Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Count It

On the one hand, if someone had told me the Celtics would only win by four in a game that saw LeBron shoot 2-18 and turn the ball over 10 times, I would have thought to myself: "hmmm, they need to take things up a notch; there's no way they can count on that happening every game." On the other hand, were I a Cavs fan and someone had told me that Paul Pierce and Ray Allen would combine to score 4 points in a total of 66 minutes on the floor and the Celtics would still win by four, I would have thought to myself: :hmmm, they really need to take things up a notch; there's no way they can count on that happening every game."

A shitty opening, I know, but hey, this was kind of a shitty game. The Celtics stole away with a nailbiter of the more disappointing sort, a dysfunctional mistake-fest in which neither team shot even close to 50% from the floor nor seriously threatened the 80-point barrier. The less said about this one the better. Garnett, Rondo and the splendiferous James Posey were the primary bright spots for the C's, but in fairness KG more or less single-handedly kept them in this one with a monster 28-point effort. It was cool to see the Celtics finally win a true grind-it-out playoff contest, but honestly this game was so weird that it's hard to know what to make of it. Scratch that: one down, three to go. As far as right now is concerned, that's what to make of it.

3 comments:

Tim Grimes said...

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-celticsslowlebron050708&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Jeff said...

Rondo had the whole team on his back in the first half, then didn't get back in as the fourth quarter wound down. Cassell scared me early, thrilled me later, but I wonder about Doc's thought process there. Is it a Terry Francona-type faith feeling? Was Rondo worn out?
The plus side is that, ugly or not, it looks like the Celtics dominate at the point and in the post. That means James has to be Waaay better than Pierce/Allen/Posey for the Cavs to have a chance in the series.

Anonymous said...

I'm just praying that Pierce's hero complex doesn't get the better of him - I see him forcing way too many shots one on one against Lebron.
Unfortunately Lebron D's PP up pretty damn well. Maybe the C's should run more pick and rolls for Pierce to get that pesky James off his back.