1 DOWN, 3 TO GO

CELTICS WIN THE MOST MELODRAMATIC PLAYOFF GAME EVER; PAUL PIERCE AND PERKINS BOTH GO DOWN IN A TWO MINUTE SPAN WITH APPARENT LEG INJURIES; PIERCE CARRIED OFF THE FLOOR AS IF HE WAS HIT WITH AN IED, CRYING INTO SCALABRINE'S DOUGHY BREAST; BUT BOTH RETURN AND CELTICS PULL AWAY IN THE SECOND HALF FOR A 98-88 WIN

Paul Pierce's leg injury was a hair-raising few minutes- mostly because the way he was writhing made it difficult to discern where the injury was. It looked like an ankle sprain at first, then he moved his hands up to his calf (calf strain?), then he started flexing his knee (knee?), then held on to his hamstring (cramps?)... but when I saw him being taken away in a wheelchair I had a funny feeling it was a lot like the time he showed up to a postgame press conference with his face wrapped up in Ace bandages like a Christmas present to prove he was fouled. Our captain has a small flair for the dramatic, which was great tonight because it energized his mates and made those back-to-back threes he drained that much sweeter. After the game, he said his knee was sore but he had lateral movement, which is a very, very VERY good sign. The two days off between games is a godsend, too. Let's hope he's in an ice bath this moment.

Anyway, the game itself was encouraging for the Celtics. Other than the injuries, they did what they needed to do. Defend, rebound, and execute reasonably well on offense. Kobe had 24 points, but had few easy buckets and only shot 9-24 from the floor. He was clearly forcing shots at the end as he led the team down the path to destruction. I loved how the Celtics defended him. No gimmicks, no cockamamie schemes- just straight up man to man with someone helping to clog the lane behind the initial defender. Kobe didn't have any clear lanes to the basket and was forced to shoot awkward fadeaways all night. He made some ridiculous shots, but it wasn't nearly enough. The oher Lakers couldn't get many open looks from three until the game was pretty much out of reach (and they missed all of those). The fact is, the Celtics were one awful foul call on a three-point play on Odom in the fourth away from putting the Lakers down midway through the fourth quarter.

And get this- the Celtics had more turnovers, fewer assists, and shot only marginally better from the floor. The Celtics are capable of playing better. So are the Lakers, but the Lakers had far fewer chances to score than the Celtics did. The Celtics got a bump from Cassell off the bench, but Cassell pretty much had a horrific miss or a shot clock violation for every good thing he did. Posey was great on defense but was 1-6 from the floor. PJ and Leon Powe were rebounding like champs but only combined for 6 points in 30 minutes. We know our boys can do better, but they did what they needed to do to win.

For me personally, I was confident going into the game and the Celtics' performance confirmed what I suspected- they have advantages that they have identified and are capable of exploiting. Doc did a great job and I was stoked to see him high fiving fans after the game for some reason... of course, not as stoked as I was to see Rajon Rondo faking a John-B-Hall-hurdling-a-steeplechase-barrier layup from the three-point line to dish to Pierce for the trey- but stoked nonetheless.

This team can do it. The Lakers are very, very beatable. I was looking down the Lakers lineup and this is what I saw- VladRod stationary on offense and defense, Pau Gasol demonstrating that he doesn't know how to shave and he's well into his 20's, Odom pondering the deeper meaning of "Red Fish, Blue Fish", Sasha Uradick washing his hair with vegetable oil, and Rony Turiaf committing assault and battery on anyone within arm's reach... and don't get me started on Luke Walton, who would be Brian Scalabrine's stunt double if he played for the Celtics.

A satisfying win! A confidence builder. This team is on the right track, and I can't wait for Sunday...Source URL: http://ledger-heath.blogspot.com/2008/06/1-down-3-to-go.html
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