As much as we wanted them to win it Friday night in Cleveland, there was no way the officials were going to allow that to happen. When LeBron James is shuffling his feet into position and jumps in front of Paul Pierce, it’s called a block, not a charge on the offensive player.
So after getting hosed on the road, with the C’s players taking a lot of “hero shots”, it set up a game seven showdown at the Garden on Sunday. ESPN put up the stat the the Celtics are 28-0 in series that they’ve been up 3-2, but they kept showing highlights of Larry Bird’s 1992 team losing to the Cavs in the playoffs.
Right from the tip you sensed that this team was pumped up and the crowd wasn’t letting up. The C’s managed to go up 13 in the first half and went into the break up ten points.
I know Da Guy wasn’t worried, but when that lead evaporated to three and LeBron was taking over the game I started to worry. The lead managed to get up five, six, and seven but going into the fourth quarter it was at five.
Which set up one of the best fourth quarters in recent memory. It was Paul Pierce vs. LeBron James. The C’s were trading buckets with the Cavs, but for every 20 footer that Pierce was nailing for the C’s LeBron rained down threes. Well, at least on two straight possessions.
With 2:19 left in the game the C’s lead had shrunk to one point. With LeBron that hot you had to wonder if Pierce’s heat would match James’. Well LeBron blew a three and on the ensuing drive Eddie House dished to PJ Brown who nailed a 21 foot jumper and the lead was three again.
Well the C’s wound up winning 97-92 after nailing free throws down the stretch and Paul Pierce played one of the best games of his career. Pierce ended the day with 41 points outscored only by LeBron’s 45.
The hockey rotations that plagued the Celtics in games three and four were nonexistent. Sam Cassell who shot cold in his five minutes in game five was benched in favor of Eddie House in games six and seven. This was a spectacular move by the coaching staff. I don’t care how much Cassell pouts about it on the bench either. He was playing like a high school ball hog, forcing up shots when there was an open man, and just abandoning the “Ubuntu” philosophy.
Our boy, Bill Simmons, had a great note in his column that really surmised the play of the “Big Three” in the playoffs suggesting the name be changed to “The Big Two featuring Ray Allen.” Ray has disappeared in the post season and made Wally look like a player (not in game seven though) in the Cavs series.
Next up is a showdown with the Pistons. Now the C’s took two of three against Detroit in the regular season with each team winning on the other’s court and then the C’s taking the deciding game at Boston. The Celtics won by seven and twelve, the Piston won their game by two. You remember that game, Tony Allen fouled Chancey Billups with time expiring and the C’s lost on two free throws.
Folks on ESPN were calling a Detroit win in the first game against a tired Boston team and based on the Celtics inability to win on the road, picked Detroit to win the series. Five of the eight NBA guys picked Detroit in six, two had the Celtics in seven, and one very bold man picked Boston in six.
I have homer glasses these guys clearly don’t own. I say the Celtics in five. Look to see more of the Big Baby (he had a career high 20 against the Pistons) and for team will look like the one that went 66-16 in the regular season opposed to the 8-6 team in the post season. Maybe I’m severely underestimating Detroit, but besides Chauncey I don’t think they have players that will beat down the C’s.
Thank the NBA gods for home court advantage throughout the entire playoffs! Or thank you Big Ticket and the Truth. Now, lets review….
5/12/08… “If that fuckin alien Cassel takes one more STUPID shot in crunch time and/or gets more mins than Eddie “don’t leave the” House, well, I don’t know what I’ll do…”
Now well justified, I guess I don’t have to do, whatever it was that I would have done! But I’m pretty sure throwing things, and shouting loudly were definatley on the menu!
This foul discrepency is really starting to get to me. I cannot remember any series, or serieses’s’s in which the ratio of fouls per team was so lopsided. Lets take free throws attempted first. Celtics 328, opponents 425(-97). Personal Fouls, Celts 343, opponents 289(-54)! That is remarkable for a 14 game span. Especially in the playoffs! Refuckingdiculous! Somewhere Tommy Heinsohn is chain-smokin butts, and pulling whats left of his hair out!
As for Detroit, I think this is a better matchup. They are a MUCH older team than both Atl, and Cle combined. And as for the “experience” BS, it means nothing. As if Pierce, Garnett, Allen, House, Posey, PJ among others have never been there. Gimme a break. If anything, they are more hungry with their empty ring fingers than Detroit is having been there before. I’m predicting pain! And lots of it. Celts in 5! Now is the time, these are the players, Banner 17 on the way! I want either the Lakers, or the Spurs(who need to win tonight). New Orleans scares the crap outta me! Another young, fast, high FG% team- see; Atlanta Hawks…
shake it, shake, shake, shake it uuupppp!
Oh yeah, Jon Lester just threw a NO HITTER!!!!
Tek just became the first catcher EVER to catch 4 no hitters!
Holy Shit, what a night!
[...] for the Celtics was solid. Even if Big Baby didn’t get any minutes as I had predicted in Monday’s column. I love having Eddie House playing every minute that Alien Head Sam Cassell would have played two [...]