Blogging the NBA’s Most Storied Franchise

By Matt Richardson and Kevin Henkin

Some thoughts while wondering if the Celtics can borrow Kurt Rambis from the Lakers so they can clothesline him and get the troops fired up again.

Note to Kevin Garnett: You can shoot over Ben Wallace pretty much any time you want. Eight head and shoulder fakes are probably enough.

You’ve got to love Magic Johnson’s contribution on the TNT halftime show, especially his analysis of New Orleans and their need for guys other than Chris Paul and David West to step up: “They need to get contributions from the complementary guys, like Peja, and, ummm, West…No, not West, but Peja and the other guys.” You’re right, Magic. Knowing any more than three players per playoff team is probably an excessive amount of work to expect from a nationally televised sports pundit.

One thing that seems to kill the Celtics on the road is their vulnerability against those picks at the top of the key. The resulting dribble penetration tends to lead to a host of open shots, typically either driving lay-ups or open jumpers after a kick out. For some reason, the Celtics seem to be much more successful at overcoming those picks at home. Of course, LeBron’s “game over” dunk started with a foul line pick on Pierce.

Speaking of the Celtics’ Captain, if LeBron’s mom had started throwing punches at Pierce after his fairly gentle “prevent the lay-up” foul that ended up with both players in the stands, would LeBron be ejected? We might be onto a new strategy here: Antagonize the overzealous mom! While we’re on the topic, does Lebron’s mother get a roaming seat pass? She was under the Cavaliers’ basket for the aforementioned foul but at the end of the third quarter, she was behind their bench. I think we’re one more flagrant away from her ripping off Mike Brown’s designer eyewear and taking over the coaching duties. “You, the big guy with the cornrows. Go deck that punk who just laid a hard foul on my baby!”

Furthering our obsession with Mike Brown and his vast collection of fancy glasses, we wonder if he confers with any fashion consultants before making the big decision on which frames to wear before each game. Someone I know suggested that sneaky hot singer Lisa Loeb, as a celebrity who sports a regular rotation of funky glasses, might serve in that role. If Mike Brown comes out for Game 4 wearing cats-eye specs with tortoiseshell frames and looking forlorn about the frailty of love, I think we’ll know for sure.

Some of the coaching decisions in Game 4 were a bit, um, ponderous. For example, who built the new doghouse for Leon Powe? P.J. Brown played 23 minutes, doubling his regular season average, while Powe played 6 minutes, halving his regular season average. Powe helped the team win 66 games during the season while Brown barely played, so why flip-flop that part of the rotation now? Also, as likeable as Big Baby Davis can be, his sudden insertion into the lineup at the beginning of the fourth quarter was downright baffling. Needless to say, his first touch resulted in a turnover. His final line: 5 minutes, 0-1 from the floor with 1 turnover and 1 foul. In related news, Cleveland’s bench outscored Boston’s by 19 points in a game that the Celtics lost by 11.

At this point, it should be recognized that the Celtics are now eleven games deep into the 2008 playoffs but have yet to reveal that “Jump on my back, boys” moment of leadership from any of the Big Three. True, the Game 7 decider against Atlanta was a strong demonstration of will but that was at home against an inferior opponent. You can see Garnett in this series trying to make the effort to strap the team on his back but, for that all he adds on the defensive front, he is just not the kind of offensive player that can take over a game all by himself. In the meantime, Ray Allen’s game remains on the side of a milk carton and too much of Paul Pierce’s energy has been consumed by chasing LeBron James all over the court.

Bearing all of the above in mind, is it out of bounds to suggest a revamped starting lineup in which James Posey replaces Ray Allen? Under such a scenario, the strong defense against James remains firmly in place but frees up Pierce to concentrate more fully on his offense. Defense, after all, has not been the issue in these Celtics loses. It’s the offense that’s been broken. To fix it, the Celtics need to better utilize their greatest offensive weapon in Pierce and strongly consider replacing Sam Cassell with Eddie House. When House was in the rotation for most of the regular season, he was far more consistent that Cassell has been. At this point, Doc Rivers appears to be pining for the Sam Cassell of 2004 to emerge. I understand the sentiment but that ship has sailed, Coach. Live in the now and play your best players in their most effective roles. Use the comforts of home to establish the changes and ride the wave into Cleveland.

{ CommentsThe+Strategic+Use+of+LeBron%E2%80%99s+Mother+and+Other+Deep+Reflections2008-05-14+01%3A37%3A45Kevin }

By Shirely Coshatt

Game 4 started out much better than Game 3, but the end result was the same as the Celtics lost to the Cavaliers 88-77. The Celtics will now head back to Boston with a series tied at 2 games apiece once again. In their five tries thus far, despite possessing the best record away from home during the regular season, the Celtics inexplicably have not been able to win on the road in the playoffs. After getting blown out in Game 3, they came out more aggressively in this one and kept it close until the final two minutes when the Cavaliers finally pulled away.

Kendrick Perkins got into quick foul trouble and went to the bench with 4:10 left in the first. Perkins returned in the second quarter only to pick up his third foul a little over a minute later. He finished with 2 points and 3 rebounds in just 18 minutes of play. P.J. Brown benefited the most from Perkins’ foul problems, submitting his best game as a Celtic with 8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in 22 minutes. It was somewhat puzzling that Leon Powe played only 6 minutes after generally playing very well in the post season so far. In another puzzling move, Big Baby Davis started the fourth quarter and played 4 minutes with only 1 missed jumper and a foul to show for his efforts.

Kevin Garnett was once again very active in this game, diving for loose balls and forcing 2 jump balls. He had 13 points in the first half but scored just 2 points in the second half to finish with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block in 40 minutes. At times, Paul Pierce was aggressive in taking the ball to the hoop and it seemed as though he might take over the game but then he would stop driving and settle for quick outside jumpers. He had 13 points on 6-17 shooting to go with 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Ray Allen seemed to come alive in the second half, finally breaking out of his shooting slump and scoring 9 of his 15 points in the 3rd quarter. He also pulled down 6 rebounds and dished out 3 assists.

Rajon Rondo did a good job of pushing the pace of the game and he also was more aggressive on offense. He finished with 15 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals in 33 minutes. Sam Cassell struggled In this game as he was 0-5 from the field in 14 minutes of play and defensively he was burned by Daniel Gibson on a regular basis. Doc may have left Cassell in too long as the offense seemed to stall when he was running the point.

Through 3 quarters, the Celtics controlled the boards with a 31-28 advantage. However, they were out rebounded 6-1 in the fourth quarter. Conventional wisdom asserts that much of rebounding is the result of effort and the Celtics clearly didn’t put the requisite effort out in the final period. Once again, Boston gave up too many easy shots as they allowed Cleveland to shoot 46% from the field. On the other end, the Celtics struggled with their offense, shooting just 39%. Unlike the other road games, Boston actually held the edge in free throws as they shot 20-26 versus just 12-18 for Cleveland.

The Celtics were still within striking distance at a 4 point deficit with 2:43 left in the game but they allowed their chances to slip away by allowing the Cavaliers to go on a 9-2 run to end the game. During that stretch, the Cavaliers scored on a variety of dunks and 3 pointers to close out the game. At the end of the game, Boston looked tired and a step slow and thus allowed Cleveland to run away in the final minutes. The Cavaliers’ bench came up big with 36 points and 19 rebounds while the Celtics bench struggled with just 17 points and 11 rebounds. No Celtics subs were in double figures while on the other side Gibson had 14 points and Anderson Varejao had 12.

The series now shifts back to Boston for game 5 and hopefully the struggles they have had on the road won’t follow them home. The Celtics are still the only team who hasn’t won on the road in the post season and their Jekyll and Hyde persona between home and the road has gotten more and more puzzling and more than a little worrisome. If they looked tired in Game 3, you have to think the battle against fatigue is only going to get worse as these series drag out. Hopefully, Boston can find a solution to their poor play on both ends of the court, or their dream season may end considerably short of the goal.

{ CommentsCeltics+Can%27t+Rise+Up%2C+Fold+Again+in+Game+42008-05-13+10%3A36%3A28Kevin }

By Kevin Henkin

For the record, only noted author Cormac McCarthy has a bleaker vision of The Road than the 2008 Boston Celtics’ playoff squad.

Or, a note to the Boston Celtics: The New York Knicks called. They want their patented typical first quarter back.

Here we go again. 108-84 Cleveland. On the road, the Celtics reverted once again to the lesser version of themselves. For those of you already aware, that lesser version resembles a team substantially softer on defense, one that inexplicably loses its poise for long stretches against opponents inspired by their home crowd and receives a far less meaningful contribution from their bench. The above-noted trends have been in evidence throughout all four of Boston’s road playoff games. They are officially a pattern.

In a way, as a Celtics fan, if you were to imagine Murphy’s Law played out on a basketball court, you would see a close version of Game 3 against Cleveland. Lax defense? Check. Further poor offensive production from two of your Big Three in Paul Pierce and Ray Allen? Check. Lousy point guard play? Check. Grossly ineffective road versions of key bench players Sam Cassell and Leon Powe? Check. A return to strong play of LeBron James’ supporting cast? Check.

In summation, when Ben Wallace looks downright frisky on offense during the first quarter, you pretty much know it isn’t going to be your night. The same sentiment applies when you think, “Joe Smith is killing us!” Joe Smith. The same guy who sends daily thank you notes to Michael Olowokandi and Kwame Brown for saving him from being the biggest joke of a number one pick over the last twenty years. I digress.

The shame of the evening, from Boston’s perspective anyway, is that it was the ridiculously lopsided first quarter that ended up being the deciding factor in the game. In that opening frame, the Cavaliers dominated the Celtics with an end result of 32-13 in Cleveland’s favor. After that, the two teams essentially traded baskets for the next three quarters, at least until Doc Rivers finally hung up the white flag with about three minutes to go and the Cleveland reserves subsequently outscored the Boston reserves for the remainder of garbage time

In summary, here are the facts to come away with: Cleveland shot 53.6% overall (and 52.6% from behind the arc) versus Boston’s 40.5%. In addition, Cleveland’s point guards compiled 24 points (on 10-15 shooting) and 10 assists as opposed to Boston’s 11 points (on 3 for 19 shooting) and 2 assists. Otherwise, the difference again was that first quarter in which Boston looked listless, losing a game of inches in a seemingly constant loop while Cleveland looked primed to make a statement at home that this series was far from over.

For Boston, technically speaking, the good news is that the Celtics don’t really need to fix their road woes. As long as they hold serve at home throughout the playoffs, they’ll end up being crowned as the NBA champions. That, of course, is far easier said than done. Unlike last season’s incarnation of the Celtics, this is not a young team and an extended series in each round will eventually take its toll on these aged legs that carry so much of the present load. Therefore, although Cleveland remains under pressure to win Game 4 to keep the series close, there is also some real pressure on Boston to figure out why their Dr. Jeckyll persona plays so strongly at home, only to have their alternate Mr. Hyde stumble so badly on the road.

For those of you seeking drama, you’ve got some because Cleveland has won a game despite the fact that LeBron James has yet to announce his presence with authority. If history is any indicator, that version of LeBron is indeed going to show up at the party in a big way and that game is coming. Maybe several of those games. To a lesser degree, on Boston’s end there is still the expectation that Ray Allen will play to form more often than two out of every twelve quarters in this series, especially considering the fact that Wally Szczerbiak is his primary defender.

Regardless, it looks like we’re all back on unstable ground, peeking through fingers and wondering what will come next. At this point, the prognosticators commenting on either or both of these teams are muttering to themselves and the rest of us are left to watch it all play out, surprised by almost nothing that we see anymore.

{ CommentsThe+Celtics+Stumble%2C+Crumble+and+Bumble+on+the+Road+Again2008-05-11+04%3A35%3A21Kevin }

By Matt Richardson

Okay, who’s ready for LeBron’s inevitable 13-18, 36 point, 12 rebound, 8 assist tour de force perfromance at home on Saturday? Through the first two games, LeBron is shooting 8 for 42 (or .190% for you math majors out there). 20% shooting? Clearly, Tuesday’s game wasn’t a fluke. The Celtics’ defense, and in particular James Posey, certainly seem to be bothering King James.

A microcosm of the Celtics’ defensive strategy was evident in the third quarter when the C’s were turning the game into a laugher. LeBron had the ball on the left baseline, looking to back down Posey. Posey immediately shaded him to the court side, inviting him to go baseline. As this was happening, Leon Powe shifted over to take away the baseline, leaving Lebron trapped between two defenders with few options. The outcome was an airball. The point is, it’s obvious that LeBron’s .190 shooting isn’t solely due to him being “off” or not liking the rims in Boston.

As an aside, after watching Posey play defense, grab key rebounds and hit big shots in the playoffs, in retrospect it’s amazing that the Celtics were able to just pick this guy up off the street. Paul Pierce also deserves credit for his effort in hounding James. The execution isn’t quite on par with Posey, but the spirit is clearly there.

For the record, I loved Joe Smith’s knee pads, which were taken straight out of the 1992 Pat Ewing catalogue. If you recall, it was Smith who was selected #1 overall in the 1995 draft, four spots ahead of Kevin Garnett. Smith and Garnett seem attached at the hip, linked by that draft, this series by making Kevin McHale look like a cement head.

Breaking news: Apparently Ben Wallace had an allergy attack in Game 2, resulting in him playing only 4 minutes. Wallace has been allergic to the basket for his entire career so one would’ve thought this would’ve been under control by now.

“Don’t look now, R. Allen woke up” was the text message I sent to a friend at 8:47 last night. My friend is a UConn alum and loves all things Husky, to the extent that she was excited to go to a Sixers game because Kevin Ollie was on the team. Ray’s dismal Game 1 was vexing to her, and it seemed we were in for more of the same in Game 2 as the first half came to a close. But, he came to life to start the third quarter and his jumper with 9:07 left in that frame gave the C’s an 18 point lead. Welcome to the second round, Ray. Better late than never.

All of you conspiracy theorists out there can stop worrying. The Celtics actually were awarded MORE free throws than their opponent last night, for only the second time in their nine playoff games. I expect a shift back to the normal 2:1 ratio in favor of the Cavs when the series moves to Cleveland.

I’m going to try to confirm this today, but I’m beginning to think that “Ilgauskas” is Russian for “I must break you with knees and elbows”. Take it easy, big fella, or we’ll send Big Baby in to body slam you. Big Z is having a heck of a series so far, though. He’s the Cav’s leading scorer and is shooting a robust 57% from the field.

Switching gears a bit, Chauncey Billups’ injury looked, um, painful. Pass the Vicodin. I’m officially avoiding slippery surfaces for a week or so.

Finally, I know everyone has been eagerly awaiting the Mike Brown Glasses Update. Last night, Brown sported a pair of conservatively styled metal framed glasses to match is dark gray suit. For the record, that’s two pairs of glasses in two games, making this one of the more interesting subplots of the series. We may need to bring in Elton John for color commentary. I guess I can’t really relate to this because I replace my one pair of glasses roughly every five years, when the nexus of “hopelessly out of style” and “irreparably damaged” combine to suck my old pair into a black hole. Rest assured that I will keep a diligent watch on further eye wear developments.

{ CommentsWhy+Mike+Brown+is+a+Metrosexual+and+Other+Ruminations2008-05-09+16%3A47%3A20Kevin }

By Kevin Henkin

Steve Miller may be the Gangster of Love but the Boston Celtics have firmly established themselves as the Gangsters of Team Defense. In this order, it was defense, depth and determination that were the drivers behind Boston’s decisive Game 2 victory over Cleveland, 89-73.

As noted above, Boston’s defense was once again stifling, especially over the final 40 minutes of the game in which Cleveland scored only 52 points. Most notably as part of that defensive effort was the fact that LeBron James was held in check for the second straight game. He finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, which isn’t a bad line for most of the other 359 players on NBA rosters. Throw in the 6 for 24 shooting and the 7 turnovers, however, and it adds up to another sub-par night for King James. Not reflected in the box score was the continued frustration exhibited by James in the face of constant help defense that prevented him from gaining access to the paint and forced him to resort to jumpers that continued to elude the inside of the rim.

The only Cavalier who achieved any kind of success on offense was Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who finished with 19 points but did most of his damage early by scoring 10 points in the first quarter when it was still a game. Otherwise, only Wally Szczerbiak scored in double figures for Cleveland, with 13 points on 4-11 from the field. Notably absent from the offensive flow for the Cavaliers were the point guards Delonte West and Boobie Gibson, who submitted a combined 5 points and 5 assists on 1-7 shooting with 3 turnovers. In total, the Cavaliers shot 35.6% for the game.

The utter lack of support from James’s teammates was brightly contrasted by the enormous contribution that Boston received from its bench. When Sam Cassell and James Posey entered the game with 2:49 left in the first, the proverbial light switch finally came on for Boston. Up until that point, the Celtics were losing 21-9 and looking flat on both ends of the court. Cassell instantly revived Boston’s stagnated offense by knocking down his first jumper and subsequently led the way to an 8-3 run to end the quarter.

Cassell’s final line of 3 assists and 9 points on 4-12 from the field doesn’t do justice to the enormous impact that he made in the first half of the game. He scored all 9 of his points during a stretch when his team desperately needed a hot hand. Especially during the second quarter, Cassell also answered some recent critics of his shoot-first style by aggressively finding teammates with some terrific passes.

The second quarter was highlighted by an emphatic breakaway dunk by Garnett that he followed up with an equally emphatic high five to bossman Danny Ainge standing in the crowd. Garnett’s sick behind-the-back pass to Leon Powe, a play truly reminiscent of Larry Bird, must also be mentioned. Also worthy of note was that, throughout the remaining three quarters, multiple Celtics players diving hard for loose balls became a common sight.

Although Cassell cooled off in the second half, he handed off the baton to a suddenly revived Ray Allen, who finally found his stroke in the third quarter and helped stake Boston to a 20 plus point lead that they would hold onto for the remainder of the game.

Looking forward, Celtics fans have to cautiously wonder which version of their team will show up to play in Cleveland on Saturday. Regardless, it seems clear thus far that the Boston supporting cast runs deeper and better than Cleveland’s, which is bad news for a team with only one real go-to guy. Boston has also discovered some success in defending LeBron James in a way that so eluded the Detroit Pistons last spring. These two factors alone, as well as their held serve at home and remaining home court advantage, have the Celtics in apparent prime position moving forward.

In short: Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.

Until Saturday…

{ CommentsBoston%E2%80%99s+Gangsters+of+Defense+Shoot+Down+the+Cavaliers+Again+in+Game+22008-05-09+03%3A15%3A56Kevin }

By Matt Richardson

Oh my God.

I need to say it one more time, just to achieve some closure on the twenty-five other times I shouted the phrase during Tuesday night’s turnover-infested crapfest. On the obvious plus side, at least the Celtics won the crapfest. Imagine what the Cleveland fans must have been thinking in the wake of that three hour mind-numbing marathon. First they have to live in Cleveland, and now this. It all seems pretty unfair.

On any other given night, I’m thinking that LeBron James could probably shoot better than 2-18 coming off a leg amputation. Therefore, you’ve got to give credit where credit in due in Boston’s effort to keep King James in check and to hold the Cavaliers to 30% shooting overall. Boston’s own 42% shooting looked downright Artis Gilmore-esque in comparison.

Giving equal credit to the other side, the rotation of the Cavalier bigs makes it very difficult for teams to score inside the paint. Even so, I can’t shake the idea that the Celtics would have scored 15 more points in this game if it weren’t for all those unforced turnovers. Anyway, here are some other thoughts that I’ve complied on the game, some of the in-game commercials and on the series in general:

It was the Rajon Rondo show in the first quarter, capped off by him patiently setting up Posey’s fall away trey with only seconds remaining. This was after Tony Allen defied 12-1 odds by not dribbling the ball out of bounds prior to getting it to Rondo. It was an excellent overall performance by Rondo so I was left wondering why he ended up playing only played 30 minutes. He was not in early foul trouble and only finished the game with 3 fouls. Leading me to…

Sam Cassell. We’ll start with the bad, because I must acknowledge that in Game One it was outweighed by the good. In the second quarter, Boston descended into what I affectionately call The Sam Cassell Quicksand Offense. During that span, I wrote down “Can we please put Rondo back in?” That was followed by Cassell’s face rake flagrant foul (oops) on LeBron. After that, Rondo returned, immediately pushed the pace, set up Garnett for an easy lay-up and then scored on the next possession.

While acknowledging that Cassell’s shooting in the fourth quarter helped to win the game, I still come away feeling that whenever he is in there, it instantly becomes “The Sam Cassell Show”. Apparently, however, Mike Fratello and Sam share the same agent because Fratello lovingly referred to Cassell as a “shotmaker” throughout the contest.

One final note on Sam: I love the way he shoots free throws. He just steps up to the line, takes a couple of dribbles and lets it go. No muss, no fuss, no blown kisses or secret messages to the kids. He just grips it and rips it, baby. Conversely, every time I see Paul Pierce contorting his body in preparation for a foul shot, I cringe.

A quick aside on Mike Brown: If I’m the Cleveland Cavaliers, I’m not looking for a coach who has color coordinated designer eyeglass frames. Picking those out just seems like wasted time, and I won’t even draw the obvious Belichick comparison. I know the NBA has higher sartorial expectations of its coaches. Obviously baseball and football are in a different game-day category and hockey is a distant third due to the preponderance bad haircuts and polyester. Regardless, Brown’s carefully selected eyewear just seems like a bit too much attention paid to a trivial detail. What color are the frames if he wears a blue suit? Does he match the frames to the suit or to the belt and shoes? Does he have cordovan colored frames? What’s the rule on frame color shades after Labor Day?

Here’s a brief recap of the third quarter, taken directly from my notes:

7:55 3rd Quarter: This game sucks. Score: 45-44

6:40 3rd Quarter: Fouls on the last four possessions and counting.

It’s at this point that I begin to pay more attention to the non-game action.

First, we are presented with the Dodge’s new Journey crossover vehicle. I think I understand the whole crossover thing. The U.S. automakers are correct to shift their focus away from their gas guzzling monster SUV’s. That said, it seems like Dodge built this entire ad campaign around the fact that you can store stuff under the seats. When was the last time you were packing the car and found yourself at an impasse because you couldn’t find room to pack away that extension cord? “Hmm. If only there was room for this small item UNDER THE PASSENGER SEAT, THEN ALL OF MY TROUBLES WOULD BE SOLVED!!” Um, call me crazy but can’t you just put all of that stuff, you know, in the trunk? And unless you spend a majority of your free time picnicking, camping, or drunk driving, is an in-floor cooler really going to influence your buying decision? It reminds of when Pontiac built the Aztek and the ad campaign focused on the ability to set up a tent in the cargo area. I think Pontiac sold 7 Azteks.

Also, the Old Spice deodorant commercial has been driving me crazy. It’s the one with the guy sliding all the way around third and into home while talking about Old Spice? During his seemingly endless slide, he brags about how Old Spice is THE game-winning grand slam, break away dunk, shorthanded goal, straight arm tackle of deodorants. Straight arm tackle? I need some further explanation on this. I know what a straight arm is, and I know what a tackle is, but I’m not quite sure what the combination of those two things might be. Does Pepper Johnson teach this technique? Did Brian Bosworth try to straight arm tackle Bo Jackson? Doesn’t anybody read the ad copy before it goes into production? And what about the actor? He certainly looks the part of the beer league softballer who takes it all just a little too seriously. Can’t he speak up so he doesn’t sound like a moron in the ad?

The intense action in the fourth quarter eventually drew me back into the game. The end of the game has been dissected enough already so I’ll instead leave you with these important questions to ponder:

Who the hell is Bill Engvall? The ads for his show seem to presume that we should all be deeply familiar with his work by now. And is it really true that all of the highest rated shows in cable history are on TNT? Don’t other cable shows like Orange County Choppers or Dangerous Catch give TNT a run for their money? Thankfully, for tonight anyway, the Arbitrary Gods of Broadcasting Rights have given us the choice to switch back to Mike and Tommy. Until then…

{ CommentsMike+Brown%E2%80%99s+Color+Coordinated+Eyewear+and+Other+Random+Observations2008-05-08+02%3A14%3A33Kevin }

By Kevin Henkin

I’m at the game again, in this case Game One of the Eastern Conference Semis between Boston and Cleveland, so I’ll be offering my thoughts in stream-of-consciousness style as the evening progresses. Here goes.

Pregame Fluff

Before the game, I run down Wally Szczerbiak’s game logs from the Round One series and find myself startled. No, not by his atrocious defense because that kind of thing generally doesn’t show up in the box score. Rather, I am shocked by his line from Game Six, the series clincher. It’s widely known that Wally had a big game with his 26 points in that game but I didn’t realize that he took 13 shots from behind the arc in 33 minutes. 13? Even Antoine Walker thinks that’s just plain ridiculous. To his credit, Szczerbiak did knock down 6 of them, but still. Hey Wally, let’s see you do that ^&%$ again. Seriously. I double-dog dare ya.

As I’m flipping through the 2007-08 Media Guide for the Cavaliers, I recognize a little difference between their publication and those from, say, the Charlotte Bobcats or the Minnesota Timberwolves. The difference is that Cleveland’s guide is all business. Unlike the guides from those lesser teams, the Cavs’ guide only presents the cold hard facts about their players. There’s none of this “Player A says his likes are the Shrek movies and receiving free cars and dislikes include practices, country music and mean people who boo him.” This is the media guide of team that takes itself seriously. Good for them.

Just before the start of Game One of the series against the Hawks, I wrote that the Boston Garden was amped to the max. I was mistaken. THIS is amped. Higher level series, higher level of intensity. Makes sense.

First Quarter

In the first four minutes, it’s the Celtics who look tight, shooting 0-6 with alligator arms and generating almost no second chance opportunities.

At 8:13, Paul Pierce picks up his second foul on a ticky-tack call. Next! James Posey comes in to take over the Lebron assignment.

Rajon Rondo has obviously come to play. After bringing the crowd to its feet with a sublime Kidd-like touch pass under the basket to set up a Kendrick Perkins dunk, he converts on three consecutive runners. Somewhere, Jim Paxson punches a wall for trading the pick that resulted in Rondo for a true JAG by the name of Jiri Welch.

LeBron blows by Posey and draws the foul from the last line of defense in Perkins. Even so, it a bright spot in an otherwise pedestrian quarter for King James, who finishes with 5 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist on 1-4 shooting. Szczerbiak hoists up an 0-5 line but takes some comfort in the fact that the Celtics haven’t yet isolated Ray Allen against him on defense. At the end of the quarter as time expires, Posey sinks a killer three.

Both teams have done an excellent job of establishing position on the boards, as evidenced by their combined total of three offensive rebounds for the quarter.

Second Quarter

For all of his energy, Anderson Varejao is having trouble sticking with Garnett. I wouldn’t have called that one ahead of time.

Sam Cassell knocks down his first jumper after talking some smack to Delonte West. Although I couldn’t catch the full exchange, it was something about West’s mother being overweight and crashing through the wall yelling Kool-Aid.

Leon Powe is playing poorly. It’s as if he thinks he’s still in Atlanta. Doc Rivers doesn’t seem to notice because he keeps him in the game.

It’s halfway through the second quarter and neither Paul Pierce nor Ray Allen have scored a point. Even so, the Celtics still lead 29-24, mostly on the backs of Garnett and Rondo, who have 22 of those 29 points.

At 5:35, Sam Cassell commit’s a flagrant foul on LeBron. No easy lay-ups in the playoffs, yada yada. On the two possessions that follow, Szczerbiak knocks down consecutive twenty footers in an effort to make me look foolish.

With 0.2 seconds left, Rondo draws an unlikely blocking foul on LeBron James (his first). James looks up at the official from his spot on the floor as if to say, “Um, you might want to check with Commissioner Stern before making that call.” Regardless, the call stands and Rondo knocks down his freebies to finish the half with 15 points (5 of 6 from the field) and five assists. James, meanwhile, finishes with 10 points on 1-6 shooting but with the benefit of 10 trips to the line.

The Celtics lead 41-37 after two quarters. This game isn’t going to be displayed in art museums anytime soon. Regardless, if you were to tell me that the Celtics would take a four point lead into the locker room after getting a combined 2 points from Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, I’d happily take the result.

Third Quarter

At 8:23, LeBron picks up his third foul. The devil and his compadres put on his winter coats as a precautionary measure in the unlikely chance that LeBron fouls out.

At the 5:00 mark, the Cavaliers stretch out to a 14-0 run. Eventually, the run is stopped by a Kendrick Perkins free throw. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen continue to conduct their own little masons convention until Pierce finally converts on a left-handed runner in the lane. Mike Brown wants us all to see the Celtics Dancers again so he calls a timeout despite his team’s dominating run.

At 2:12, LeBron picks up his fourth foul and heads to the bench. Pandemonium ensues.

Anderson Varejao draws a hard foul. While at the line, the crowd starts a “Sideshow Bob” chant. It’s funny because it’s true. Sideshow Bob can’t cover Kevin Garnett either.

At the end of the third quarter, in which the teams combined to score 27 hideous points, the Celtics have somehow clung to a 53-52 lead.

Fourth Quarter

James Posey hits a big three early in the quarter. Sam Cassell follows suit on the next possession but the Cavaliers respond with their own 5 point run. For the record, that would’ve been the spot when the Hawks curled up and died. Cassell pushes Cleveland’s veteran poise a bit further, however, with another dagger three, prompting another Cleveland timeout. 7:54 left and Boston leads 64-60. The way things are going in this game, a 4 point lead potentially has some legs.

Sam Cassell, filling in the role of deadly shooter for the erstwhile Ray Allen, has 8 enormous points in the quarter, keeping the Celtics ahead with their thin 3 point lead.

At 2:58, Pierce causes LeBron to travel. Another time out.

Boobie Gibson ties the game with a tough three. The Celtics are going to need to do a better job of covering Boobie. On the other end, it’s more rough and tumble and eventually the Celtics turn it over on a shot-clock violation. Every spot for position, every loose bounce is desperately contested.

After a Cleveland miss, Sam Cassell of all people tears away the rebound and is subsequently knocked to the floor by Ilgauskas. The big Lithuanian knees Cassell in the head for good measure, but Cassell knees the Cavs in the groin by knocking down his free throws.

With under a minute to go, Garnett puts the Celtics ahead with a nifty move to the basket, determined not to settle for the jumper.

After sneaking into the lane, LeBron misses a bunny in traffic and Posey recovers the ball. He’s fouled with 8.5 seconds left on the clock. Posey ices the game by increasing the lead to 4 with his freebies. After a timeout, LeBron misses the desperation three. Rondo comes away with the ball and dribbles the ball to freedom as the game clock ticks away to 00.0.

Great game. Scary game if you’re the Celtics on your own court and you beat the Cavaliers by 4 with LeBron scoring only 12 on 2-18 shooting. One thing is clear in the aftermath. I’ve said it already but the point deserves reiteration. These aren’t the Hawks. The Cavaliers just keep coming. They don’t lower their heads. They don’t get flustered by loud opposing crowds. They appear to pay no attention to big runs by either side. Like the seasoned team of veterans that they are, they just keep coming.

Until Thursday…

{ CommentsThe+Celtics+Earn+It+and+Win+Game+12008-05-07+03%3A12%3A58Kevin }

By Kevin Henkin

Wow. Crisis averted, and in resounding fashion with a 99-65 Boston win. After dealing with a noisy chorus of doubters and some well-deserved criticism for letting this series go seven games, the Celtics did their answering on the court by delivering an epic beating of the Hawks in the deciding contest. This wasn’t the kind of game that warrants a traditional recap so we’ll zoom right past those formalities and skip ahead to summarize the facts, comment on some key moments and theorize what the game means in terms of looking ahead to the next series.

Facts: In this case, the numbers do a decent job of selling the story of total domination (although the early start to garbage time in the third quarter softened somewhat the severity of those numbers). For the game, the Hawks shot a hideous 29.3%, scored 65 points, turned the ball over 9 more times than Boston and even lost the battle of trips to the stripe, which had been their one consistent and meaningful advantage in every other game in the series.

This was clearly a message game for Boston. The Celtics might have been tempted to ease off the gas pedal and allowed for perhaps a more graceful exit by their young opponents. We’ll never know, however, because such potential benevolence evaporated when Marvin Williams laid a senselessly vicious clothesline on Rajon Rondo as the Celtics’ floor general hung precariously in mid-air.

Indulge me with a quick aside on this play, if you will, because it really is worth some deeper examination.

Are you familiar with the concept of cognitive dissonance? It describes when a person filters information that conflicts with what he or she believes in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce those existing beliefs. In short, it’s a measure that a brain takes to protect its owner from a messed up head in the wake of his own inexplicably bad behavior.

Observe cognitive dissonance in action within Williams’ comments after the game: “I saw it on TV and it did look pretty bad, so I can’t argue that at all. I just want Rondo to know that I would never try to hurt him.” Except he did try to hurt Rondo. At the very least, Williams threw his body at full velocity into Rondo at the moment of his greatest vulnerability, hooked him around the neck, then allowed gravity to take its full course. After the play, and before he was rightfully tossed from the game with a Flagrant 2 foul, Williams looked satisfied with what he had done and made the rounds to celebrate high fives with his teammates. I hope Williams enjoys his warm mental security blanket.

On the play, Hawks Coach Mike Woodson reflected, “It probably did energize them some. But I don’t think that was the difference in the ballgame. We struggled right from the start.”

He’s right on all both counts. The game was already over and the play released the Celtics from any responsibility to make the good sportsman’s gesture to ease up. Following that play, Boston took out the anvil and laid it down upon the heads of the Hawks until the word humiliation crept into the minds of most observers.

The other singular play worth mentioning had no effect on the final score but sent an important message, to both the Hawks and the Cavaliers. The play was a pick-of-a-lifetime set by Kevin Garnett on Zaza Pachulia and the message was Daddy don’t take no mess. Recall that it was Pachulia who had made a concerted effort to earn Garnett’s ire earlier in the series with his nose-to-nose tough guy preenings. One could say that the intense Celtics big man waited patiently in the weeds before delivering his official response. Upon further reflection, the play was just so Garnett. The pick was physically devastating but it was technically clean and thus free from the risk of suspension and it was made only after the game and series were well in hand in Boston’s favor.

Some may say that the Celtics still have something to prove after dropping those three regrettable games on the road. Maybe so, but followers of the green have to feel some of their swagger creeping into their bones after watching their team respond the challenge of a Game 7 that never should have been with such effective resolve and outright determination. If I’m Cleveland, I’m frankly a little scared by what I saw in the series clincher, regardless of the court on which it was played. Until Tuesday…

{ CommentsGarnett%2C+Celtics+Deliver+the+Message+in+Series+Clincher2008-05-05+02%3A32%3A34Kevin }

By Kevin Henkin

The best way to boil down this series between the Hawks and the Celtics is to say that it’s truly been a tale of two cities. In Boston, the Celtics dominate the Hawks in nearly every facet of the game and win by a comfortable margin of about 20 points. In Atlanta, the Celtics defense softens, their bench contributions dry up and the Hawks grow a temporary backbone. In Game 6 in Atlanta, it was the Celtics’ turn to suffer the worst of times as they dropped yet another disappointing road game to the Hawks 103-100.

The contest started out in Boston’s favor with Paul Pierce leading the way on Boston’s offense, scoring 8 of his team’s first 10 points on 4-4 shooting. The Celtics maintained momentum throughout the quarter and came away at the end of it with an impressive 32-20 lead.

That momentum wouldn’t last long because the Hawks would bounce back with a lopsided quarter of their own in the second, outscoring the Celtics with a 29-18 effort. Atlanta’s bench outplayed Boston’s in that frame and throughout the rest of the game, with the most notable contributions coming from ZaZa Pachulia (who looks and sort of plays like Jeff Foster following a two month bender) and Josh Childress. The duo out-hustled the opposition and were a ubiquitous and difference-making presence on the offensive glass all night long. At the half, Boston carried a tenuous lead of 50-49 into the locker room.

The third quarter was tightly contested between the two teams, with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen leading the way on Boston’s offense and Atlanta hanging in despite Josh Smith’s foul trouble and Joe Johnson’s minimal (to that point) contributions. Although Boston played well throughout much of the quarter, their defense faltered at the end as the Hawks hit 9 of their last 12 shots.

As has been the case throughout the series, the Hawks received favorable treatment from the officials, finishing the night with a 47-25 free throw advantage. Despite this, Mike Woodson was given a technical after arguing a rather obvious foul call against his team under the basket. In fact, Woodson was so upset that his novelty mustache nearly peeled off. Later in the quarter, Woodson’s apparently pending make-up call came against Leon Powe. It was Powe who had been knocked to the floor seconds before but was still inexplicably whistled by Bob Delaney despite the fact that the official was nearly thirty feet away and hindered by a view obstructed by half the players on the court. Yes, it’s a petty complaint but in a game that was eventually decided by 3 points, blown calls like this tend to loom large in retrospect.

In the fourth, the teams exchanged multiple lead changes for a time until again, on their home court, it was the Hawks who held their poise and eventually pulled ahead with the lead. Down the stretch, Boston made some uncharacteristic mistakes, including a bad pass from Garnett that led to a turnover and an ill-advised runner by Rondo that forced the issue on offense and led to another empty result on offense. Of note, Doc Rivers removed Rondo from the game following that play, which was at about the four minute mark, and kept him sitting for most of the remainder of the game in favor of Sam Cassell. The move was more about making a point to the young floor general than favoring the veteran Cassell, who submitted another off night on Atlanta’s court, shooting 2-8.

The other major sea change for Boston was the sixth foul call on Paul Pierce halfway through the final frame. It was a ticky-tack call off the ball while Pierce was fighting for position against Pachulia. Of note, 3 of Pierce first 5 calls against him were blocking fouls that could have gone either way. On his way off the court, Pierce earned a tachnical foul call for removing his headband and tossing it to the floor in disgust. Maybe when Pierce, you know, establishes himself as a player in this league, he’ll perhaps enjoy the benefit of the doubt on these types of flimsy calls. Somewhere, I know, Violet Palmer smiles at this weak officiating.

Enter the last two minutes and Joe Johnson connects for yet another big, tightly contested three. After that, the game generally became a battle against the clock for Boston, one that they would lose yet again in Atlanta.

Because the patterns have been somewhat firmly established by now, anyone who has been watching closely has to expect that come Sunday, the Celtics and Hawks will convene again, the Boston Celtics that people have become familiar with this season will show up again in their home whites and appropriately vanquish their inferior opposition. That’s because it’s their turn to have the best of times. Thus far, anyway, the tale has remained true.

{ CommentsA+Tale+of+Two+Cities%3A+The+Hawks+Prevail+Again+at+Home+in+Game+62008-05-03+03%3A49%3A12Kevin }