Post Game Thread Celtics outlast the Heat 100-98 Friday 4/23/2010

[dboss]

Snatching a 3-0 lead over the Heat is big time playoff basketball. With this win the Celtics have accomplished something that they could not seem to do last year or during that glorious 2008 run to the title.

The numbers:

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 32 points and none bigger than the dramatic game winner with 0.00 remaining. It was a 'big time' shot. Ray Allen continues to play well in the playoffs not by just hitting outside jumpers but also by getting out on the break and also taking the ball to the rack. Rajon has turned into a stablizing force on this team. He scored 17 with 8 assists and 5 rebounds (3 were HUGE offensive rebounds) and yes he also had 2 steals. KG looks pretty good out there and Perk got 12 boards. The X factor, Tony Allen came off the bench but only got 14 minutes and sheed is essentially a nonfacotr at this point playing only 11 minutes. Davis rounded out the rotation chipping in 4 points in 19 minutes of activity.

There was a point in this game during the 4th quarter when I thought that Doc should have brought TA back in the game and sat Perk because the Heat were on a run and Boston was not able to stay with their assignments, They (heat ) were playing small ball with Haslem and Beasley up front and Wade, Wright and chalmers playing basically a 3 guard offense. Doc decided to stay big and the Celtics almost blew a very hard fought game.

The Celtics are now in the enviable position to play in a close out game and sweep the Heat. This will not be an easy task.

I want to also mention that beating the heat is not a real surprise to me. It really is all about matchups. Some teams match up better than other teams. Boston has their number so to speak but with the Cavs looming in the near future, the Celtics will need to adjust the way that they play that team.

I do not agree with Doc using a 7 1/2 man rotation. I do not like to see the starters play that many minutes. And while the energy level has certainly amped up to another notch, I do not believe Boston can go all the way if they do not utlize their bench more.

The Rasheed Wallace experiment has turned into a frankenstein monster rooming the countryside but when Boston has to match up against the Cavs (with Shaq daddy and the mop head ) Sheed will be needed to sure up the post defense. If he is unable to do that then the Celtics may be going fishin too soon. When PP cannot have his way with Lebron James and has to buckle down on defense and expend a lot of energy how will that impact the team and the rotations? In the heat series PP does not have anyone who can check him and he does not have to chase Wade all over the court.

But I am getting ahead of myself. The first order of business is to close out game 4 and provide a few bonus days of rest and more prep time to figure out the Cavs.

All in all this was a great win for the Celtics and it showed a mental toughness to pull the game out along with a big time shot from the captain.

GO Celtics!

dboss

[worcester]

We are on a roll and really coming on strong. Last night's win was sweet. With a sweep we could get a little more rest than Cleveland and get in a little more practice time. Here's hoping

[mrkleen09]

Where are all the posts with people complaining about Paul Pierce isolating at the end of the game now?

You put your ball in your best players hands - sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesnt. But flip flopping to suit the way the wind is blowing never works out. Credit to Doc for his consistent, even handed approach.

Celtics + lots of time to rest between games = a very dangerous team.

[worcester]

I was starting to freak out for a five minute stretch in the 4th Q when Rondo made 2 turnovers and PAul turned over on 4 of 5 possessions, but in the end, Paul came through. He's so well suited for playing the role of super hero, and has made game winning last second shots throughout his career. He deserves our respect, and that's the Truth.

[beat]

mrkleen

I'll complain cause I do not like the idea of the hero shot period, meaning standing there either holding or pounding off 5-6 seconds or more from one spot. (bird was my only exception) Situation was tied, we could not loose. Plus Wade looked to be done for the moment, perhaps so the worst that could have happened by the iso was a miss and OT.

I'd still rather have motion and movement leading to that shot, even if from the same location.

Anyway gutsy shot and make no mistake I'm glad it went in. We don't need extra minutes when some guys already logged over 40 already.

beat

[bobheckler]

Watching this game at Lefty O'Doul's with a bunch of Celtic fanatics is about as close to heaven as I'll ever get. Sorry, Ma.


1. Nice try, David Stern, but not even the best efforts by the refs could give this game to the Heat. That call on Rondo on the fastbreak, with Wade running up Rondo's back and then throwing himself backwards like he was just in a head-on collision with a semi, was high school level officiating at its worst. I'd almost rather believe that the fix is in, since that might mean the refs really aren't that bad.

2. EVERYBODY at our table at Lefty's was screaming "NO!! NOT AN ISO TO PIERCE!!" as the game clock wound down. Obviously we're all happy with the result, but I would still prefer, with 11+ seconds on the clock, to run an actual play.

3. Pierce and Allen both showed up. We are real tough to beat when we have both of them being effective, a combined 19-39 since only a few teams have the players at SG and SF to play both of them. LA (Kobe and Artest and Orlando (Barnes, Pietrus) come to mind. I'd have thrown GSW in there, if this was still the regular season. With Larry Ellison buying the GSW, I'll go on the record as saying we'll be seeing some playoff basketball in the bay area soon. The man is a modern-day samurai and hates to lose like I've never seen before.

4. Ray Allen going 5-7 from the line? To quote John Lennon, "Strange Days Indeed".

5. The starting lineup for the Heat scored 59 points. Wade and Beasley scored 50 of them. That's ugly.

6. The Heat bench scored 39 points. The Celtic bench scored only 10. That's why Doc played Pierce and Rondo so many minutes. Our usually stalwart bench disappeared. KG only played 35 and Ray played 38, so it wasn't toooo bad.

7. If the Miami Herald was rough on Jermaine O'Neal after game 2, they're going to be loading up the howitzers today. The only thing he did that could have made Heat fans smile is the way he threw KG down by the head. Another nice officiating call. What more did O'Neal have to do to get called for a flagrant? Noisily clear his throat and spit on KG's head?

8. I'm sorry, Richardson, did you just say something? No? I thought not.

9. I liked, and lobbied for, picking up Carlos Arroyo as our backup guard in the off season. I guess I'm still ok with that, because then we'd still have Eddie House and wouldn't have had to trade for a player that Doc won't let take his warmups off, but he is NOT starting NBA point guard material. And he was a star with Maccabi-Tel Aviv, which is the Euro equivalent of the Boston Celtics in terms of being a championship line competitive team! Once again reminding me why I don't like Euros. The good news is that he's only making a little over $1M this year and will be a free agent soon after we put the Heat out of their collective misery. I'm thinking early next week.

There is already talk about how the Heat are willing to trade Beasley before the draft. How screwed up is a team (I'm talking specifically about you, Pat Riley) to talk about trading a starter while you're still in the playoffs? I guess they figure that you don't need team chemistry when your team is Duane Wade.

This was a big game. A BIG game. It was the difference between the Heat getting the bad taste of game 2 out of their mouths, finding their mojo, and maybe extending this series to 5 or 6 (or maybe getting lucky and even 7?) and trying not to look completely inept and get swept. Instead, it has probably broken their backs, with or without Wade. It also gave us a leg up on Cleveland. Wouldn't it be nice if we finish a game ahead of them and we can use that time to rest and maybe even, dare I say the word, practice?

Time to finish the farce and bury them.

bob
P.S. I'd say the chances of Miami keeping DWade next year just dropped measurably. His frustration levels with his teammates has become quite overt. Getting rid of Beasley won't clear up enough $ for LBJ, but if Riley's willing to bite the bullet and go over the cap they could get Bosh or Boozer. That would make Wade smile, but they better get it done before he starts fielding offers from teams that already have a supporting cast for him. I think Wade's patience is pretty much gone.

.

[dboss]

I'll complain about the PP iso.

I have consistently been critical of the PP iso. I prefer to see teams run their offense and if you look at the probability of making a last second shot off the iso it is not particularly good.

However it was a big time shot so it is difficult to not like it. It won the game.

Games 4 should be a win for Boston

dboss

[mrkleen09]

First - watch ANY NBA game - down the stretch in a close one, especially in the playoffs, the best player is running ISO. Carmello does, Wade does, Lebron does, Kobe does, Dirk does, Vince Carter does, Durant does - shall I go on?

Second, the Celtics have been running Paul Pierce ISO at the end of games for probably 10 years. It brought the a championship in 2008 - and very well may do the same this year.

If this were unique to the Celtics, you might have a point. If you guys have been complaining for a decade - win or lose, I would at least commend you for your consistency. But clearly this is the way things are done in the modern NBA down the stretch.

I dont always think it is the best option either. But at this point, complaining about it is like complaining that you cant find many pay phones - or that a cup of coffee is more than .50 cents. That ship has LONG SINCE SAILED.

[worcester]

The ISO play with Paul gives about a 50% chance of winning the game or else going into overtime. Compared to the other options - including leaving time on the board to give the Heat another chance, ISO with Paul or any of the other NBA superstars probably makes a lot of sense.

[Brandon$$]

The ISO play with Paul gives about a 50% chance of winning the game or else going into overtime. Compared to the other options - including leaving time on the board to give the Heat another chance, ISO with Paul or any of the other NBA superstars probably makes a lot of sense.

This.

[jeb]

again our whole table was screaming no no no...YES!

[dboss]

I checked out some stas on last second shots for both the regular season and the playoffs.

http://www.82games.com/gamewinningshots.htm

[worcester]

So Paul Pierce is 2nd in the league in game winning shots AND assists with 20, right behind LeBron's 23. And Ray leads with game winning 3 pointers.

[sinus007]

Hi,
I don't mind PP's iso when he'd drained 7-8 jumpers before that.
Agree with dboss about Perk in the 4th, especially after he went 0-4 FG.
KG seemed rusty after 6 days off. On the other hand, it looks like spring in his legs is back: he missed the aley-oop but its height was a la old days.
In the last half of the 4th Celtics got lucky: initiative was completely on the Heat's side but they were not able to capitalize. It's unforgivable, especially in a close game. I hope Celtics will not allow that in the next game and the games after that.
Thank you very much,
AK

[dboss]

w

we are not looking at the same stats

dboss

[worcester]

from http://www.82games.com/gamewinningshots.htm

Leading "Game Winning Shot" Players
Player Fgm Fga Fg% Ftm Fta Ast T/O
League Wide 853 2858 .298 610 815 352 296
LeBron James 17 50 .340 14 20 6 4
Vince Carter 16 51 .314 10 11 3 4
Ray Allen 15 39 .385 4 6 1 2
Kobe Bryant 14 56 .250 12 15 1 5
Carmelo Anthony 13 27 .481 7 11 1 4
Allen Iverson 13 33 .394 6 8 1 2
Ben Gordon 12 34 .353 6 6 1 4
Dirk Nowitzki 12 37 .324 13 18 1 3
Joe Johnson 12 45 .267 2 3 4 2
Paul Pierce 11 32 .344 15 17 9 3


do the math ...Paul is first in game winning assists at 9 and has 11 game winning shots...total 20
Lebron is first in game winning shots at 17 and 2nd with game winning assists at 6...total 23

The stat about Ray is on that website to the right side of the stats

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