Well, that was fun. In case you missed it, the Celtics ran away with this one in the third quarter. The lead had been double digits for most of the second period, but it got out of hand during a 49-second stretch during which Boston scored eight straight points. The spurt was highlighted by a Jeff Green dunk, followed by a Green block on the other hand that led to a fast break and a Paul Pierce three. I believe that put Boston up 21. They'd lead by at least 30 before coasting the rest of the way.
As comfortable a win as this turned out to be, it certainly didn't start the way. The Celtics were whistled for five fouls in the first two minutes, twenty-two seconds -- the fastest any team has found itself in the penalty since the Phoenix Suns on Halloween in 2000, according to the TNT broadcast. Two of those fouls were on Kevin Garnett, and by the end of the first quarter, his backups -- Jason Collins and Chris Wilcox, had five fouls between them.
This game affirmed for me, though, that Boston's recent hot streak is due not to some improved chemistry or ball movement in the absence of Rajon Rondo, but rather to an increased intensity and focus on the part of the entire team. Paul Pierce, in particular, came out sharper than he's been in weeks, draining a handful of pull-up jumpers in the first quarter.
However, with the exception of the third quarter -- when Boston shook off a few minutes of halftime-induced torpor to make 16 of 21 shots to blow the game open -- the Celtics didn't play well enough to enjoy such an easy evening. Indeed, this game said more about the Lakers' struggles than anything else. They couldn't take advantage of Boston's early foul trouble, they shot terribly, and their defense was nonexistent most of the night. The biggest indictment was the lack of ball movement. Steve Kerr harped on it quite a bit and so I won't rehash it here, but there was far too much one-on-one for a team quarterbacked by one of the league's all-time great point guards. The third quarter actually reminded me a bit of Game 5 of the 2010 Finals. Kobe Bryant -- who had been assisting at a career-high rate recently, which coincidentally has been L.A.'s best stretch of the season -- decided to try to take over offensively. And even as he hit a dazzling array of shots, each seemingly more difficult than the last, Boston's lead remained steady -- then blew up once Bryant's shots stopped falling.
Not that this is a novel opinion, but I think you can safely stick a fork in the Lakers this year. They don't appear to be anywhere close to figuring out how to play together, Dwight Howard is ailing, and Pau Gasol is going to be out at least 6 to 8 weeks. They aren't as far out of the playoffs as you'd think, but it's hard to imagine them turning it around any time soon.
Showing posts with label Paul Pierce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paul Pierce. Show all posts
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Boston 99, Toronto 95
The Celtics are making it awfully hard to write this season off.
Boston overcame a ten-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to hold off the Raptors in Toronto. It was the team's fifth win in a row, and they are still undefeated since Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger went down with season-ending injuries. Kevin Garnett was the offensive hero for most of the evening, leading the team with 27 points, while Leandro Barbosa sparked the team in the crucial fourth quarter.
On the other end of the court, the Raptors missed a bunch of decent looks at mid-range and perimeter jump shots in the fourth quarter. That isn't particularly unusual for Boston opponents over the past few years. In previous seasons, the Celtic D was good enough that you could automatically give it credit for an opponent's bad shooting quarter, even if it wasn't entirely apparent what we were doing to make it difficult on the opposing team. This year's defense hasn't earned that right yet, though we're undoubtedly getting better at that end of the court. If I have an overall concern right now, it's turnovers. Paul Pierce is being asked to perform too many point guard duties. I get that he needs to be a playmaker, but even without Rondo, we have plenty of guards. Let's have them bring the ball up, at least.
Boston's current surge has them tied with Milwaukee for the seventh seed in the East (the Bucks have the tiebreaker, so as it stands, we're technically eighth). We're only two games back of Atlanta for the six, however, and more importantly, we're four games clear of our closest pursuer -- Philadelphia, who, by the way, still doesn't have Andrew Bynum and just lost Thaddeus Young for three weeks with a leg injury.
Rightly or wrongly, barring some sort of collapse during these last two weeks before the trade deadline, it may be this stretch that allows Pierce and Garnett to retire as Celtics. When Rondo went down, most felt that Boston's playoff chances went down with him, and the Cs were expected to shop their extensive veterans to contenders. But now Boston has a reasonable grip on that playoff stop. Dissembling a playoff team is hard enough, from a public relations perspective -- doing it just to cash in an all-time Celtic, and one of the team's most popular players in recent memory, might cause quite an uproar among Boston's vocal fan base.
Boston is back at it Thursday night, as the Lakers come to town in a game that, due to injuries, won't have quite the same luster it has had in recent seasons. LA, of course, is having a nightmare season of its own. Having added Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Lakers were expected to contend for a championship. Instead, Nash got hurt, Howard and Gasol struggled to co-exist, and they fired their coach just a couple weeks into the season. Their playoff chances hanging by a thread as Nash returned, Howard injured, then re-injured, his shoulder, and has missed the last several games. To top it all off, the team found out Wednesday that Gasol would be out 4 to 6 weeks with a foot injury.
Still, it's LA-Boston, which means it's worth watching. Thursday night, TNT, 8:00 pm Eastern.
Boston overcame a ten-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to hold off the Raptors in Toronto. It was the team's fifth win in a row, and they are still undefeated since Rajon Rondo and Jared Sullinger went down with season-ending injuries. Kevin Garnett was the offensive hero for most of the evening, leading the team with 27 points, while Leandro Barbosa sparked the team in the crucial fourth quarter.
On the other end of the court, the Raptors missed a bunch of decent looks at mid-range and perimeter jump shots in the fourth quarter. That isn't particularly unusual for Boston opponents over the past few years. In previous seasons, the Celtic D was good enough that you could automatically give it credit for an opponent's bad shooting quarter, even if it wasn't entirely apparent what we were doing to make it difficult on the opposing team. This year's defense hasn't earned that right yet, though we're undoubtedly getting better at that end of the court. If I have an overall concern right now, it's turnovers. Paul Pierce is being asked to perform too many point guard duties. I get that he needs to be a playmaker, but even without Rondo, we have plenty of guards. Let's have them bring the ball up, at least.
Boston's current surge has them tied with Milwaukee for the seventh seed in the East (the Bucks have the tiebreaker, so as it stands, we're technically eighth). We're only two games back of Atlanta for the six, however, and more importantly, we're four games clear of our closest pursuer -- Philadelphia, who, by the way, still doesn't have Andrew Bynum and just lost Thaddeus Young for three weeks with a leg injury.
Rightly or wrongly, barring some sort of collapse during these last two weeks before the trade deadline, it may be this stretch that allows Pierce and Garnett to retire as Celtics. When Rondo went down, most felt that Boston's playoff chances went down with him, and the Cs were expected to shop their extensive veterans to contenders. But now Boston has a reasonable grip on that playoff stop. Dissembling a playoff team is hard enough, from a public relations perspective -- doing it just to cash in an all-time Celtic, and one of the team's most popular players in recent memory, might cause quite an uproar among Boston's vocal fan base.
Boston is back at it Thursday night, as the Lakers come to town in a game that, due to injuries, won't have quite the same luster it has had in recent seasons. LA, of course, is having a nightmare season of its own. Having added Dwight Howard and Steve Nash to Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, the Lakers were expected to contend for a championship. Instead, Nash got hurt, Howard and Gasol struggled to co-exist, and they fired their coach just a couple weeks into the season. Their playoff chances hanging by a thread as Nash returned, Howard injured, then re-injured, his shoulder, and has missed the last several games. To top it all off, the team found out Wednesday that Gasol would be out 4 to 6 weeks with a foot injury.
Still, it's LA-Boston, which means it's worth watching. Thursday night, TNT, 8:00 pm Eastern.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Sullinger Undergoes Back Surgery
Jared Sullinger, the rookie power forward who had forced his way into the starting lineup with his work on the glass, had apparently successful lumbar disc surgery on Friday. He's out for the year.
I'll get to the impact on this season in a minute, but the truth is, with Rajon Rondo going down with his torn ACL this week, this season is close to a lost cause. The biggest concern raised by this news is whether this surgery is the kind of thing that had doctors advising their teams to stay away from Sullinger in last summer's NBA Draft, a big part of the reason why the Ohio State sophomore fell from being a potential top overall pick and sure lottery selection all the way to Boston at 21.
Team doctors are saying that this is good for Sullinger, the idea being, I guess, that the surgery would relieve some pain or discomfort he'd been playing with for a while. That's encouraging, though I'm not sure I'd expect the team doctors to say anything different. During last night's broadcast, I also heard someone -- I think it was Doc -- say that they knew Sullinger would need the surgery, they had just hoped that it could wait until after the year.
It's not clear to me whether they knew that when they drafted him, or if that became apparent sometime during the summer, or training camp, or the season. Either way, we knew picking Sullinger was a risk, and I endorse the pick with the full understanding that his career could be over due to injuries before he could make any meaningful contribution to the team. Hopefully, we're not at that point already.
What concerns me most is that Sullinger already has what people sometimes call "old man game." The kid can barely jump, playing completely below the rim, relying completely on strength, guile, and his ample girth to hold off opponents for rebounds and score from strange angles. This could be considered a good thing, insofar as whatever athleticism this surgery may rob from him wasn't something he relied on to be effective. But looking down the road, what happens when he starts to get older and experience the natural deterioration that all players show? If he plays like he's 30 when he's 20, will he play like he's 35 when he's 25? This was a concern before the back surgery -- whether the procedure exacerbates it remains to be seen. But it was definitely the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard the news yesterday.
As for the rest of this season, the hits just keep on coming, I guess. Without Rondo, we were, at best, slight favorites to hang on to the eighth seed in the East, depending on whether Andrew Bynum comes back healthy for Philly. I honestly am not sure how much of an effect Sullinger's absence will have on Boston's postseason chances. Brandon Bass proved he could be a starting-caliber power forward year; his dropoff this season has been one of the bigger disappointments in a season that has been full of them. Bass isn't the rebounder Sullinger is, but he's adept at stepping in and taking the charge and in theory, anyway, his jumper is more consistent than the rookie's. (Though he hasn't been hitting it this year at all.) It means one fewer big body at Doc's disposal, which in turn means more "smallball" lineups with Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, and Kevin Garnett across the frontcourt. As someone who isn't a big believer in Green, that certainly concerns me, but to be fair, it's a lineup that Doc was likely committed to using more (especially in crunch-time) once Rondo went down.
What seems apparently early on here, though, is that Boston may already be in back-against-the-wall, play-as-though-your-season-depended-on-it mode. In previous seasons, Boston has sleepwalked through portions of the regular season schedule, the apparent attitude being that they'd wait until the playoffs, when the games really count, to exert themselves fully. With the current injuries putting the playoffs in doubt, that time is now. The Celtics have now won three straight without Rondo, beginning with the double overtime victory over the Heat last Sunday. True, their two most recent triumphs, Sacramento and Orlando, are bottom of the barrel squads this year, but these are the types of games that the Celtics, maddeningly, would drop all too often in recent seasons. (Heck, the Kings blew us out in Sacramento right after Christmas, a game I witnessed in person and wish I could unsee.) The last two times out, however, Boston has taken care of business, winning comfortably. The Celtics are dialed in a bit earlier this year, which means that the product is worth watching, even if the goals for the season have changed.
I'll get to the impact on this season in a minute, but the truth is, with Rajon Rondo going down with his torn ACL this week, this season is close to a lost cause. The biggest concern raised by this news is whether this surgery is the kind of thing that had doctors advising their teams to stay away from Sullinger in last summer's NBA Draft, a big part of the reason why the Ohio State sophomore fell from being a potential top overall pick and sure lottery selection all the way to Boston at 21.
Team doctors are saying that this is good for Sullinger, the idea being, I guess, that the surgery would relieve some pain or discomfort he'd been playing with for a while. That's encouraging, though I'm not sure I'd expect the team doctors to say anything different. During last night's broadcast, I also heard someone -- I think it was Doc -- say that they knew Sullinger would need the surgery, they had just hoped that it could wait until after the year.
It's not clear to me whether they knew that when they drafted him, or if that became apparent sometime during the summer, or training camp, or the season. Either way, we knew picking Sullinger was a risk, and I endorse the pick with the full understanding that his career could be over due to injuries before he could make any meaningful contribution to the team. Hopefully, we're not at that point already.
What concerns me most is that Sullinger already has what people sometimes call "old man game." The kid can barely jump, playing completely below the rim, relying completely on strength, guile, and his ample girth to hold off opponents for rebounds and score from strange angles. This could be considered a good thing, insofar as whatever athleticism this surgery may rob from him wasn't something he relied on to be effective. But looking down the road, what happens when he starts to get older and experience the natural deterioration that all players show? If he plays like he's 30 when he's 20, will he play like he's 35 when he's 25? This was a concern before the back surgery -- whether the procedure exacerbates it remains to be seen. But it was definitely the first thing that popped into my mind when I heard the news yesterday.
As for the rest of this season, the hits just keep on coming, I guess. Without Rondo, we were, at best, slight favorites to hang on to the eighth seed in the East, depending on whether Andrew Bynum comes back healthy for Philly. I honestly am not sure how much of an effect Sullinger's absence will have on Boston's postseason chances. Brandon Bass proved he could be a starting-caliber power forward year; his dropoff this season has been one of the bigger disappointments in a season that has been full of them. Bass isn't the rebounder Sullinger is, but he's adept at stepping in and taking the charge and in theory, anyway, his jumper is more consistent than the rookie's. (Though he hasn't been hitting it this year at all.) It means one fewer big body at Doc's disposal, which in turn means more "smallball" lineups with Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, and Kevin Garnett across the frontcourt. As someone who isn't a big believer in Green, that certainly concerns me, but to be fair, it's a lineup that Doc was likely committed to using more (especially in crunch-time) once Rondo went down.
What seems apparently early on here, though, is that Boston may already be in back-against-the-wall, play-as-though-your-season-depended-on-it mode. In previous seasons, Boston has sleepwalked through portions of the regular season schedule, the apparent attitude being that they'd wait until the playoffs, when the games really count, to exert themselves fully. With the current injuries putting the playoffs in doubt, that time is now. The Celtics have now won three straight without Rondo, beginning with the double overtime victory over the Heat last Sunday. True, their two most recent triumphs, Sacramento and Orlando, are bottom of the barrel squads this year, but these are the types of games that the Celtics, maddeningly, would drop all too often in recent seasons. (Heck, the Kings blew us out in Sacramento right after Christmas, a game I witnessed in person and wish I could unsee.) The last two times out, however, Boston has taken care of business, winning comfortably. The Celtics are dialed in a bit earlier this year, which means that the product is worth watching, even if the goals for the season have changed.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Boston's Last Stand
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Boston 100, Charlotte 89
Six in a row now for the Celtics, who never trailed in this one. It was a bit closer than one would have liked, as Boston coughed up all of an 18-point lead before pulling away again in the second half. Still, considering Paul Pierce was 6 for 16 (including 2 of 8 from downtown) and Kevin Garnett was 2 for 11, this was a good win.
Rajon Rondo led the way with his third triple double of the year, a 17-point, 10-rebound, 12-assist effort that is actually relatively modest given the way he started: he amassed nine points, six boards, and five assists in the first quarter as he scored or assisted on each of Boston's first 19 point. For what I believe is the fourth straight game, at least, the Celtic bench had a major hand in this one. Jeff Green led the reserves with 11 points, most of them coming in the second quarter; Courtney Lee had nine points and Jared Sullinger eight. Jason Collins played well in a first-half stretch after both Brandon Bass and Sullinger went to the bench with foul trouble.
This marks Boston's longest winning streak in a couple of years, and there's reason to believe it can continue. The Cs host New Orleans on Wednesday and Chicago on Friday, before traveling to Detroit on Sunday and Cleveland on Tuesday. The Bulls are the toughest opponent in that stretch, but the Celtics could easily be riding a 10-game winning streak heading into a tough three-games-in-four-nights stretch towards the end of next week that sees them hosting the Knicks, traveling to Atlanta to face the Hawks, then returning to Boston for their first showdown with the Heat since opening night.
Rajon Rondo led the way with his third triple double of the year, a 17-point, 10-rebound, 12-assist effort that is actually relatively modest given the way he started: he amassed nine points, six boards, and five assists in the first quarter as he scored or assisted on each of Boston's first 19 point. For what I believe is the fourth straight game, at least, the Celtic bench had a major hand in this one. Jeff Green led the reserves with 11 points, most of them coming in the second quarter; Courtney Lee had nine points and Jared Sullinger eight. Jason Collins played well in a first-half stretch after both Brandon Bass and Sullinger went to the bench with foul trouble.
This marks Boston's longest winning streak in a couple of years, and there's reason to believe it can continue. The Cs host New Orleans on Wednesday and Chicago on Friday, before traveling to Detroit on Sunday and Cleveland on Tuesday. The Bulls are the toughest opponent in that stretch, but the Celtics could easily be riding a 10-game winning streak heading into a tough three-games-in-four-nights stretch towards the end of next week that sees them hosting the Knicks, traveling to Atlanta to face the Hawks, then returning to Boston for their first showdown with the Heat since opening night.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Boston 87, Phoenix 79
This is probably what Danny Ainge had in mind this offseason, when he assembled his deepest Celtics team as a GM. After a sluggish first period that ended with the visiting Suns up one, Boston built a 12-point lead by halftime, largely on the back of reserves. (Paul Pierce left the game for Jeff Green with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter and didn't re-enter until there was 1:16 left in the second.) Then, after the first unit surrendered a 17-2 run to start the third, the bench was again there to rescue them. Jason Terry and Jared Sullinger more or less finished the game alongside Pierce, Rajon Rondo, and Kevin Garnet, making many of the key plays down the stretch.
The star of the night in my eyes was Sullinger, who played 34 minutes and recorded 12 points and 16 rebounds. Green led a balanced attack with 14 points, most of the in the second quarter, marking the one-year anniversary of his heart surgery with three powerful dunks: a one-dribble drive around Michael Beasley followed by a monster one-handed stuff over a late-arriving Jermaine O'Neal; a two-handed rim-rocker off of a lob from Avery Bradley on the fast break; and another two-hander, in the second half, off of a backdoor cut, thanks to a nifty feed from Garnett out at the top of the key. Terry had 13 points (to go along with five rebounds and five assists) and was the first bench guy to get his offense going on the night.
That means, of course, that it was a quiet night for the starters, only one of whom -- Garnett -- finished in double figures. Other than KG, the first unit really struggled. Pierce was unusually quiet, finishing with seven points (on ten shots) in just 24 minuts, though he did have a big bucket to stem the third-quarter tide, as well as a key assist to Sullinger as Phoenix appeared to be closing in on the Cs late. Bradley started the game well, but fizzled out a bit and Doc limited him to just 18 minutes. Brandon Bass went 2-for-8 and saw much of his playing time fall to Sullinger.
Rajon Rondo finished with eight points and eight assists -- including a long one to a streaking Jason Terry late that left me marveling, again, at is court vision and feel for the game -- but it was a fairly uninspiring performance from him. He had four turnovers and never really got the starting unit going. What I loved, though, was that at the end of the third quarter (or perhaps the start of the fourth quarter), Rondo was standing up on the bench, coaching the defense -- on the broadcast, you could specifically hear him talking to Terry. That's the kind of leadership you want to see from your point guard, but Rondo hasn't always shown it, particularly on nights when he's not as involved in the game on the court. (Rondo also picked up a technical during that stretch for exchanging words with P.J. Tucker, who had some words for him after scoring on a drive early in the fourth.)
Boston's now on a four-game winning streak and sits at 18-17, with the majority of a five-game homestand still in front of it. The Rockets, coached by Kevin McHale, visit on Friday.
The star of the night in my eyes was Sullinger, who played 34 minutes and recorded 12 points and 16 rebounds. Green led a balanced attack with 14 points, most of the in the second quarter, marking the one-year anniversary of his heart surgery with three powerful dunks: a one-dribble drive around Michael Beasley followed by a monster one-handed stuff over a late-arriving Jermaine O'Neal; a two-handed rim-rocker off of a lob from Avery Bradley on the fast break; and another two-hander, in the second half, off of a backdoor cut, thanks to a nifty feed from Garnett out at the top of the key. Terry had 13 points (to go along with five rebounds and five assists) and was the first bench guy to get his offense going on the night.
That means, of course, that it was a quiet night for the starters, only one of whom -- Garnett -- finished in double figures. Other than KG, the first unit really struggled. Pierce was unusually quiet, finishing with seven points (on ten shots) in just 24 minuts, though he did have a big bucket to stem the third-quarter tide, as well as a key assist to Sullinger as Phoenix appeared to be closing in on the Cs late. Bradley started the game well, but fizzled out a bit and Doc limited him to just 18 minutes. Brandon Bass went 2-for-8 and saw much of his playing time fall to Sullinger.
Rajon Rondo finished with eight points and eight assists -- including a long one to a streaking Jason Terry late that left me marveling, again, at is court vision and feel for the game -- but it was a fairly uninspiring performance from him. He had four turnovers and never really got the starting unit going. What I loved, though, was that at the end of the third quarter (or perhaps the start of the fourth quarter), Rondo was standing up on the bench, coaching the defense -- on the broadcast, you could specifically hear him talking to Terry. That's the kind of leadership you want to see from your point guard, but Rondo hasn't always shown it, particularly on nights when he's not as involved in the game on the court. (Rondo also picked up a technical during that stretch for exchanging words with P.J. Tucker, who had some words for him after scoring on a drive early in the fourth.)
Boston's now on a four-game winning streak and sits at 18-17, with the majority of a five-game homestand still in front of it. The Rockets, coached by Kevin McHale, visit on Friday.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Boston 102, New York 96
So, I made a New Year's resolution this year not to let a Celtics game go by without posting. I just checked and my last post was November 18. I've had some computer problems (still ongoing) and the new job is keeping me busy, but still, no excuse.
There's a reason, though, that I'm still a few pounds overweight and my apartment looks like I'e just moved in: I suck at resolutions. So it's no surprise that it wasn't until the fourth game of the New Year that I actually got around to posting. (To be fair, the Memphis game was on NBATV, which I apparently don't get, and I was visiting my girlfriend -- who I hadn't seen in nearly a month -- for the Indiana and Atlanta wins.)
Indeed, the last time I had seen the Celtics before Monday night was up here in the Bay Area, when the boys in green put forth two of the sorriest efforts you'll ever see; back-to-back blowouts to the Warriors and Kings. I was at both of those games in person -- likely the only time I'll get to see them live this season -- and it was just pathetic. To be honest, they looked done, and the only thing that kept me from declaring the same -- or nodding in agreement as everyone else did -- is that we were basically in this same spot last year, and we nearly made the Finals. I know better than to count this team out.
There's a lot of fight in these guys. After the terrible three-game California swing (the Celtics got blown out by the Clippers in LA before making the trip to NorCal), they let the Grizzlies run away from them in the second half at the Garden. The next game was a surprisingly convincing home win over the Pacers, followed by a win over the Hawks, highlighted by a 33-9 third quarter that erased a big halftime deficit and may well mark the turning point of this season.
Tonight against the Knicks at Madison Square was one of the more intense NBA games I've seen in a long while. There's a historical rivalry there, sure, but there's also been a lot of recent chippiness between these teams. The Knicks have had a great first few months of the season, and they may have been extra anxious to flex their muscle against the team that's bullied them in recent seasons.
Whatever the reason, this game was physical in the first half and quickly escalated in the second half. Carmelo Anthony in particular was in an ornery mood, fruitlessly trying to draw fouls in the first half and growing increasingly frustrated with each uncalled perceived infraction. He quickly grew out of control in the second, barking incessantly at the officials and Kevin Garnett, who for once wasn't the instigator. Melo and KG picked up techs for yapping at each other, and Anthony easily could have been ejected two or three times in the closing minutes. He finished something like 6-for-22 and probably cost his team the game with his loss of composure -- everything was painfully forced for him on the offensive end.
For Boston, Paul Pierce once again made all the big shots, including an incredibly difficult step back, fadeaway 20-footer over Tyson Chandler that sealed the game. Avery Bradley, playing in just his fourth game after offseason shoulder surgery, put together his first solid offensive performance. Jeff Green scored a bunch, which is, I'm afraid, about the most we can hope for at this point. Jared Sullinger had another savvy performance, playign with a craftiness and a physicality that belies his lack of pro-level experience. Garnett was his usual solid self.
Oh yeah: They won this one without Rajon Rondo, who was dinged a game for apparently making contact with a ref against the Hawks. The contact was so slight that it didn't warrant a technical during the game -- it looked to me like Rondo, having just been called for pushing off on Josh Smith, went over to talk to the official and the two inadvertently brushed shoulders. Rondo's reputation is starting to come back to bite him.
This post is sort of all over the place, and I'm sure I haven't captured the atmosphere of this game particularly well. But I was reminded tonight of March 13, 2012, when I saw the Cs take on, and beat, the Clippers in LA. As I wrote back then, it was, by far, the most intense and volatile atmosphere I'd ever experienced at a regular-season NBA game. The Celts had lost to the Lakers the night before; the Clips had just lost to the Warriors and were eager to establish themselves against the old guard. But Boston rose beautifully to the occasion, showing the young bucks that the old guys still had it.
I won't be so dramatic as to say that that game was the turning point of the season. But Boston was a mediocre 21-19 heading into that game -- they went 18-8 to close the season. Those Celtics went on to play one of the gutsiest playoff series I've ever seen, battling injuries and all sorts of other adverse conditions in nearly beating Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.
Thanks to the current three-game winning streak, these Celtics now sit at 17-17, squarely at .500. Tonight's win might be more or less meaningless in terms of the team's overall record, but it marked the first time that this team -- this new team, with improved depth and talent -- showed itself capable of winning a game like that one I saw in LA last year. Only time will tell if it was a fluke, a little MSG Magic, or the true character of this squad.
There's a reason, though, that I'm still a few pounds overweight and my apartment looks like I'e just moved in: I suck at resolutions. So it's no surprise that it wasn't until the fourth game of the New Year that I actually got around to posting. (To be fair, the Memphis game was on NBATV, which I apparently don't get, and I was visiting my girlfriend -- who I hadn't seen in nearly a month -- for the Indiana and Atlanta wins.)
Indeed, the last time I had seen the Celtics before Monday night was up here in the Bay Area, when the boys in green put forth two of the sorriest efforts you'll ever see; back-to-back blowouts to the Warriors and Kings. I was at both of those games in person -- likely the only time I'll get to see them live this season -- and it was just pathetic. To be honest, they looked done, and the only thing that kept me from declaring the same -- or nodding in agreement as everyone else did -- is that we were basically in this same spot last year, and we nearly made the Finals. I know better than to count this team out.
There's a lot of fight in these guys. After the terrible three-game California swing (the Celtics got blown out by the Clippers in LA before making the trip to NorCal), they let the Grizzlies run away from them in the second half at the Garden. The next game was a surprisingly convincing home win over the Pacers, followed by a win over the Hawks, highlighted by a 33-9 third quarter that erased a big halftime deficit and may well mark the turning point of this season.
Tonight against the Knicks at Madison Square was one of the more intense NBA games I've seen in a long while. There's a historical rivalry there, sure, but there's also been a lot of recent chippiness between these teams. The Knicks have had a great first few months of the season, and they may have been extra anxious to flex their muscle against the team that's bullied them in recent seasons.
Whatever the reason, this game was physical in the first half and quickly escalated in the second half. Carmelo Anthony in particular was in an ornery mood, fruitlessly trying to draw fouls in the first half and growing increasingly frustrated with each uncalled perceived infraction. He quickly grew out of control in the second, barking incessantly at the officials and Kevin Garnett, who for once wasn't the instigator. Melo and KG picked up techs for yapping at each other, and Anthony easily could have been ejected two or three times in the closing minutes. He finished something like 6-for-22 and probably cost his team the game with his loss of composure -- everything was painfully forced for him on the offensive end.
For Boston, Paul Pierce once again made all the big shots, including an incredibly difficult step back, fadeaway 20-footer over Tyson Chandler that sealed the game. Avery Bradley, playing in just his fourth game after offseason shoulder surgery, put together his first solid offensive performance. Jeff Green scored a bunch, which is, I'm afraid, about the most we can hope for at this point. Jared Sullinger had another savvy performance, playign with a craftiness and a physicality that belies his lack of pro-level experience. Garnett was his usual solid self.
Oh yeah: They won this one without Rajon Rondo, who was dinged a game for apparently making contact with a ref against the Hawks. The contact was so slight that it didn't warrant a technical during the game -- it looked to me like Rondo, having just been called for pushing off on Josh Smith, went over to talk to the official and the two inadvertently brushed shoulders. Rondo's reputation is starting to come back to bite him.
This post is sort of all over the place, and I'm sure I haven't captured the atmosphere of this game particularly well. But I was reminded tonight of March 13, 2012, when I saw the Cs take on, and beat, the Clippers in LA. As I wrote back then, it was, by far, the most intense and volatile atmosphere I'd ever experienced at a regular-season NBA game. The Celts had lost to the Lakers the night before; the Clips had just lost to the Warriors and were eager to establish themselves against the old guard. But Boston rose beautifully to the occasion, showing the young bucks that the old guys still had it.
I won't be so dramatic as to say that that game was the turning point of the season. But Boston was a mediocre 21-19 heading into that game -- they went 18-8 to close the season. Those Celtics went on to play one of the gutsiest playoff series I've ever seen, battling injuries and all sorts of other adverse conditions in nearly beating Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.
Thanks to the current three-game winning streak, these Celtics now sit at 17-17, squarely at .500. Tonight's win might be more or less meaningless in terms of the team's overall record, but it marked the first time that this team -- this new team, with improved depth and talent -- showed itself capable of winning a game like that one I saw in LA last year. Only time will tell if it was a fluke, a little MSG Magic, or the true character of this squad.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Milwaukee 99, Boston 88
[recap] [box score]
Before anyone starts to panic about the Celtics being 0-2, let's take a deep breath. The Lakers, the presumptive Western Conference champions the moment the Oklahoma City Thunder shipped James Harden to the Rockets on the eve of the season, are 0-3 in the Dwight Howard/Steve Nash era. The Heat, the defending champs and odds-on favorites to repeat, got blown out Friday night by the Knicks in New York.
It's a long season. There's no reason to panic.
With that said, this was as bad a performance as we've seen from the Celtics in recent years, and a big step back from the season-opening loss on Tuesday. Against Miami, Boston at least played well offensively. Against Milwaukee, the Celtics limped to just 30 points at halftime, falling behind by double digits in the second quarter and never really challenging thereafter. A flurry of garbage-time points is the only thing that made the score respectable.
Defensively, though, Boston was at least as bad Friday as they were on Tuesday, and probably worse -- the Bucks are nothing close to the offensive outfit that the Heat are. The pick and roll defense was bad, and there were a ton of blown rotations. It's disconcerting to see a Boston team struggle this much on that end of the floor, but you have to think things are going to improve. The Celtics were good defensively last year, and while none of the key guys we added are known as outstanding defenders, none of the guys we lost are, either. Doc mentioned in the pregame interview with Mike Gorman that some of the guys are used to different defensive rotations/responsibilities due to having played in different systems last year, and it's actually something that Hubie Brown mentioned in the Lakers-Clippers telecast tonight with regards to former Celtic (and current Clipper) Ryan Hollins. So hopefully a lot of this stuff will clear itself up.
There isn't a whole lot to talk about for this game: Paul Pierce got into early foul trouble and never found a rhythm; Boston played with zero energy for most of the night (seemingly standard for Friday night games with this team); Kevin Garnett had an encouraging stretch in the third quarter where he was the assertive offense force we saw in the playoffs last year. Overall, on the offensive end, I think a lot of the new guys are trying to fit in too much. Courtney Lee, in particular, needs to be more aggressive offensively.
One thing I'm going to be watching closely is how the frontcourt rotation works itself out. Jeff Green was the first guy off the bench, replacing Garnett, but he struggled again and I thought Jared Sullinger was one of the few bright spots. The rookie struggled with pick and roll defense, which was the knock on him heading into the year, but he plenty of company wearing white uniforms in that regard. But he wasn't completely exposed the times he switched out on to a guard on the perimeter, and he drew two charges on Ersan Ilyasova in the first half -- a sure sign that he's buying into our defensive philosophy and that he's in the right place at least some of the time. He had a very productive first half, but played significantly less in the second.
I get that the team has a lot invested in Green, that Danny and presumably Doc believe in him, and that he's in dire need of some confidence. And I know that Doc is hesitant to give rookies major minutes. But if we're really not going to play any of our centers meaningful minutes -- Darko Milicic got a handful in the first half tonight, and Chris Wilcox came in during garbage time (he may get more time as the season progresses and he plays his way back into shape) -- then I don't think we can afford to play Green alongside Bass too often, particularly against a decent-sized frontline like Milwaukee's. Green is a notoriously poor rebounder for his size, whereas Sullinger has some real potential in that area -- he's already quite advanced at using his considerable width to gain position on the glass. And I would hate to see Sullinger's development delayed unnecessarily. I hope I'm wrong about Green, and obviously the team's not going to give up on him, but I'm thinking that everyone's interests would best be served with the young buck replacing KG first, bringing in Green afterwards to spell either Bass or Pierce.
Back at it Saturday night, 7 Eastern, at Washington.
Before anyone starts to panic about the Celtics being 0-2, let's take a deep breath. The Lakers, the presumptive Western Conference champions the moment the Oklahoma City Thunder shipped James Harden to the Rockets on the eve of the season, are 0-3 in the Dwight Howard/Steve Nash era. The Heat, the defending champs and odds-on favorites to repeat, got blown out Friday night by the Knicks in New York.
It's a long season. There's no reason to panic.
With that said, this was as bad a performance as we've seen from the Celtics in recent years, and a big step back from the season-opening loss on Tuesday. Against Miami, Boston at least played well offensively. Against Milwaukee, the Celtics limped to just 30 points at halftime, falling behind by double digits in the second quarter and never really challenging thereafter. A flurry of garbage-time points is the only thing that made the score respectable.
Defensively, though, Boston was at least as bad Friday as they were on Tuesday, and probably worse -- the Bucks are nothing close to the offensive outfit that the Heat are. The pick and roll defense was bad, and there were a ton of blown rotations. It's disconcerting to see a Boston team struggle this much on that end of the floor, but you have to think things are going to improve. The Celtics were good defensively last year, and while none of the key guys we added are known as outstanding defenders, none of the guys we lost are, either. Doc mentioned in the pregame interview with Mike Gorman that some of the guys are used to different defensive rotations/responsibilities due to having played in different systems last year, and it's actually something that Hubie Brown mentioned in the Lakers-Clippers telecast tonight with regards to former Celtic (and current Clipper) Ryan Hollins. So hopefully a lot of this stuff will clear itself up.
There isn't a whole lot to talk about for this game: Paul Pierce got into early foul trouble and never found a rhythm; Boston played with zero energy for most of the night (seemingly standard for Friday night games with this team); Kevin Garnett had an encouraging stretch in the third quarter where he was the assertive offense force we saw in the playoffs last year. Overall, on the offensive end, I think a lot of the new guys are trying to fit in too much. Courtney Lee, in particular, needs to be more aggressive offensively.
One thing I'm going to be watching closely is how the frontcourt rotation works itself out. Jeff Green was the first guy off the bench, replacing Garnett, but he struggled again and I thought Jared Sullinger was one of the few bright spots. The rookie struggled with pick and roll defense, which was the knock on him heading into the year, but he plenty of company wearing white uniforms in that regard. But he wasn't completely exposed the times he switched out on to a guard on the perimeter, and he drew two charges on Ersan Ilyasova in the first half -- a sure sign that he's buying into our defensive philosophy and that he's in the right place at least some of the time. He had a very productive first half, but played significantly less in the second.
I get that the team has a lot invested in Green, that Danny and presumably Doc believe in him, and that he's in dire need of some confidence. And I know that Doc is hesitant to give rookies major minutes. But if we're really not going to play any of our centers meaningful minutes -- Darko Milicic got a handful in the first half tonight, and Chris Wilcox came in during garbage time (he may get more time as the season progresses and he plays his way back into shape) -- then I don't think we can afford to play Green alongside Bass too often, particularly against a decent-sized frontline like Milwaukee's. Green is a notoriously poor rebounder for his size, whereas Sullinger has some real potential in that area -- he's already quite advanced at using his considerable width to gain position on the glass. And I would hate to see Sullinger's development delayed unnecessarily. I hope I'm wrong about Green, and obviously the team's not going to give up on him, but I'm thinking that everyone's interests would best be served with the young buck replacing KG first, bringing in Green afterwards to spell either Bass or Pierce.
Back at it Saturday night, 7 Eastern, at Washington.
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!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Boston 94, Miami 90
[recap] [box score]
You want to know when I knew the Celtics were going to win Game 5?
It was well before Kevin Garnett grabbed Dwyane Wade's desperation three-pointer and flung it downcourt as the final seconds ticked off the clock. It was well before Garnett hit a pair of free throws to keep the Boston lead at four points in those final seconds, and before Ray Allen knocked down a pair the possession before. It was even before Paul Pierce, his team clinging to a one-point lead with less than a minute left, shook off a 5-for-18 shooting night, stared down the MVP, and drilled perhaps the Truthiest shot of his career.
It was with 9:37 left in the game. Not a moment you remember? Read on.
With Boston leading 70-67, Garnett picked up his fourth foul on the offensive end, having allegedly thrown Dwyane Wade to the floor while fighting for post possession. KG took a few steps downcourt while cradling the basketball, raised it to his lips for a quick kiss, then flipped it to a referee.
I didn't know at that moment. I didn't know until a couple of seconds later, when they showed the replay, and I saw that Garnett hadn't touched Wade; Wade had gotten his feet tangled up with James as the latter was chasing a Celtic on the perimeter. It was a bad call at a crucial moment -- and Garnett didn't say a word.
"These guys are dialed in," I thought. And that's when I knew.
Really, I should have noticed it earlier. Doc Rivers did; at halftime, he said was proud of his guys for sticking it out in the first half, which was a nightmare of missed layups and clanked jumpers. (Despite shooting just 33% in the opening half, they went into the break down just two.) They survived two early fouls on Rajon Rondo and some quasi-foul trouble on other key players. Garnett had a monster dunk in the third quarter while getting fouled by James Jones, and didn't so much as look at Jones, never mind bark at him or brush shoulders as he walked to the free throw line -- the kind of stuff we've come to expect. There were some lapses -- Rajon Rondo's backcourt violation, Rondo allowing Norris Cole to chase him down from behind on a two-on-one break, Brandon Bass picking up a technical for spiking the ball in frustration -- but for the most part, this was the most focused the Celtics have been in this postseason.
This was in contrast to the Heat. They were once again preoccupied with the officials, though perhaps not as badly as in previous games, had some major lapses in transition defense, and at times seemed afraid to take shots or run any offense whatsoever.
Boston's focus culminated in what seemed like a postseason's worth of loose balls in the fourth quarter. The first, and the one that everyone's talking about, was the Rondo tap-out to Mickael Pietrus after Wade made an incredible block of a Bass dunk. It was an incredible play and gets a lot of attention because of it staved off a major momentum shift in favor of Miami -- the Heat were already up six, and Wade's block was so spectacular it would have taken the roof off the building. But the second Rondo deflection, this time off an Allen miss, was an even more remarkable play. Instead of simply tapping the ball to a nearby teammate, on this play Rondo -- while moving forward and slightly to his right -- essentially threw a tap bounce pass across his body to the left, past a Heat defender and into an open space where Pietrus could retrieve it. MP got the ball to Pierce, who penetrated and kicked to Garnett, whose jumper gave Boston a one-point lead.
The final loose ball that went our way was the luckiest. Pierce threw a bad pass to Allen that was deflected, bounced off a Heat player, then off Allen's leg. Allen dove on it, and from the floor, kicked it out to Pierce, who hit Pietrus in the corner. Pietrus hit his second huge three of the quarter, balancing out a Mario Chalmers three on the previous possession. These were plays that we simply hadn't made earlier in the playoffs.
This was a huge win, but the series isn't over yet, and Boston has to be ready to play a full 48 minutes of focused basketball on Thursday. There's always the chance, I suppose, that the Celtics can deliver an early knockout punch like they did in Game 6 of the 2008 Finals -- these Heat aren't mentally tough the same way those Lakers weren't mentally tough -- but huge games from James and Wade are a more likely scenario. Garnett was huge, again, but he may have his hands a bit more full in Game 6 with Chris Bosh, who inexplicably played just 12 minutes in his return to the corner. Pietrus had his best game of the postseason, on both ends of the court. Other than those two, however, no one could really get going, and the Celtics will have to find a way to get the offense going while being prepared, like they were tonight, for things to get cold again. They must anticipate that James and Wade will get every call in a close-out game, and keep their composure and play through any frustration. They can't count on Miami missing open looks, or being confused by Doc switching defenses the way they were in Game 5.
They can close it out at home, but to do so, they'll have to play their best game yet.
You want to know when I knew the Celtics were going to win Game 5?
It was well before Kevin Garnett grabbed Dwyane Wade's desperation three-pointer and flung it downcourt as the final seconds ticked off the clock. It was well before Garnett hit a pair of free throws to keep the Boston lead at four points in those final seconds, and before Ray Allen knocked down a pair the possession before. It was even before Paul Pierce, his team clinging to a one-point lead with less than a minute left, shook off a 5-for-18 shooting night, stared down the MVP, and drilled perhaps the Truthiest shot of his career.
It was with 9:37 left in the game. Not a moment you remember? Read on.
With Boston leading 70-67, Garnett picked up his fourth foul on the offensive end, having allegedly thrown Dwyane Wade to the floor while fighting for post possession. KG took a few steps downcourt while cradling the basketball, raised it to his lips for a quick kiss, then flipped it to a referee.
I didn't know at that moment. I didn't know until a couple of seconds later, when they showed the replay, and I saw that Garnett hadn't touched Wade; Wade had gotten his feet tangled up with James as the latter was chasing a Celtic on the perimeter. It was a bad call at a crucial moment -- and Garnett didn't say a word.
"These guys are dialed in," I thought. And that's when I knew.
Really, I should have noticed it earlier. Doc Rivers did; at halftime, he said was proud of his guys for sticking it out in the first half, which was a nightmare of missed layups and clanked jumpers. (Despite shooting just 33% in the opening half, they went into the break down just two.) They survived two early fouls on Rajon Rondo and some quasi-foul trouble on other key players. Garnett had a monster dunk in the third quarter while getting fouled by James Jones, and didn't so much as look at Jones, never mind bark at him or brush shoulders as he walked to the free throw line -- the kind of stuff we've come to expect. There were some lapses -- Rajon Rondo's backcourt violation, Rondo allowing Norris Cole to chase him down from behind on a two-on-one break, Brandon Bass picking up a technical for spiking the ball in frustration -- but for the most part, this was the most focused the Celtics have been in this postseason.
This was in contrast to the Heat. They were once again preoccupied with the officials, though perhaps not as badly as in previous games, had some major lapses in transition defense, and at times seemed afraid to take shots or run any offense whatsoever.
Boston's focus culminated in what seemed like a postseason's worth of loose balls in the fourth quarter. The first, and the one that everyone's talking about, was the Rondo tap-out to Mickael Pietrus after Wade made an incredible block of a Bass dunk. It was an incredible play and gets a lot of attention because of it staved off a major momentum shift in favor of Miami -- the Heat were already up six, and Wade's block was so spectacular it would have taken the roof off the building. But the second Rondo deflection, this time off an Allen miss, was an even more remarkable play. Instead of simply tapping the ball to a nearby teammate, on this play Rondo -- while moving forward and slightly to his right -- essentially threw a tap bounce pass across his body to the left, past a Heat defender and into an open space where Pietrus could retrieve it. MP got the ball to Pierce, who penetrated and kicked to Garnett, whose jumper gave Boston a one-point lead.
The final loose ball that went our way was the luckiest. Pierce threw a bad pass to Allen that was deflected, bounced off a Heat player, then off Allen's leg. Allen dove on it, and from the floor, kicked it out to Pierce, who hit Pietrus in the corner. Pietrus hit his second huge three of the quarter, balancing out a Mario Chalmers three on the previous possession. These were plays that we simply hadn't made earlier in the playoffs.
This was a huge win, but the series isn't over yet, and Boston has to be ready to play a full 48 minutes of focused basketball on Thursday. There's always the chance, I suppose, that the Celtics can deliver an early knockout punch like they did in Game 6 of the 2008 Finals -- these Heat aren't mentally tough the same way those Lakers weren't mentally tough -- but huge games from James and Wade are a more likely scenario. Garnett was huge, again, but he may have his hands a bit more full in Game 6 with Chris Bosh, who inexplicably played just 12 minutes in his return to the corner. Pietrus had his best game of the postseason, on both ends of the court. Other than those two, however, no one could really get going, and the Celtics will have to find a way to get the offense going while being prepared, like they were tonight, for things to get cold again. They must anticipate that James and Wade will get every call in a close-out game, and keep their composure and play through any frustration. They can't count on Miami missing open looks, or being confused by Doc switching defenses the way they were in Game 5.
They can close it out at home, but to do so, they'll have to play their best game yet.
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.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Boston 101, Philadelphia 85
[recap] [box score]
This was not your typical 16-point blowout.
I think most people expected the veteran Celtics to come out strong at home in Game 5 against Philadelphia, taking back the control they gave up in blowing a big second-half lead on Friday. But it was the Sixers who seemed to dominate the first 24 minutes, making shot after shot and being opportunistic in transition. Boston didn't play poorly in the first half, but with the halftime score 50-47 in favor of the visitors, it certainly felt like the Celtics were the ones hanging on for dear life. (Looking back, there was reason to believe that things would swing toward Boston in the second half. Philly was scoring mainly on jump shots -- leading to a big free throw advantage for Boston that helped us stay close -- and they were hitting some tough looks. Boston was often getting better shots, but they simply weren't dropping.)
And it got worse before it got better. Trailing by six early in the third quarter, Kevin Garnett threw an uncertain pass out front that Andre Iguodala stole. Trying to prevent an easy dunk, Paul Pierce reached out and grabbed the Sixers forward. It was a good thought and a defensible reaction, but the result was a clear path foul, two shots and the ball -- potentially a four- or five-point possession, one of the biggest momentum-grabbing moments that can happen in a professional basketball game. But Iguodala missed both free throws, and Philly turned it over on the ensuing possession. And then, as Philly coach Doug Collins pointed out, the game turned, irreversibly, in favor of Boston.
That was when Brandon Bass, of all people, took over. He scored 18 points in the third quarter alone, two more than the entire Philly team combined. He did it first inside, with a handful of explosive dunks in traffic, precisely the kind of finish we never got from Glen Davis. He then moved out to more familiar territory, drilling a number of the midrange jumpers that have been his staple all season. Bass, who had been solid but not spectacular in the Philly series after having a tough time against Atlanta, had a game-high 27 points, and tied for the team lead with six rebounds.
If Bass gets the game ball, he owes an assist to Rajon Rondo (which he gave, by the way, in his post-game comments to David Aldrich). Rondo was, of course, the catalyst for many of Bass' buckets. But while his primary role was distributor, particularly in the third quarter, he provided much needed scoring at crucial moments -- initially in the first quarter to keep the game close; most crucially in the fourth quarter, after Boston had extended its lead out to double digits, when the offense has historically bogged down.
Honorable mention to Greg Stiemsma, who had eight of his ten points in the first quarter and blocked three shots in just 14 minutes of game action. Stiemsma has played sparingly this series and didn't see the court in Game 4, which is an indictment of Doc, really, now that we know that the rookie's foot injury isn't what kept him out of action. He was a little late closing out on a couple of Lavoy Allen foul line jumpers, but his first-quarter offense was crucial and on one second-half possession, he made a great catch on a tough pass from Ray Allen, then made a pretty left-handed dish that resulted in a couple of Bass free throws. His health permitting, Stiemsma needs to be the first big man off the bench moving forward, not Ryan Hollins.
Speaking of Ray Allen, since I gave him a hard time for his defense in Game 4, I should wrap up this post by acknowledging his play on that end of the court in Game 5. Retaking his place in the starting lineup from Avery Bradley, whose bum shoulders kept him out of this game, Allen contributed little offensively, canning one three-pointer early but making just one other shot the rest of the way. But Allen was more or less as effective as he's ever been for Boston on defense, fighting through the pain of bone spurs in his ankles to stay in the faces of Philly's younger, quicker shooters. Boston's entire defense was really good in the second half, and it feels wrong to single out just one guy. But Ray deserves special mention because of everything he's going through.
Garnett and Pierce were their usual excellent selves. Garnett against Philly's bigs is a better matchup than Pierce (with the sprained knee) versus Iguodala, and so KG is carrying a bigger offensive load than we've come to expect. Garnett overcame a slow start to score 20 points on 8-for-17, while Pierce scored 16 points, going a perfect nine for nine from the free throw line.
Back to Philly for Game 6 on Wednesday (8 p.m. Eastern, ESPN). Twice before, Boston has seized the momentum in this back-and-forth series, and twice, Philly has answered -- though to be completely honest, Boston has been complicit both times. With all the injuries, avoiding Game 7 would be huge. Boston is fully capable of winning Game 6 -- Boston has fairly dominated three of the four halves of basketball played in Philly thus far in the series -- but it's not going to be easy. It'll take the same kind of effort, only better, with one less day of rest than we had between games 4 and 5. And I expect we'll have to do it without Bradley again; Doc's pre-game comments on Monday seemed to suggest that he may be only sporadically available the rest of the way. Things aren't getting any easier, but that seems to be when these Celtics play their best.
This was not your typical 16-point blowout.
I think most people expected the veteran Celtics to come out strong at home in Game 5 against Philadelphia, taking back the control they gave up in blowing a big second-half lead on Friday. But it was the Sixers who seemed to dominate the first 24 minutes, making shot after shot and being opportunistic in transition. Boston didn't play poorly in the first half, but with the halftime score 50-47 in favor of the visitors, it certainly felt like the Celtics were the ones hanging on for dear life. (Looking back, there was reason to believe that things would swing toward Boston in the second half. Philly was scoring mainly on jump shots -- leading to a big free throw advantage for Boston that helped us stay close -- and they were hitting some tough looks. Boston was often getting better shots, but they simply weren't dropping.)
And it got worse before it got better. Trailing by six early in the third quarter, Kevin Garnett threw an uncertain pass out front that Andre Iguodala stole. Trying to prevent an easy dunk, Paul Pierce reached out and grabbed the Sixers forward. It was a good thought and a defensible reaction, but the result was a clear path foul, two shots and the ball -- potentially a four- or five-point possession, one of the biggest momentum-grabbing moments that can happen in a professional basketball game. But Iguodala missed both free throws, and Philly turned it over on the ensuing possession. And then, as Philly coach Doug Collins pointed out, the game turned, irreversibly, in favor of Boston.
That was when Brandon Bass, of all people, took over. He scored 18 points in the third quarter alone, two more than the entire Philly team combined. He did it first inside, with a handful of explosive dunks in traffic, precisely the kind of finish we never got from Glen Davis. He then moved out to more familiar territory, drilling a number of the midrange jumpers that have been his staple all season. Bass, who had been solid but not spectacular in the Philly series after having a tough time against Atlanta, had a game-high 27 points, and tied for the team lead with six rebounds.
If Bass gets the game ball, he owes an assist to Rajon Rondo (which he gave, by the way, in his post-game comments to David Aldrich). Rondo was, of course, the catalyst for many of Bass' buckets. But while his primary role was distributor, particularly in the third quarter, he provided much needed scoring at crucial moments -- initially in the first quarter to keep the game close; most crucially in the fourth quarter, after Boston had extended its lead out to double digits, when the offense has historically bogged down.
Honorable mention to Greg Stiemsma, who had eight of his ten points in the first quarter and blocked three shots in just 14 minutes of game action. Stiemsma has played sparingly this series and didn't see the court in Game 4, which is an indictment of Doc, really, now that we know that the rookie's foot injury isn't what kept him out of action. He was a little late closing out on a couple of Lavoy Allen foul line jumpers, but his first-quarter offense was crucial and on one second-half possession, he made a great catch on a tough pass from Ray Allen, then made a pretty left-handed dish that resulted in a couple of Bass free throws. His health permitting, Stiemsma needs to be the first big man off the bench moving forward, not Ryan Hollins.
Speaking of Ray Allen, since I gave him a hard time for his defense in Game 4, I should wrap up this post by acknowledging his play on that end of the court in Game 5. Retaking his place in the starting lineup from Avery Bradley, whose bum shoulders kept him out of this game, Allen contributed little offensively, canning one three-pointer early but making just one other shot the rest of the way. But Allen was more or less as effective as he's ever been for Boston on defense, fighting through the pain of bone spurs in his ankles to stay in the faces of Philly's younger, quicker shooters. Boston's entire defense was really good in the second half, and it feels wrong to single out just one guy. But Ray deserves special mention because of everything he's going through.
Garnett and Pierce were their usual excellent selves. Garnett against Philly's bigs is a better matchup than Pierce (with the sprained knee) versus Iguodala, and so KG is carrying a bigger offensive load than we've come to expect. Garnett overcame a slow start to score 20 points on 8-for-17, while Pierce scored 16 points, going a perfect nine for nine from the free throw line.
Back to Philly for Game 6 on Wednesday (8 p.m. Eastern, ESPN). Twice before, Boston has seized the momentum in this back-and-forth series, and twice, Philly has answered -- though to be completely honest, Boston has been complicit both times. With all the injuries, avoiding Game 7 would be huge. Boston is fully capable of winning Game 6 -- Boston has fairly dominated three of the four halves of basketball played in Philly thus far in the series -- but it's not going to be easy. It'll take the same kind of effort, only better, with one less day of rest than we had between games 4 and 5. And I expect we'll have to do it without Bradley again; Doc's pre-game comments on Monday seemed to suggest that he may be only sporadically available the rest of the way. Things aren't getting any easier, but that seems to be when these Celtics play their best.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Philadelphia 92, Boston 83
[recap] [box score]
I don't want to write about this game any more than you want to read about it, so this will be uncharacteristically brief. If you hadn't heard, Boston went up 14-0, had an 18-point lead in the third quarter, and lost.
Philly's execution was much better than Boston's in the fourth quarter, but this game was really lost in the third. Boston went cold, stopped going to Kevin Garnett in the post, and started forcing passes and turning the ball over. Meanwhile, some questionable calls against the Celtics allowed Philly's free throw advantage to balloon to something like 30 to 12, and Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, and Brandon Bass all picked up their fourth fouls. With our short bench, and the fact that Bass was having his first good game in a while, having those guys sitting really hurt -- Garnett couldn't take his normal rest (which hurt in the fourth) and the offensive sparkplugs we so desperately needed were on the sidelines.
I thought Doc made some tactical errors in the fourth, too. Most importantly, I thought it was a big mistake to counter Philly's small lineup of Jrue Holiday-Louis Williams-Andre Iguodala-Thaddeus Young-Lavoy Allen with Rondo-Bradley-Ray Allen-Pierce-Garnett. Specifically, Allen instead of Bass or Mickael Pietrus made little sense to me. Allen is not a good defender, and this lineup has him trying to guard bigger men -- Iguodala or Young -- while dealing with bone spurs in his ankle that make it impossible for him to establish a strong, solid base.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be so bad, because Allen, when healthy, poses obvious matchup problems on the other end. But Allen isn't healthy, and whether it's because he's out of game shape or because his ankles are really bothering him, he's been almost a complete non-factor in this series. Because he's not able to free himself up on offense, he doesn't balance out the liability on the other end of the court.
I get that Doc trusts Ray, and that Young, a combo forward, poses a tough matchup for Bass, as well. But if you have to live with a mismatch on the defensive end, you need to be able to balance it on the offensive end, and Bass does that better than Allen in Allen's current condition. And if not Bass, then how about Pietrus, who was a non-factor on offense but who at least has a chance of guarding someone.
The other mistake, I thought, was putting Rondo on Williams and Bradley on Holiday. The Sixers were playing through Williams, who came up with some big buckets. Rondo is no slouch defensively, but Bradley's supposed to be our lockdown guy, and Rondo was having problems with Williams.
We've got an extra day of rest before Game 5 on Monday, and it's one we need. Garnett played 40 minutes tonight, and this should give us some time to get Allen and Pierce (whose knee, for the second straight game, didn't appear to hamper him much) a little healthier. It does mean an extra day to stew while the Sixers have an extra day for their confidence to grow, something that could be a concern under certain circumstances. But the Celtics are veterans, familiar with this process, and used to not having things come easily. I expect they'll answer the bell yet again and win Game 5, and eventually, the series. But games like this, in addition to being frustrating to watch, may come back to haunt the team -- if not this series, then the next one.
I don't want to write about this game any more than you want to read about it, so this will be uncharacteristically brief. If you hadn't heard, Boston went up 14-0, had an 18-point lead in the third quarter, and lost.
Philly's execution was much better than Boston's in the fourth quarter, but this game was really lost in the third. Boston went cold, stopped going to Kevin Garnett in the post, and started forcing passes and turning the ball over. Meanwhile, some questionable calls against the Celtics allowed Philly's free throw advantage to balloon to something like 30 to 12, and Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, and Brandon Bass all picked up their fourth fouls. With our short bench, and the fact that Bass was having his first good game in a while, having those guys sitting really hurt -- Garnett couldn't take his normal rest (which hurt in the fourth) and the offensive sparkplugs we so desperately needed were on the sidelines.
I thought Doc made some tactical errors in the fourth, too. Most importantly, I thought it was a big mistake to counter Philly's small lineup of Jrue Holiday-Louis Williams-Andre Iguodala-Thaddeus Young-Lavoy Allen with Rondo-Bradley-Ray Allen-Pierce-Garnett. Specifically, Allen instead of Bass or Mickael Pietrus made little sense to me. Allen is not a good defender, and this lineup has him trying to guard bigger men -- Iguodala or Young -- while dealing with bone spurs in his ankle that make it impossible for him to establish a strong, solid base.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be so bad, because Allen, when healthy, poses obvious matchup problems on the other end. But Allen isn't healthy, and whether it's because he's out of game shape or because his ankles are really bothering him, he's been almost a complete non-factor in this series. Because he's not able to free himself up on offense, he doesn't balance out the liability on the other end of the court.
I get that Doc trusts Ray, and that Young, a combo forward, poses a tough matchup for Bass, as well. But if you have to live with a mismatch on the defensive end, you need to be able to balance it on the offensive end, and Bass does that better than Allen in Allen's current condition. And if not Bass, then how about Pietrus, who was a non-factor on offense but who at least has a chance of guarding someone.
The other mistake, I thought, was putting Rondo on Williams and Bradley on Holiday. The Sixers were playing through Williams, who came up with some big buckets. Rondo is no slouch defensively, but Bradley's supposed to be our lockdown guy, and Rondo was having problems with Williams.
We've got an extra day of rest before Game 5 on Monday, and it's one we need. Garnett played 40 minutes tonight, and this should give us some time to get Allen and Pierce (whose knee, for the second straight game, didn't appear to hamper him much) a little healthier. It does mean an extra day to stew while the Sixers have an extra day for their confidence to grow, something that could be a concern under certain circumstances. But the Celtics are veterans, familiar with this process, and used to not having things come easily. I expect they'll answer the bell yet again and win Game 5, and eventually, the series. But games like this, in addition to being frustrating to watch, may come back to haunt the team -- if not this series, then the next one.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Boston 107, Philadelphia 91
[recap] [box score]
As I was thinking about Game 3, in the hours leading up to it, I was struck by the thought that in the past five seasons, you could predict Boston's success in a post-season series based on how they played immediately following a game they weren't supposed to or shouldn't have lost:
1. In the 2007-08 season, the championship season, Atlanta and then Cleveland each took Boston to seven games -- but the Celtics went 8-0 in the Garden. It wasn't until the Eastern semis against the Pistons that the Celtics coughed up home court advantage, in Game 2. Boston went to Detroit, won Game 3 by 14 and the series in six.
2. The following year, Boston dropped Game 1 in Boston, eked out a win in Game 2, then took home court back in a Game 3 blowout that was the only lopsided affair of a truly epic playoff series.
3. In 2009-2010, Boston went up 3-0 on a pre-Big Three Miami, lost Game 4 in South Beach, then closed the series out in five. They then lost a winnable first game in Cleveland to LeBron James and the Cavs, bounced back with a Game 2 victory, then mysteriously didn't show up for Game 3 and got blown out at home. Rather than pack it in, the Celtics turned the momentum of the series, winning the fourth game -- then the fifth, then the series-deciding sixth. In the Finals against the Lakers, Boston rebounded from a Game 3 loss to take the next two at home, putting them on the brink of a championship that went unfulfilled when Kendrick Perkins tore his ACL in the opening minutes of Game 6.
There are exceptions, but generally speaking over the last five seasons, when Boston has found itself in a tough spot in the postseason and immediately dug themselves out of it, they've won. When they haven't, they've lost. Other than those first two series way back in 2007-08, the Celtics hadn't won a series in which they lost consecutive games -- and hadn't lost a series in which they'd avoided back-to-back losses.
Having written that all out, it seems sort of obvious -- avoid consecutive losses, and you'll do well. But before the game Wednesday night, I was nervous, and thinking "Boy, we'd better win tonight." The pressure was particularly heavy because of how poorly the team had played in both Games 1 and 2 -- we sort of assumed that the problem was a lack of focus, a failure to take Philadelphia seriously, but in this compressed season, with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen hurting, there was always the chance that we simply didn't have what we needed. A third straight lackluster performance, especially from Pierce, would have severely shaken my confidence.
Writing this a few hours after the game, I obviously feel much better. The Celtics did more or less what I hoped they'd do, which was come out and defend like they had in Boston while finally playing with some energy and purpose on offense.
What was particularly interesting about this game, however, is that despite the large margin of victory, Boston wasn't in control from the beginning. In fact, the opening moments went about as poorly for the Celtics as they could have gone. Kevin Garnett was called for two early touch fouls and Pierce missed something like his first six shots, while Philly came out hot from the field. But Rajon Rondo kept us within striking distance and Pierce finally broke through, moving quickly on the catch to escape the double team and driving and dunking on two consecutive possessions. Still, all the loose balls seemed to be falling Philly's way; down two at the end of the first quarter, Rondo made a steal but couldn't quite corral it, and the ball bounced right to Louis Williams, who made a long three-pointer at the horn. Coming on the heels of the lucky shots the Sixers hit in Game 2, and the fact that the refs had taken KG (our best offensive weapon with Pierce ailing) out of the game, it suffices to say that I was very frustrated at the end of the first quarter.
I didn't have to worry long. Boston took control in the second quarter and didn't look back. Garnett came back in and scored three straight buckets, and Boston set the tone for the rest of the game with a 33-17 second quarter. The loose balls kept finding Philly -- at one point in the third quarter, the Sixers scored on three consecutive possessions on which the Celtics deflected a pass or dribble right to another Sixer -- but Boston never lacked for a response.
Almost everyone got into the act, but credit for this win should be distributed more or less equally among Pierce (24 points, 12 rebounds), Garnett (27 and 13), and Rondo (23 points, 14 assists). Pierce shook off his knee injury, two bad games, and a rough opening few minutes to register the first real Truth-like performance since he re-tweaked his knee in Game 4 of the Atlanta series. The Sixers simply cannot guard Garnett, who is getting no protection from the officials and would be putting up even bigger numbers if Elton Brand weren't allowed to manhandle him in the post. And Rondo responded to the (oft-aimed) criticism that he too often subordinates his scoring in favor of passing by doing both beautifully. He had a number of brilliant assists in this game, including a sweet behind-the-back dish to Pierce in traffic on the break, but my favorite was a much simpler play late in the game, with the outcome more or less decided. Philly trapped the ball in the left corner and Rondo flashed in to the paint. He received a pass in the middle of the lane and was momentarily wide-open for a layup or short jumper. Most players would have taken the shot themselves. But Rondo, knowing that a) Mickael Pietrus was spotting up in the right corner, and b) the guy who was supposed to guard Pietrus would be coming over to try to challenge his shot, pivoted quickly and fired the ball to Pietrus almost before he had a chance to look. Pietrus caught the pass, and with enough time to make and eat a Croque Madame (and wash his hands afterwards!), drained the three. It was just a great instinct play from a point guard who sees the floor the way very few have in the history of this game.
The Celtics won convincingly despite getting a combined three points (on just three shots) in a combined 45 minutes at the two-spot from Avery Bradley and Ray Allen. If there's one negative about this game, that was it -- both are nursing injuries, and it'd be nice to have some assurance of meaningful offensive contribution from these two going forward. But all in all, this was a very satisfying -- and more importantly, reassuring -- win.
Game 4 is Friday night inBostonPhiladelphia (8 p.m. Eastern, ESPN). It's a must-win for Philly, and it'll be interesting to see how they react. Here's hoping that the Celtics' focus from Game 3 carries over.
As I was thinking about Game 3, in the hours leading up to it, I was struck by the thought that in the past five seasons, you could predict Boston's success in a post-season series based on how they played immediately following a game they weren't supposed to or shouldn't have lost:
1. In the 2007-08 season, the championship season, Atlanta and then Cleveland each took Boston to seven games -- but the Celtics went 8-0 in the Garden. It wasn't until the Eastern semis against the Pistons that the Celtics coughed up home court advantage, in Game 2. Boston went to Detroit, won Game 3 by 14 and the series in six.
2. The following year, Boston dropped Game 1 in Boston, eked out a win in Game 2, then took home court back in a Game 3 blowout that was the only lopsided affair of a truly epic playoff series.
3. In 2009-2010, Boston went up 3-0 on a pre-Big Three Miami, lost Game 4 in South Beach, then closed the series out in five. They then lost a winnable first game in Cleveland to LeBron James and the Cavs, bounced back with a Game 2 victory, then mysteriously didn't show up for Game 3 and got blown out at home. Rather than pack it in, the Celtics turned the momentum of the series, winning the fourth game -- then the fifth, then the series-deciding sixth. In the Finals against the Lakers, Boston rebounded from a Game 3 loss to take the next two at home, putting them on the brink of a championship that went unfulfilled when Kendrick Perkins tore his ACL in the opening minutes of Game 6.
There are exceptions, but generally speaking over the last five seasons, when Boston has found itself in a tough spot in the postseason and immediately dug themselves out of it, they've won. When they haven't, they've lost. Other than those first two series way back in 2007-08, the Celtics hadn't won a series in which they lost consecutive games -- and hadn't lost a series in which they'd avoided back-to-back losses.
Having written that all out, it seems sort of obvious -- avoid consecutive losses, and you'll do well. But before the game Wednesday night, I was nervous, and thinking "Boy, we'd better win tonight." The pressure was particularly heavy because of how poorly the team had played in both Games 1 and 2 -- we sort of assumed that the problem was a lack of focus, a failure to take Philadelphia seriously, but in this compressed season, with Paul Pierce and Ray Allen hurting, there was always the chance that we simply didn't have what we needed. A third straight lackluster performance, especially from Pierce, would have severely shaken my confidence.
Writing this a few hours after the game, I obviously feel much better. The Celtics did more or less what I hoped they'd do, which was come out and defend like they had in Boston while finally playing with some energy and purpose on offense.
What was particularly interesting about this game, however, is that despite the large margin of victory, Boston wasn't in control from the beginning. In fact, the opening moments went about as poorly for the Celtics as they could have gone. Kevin Garnett was called for two early touch fouls and Pierce missed something like his first six shots, while Philly came out hot from the field. But Rajon Rondo kept us within striking distance and Pierce finally broke through, moving quickly on the catch to escape the double team and driving and dunking on two consecutive possessions. Still, all the loose balls seemed to be falling Philly's way; down two at the end of the first quarter, Rondo made a steal but couldn't quite corral it, and the ball bounced right to Louis Williams, who made a long three-pointer at the horn. Coming on the heels of the lucky shots the Sixers hit in Game 2, and the fact that the refs had taken KG (our best offensive weapon with Pierce ailing) out of the game, it suffices to say that I was very frustrated at the end of the first quarter.
I didn't have to worry long. Boston took control in the second quarter and didn't look back. Garnett came back in and scored three straight buckets, and Boston set the tone for the rest of the game with a 33-17 second quarter. The loose balls kept finding Philly -- at one point in the third quarter, the Sixers scored on three consecutive possessions on which the Celtics deflected a pass or dribble right to another Sixer -- but Boston never lacked for a response.
Almost everyone got into the act, but credit for this win should be distributed more or less equally among Pierce (24 points, 12 rebounds), Garnett (27 and 13), and Rondo (23 points, 14 assists). Pierce shook off his knee injury, two bad games, and a rough opening few minutes to register the first real Truth-like performance since he re-tweaked his knee in Game 4 of the Atlanta series. The Sixers simply cannot guard Garnett, who is getting no protection from the officials and would be putting up even bigger numbers if Elton Brand weren't allowed to manhandle him in the post. And Rondo responded to the (oft-aimed) criticism that he too often subordinates his scoring in favor of passing by doing both beautifully. He had a number of brilliant assists in this game, including a sweet behind-the-back dish to Pierce in traffic on the break, but my favorite was a much simpler play late in the game, with the outcome more or less decided. Philly trapped the ball in the left corner and Rondo flashed in to the paint. He received a pass in the middle of the lane and was momentarily wide-open for a layup or short jumper. Most players would have taken the shot themselves. But Rondo, knowing that a) Mickael Pietrus was spotting up in the right corner, and b) the guy who was supposed to guard Pietrus would be coming over to try to challenge his shot, pivoted quickly and fired the ball to Pietrus almost before he had a chance to look. Pietrus caught the pass, and with enough time to make and eat a Croque Madame (and wash his hands afterwards!), drained the three. It was just a great instinct play from a point guard who sees the floor the way very few have in the history of this game.
The Celtics won convincingly despite getting a combined three points (on just three shots) in a combined 45 minutes at the two-spot from Avery Bradley and Ray Allen. If there's one negative about this game, that was it -- both are nursing injuries, and it'd be nice to have some assurance of meaningful offensive contribution from these two going forward. But all in all, this was a very satisfying -- and more importantly, reassuring -- win.
Game 4 is Friday night in
Monday, May 14, 2012
Philadelphia 82, Boston 81
[recap] [box score]
I'm going to get to the officiating in a second, but I want to be clear about one thing: It didn't cost us the game. The Celtics take sole responsibility for this loss. They came out with good energy and a good pace, scored the first nine points of the game, and then decided that -- just like in Game 1 -- they didn't need to show up again on the offensive end until the fourth quarter. Boston played with fire, and got burned when the Sixers hit a couple of big, tough shots.
Now, the officiating. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that Kevin Garnett sets more moving screens than anyone in the league, that he had been setting them all night, and that the screen he set on Andre Iguodala to free up Paul Pierce on Boston's final meaningful possession was, in fact, a bad one. You still can't suddenly start calling moving screens in the final seconds of a game like that. You want to call moving screens? Fine: Do it early, make it clear that you're not putting up with it tonight. But you can't let a guy screen one way all night and then ding him for it on the game's most crucial possession.
The really frustrating thing for me is that I don't think it was a bad screen at all. The initial contact was fine, and then you can see KG leaning towards Iguodala ... but he never actually touches him. I suppose I can see why the ref called it, but he was standing right there and looking right at it. And I'm doubly frustrated because KG had been getting mauled all night inside without getting anything from the officials. It's annoying that the guy who was fouled all game is the one hit with the ticky-tack foul in the crucial moment.
But, again, the bad call didn't cost Boston the game, and as Charles Barkley said afterwards, that's why you don't screw around in the playoffs. Boston didn't put forth a maximum effort, and as a result, they lost. A bunch of weird stuff unlikely to repeat itself had to happen in order for them to lose, but Boston deserves the blame for letting themselves get into a position where that stuff could beat them.
A few additional comments:
1. Pierce was moving better to start this game, but he looked out of synch all night and was totally ineffective on offense. Down the stretch, you could see Rondo was hesitant to go to him, looking him off in the marginal situations in which he used to force the ball to him. The knee has to be bothering Pierce more than he wants us to believe.
2. In the first half we gave Philly a heavy dose of Brandon Bass pick-and-pop, but it was all baseline, and not at his preferred spot, the elbow. I'm not sure if the Sixers were forcing us into that or what, but Bass has been struggling in the playoffs and a good way to get him going would be to start giving him the ball in the spots in which he's comfortable.
3. The role players were really good tonight. Ryan Hollins and Greg Stiemsma brought a lot of energy, as did Keyon Dooling, and Mickael Pietrus nailed a couple huge three-pointers in the fourth quarter. They gave the starters more than they should need to win.
Back to Philly for Game 3 on Wednesday. If this is the Sixers' best shot, and I think it might be, then we should win the series without too much trouble.
As long as we show up, that is.
I'm going to get to the officiating in a second, but I want to be clear about one thing: It didn't cost us the game. The Celtics take sole responsibility for this loss. They came out with good energy and a good pace, scored the first nine points of the game, and then decided that -- just like in Game 1 -- they didn't need to show up again on the offensive end until the fourth quarter. Boston played with fire, and got burned when the Sixers hit a couple of big, tough shots.
Now, the officiating. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that Kevin Garnett sets more moving screens than anyone in the league, that he had been setting them all night, and that the screen he set on Andre Iguodala to free up Paul Pierce on Boston's final meaningful possession was, in fact, a bad one. You still can't suddenly start calling moving screens in the final seconds of a game like that. You want to call moving screens? Fine: Do it early, make it clear that you're not putting up with it tonight. But you can't let a guy screen one way all night and then ding him for it on the game's most crucial possession.
The really frustrating thing for me is that I don't think it was a bad screen at all. The initial contact was fine, and then you can see KG leaning towards Iguodala ... but he never actually touches him. I suppose I can see why the ref called it, but he was standing right there and looking right at it. And I'm doubly frustrated because KG had been getting mauled all night inside without getting anything from the officials. It's annoying that the guy who was fouled all game is the one hit with the ticky-tack foul in the crucial moment.
But, again, the bad call didn't cost Boston the game, and as Charles Barkley said afterwards, that's why you don't screw around in the playoffs. Boston didn't put forth a maximum effort, and as a result, they lost. A bunch of weird stuff unlikely to repeat itself had to happen in order for them to lose, but Boston deserves the blame for letting themselves get into a position where that stuff could beat them.
A few additional comments:
1. Pierce was moving better to start this game, but he looked out of synch all night and was totally ineffective on offense. Down the stretch, you could see Rondo was hesitant to go to him, looking him off in the marginal situations in which he used to force the ball to him. The knee has to be bothering Pierce more than he wants us to believe.
2. In the first half we gave Philly a heavy dose of Brandon Bass pick-and-pop, but it was all baseline, and not at his preferred spot, the elbow. I'm not sure if the Sixers were forcing us into that or what, but Bass has been struggling in the playoffs and a good way to get him going would be to start giving him the ball in the spots in which he's comfortable.
3. The role players were really good tonight. Ryan Hollins and Greg Stiemsma brought a lot of energy, as did Keyon Dooling, and Mickael Pietrus nailed a couple huge three-pointers in the fourth quarter. They gave the starters more than they should need to win.
Back to Philly for Game 3 on Wednesday. If this is the Sixers' best shot, and I think it might be, then we should win the series without too much trouble.
As long as we show up, that is.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
A Few Thoughts on the Sixers
I know Game 1 is just a few hours away (8 p.m. Eastern), but I fell asleep at like 9 o'clock last night. This is a hurried attempt to get a few words up about Philly before the series starts.
1. The regular season games weren't competitive. The teams played three times, each registering a blowout, with Philly taking the other game rather comfortably. How much does this matter? Not a whit. This is the playoffs, and as hard as it is to glean anything useful about a playoff series from regular season games, it's even harder when the regular season matchups were as anomalous as these were.
2. Additionally, it's even harder to predict postseason success based on regular season performance with Philadelphia because of how deep they are. They've got eight guys who averaged around 25 minutes or more this year (Boston has five). But rotations tend to tighten up in the postseason, and that obviously negates some of the advantage of having a deep bench. Against the Bulls in the first round, for example, Thaddeus Young played three or four minutes per game fewer than he did in the regular season, and Jodie Meeks' playing time all but disappeared.
3. With a deep bench usually comes balanced scoring, and Philly is no exception. All eight of those guys who play at least 25 minutes per game average at least 8.4 points, but no one averages more than Louis Williams' 14.9. In fact, two of their top three scorers, Williams and Young, come off the bench.
With that said, their best player is Andre Iguodala, who has subordinated his own scoring in recent seasons to adjust to the brand of ball Philly has been playing. (He was rewarded with his first All-Star appearance this year.) Iguodala creates for his teammates from the three position as well as anyone in the league right now not named LeBron James, but he's a capable scorer who will have the ball in his hands in crunch time. It was just last year, in fact, that Iguodala scored a couple of tough baskets late in games against the Celtics; if memory serves, one was a game-winner and the other would have been if not for some last-second heroics from the Celtics. Iguodala is also a good defender, and while it's not like Paul Pierce has struggled against the Sixers in his career, he'll have to work hard for everything he gets.
4. I really believe Pierce's knee is the x-factor here. He's really hurting. Atlanta doubled him a couple of times in the second half of Game 6 and Pierce turned it over, both times because he was unwilling or unable to put all his weight on that injured leg and make a strong, assertive pass out of the double. He left a couple crucial jumpers in the Hawks series woefully short, likely due to not getting his usual lift. Even on the late layup he did score in Game 6, he barely got off the ground. Philadelphia is pretty good defensively, and if Pierce isn't close to 100 percent, then it's hard to see where the points are going to come from.
5. I wouldn't be totally surprised if Doc puts Ray Allen back in the starting lineup at some point during this series. Avery Bradley really struggled offensively in the Hawks series, shooting just 37 percent from the field and making two of ten three-pointers. With Pierce hobbled, Boston may want to spread the floor for him, and Allen does that in a way that Bradley doesn't. Doc also might want to make sure the first unit has enough offense, in case Pierce struggles, to avoid getting into a hole early. Most importantly, though, is that moving Bradley back to the second team means that he's in a better position to guard Williams, Philly's most dangerous scorer.
6. Finally, I'm a firm believer that in the playoffs, experience really matters. Both teams were equally unimpressive in closing out their first-round victories, but Chicago -- without Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, remember, gave away Game 6 by missing some free throws and not getting back on defense on Iguodala's game-winning coast-to-coast drive. Boston, on the other hand, won it by making some big stops and big baskets (and, okay, getting a little lucky that Al Horford missed a free throw). When it was over, Philly celebrated like crazy, while Boston looked relieved and a little annoyed that they hadn't taken care of business more convincingly. This stuff matters.
I haven't been able to articulate this very well, but I also think Doug Collins respects Boston and Doc too much for his team's good. Collins has done a good job in Philly, but I always feel like he talks about the Celtics not as an opponent, but more as an analyst, which was his role before he went back to the bench. In recent days, we've seen a number of coaches making public statements about the other team; Frank Vogel of Indiana, for instance, came out and said that Miami, the Pacers second-round opponent, were the floppingest team in the league. I don't think actually saying that makes a difference to the referees, but it shows the players that you're on their side. Collins, on the other hand, came out in March and said that he wouldn't sleep on Boston in the East -- this while the two teams were battling for the top spot in the Atlantic division. It may be nothing, but I'd choose my words more carefully if I were him.
1. The regular season games weren't competitive. The teams played three times, each registering a blowout, with Philly taking the other game rather comfortably. How much does this matter? Not a whit. This is the playoffs, and as hard as it is to glean anything useful about a playoff series from regular season games, it's even harder when the regular season matchups were as anomalous as these were.
2. Additionally, it's even harder to predict postseason success based on regular season performance with Philadelphia because of how deep they are. They've got eight guys who averaged around 25 minutes or more this year (Boston has five). But rotations tend to tighten up in the postseason, and that obviously negates some of the advantage of having a deep bench. Against the Bulls in the first round, for example, Thaddeus Young played three or four minutes per game fewer than he did in the regular season, and Jodie Meeks' playing time all but disappeared.
3. With a deep bench usually comes balanced scoring, and Philly is no exception. All eight of those guys who play at least 25 minutes per game average at least 8.4 points, but no one averages more than Louis Williams' 14.9. In fact, two of their top three scorers, Williams and Young, come off the bench.
With that said, their best player is Andre Iguodala, who has subordinated his own scoring in recent seasons to adjust to the brand of ball Philly has been playing. (He was rewarded with his first All-Star appearance this year.) Iguodala creates for his teammates from the three position as well as anyone in the league right now not named LeBron James, but he's a capable scorer who will have the ball in his hands in crunch time. It was just last year, in fact, that Iguodala scored a couple of tough baskets late in games against the Celtics; if memory serves, one was a game-winner and the other would have been if not for some last-second heroics from the Celtics. Iguodala is also a good defender, and while it's not like Paul Pierce has struggled against the Sixers in his career, he'll have to work hard for everything he gets.
4. I really believe Pierce's knee is the x-factor here. He's really hurting. Atlanta doubled him a couple of times in the second half of Game 6 and Pierce turned it over, both times because he was unwilling or unable to put all his weight on that injured leg and make a strong, assertive pass out of the double. He left a couple crucial jumpers in the Hawks series woefully short, likely due to not getting his usual lift. Even on the late layup he did score in Game 6, he barely got off the ground. Philadelphia is pretty good defensively, and if Pierce isn't close to 100 percent, then it's hard to see where the points are going to come from.
5. I wouldn't be totally surprised if Doc puts Ray Allen back in the starting lineup at some point during this series. Avery Bradley really struggled offensively in the Hawks series, shooting just 37 percent from the field and making two of ten three-pointers. With Pierce hobbled, Boston may want to spread the floor for him, and Allen does that in a way that Bradley doesn't. Doc also might want to make sure the first unit has enough offense, in case Pierce struggles, to avoid getting into a hole early. Most importantly, though, is that moving Bradley back to the second team means that he's in a better position to guard Williams, Philly's most dangerous scorer.
6. Finally, I'm a firm believer that in the playoffs, experience really matters. Both teams were equally unimpressive in closing out their first-round victories, but Chicago -- without Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, remember, gave away Game 6 by missing some free throws and not getting back on defense on Iguodala's game-winning coast-to-coast drive. Boston, on the other hand, won it by making some big stops and big baskets (and, okay, getting a little lucky that Al Horford missed a free throw). When it was over, Philly celebrated like crazy, while Boston looked relieved and a little annoyed that they hadn't taken care of business more convincingly. This stuff matters.
I haven't been able to articulate this very well, but I also think Doug Collins respects Boston and Doc too much for his team's good. Collins has done a good job in Philly, but I always feel like he talks about the Celtics not as an opponent, but more as an analyst, which was his role before he went back to the bench. In recent days, we've seen a number of coaches making public statements about the other team; Frank Vogel of Indiana, for instance, came out and said that Miami, the Pacers second-round opponent, were the floppingest team in the league. I don't think actually saying that makes a difference to the referees, but it shows the players that you're on their side. Collins, on the other hand, came out in March and said that he wouldn't sleep on Boston in the East -- this while the two teams were battling for the top spot in the Atlantic division. It may be nothing, but I'd choose my words more carefully if I were him.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Boston 83, Atlanta 80
[recap] [box score]
There's no disputing that in his five years in green -- has it been that long already? -- Kevin Garnett has been a franchise-changing player. From the little things, like racing over to pick up a fallen teammate or knocking the opponent's deadball jumpers away from the rim, to the big things, like a single-minded devotion to defense and team play or an obnoxious-to-some swagger, the Celtics of this era have been heavily influenced by No. 5. Paul Pierce may be the captain and Rajon Rondo the flashy future, but these Boston teams have Garnett's mark all over them.
And yet, through nearly five seasons of big games and big moments, there have been only a handful of times where the big fella has really put the team on shoulders and carried it to victory. Part of it is because he has one of the game's best closers and one of the great deadeye shooters of all-time as teammates; Pierce and Ray Allen rightly command the ball a great deal, particularly in crunch time. But part of it is KG's personality and playing style: his endearing unselfishness, sometimes to a fault; his frustrating refusal to play a power game. Garnett is consistent as they come from 17 feet out and every night he brings an intensity that is unmatched by anyone in the league, but in terms of being a go-to offensive option, night-in and night-out, well, that's just not him.
So nights like Thursday are always fun, because they are so rare. Garnett was assertive from the game's opening minutes, gave us the breathing room that should have been enough to win the game in the second half, then hit the game-winning bucket in the final minute.
The last bucket was my favorite, and not only because it was the game-deciding points. The Hawks trapped Pierce and he got the ball to Allen in right corner with KG flashing to the middle and Brandon Bass on the strong-side baseline. Allen found KG with a great pass, and the Hawks had one defender between Garnett and Bass and another recovering off of Allen on the baseline. Watching the play develop, I was terrified that Garnett would pass up the short jumper in favor of a tricky drop-down to Bass that, at best, would have been knocked out of bounds. It's exactly the kind of pass we've seen for all these years from KG, the kind of pass we wish he wouldn't throw, but can live with because we know where it comes from. I should have known better, though, because Thursday night was different. It was KG's night, and he went up confidently and feathered it in, the last of his game-high 28 points.
Garnett was great on defense, too -- he had five blocked shots and three steals to go along with 14 rebounds -- but it was Pierce who came up with the most timely defensive play. After Garnett's go-ahead basket, the Hawks had an uninspired possession that ended in a long Josh Smith jumper that was well short -- the exact reason the Celtics have always been willing to let Smith take (and make) those shots early in games. Allen made just one of two from the line -- he's 8 for 14 in the series and I think his ankles are bothering him at the line -- and after a timeout, Atlanta got the ball to Joe Johnson, who went to work on Pierce. Pierce's knee is really affecting his play, and Johnson got by him fairly easily. Pierce didn't give up, however, and he gritted his teeth and recovered just in time to block the shot. It was fitting that on a night when Garnett made the big offensive plays, Pierce came up with the biggest one on the defensive end.
This wasn't a particularly good game for the Celtics. They came out sluggish, and I honestly think that if Atlanta hadn't been so concerned with merely surviving the first quarter, we might have been in some real trouble. The second quarter was strong, the third was alright, and about midway through the fourth it looked like we were going to put Atlanta away. But we missed some good opportunities to extend the lead when Garnett went to the bench for some rest, and had to come from behind to win.
Philly beat Chicago by the skin of their teeth Thursday night, too, so we'll be playing the Sixers in the second round. There's a quick turnaround for Game 1; it's Saturday at 8 Eastern in Boston. I'll try to get a post about the Philly series up on Friday.
There's no disputing that in his five years in green -- has it been that long already? -- Kevin Garnett has been a franchise-changing player. From the little things, like racing over to pick up a fallen teammate or knocking the opponent's deadball jumpers away from the rim, to the big things, like a single-minded devotion to defense and team play or an obnoxious-to-some swagger, the Celtics of this era have been heavily influenced by No. 5. Paul Pierce may be the captain and Rajon Rondo the flashy future, but these Boston teams have Garnett's mark all over them.
And yet, through nearly five seasons of big games and big moments, there have been only a handful of times where the big fella has really put the team on shoulders and carried it to victory. Part of it is because he has one of the game's best closers and one of the great deadeye shooters of all-time as teammates; Pierce and Ray Allen rightly command the ball a great deal, particularly in crunch time. But part of it is KG's personality and playing style: his endearing unselfishness, sometimes to a fault; his frustrating refusal to play a power game. Garnett is consistent as they come from 17 feet out and every night he brings an intensity that is unmatched by anyone in the league, but in terms of being a go-to offensive option, night-in and night-out, well, that's just not him.
So nights like Thursday are always fun, because they are so rare. Garnett was assertive from the game's opening minutes, gave us the breathing room that should have been enough to win the game in the second half, then hit the game-winning bucket in the final minute.
The last bucket was my favorite, and not only because it was the game-deciding points. The Hawks trapped Pierce and he got the ball to Allen in right corner with KG flashing to the middle and Brandon Bass on the strong-side baseline. Allen found KG with a great pass, and the Hawks had one defender between Garnett and Bass and another recovering off of Allen on the baseline. Watching the play develop, I was terrified that Garnett would pass up the short jumper in favor of a tricky drop-down to Bass that, at best, would have been knocked out of bounds. It's exactly the kind of pass we've seen for all these years from KG, the kind of pass we wish he wouldn't throw, but can live with because we know where it comes from. I should have known better, though, because Thursday night was different. It was KG's night, and he went up confidently and feathered it in, the last of his game-high 28 points.
Garnett was great on defense, too -- he had five blocked shots and three steals to go along with 14 rebounds -- but it was Pierce who came up with the most timely defensive play. After Garnett's go-ahead basket, the Hawks had an uninspired possession that ended in a long Josh Smith jumper that was well short -- the exact reason the Celtics have always been willing to let Smith take (and make) those shots early in games. Allen made just one of two from the line -- he's 8 for 14 in the series and I think his ankles are bothering him at the line -- and after a timeout, Atlanta got the ball to Joe Johnson, who went to work on Pierce. Pierce's knee is really affecting his play, and Johnson got by him fairly easily. Pierce didn't give up, however, and he gritted his teeth and recovered just in time to block the shot. It was fitting that on a night when Garnett made the big offensive plays, Pierce came up with the biggest one on the defensive end.
This wasn't a particularly good game for the Celtics. They came out sluggish, and I honestly think that if Atlanta hadn't been so concerned with merely surviving the first quarter, we might have been in some real trouble. The second quarter was strong, the third was alright, and about midway through the fourth it looked like we were going to put Atlanta away. But we missed some good opportunities to extend the lead when Garnett went to the bench for some rest, and had to come from behind to win.
Philly beat Chicago by the skin of their teeth Thursday night, too, so we'll be playing the Sixers in the second round. There's a quick turnaround for Game 1; it's Saturday at 8 Eastern in Boston. I'll try to get a post about the Philly series up on Friday.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Atlanta 87, Boston 86
[recap] [box score]
On April 15, 1965, John Havlicek stole the ball ... and tipped it to Sam Jones, who dribbled out the clock on a Celtics championship.
On May 26, 1987, Larry Bird stole the ball ... then found Dennis Johnson for the game-winning layup that gave Boston a 3-2 lead in its Eastern Conference finals series against the Pistons.
Tuesday night in Atlanta, Rajon Rondo stole the ball ... then lost the handle on the ensuing possession as the clock ran out, sending the Celtics' first-round series with Atlanta back to Boston for Game Six.
Yes, the steal is a storied part of Celtic history (and yes, I realize I'm leaving Gerald Henderson out of this), but the steal isn't enough. "Havlicek stole the ball!" doesn't become the most famous radio call in league history if the Celtics weren't ahead at the time. There's no "Now there's a steal by Bird!" without "Underneath to DJ" and, most importantly, "He lays it in!" And so, because Rondo couldn't turn the turnover into a basket, his late steal -- a potential series-winning play -- will likely soon be forgotten by most.
In case you missed it, let me set the stage. A few moments earlier, Paul Pierce had cut a four-point deficit to one, and Boston had gotten a stop on Atlanta's next possession. Pierce then missed a jumper, and Atlanta ran about nine seconds off the clock before the Celtics used their foul to give. Atlanta called timeout, then a second one when they couldn't find anyone open. After that, well, let's let the video take over:
A few things about this play:
1. Let's start with the obvious. Great read by Rondo, horrible pass by Josh Smith.
2. As bad as Smith's pass was, he made a very good play in the immediate aftermath. Rather than compound his error by charging recklessly after the ball, giving Boston the odd-man rush and possibly committing a foul, Smith did an excellent job of squaring up to Rondo and making him change direction. With no timeouts left, Boston's best opportunity for a bucket was something in transition. Smith stopped Rondo in his tracks and took away the transition opportunity.
3. Smith made a second smart defensive play once Rondo crossed halfcourt and ran a pick-and-pop with Kevin Garnett. Al Horford, guarding Garnett, jumped out on Rondo, and Smith resisted the urge to chase the ball, instead shading towards Rondo while staying in the passing lane.
4. After setting the screen, Garnett stayed in place for half a count before taking a step back out toward the three-point line, which was about the least helpful thing he could have done in that spot. That whole side of the floor was open -- a rim-run would have put pressure on the defense, and popping laterally to the foul line would have given him a better look and, at the very least, drawn Smith away from Rondo. As it was, Smith was able to stay within reach of Garnett while also being close enough to Rondo to discourage a drive into the paint. And even if Rondo had been able to find KG with a pass, it would have been a very long jumper, probably a step outside KG's comfort zone.
5. A few comments on Celtics Blog mentioned that they thought Rondo was trying to play "hero ball" at the end, and that that "selfishness" cost the Cs a chance to get up a game-winning shot. I think the opposite is true. Rondo's initial instinct is to pass in that spot, and by looking back to KG for a second, he let Horford catch up and trap him along the sideline. If he was in attack mode from the beginning, there's no way Horford could have stayed in front of him. Atlanta would have had to help from the weakside. Whether Rondo would have made a contested shot or had time to find an open teammate is anyone's guess, but it would have put the pressure on the Hawks.
6. Here's the real criticism: Rondo has to attack there. Even with the delay caused by his first look towards KG, he could have slithered past Horford to the baseline. From there it likely would have been a difficult finish, but no more difficult than the look he would have gotten had he been able to successfully bring it back to the right, which would have been a long, contested fallaway. (I seem to remember him doing something very similar at the end of a playoff game against Chicago and having the shot blocked by Derrick Rose.) And there's the very real chance that Horford would have fouled him.
A lot of people are saying we gave this one away, and I sort of agree: Rarely do you see a team facing elimination play as uninspired as Atlanta did in the first half, and we let them stay in it in the first quarter, before they got hot from three in the second. At the same time, how many elimination games are really won that easily? The doomed team almost inevitably makes a run. I do not believe that Boston could have effectively won this game in the first quarter.
The Hawks still don't worry me. Even getting a surprise contribution from Horford and sporadically strong play from Smith, Joe Johnson, and Jeff Teague, their offense is still pretty pathetic. It's not that they don't execute; they don't run anything to execute. It's the kind of one-dimensional offense that has never worked long-term against a Boston team in the last several years. Aside from some crucial missed assignments by Brandon Bass on pick-and-roll, Boston's defense was excellent (though our work on the defensive glass was not).
What does worry me, however, is Pierce's knee. The Celtics can still lose this series, and if they do, it likely will be traceable to the Captain not being at full strength. After Pierce came back for the first few minutes of the second half of Game 4, I figured the knee was nothing to worry about. But then I read today that the knee, which Pierce originally hurt in the shootaround on the morning of Game 4, was painful enough that Pierce almost didn't go at all on Sunday. And then today, after a fast start, Pierce appeared to tweak it again and wasn't the same, sitting for a long stretch in the second half. He missed a contested layup in the final minutes, and the potential go-ahead jumper he missed on Boston's penultimate possession was an airball. Pierce isn't the most explosive player, but he was definitely lacking his usual physical assertiveness for much of this game, which is enough to erode his effectiveness -- particularly in this advanced stage of his career. If he doesn't get better, the task gets harder -- and even if we succeed in beating Atlanta, we may regret not being able to rest him for a few days before the second round begins.
Game Six, in Boston, is Thursday night at 8 p.m. Eastern, on TNT.
On April 15, 1965, John Havlicek stole the ball ... and tipped it to Sam Jones, who dribbled out the clock on a Celtics championship.
On May 26, 1987, Larry Bird stole the ball ... then found Dennis Johnson for the game-winning layup that gave Boston a 3-2 lead in its Eastern Conference finals series against the Pistons.
Tuesday night in Atlanta, Rajon Rondo stole the ball ... then lost the handle on the ensuing possession as the clock ran out, sending the Celtics' first-round series with Atlanta back to Boston for Game Six.
Yes, the steal is a storied part of Celtic history (and yes, I realize I'm leaving Gerald Henderson out of this), but the steal isn't enough. "Havlicek stole the ball!" doesn't become the most famous radio call in league history if the Celtics weren't ahead at the time. There's no "Now there's a steal by Bird!" without "Underneath to DJ" and, most importantly, "He lays it in!" And so, because Rondo couldn't turn the turnover into a basket, his late steal -- a potential series-winning play -- will likely soon be forgotten by most.
In case you missed it, let me set the stage. A few moments earlier, Paul Pierce had cut a four-point deficit to one, and Boston had gotten a stop on Atlanta's next possession. Pierce then missed a jumper, and Atlanta ran about nine seconds off the clock before the Celtics used their foul to give. Atlanta called timeout, then a second one when they couldn't find anyone open. After that, well, let's let the video take over:
A few things about this play:
1. Let's start with the obvious. Great read by Rondo, horrible pass by Josh Smith.
2. As bad as Smith's pass was, he made a very good play in the immediate aftermath. Rather than compound his error by charging recklessly after the ball, giving Boston the odd-man rush and possibly committing a foul, Smith did an excellent job of squaring up to Rondo and making him change direction. With no timeouts left, Boston's best opportunity for a bucket was something in transition. Smith stopped Rondo in his tracks and took away the transition opportunity.
3. Smith made a second smart defensive play once Rondo crossed halfcourt and ran a pick-and-pop with Kevin Garnett. Al Horford, guarding Garnett, jumped out on Rondo, and Smith resisted the urge to chase the ball, instead shading towards Rondo while staying in the passing lane.
4. After setting the screen, Garnett stayed in place for half a count before taking a step back out toward the three-point line, which was about the least helpful thing he could have done in that spot. That whole side of the floor was open -- a rim-run would have put pressure on the defense, and popping laterally to the foul line would have given him a better look and, at the very least, drawn Smith away from Rondo. As it was, Smith was able to stay within reach of Garnett while also being close enough to Rondo to discourage a drive into the paint. And even if Rondo had been able to find KG with a pass, it would have been a very long jumper, probably a step outside KG's comfort zone.
5. A few comments on Celtics Blog mentioned that they thought Rondo was trying to play "hero ball" at the end, and that that "selfishness" cost the Cs a chance to get up a game-winning shot. I think the opposite is true. Rondo's initial instinct is to pass in that spot, and by looking back to KG for a second, he let Horford catch up and trap him along the sideline. If he was in attack mode from the beginning, there's no way Horford could have stayed in front of him. Atlanta would have had to help from the weakside. Whether Rondo would have made a contested shot or had time to find an open teammate is anyone's guess, but it would have put the pressure on the Hawks.
6. Here's the real criticism: Rondo has to attack there. Even with the delay caused by his first look towards KG, he could have slithered past Horford to the baseline. From there it likely would have been a difficult finish, but no more difficult than the look he would have gotten had he been able to successfully bring it back to the right, which would have been a long, contested fallaway. (I seem to remember him doing something very similar at the end of a playoff game against Chicago and having the shot blocked by Derrick Rose.) And there's the very real chance that Horford would have fouled him.
A lot of people are saying we gave this one away, and I sort of agree: Rarely do you see a team facing elimination play as uninspired as Atlanta did in the first half, and we let them stay in it in the first quarter, before they got hot from three in the second. At the same time, how many elimination games are really won that easily? The doomed team almost inevitably makes a run. I do not believe that Boston could have effectively won this game in the first quarter.
The Hawks still don't worry me. Even getting a surprise contribution from Horford and sporadically strong play from Smith, Joe Johnson, and Jeff Teague, their offense is still pretty pathetic. It's not that they don't execute; they don't run anything to execute. It's the kind of one-dimensional offense that has never worked long-term against a Boston team in the last several years. Aside from some crucial missed assignments by Brandon Bass on pick-and-roll, Boston's defense was excellent (though our work on the defensive glass was not).
What does worry me, however, is Pierce's knee. The Celtics can still lose this series, and if they do, it likely will be traceable to the Captain not being at full strength. After Pierce came back for the first few minutes of the second half of Game 4, I figured the knee was nothing to worry about. But then I read today that the knee, which Pierce originally hurt in the shootaround on the morning of Game 4, was painful enough that Pierce almost didn't go at all on Sunday. And then today, after a fast start, Pierce appeared to tweak it again and wasn't the same, sitting for a long stretch in the second half. He missed a contested layup in the final minutes, and the potential go-ahead jumper he missed on Boston's penultimate possession was an airball. Pierce isn't the most explosive player, but he was definitely lacking his usual physical assertiveness for much of this game, which is enough to erode his effectiveness -- particularly in this advanced stage of his career. If he doesn't get better, the task gets harder -- and even if we succeed in beating Atlanta, we may regret not being able to rest him for a few days before the second round begins.
Game Six, in Boston, is Thursday night at 8 p.m. Eastern, on TNT.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Boston 101, Atlanta 79
[recap] [box score]
This was it. This was the performance I was hoping for in Game 3.
The Celtics just blitzed the Hawks on Sunday night. Came out strong, hit 'em in the mouth, knocked 'em down, and never let 'em back up. Boston came out with a purpose offensively, with Paul Pierce creating his own shot and Rajon R-ndo getting shots for others with sometimes spectacular assists. Pierce was on fire; he had 24 points in just 16:37 of court time, including several heat-check three-pointers. R-ndo had at least a dozen assists in the first half alone, and finished with 20 points to go along with 16 helpers and just 1 credited turnover -- though I remember two more turnovers in the second half that they didn't give to him.
The one piece of bad news is that Pierce tweaked his knee a bit in the second quarter. I heard him say after the game that he had actually initially hurt it during shootaround before the game, and then he got tangled up with Josh Smith on a screen and tweaked it a bit more. He came out of the game, but did return to start the third quarter. He drilled a couple of threes before Doc took him out, content with the big lead and seeing no reason to push the captain. I don't expect that the knee will cause any real problems -- Pierce plays through injuries like this in the playoffs all the time without ill effects.
Atlanta barely showed any fight. Perhaps their most courageous moment of the game actually came before tip, when Josh Smith decided to play through a sprained knee and Al Horford suddenly reversed course and suited up for the first time since tearing a pectoral muscle in January. The Horford decision seemed particularly odd, given that a week ago he had ruled himself out of the series. It doesn't seem like he could have healed that much in a week, and having been out of action for so long, it was going to be hard for him to have any sort of positive impact. Indeed, Horford was completely overmatched on an early Kevin Garnett post-up, and didn't improve much from there. He's unlikely to be a factor in this series, even if he does continue to play.
The only other time Atlanta showed signs of life was late in the third quarter, when they cut a 37-point lead to 22, with Pierce and Garnett out of the game and presumably done for the night, circumstances permitting. But R-ndo and Ray Allen hit back-to-back three-pointers to stop the rally, and Larry Drew didn't even bother playing his starters in the fourth quarter.
As well as the players played, give Doc some credit for this win, too. Recognizing how tired the team was after Game 3, he gave them Saturday off, and they responded with a performance that was infinitely more energetic and purposeful than the previous one. As much as I think some of Doc's in-game decisions are still questionable, he's one of the best in the biz at managing his players.
We shot extremely well in this game and played extraordinarily well overall, whereas Atlanta played pretty horifically. I wouldn't expect either team to repeat its performance in Game 5, which is back in Atlanta on Tuesday night. (I'm surprised at the lack of a travel day.) Philips Arena is a tough place to play and the Hawks will come out fighting. It's a winnable game, though, and it'd be nice to finish the series early so we can get some rest.
This was it. This was the performance I was hoping for in Game 3.
The Celtics just blitzed the Hawks on Sunday night. Came out strong, hit 'em in the mouth, knocked 'em down, and never let 'em back up. Boston came out with a purpose offensively, with Paul Pierce creating his own shot and Rajon R-ndo getting shots for others with sometimes spectacular assists. Pierce was on fire; he had 24 points in just 16:37 of court time, including several heat-check three-pointers. R-ndo had at least a dozen assists in the first half alone, and finished with 20 points to go along with 16 helpers and just 1 credited turnover -- though I remember two more turnovers in the second half that they didn't give to him.
The one piece of bad news is that Pierce tweaked his knee a bit in the second quarter. I heard him say after the game that he had actually initially hurt it during shootaround before the game, and then he got tangled up with Josh Smith on a screen and tweaked it a bit more. He came out of the game, but did return to start the third quarter. He drilled a couple of threes before Doc took him out, content with the big lead and seeing no reason to push the captain. I don't expect that the knee will cause any real problems -- Pierce plays through injuries like this in the playoffs all the time without ill effects.
Atlanta barely showed any fight. Perhaps their most courageous moment of the game actually came before tip, when Josh Smith decided to play through a sprained knee and Al Horford suddenly reversed course and suited up for the first time since tearing a pectoral muscle in January. The Horford decision seemed particularly odd, given that a week ago he had ruled himself out of the series. It doesn't seem like he could have healed that much in a week, and having been out of action for so long, it was going to be hard for him to have any sort of positive impact. Indeed, Horford was completely overmatched on an early Kevin Garnett post-up, and didn't improve much from there. He's unlikely to be a factor in this series, even if he does continue to play.
The only other time Atlanta showed signs of life was late in the third quarter, when they cut a 37-point lead to 22, with Pierce and Garnett out of the game and presumably done for the night, circumstances permitting. But R-ndo and Ray Allen hit back-to-back three-pointers to stop the rally, and Larry Drew didn't even bother playing his starters in the fourth quarter.
As well as the players played, give Doc some credit for this win, too. Recognizing how tired the team was after Game 3, he gave them Saturday off, and they responded with a performance that was infinitely more energetic and purposeful than the previous one. As much as I think some of Doc's in-game decisions are still questionable, he's one of the best in the biz at managing his players.
We shot extremely well in this game and played extraordinarily well overall, whereas Atlanta played pretty horifically. I wouldn't expect either team to repeat its performance in Game 5, which is back in Atlanta on Tuesday night. (I'm surprised at the lack of a travel day.) Philips Arena is a tough place to play and the Hawks will come out fighting. It's a winnable game, though, and it'd be nice to finish the series early so we can get some rest.
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