 5 loss, playing just 14:32, but was masterful in the Game 6 clincher in Boston.)
Clearly, there are offensive adjustments that can be made (and have been made in the past). For starters, Rondo can be more aggressive. Boston can bring its offense out higher, leaving more room underneath for Rondo to maneuver on penetration. Rondo can attack the defense from somewhere other than the top of the key, forcing the Lakers to pay more attention to him (if, say, he starts closer to the basket). And I'm sure Doc has plenty of other ideas.
But I'm not sure we'll see such adjustments any time soon, even if another team picks up this strategy. The lack of adjustment in the Lakers game suggests to me that perhaps Doc doesn't want to tip his hand. The Lakers' defensive strategy isn't new. Surely, he has a plan for it. But I can see how he wouldn't want to reveal that plan until necessary -- until the games count, in May and June.
Lowe also mentions the possibility that Miami, Boston's opponent on Sunday, also has the personnel to employ such a strategy, while a team like Orlando does not. Thinking about the Heat though, I'm not so sure. Matching up position-by-position across the perimeter, it would be Rondo-Mario Chalmers, Allen-Dwyane Wade, Pierce-James. Los Angeles executes the strategy by switching Derek Fisher -- a strong, crafty veteran -- on Allen, with Kobe playing free agent. While I think Wade can be effective in the Kobe role, I'm skeptical that Chalmers (or Carlos Arroyo) can handle Ray the way Fisher can.
The other option, and the think the one Lowe had in mind, is to have James sag off Rondo with Mike Miller checking Pierce (and Wade staying on Allen). Miller was unavailable during the teams' first two meetings, but with James and Wade, the Heat don't need a true point guard. I'm honestly not sure of Miller's defensive abilities, but thing that weighs in Boston's favor here is that unlike Allen, whose game is largely based on running off a maze of screens, Pierce is plenty comfortable with the ball in his hands. Therefore, Boston could iso Pierce on any part of the floor that it wanted, keeping the extra defender as far away from him as possible. Pierce excels at the pull-up jumper, too, which is perfect for this kind of situation, because he can get off a good shot before the help gets there. The one thing he needs to be careful of is his tendency to turn his back; that's just asking for James to swoop in for a steal and dunk.
Something to watch for, anyway. And you better be watching. Sunday, 1 p.m. Eastern, ABC. First place in the East is on the line.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Chicago 90, Boston 79
The Bulls were missing Joakim Noah. The Celtics were missing Kevin Garnett. The Cs missed Garnett a lot more.
Despite the fact that Chicago was without its young starting center (who hasn't played since December 15 after undergoing thumb surgery), they outrebounded Boston 48-27 and blocked nine shots (including four each by Kurt Thomas and Taj Gibson). Carlos Boozer, the man Garnett would have been guarding, had 22 points on an efficient 9-for-15.
The Bulls' biggest offensive contribution came from point guard Derrick Rose, who scored 36 in part due to 19 trips to the free throw line (where he made 15 shots). Rose is big and quick and too much for any NBA point guard to handle. Without Garnett around for help, Rose wreaked havoc on the Celtics at the rim. Even when Garnett comes back, Chicago is going to be tough for Boston, because KG will have his hands full with Boozer. The return of an effective, if not completely healthy, Kendrick Perkins might be the biggest key to having less trouble with the Bulls in the future.
All in all, it was a pretty awful performance for the Celtics, which I'm willing to forgive against a good team on the second night of a home-road back-to-back. But the Cs are now in a dead, uh, heat with Miami for the best record in the East. With home dates this week against the Rockets, Kings, and Bobcats, it may be a good opportunity to get a little separation, as the Heat finish up a five-game road trip that began with an overtime win in Milwaukee Friday night with dates with Portland, the Clippers, Denver, and Chicago.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Next Lamb: The Miami Heat
Game 9: Boston (6-2) at Miami (5-3)
Thursday, November 11
8 p.m. Eastern
TNT
Last meeting: @Boston 88, Miami 80 (10/27/10)
A couple of weeks after Boston spoiled the debut of Pat Riley's super-team, not much has changed with the Miami Heat. Sure, they blew out the Orlando Magic later that week, but that's been the high point during this young season. More recently, the Heat have sandwiched a win over the New Jersey Nets with losses at New Orleans and at home to Utah -- the latter a stunning second-half collapse on Tuesday night.
Up until the second half of the Jazz game, the one consistent aspect of Miami's play this season was its defense. The Heat gave up 96 points in the loss to the Hornets; the only other time an opponent broke 90 was Election Day against the Timberwolves, a game Miami won by 32. That consistent defense was buying the Heat wins while the team comes together offensively and coach Erik Spoelstra figures out his rotations.
After being especially stingy in the first 24 minutes against the Jazz and taking a 51-32 lead into halftime, the Heat surrendered 72 second-half points -- more than they gave up in the entire game against the Magic. Utah needed every one of those 72 points to force overtime, and in the extra period, despite playing without Deron Williams (fouled out) and Al Jefferson (temporarily benched for ineffectiveness), the Jazz held on for the win.
My schedule has been such that I haven't had time to watch much of the Heat other than that first game against the Celtics. The Utah game is sitting on my DVR, but I'm not going to get a chance to get to it before I fly to DC Thursday morning. There's been no shortage of stuff written and said about the Heat, but a great majority of it seems to be centering around how the team is very much a work in progress. As a result, I don't really have any great insights on what to expect from these guys the second time around.
It does appear that Dwyane Wade has remained Miami's first offensive option despite the presence of James. He leads the team in scoring at 26 per (compared to 20.6 for James) and is taking two more shots per game than James. LeBron took over in the second half in the opener against the Celtics, but Wade has led the team in scoring in every other game but one.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Prior to the start of the season, I opined offline that Wade could go crazy this year if Lebron let him. By that I meant that opposing defenses would be so focused on LeBron that Wade would get disproportionately little attention relative to his considerable skill. More specifically, James is better at setting the table for his teammates than Wade is, so more of his value is preserved when he's not in the primary scoring role. (Put another way, Wade, when he's not scoring, is less valuable than LeBron when he's not scoring.)
However, James is a formidable scorer, a nearly unstoppable force when he decides that he's going to the basket. I heard on The Basketball Jones this morning that on his way to shooting 5-for-18 against the Jazz, James took a number of bad outside shots -- the same kind he used to take in Cleveland. With such limited depth, Miami needs to get both Wade and James playing dynamically to compete with the elite teams in the league.
Part of the reason that James isn't yet playing the way some had hoped is that he's basically playing point guard. That's not a new role for James, but what is new is that he now has teammates who deserve shots, and he'll be rightly criticized for overshooting with Wade and Bosh on his side. But his own offense can't be an afterthought, at least to the extent that it consists of shooting jumpers to keep the defense honest or to beat the shotclock. Eddie House and James Jones are alternating doing a good job of teaming up with Udonis Haslem to form a decent quintet on the floor, but James would benefit from some sort of contribution from Carlos Arroyo and Mario Chalmers -- something that doesn't seem to be in the offing any time soon.
Miami's frontcourt has been disappointing. Haslem is the only guy who is playing up to his (modest) expectations -- Ilgauskas is, too, I suppose, but expectations for him are too modest to consider. Bosh's shooting percentages are down significantly from when he was in Toronto -- a trend which, if it continues, makes no sense -- and he's not rebounding, which isn't a surprise. He also got torched by Paul Millsap against the Jazz. Miami's starting center, Joel Anthony, is still a complete non-factor offensively, and isn't good enough on the boards to just be a shotblocking specialist. A healthy Boston team could really exploit Miami in the post, but the health statuses of both O'Neals remain in question. Still, Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis could do some serious damage.
Comments are always encouraged on RwH, but especially so today. Miami's on TV all the damn time, and there's a good chance that some of you have seen the Heat more than I have. I feel like my preview here has been a little inadequate, so please chime in with your thoughts on Miami and the big game. Comments after the game are welcome, too; I'm not going to be able to devote full attention to it live.
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