By Matt Richardson
Luckily, as it turns out, I missed the first quarter. I caught a snippet as we were leaving a dinner engagement (up by 11!) and then more on the radio on the way home (tied ?!?!?). Anyway, seemed like a roller coaster which would’ve been entertaining but not good for my blood pressure.
Long story short, I made it to my buddy’s just as the second quarter was about to start. He’s putting his daughter to bed, so tells me to make myself at home. Here’s a running diary of the next minute:
9:01: Walk into his kitchen and see a pint glass on the counter, filled with ice, a brand new bottle of Bacardi next to it, with a freshly cut lime and a can of diet coke.
9:01:05: Ummmm…..
9:02: Enjoying a rum and coke on the couch as the 2nd quarter starts, I wish my buddy would stop complaining so I can hear the game.
I think the highlight of the second quarter, other than my fantastic rum and Coke, is Garnett jumping over Lindsey Hunter for an emphatic dunk. Lindsey may be an excellent perimeter defender, but he had very little to offer by way of resistance to that play. Mark Jackson sums it up nicely: He earned the right to be on the poster. And does anybody know when Hunter reinvented himself as a ball-hawking harasser of fellow point guards? Was there an Extreme Makeover, Fringe NBA Veteran Edition that I missed? Oh by the way Hunter was drafted in 1993, the same year I graduated college. I can barely defend my 3 year old, much less Rajon Rondo. I feel ancient, but I digress. Also, when Garnett gets these running starts and a semi-open path to the basket, time and again I underestimate how far the man can travel in the air. It always seems like he takes off too early, but he, ummm, covers quite a bit of ground. I feel like the guy in Major League saying “too high” on the home run and looking like a moron.
Halftime observations:
First, this is a little awkward, but what the heck is going on with Stu Scott’s eyes? My buddy and I debated about which eye has the problem. My buddy thinks he has a glass eye on the right, I think he’s got a droopy eyelid issue on the left. Either way, it’s distracting, and those glasses only draw more attention to it. I hesitate to bring this up because I’m probably just unaware that he has cornea cancer or something.
Second, the Celtics are up by 18. I write in my notes: “This will be a 5 point game midway through the fourth”.
Third, they cut to Doc’s halftime speech. He’s talking about active D, and how they’ve forced Detroit to make tough passes, etc. etc., but I start tuning it out because there is a guy in the background. I can only see him from the shoulders down, but he’s got a tie on that barely makes it halfway down his shirt. Literally, the thing is at least six inches too short. Buddy, you might not have realized you’d be on national TV, but really, you shouldn’t go out of the house like that at all. Get it together man.
Third Quarter
Rondo makes an ill-advised pass. He makes dumb decisions sometimes. Garnett and Perkins are being active and aggressive around the basket. Perk hits a baseline jumper and Mark Jackson calls him “underrated”. I’m not sure what to think of that. Ray Allen hits a layup. He’s now 2 for 10. Apparently, his hot hand didn’t get on the plane to Auburn Hills.
Hey now… 2:29 in the third and the wheels just came off the broadcast. First, I forget the context, but Jeff Van Gundy uses the word “quagmire”, but pronounces it “quag-meer”. Now, any self-respecting Family Guy fan knows it’s pronounced “quag-myer” (giggity). But wait, it gets worse. Mark Jackson calls Van Gundy out for his “high priced vocabulary”, to which Van Gundy’s response is to question Jackson’s intelligence, complete with the insinuation that as a Division I athelete, Jackson got all his school work done for him. Awkardness ensues. This seems like a good time for a bathroom break. While I’m away Jackson apparently does not decide to beat the crap out of his fellow broadcaster and Van Gundy spends the next five minutes blathering about Jackson’s aptitude for running 3-on-2 fast breaks.
Rondo closes the third as follows: turnover, foul, charge, turnover, leading to 4 Detroit points. Remember what I was saying about dumb decisions and a 5 point game in the fourth? The good news is we’re up by 18 so Detroit and Rondo have more work to do. In defense of Rondo, the guy gets no calls whatsoever; blocking fouls apparently cannot occur when he has the ball, even if he gets blocked out of bounds by Rasheed Wallace. Also I’m beginning to think that Rip Hamilton wears that face mask to draw attention away from his rapidly receding hairline.
Fourth quarter
Detroit does make a game of it but the closest they get is 9; the C’s are shaky on offense but make some big buckets to keep the Pistons at bay, and more importantly that stingy “close out the game” D is in evidence.
This is a big win for the C’s, obviously. After Game 2, I sent the following email to a buddy: Remember in A Bronx Tale when the renegade bikers invade Sonny’s bar? Sonny tries to be nice but they start tearing up the place so he asks them to leave and they refuse. So he calmly walks to the door, locks it, turns to the now silent bikers and says “now you can’t leave”… That’s what Detroit did to the C’s by winning Game 2; they said “now you have to win a road game”. The C’s met that challenge pretty convincingly and played on the road the way we knew they could. Frankly, this method of gaining a 2-1 series advantage feels way better than the “win the first 2 at home but lose on the road” formula of the first two series. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The Celtics are better than the Pistons. They can’t beat Boston in a seven game series. Boston can only beat themselves. On to Game 4…
