Watching the C's playoff game, I was pretty much preparing myself for the eventual loss. The Knicks were looking pretty good out there, Stoudemire looked unstoppable, and we didn't seem to have much of a big guy answer. At one point, we had Rondo, Allen, Pierce, West, and Green on the floor. Who the heck are we going to have to step up against the big guys? Fortunately, Jermaine O'Neal decided to make a little impact, and Ray Allen completely saved the day with a memorable three ball, as the C's stole an 87-85 win away from the Knicks.
With a 28-15 second quarter, New York walked into the break with a comfortable 51-39 lead, and were feeling pretty good. The Celtics really came back strong in the second half, but Stoudemire and Anthony were able to do enough to keep the Knicks ahead. Once Billups fell to the ground and got hurt, however, the game slightly turned in our favor. The Celtics charged back with a +7 point margin in both the third and the fourth, but it was a single three pointer with about 12 seconds to go in the game that will be the story of this game.
If you read the blog, you know how much I've been preaching the "get Ray Allen the ball" philosophy, and it was nice that he finally got the big shot when it mattered. Allen received a pass outside the arc, down by one as the game ticked away, and he came up huge. Ray Ray launched a perfect shot, drained the eventual game winning three, and set the home crowd ablaze. The fan base went nuts, and the Knicks were without a timeout. They rushed down the court, but Carmello could only manage a ridiculously deep (and contested) three ball that didn't even come close. The celebration ensued.
As the game was reaching it's conclusion, I was thinking, "How can Doc Rivers blow this end of game comeback?" I've seen his mismanaging at the end of games so many times, and I was sure that our comeback would fall short this time around. I'm a great fan, right? Well, Doc proved me wrong, relying on the right guy, and it paid off. The "olde tyme" Celtics started off on the right foot, and have a nice little 1-0 advantage in the series against the surprising media darlings (NBA TV couldn't stop talking about how awesome this team has become).
As for the numbers, Jesus Shuttlesworth led the team with 24 points. Ray Ray leads the team, and we win. I think that pretty much proves my point from all these previous posts. We need to keep getting him the ball! He shot 60% from the field, and went 3 for 5 from deep. KG picked up the lone double double (king sized) with 15 and 13, Popeye looked strong with 18, Jermaine had 12 with 4 big blocks, and Rajon wrapped it up with 10, 9, and 9. The bench scored just 8 points. 8 points! Glen Davis put 2 on the board with 5 rebounds, but his memorable highlight of the night was when he fell in the floor driving to the the basket. He was so slow to get off the floor that he got called for the three second violation. Pathetic.
I'm surprised at how little the bench contributed, and I think it makes me a little nervous. I know I've been talking about how our bench is mega weak this time around, but we are still going to need them to help carry the bags when the old guys are feeling a little sluggish. And in this one, I'm seeing Doc Rivers playing a little scared about going with anyone other than the starters. While it worked out in this first game, it's only going to last as long as the oldest players can keep it up. It won't be that long, by my guess. The bench, and especially Jeff Green and Glen Davis, need to step up. Of course the starters are going to lead this team, but they are a growingly tired bunch and will need the help of the B-Squad. Will it come?
If not, our little lead on the Knicks may quickly disappear. We were pushing the starters hard, and you can really see this with Krstic's miniscule 5 minutes on the floor, and we still had to win via a last second three pointer. That's not a great sign to me, and I think after the initial excitement of winning the way we did, we need to take a step back as a fan base and see that the way we won may signify trouble in this series. Let's be real. We shot 43%, 38% from deep, and only made 12 out of 18 free throws. It wasn't a great game. Allen bailed us out, and it feels great, but it may be a very negative indication of how this series might play out.
I don't want to be all negative after a playoff win, so be sure that I'm happy with the victory. But, with the way the C's have looked down the stretch, I'm cautiously optimistic. Very cautious.
Game two is tomorrow at 4 pm our time, and I'll be looking to see how Jermaine comes back, how the bench can improve, and how often Allen get the ball. A 2-0 lead would go a long way to help me feel more confident in our chances with this series, and I can leave the worrying to the second round.
It may not be the best time, but I thought I'd provide a little update to the possibility of the Anaheim Royals starting up later this year. The NBA has extended the deadline for filing moving papers to May 2, and they are sending a group to Sacramento to explore the claims that Sac Town may be able to support the team better than the Maloofs have been saying. Meanwhile, the Sac Town mayor is working some phones to try and see if a new arena can be built quick enough to keep the team in town. While the media is still calling it a done deal, and saying the move to Southern California is going to happen, I'm seeing this latest news as a sign that the move may not actually happen. We all know that the fan base in Anaheim may be hard to find (outside of Jon and myself), with most basketball fans in the area already dedicated to the Lakers (or to a much lesser extent, the Clippers), and I'm starting to wonder if this was all a huge ploy to simply get a new arena built up North. The government in Sac Town are scrambling to get the money together to pull it off, and then the Maloofs can keep everything where it is, knowing their bluff got them what they wanted. I hope this isn't the case, but if it is, just remember that I called it.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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