The Celtics won 98-88. I don’t think anyone missed the game, so I’ll give you some of my personal observations from the game.
9:00PM Start
OK, so here’s my theory on the 9PM start, and the schedule in general. David Stern knows that if the game was on a Saturday night, me, the boys, and every Celtics and Lakers fan in America would have people over to watch the game with no work the next day. Instead, he schedules the games with work for most (not me, Jay’s still unemployed) the next day meaning that instead of six guys watching at one house, most are watching at their own house and boosting the ratings.
Lakers Fans in the Garden
Are you fucking kidding me? I understand that maybe a couple fans would get tickets, but right next to the Celtics bench? Yeah, those two douchebags. What the fuck? No sooner did the game start that I said I would have dumped $6 beers on those two and walking out of the Garden I would have made sure these guys had an “accident” and ended up in a dumpster somewhere
The Celtics Starters
Admit it, when Pierce (22 points, 3-4 from the land of three)went down you were scared. I know I was. He had just found his touch coming out of the half and the C’s needed him down the stretch. He only played out of his mind after returning from the injury.
Allen continued to be the Allen we all thought we were getting in the Sonics trade with 19 buckets and eight boards.
KG was the high man with 24 and added 13 boards (four on the offensive end).
Rajon had a couple questionable passes when he had wide open looks (story of the playoffs) but still had 15 points, seven assists and five boards.
Perk was limited with foul and injuries and only managed only one point with four boards.
The Celtics Bench
Did anyone see Tony Allen’s graphic during intros? Yeah Brian Scalabrine. Good job ABC, pay attention.
PJ Brown was the backup big man we knew the C’s needed for the stretch run. With Perk in foul trouble and then hurting his ankle, Brown played 21 minutes and had six boards (seemed like he had five straight defensive boards at one point). He also had a block and a couple assists.
When James Posey is on, he’s on. When he’s off, he’s really off. In his 23 minutes he managed just three points on 1-6 shooting (1-5 from three). In order for the Celtics to win this series they’re going to need this guy to be an offensive force off the bench (like he was during the regular season) when the starters are resting/in foul troubles.
Alien Head Cassell was the back up point and came into the game gunning. Which made me cringe I won’t lie. But then he hit his first three shots, so I didn’t mind. Unfortunately that lights out shooting didn’t last and he missed his next three shots, finishing with 4-9 (0-2 from three). He matches up well against Fisher as was evident by the first three buckets, but needs to stop trying to be a hero and dish to Garnett on the block (have we said that before?).
Finally it was great to see Leon getting some playing time (I know Steve-O was psyched up). Leon didn’t miss a shot (sure he only took one, but who’s counting) and managed four boards in his limited time.
The Lakers
Not to sound like “The Dude” in the Police Chief of Malibu’s office, but I really wasn’t paying attention. I waited with a sense of inevitability that the officials would flip a switch and start calling everything for Kobe, but it never happened. The officials really let the boys play the game last night. Many times, on both ends, guys would drive the lane and there was no call. I say good. Let the boys play.
I was surprised that the “Zen Master” coached so poorly in the final two minutes. Typically down eight or ten with a couple minutes left you foul the other team. Phil waited like 20 seconds to foul and pretty much conceded the game. Sure he had the time out when Paul Pierce came back to try and deflate the crowd, but the final two minutes looked very amateur-ish.
Overall it was a great game and pretty much what I expected going into it. I just hope the C’s can take the momentum into Sunday night’s game and head out to L.A. up two nothing. Back Monday with a recap of Sunday’s game. And in case you missed it yesterday, I’ve attached my Finals video again.
