Monday, June 9, 2008

Grown-Ass Work

Awesome stuff, folks. I am sorry we haven't had more in-depth analysis lately, but frankly it's been nice just to sit back and enjoy these first two games, it'll all get sorted out later. This win we just saw gives great hope towards the ultimate goal being achieved. The Celtics won tonight because they were the better team, not because LA didn't show up the first three quarters, or because of poor officiating. What has been so exhilarating about the first two games of the Finals is how well the Celtics have played, and how normal it all seems when put in context of their great regular season. It would make all the more sense if they had not been so goddamn perplexing all of the playoffs prior to Game 5 against Detroit.

But here we are. And it's a wonderful feeling - even if the Celtics can scrape together just one win out on the West Coast you would think they would have the advantage. But I'm sure they are not thinking that way - they're just happy about the win and focusing on getting the next one. Tonight's contest could have easily been lost, which might seem scary but probably shouldn't be. Yes, LA scored 41 in the fourth and was in a position to win a game they had no right to win. But we are at the point of the season where such things don't matter. Either you win or lose - and the Celtics won. We can sleep happy.

Something that might be overlooked in the morning is that Leon still only played 15 minutes in scoring his 21 points. Let him play. There's no holding back. But I can't knock PJ Brown when the team is +20 with him on the floor. Yet tonight revealed what was rather obvious to many of us - Leon can score big against LA, just like he can against most teams. If he had been left in the game in the fourth I don't know if we would have been talking about LA's near comeback. He can mean that much, and thankfully Glenn let us see some of that grown-ass magic tonight.

Again, I am just really impressed about how the team has seemingly regrouped and is collectively playing so well. All the big guns are firing. The defense on Kobe continues to be superb. There is more to say but I will leave it to other scribes for now - soak in this victory, and hope for two more.