Post Game Thread Celtics snuff out The Heat 96-86 Tue 4/27/2010

[dboss]

The Celtics flirted with a close game but gathered themselves and put the heat down for the last time. No late game heroics by Wade or any other Heat player would change the outcome of this game.

This series has revealed that the big three are healthy and ready to compete against anybody. Ray Allen lead the Celtics in scoring with 24 points and knocked down 5-6 from behind the arc. The Celtics are virtually unbeatable when Ray Ray is shooting the ball well. In this series Ray showed a lot of diversity in his game by getting to the rack and while he could not stop Wade from scoring he did a very good jobb on him through most of the series.

We also saw that PP probably stills has the ability to break the backs of the opponents with his end of game offerings and KG does not seem to be dragging that leg behind him. Last night he only had 14 points but it seemed like he drained every jumper that we needed.

Rajon Rondo almost put up another triple double with 16 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds. Throw in his 4 steals and it is easy to see why the analysts now think he is one of the best PG's in the league.

Perk got more involved in the offence and baby brought the enegy and the will to take some charges. TA played only 9 minutes but his showing during this series establishes him as our # 1 wing player/PG/defender coming off the bench. Rasheed Wallace actually beat everybody down the court on one play and was rewarded with a two handed dunk on a beautiful feed from Paul Pierce.

This quiz is over. Now comes a major test against the Cavs.

The Celtics can beat the Cavs if they play solid defense and move the ball on offense.

This will be a memorable series.

Go Celtics

dboss

[beat]

Dboss

I missed most of the first half so I can really only comment on the second.

When we had our run to take it to 20 Ray had hit 3 treys and KG had a regular 3 point play. We then force 3 stops but fail to convert any of the possessions. PP missed a trey and Perk missed an inside shot.

For the next several minutes we did little offensively and what bothered me the most was Ray who was red hot never got a look during this 5-6 minute stretch. Instead of going with the hot hand the C's did everything but.

And beyond that we basically quit pushing the ball up the floor.

Loved that Doc put Davis in and kept him in.

Now it's all in against the Cavs.

beat

Also meant to add I wish Perk would make his move a bit quicker and/or pass it back out when doubled.

[bobheckler]

The good news is that we closed out the half fairly decently. We were up by 12 with 4:37 left in the second and were up by 10 at the half. Not a real strong quarter close, but good enough to take a nice cushion into the locker room. Just like in '08, and early this season, we came out for the 3rd like a house on fire (with Eddie now in NY, I don't have to capitalize "House" anymore) and went up by 21. Miami, on the other hand, was shooting 36% and was 0-8 from 3. Rondo had 4 assists, one rebound and 2 points in the first 4:37 of the third quarter. The bad news is that we hit a wall and Miami started to play better. Started raining 3s and they started getting offensive boards.

1. RAY!! RAY!! RAY!! Take away his hot shooting and Wade might have pulled this out again. Had a HORRIBLE last game, and just methodically goes about correcting his mistakes and makes it work. Somebody wake him up and remind him he's old, because he sure as hell isn't playing like it. He scored 20 points of his 24 points in the second half. If Wade or Kobe or LeBron does that ESPN is all over them like white on rice. Ray Allen does it and it's an afterthought. In the days of the old Roman Empire when a general returned from a campaign and they held a "triumph", or parade in his honor a slave stood in the chariot behind the general and kept whispering in his ear "Remember, thou art mortal and all fame is fleeting". The league sycophants at ESPN have already shoveled dirt on Ray Allen's greatness and have turned their attentions to the new, shiny objects before them. More fools, they, because he's still got it and a lesson to be learned by LeBron, Derrick and Kevin.

2. Rondo was amazing through the first 30 minutes or so. Then, he disappeared. We need to petition Stern to shorten the games.

3. Pierce, also, had a good game. Nice shooting, good defense. I tend to wax more lyrical about Ray than Paul, perhaps because I just love watching how silky smooth and intelligent Ray's game is, but Paul had a great night last night too. Completely outplayed "the theater critic". Tried another iso as the half wore down, like he did in game 3. Unlike game 3, but just like almost every time he does this, he missed.

4. Send out the St. Bernards. Our bench, which we crowed about in the offseason as being the best in the league, has gone missing. As a result, our starters are playing WAY too many minutes for the second game in a row. The bench played a total of 47 minutes last night. That's only 1 minute more than Paul Pierce. Even Phil Jackson plays his bench, on average, more than that. Let's hope we aren't going to "pay the piper" against Cleveland or, even more likely against the winner of Orlando/Atlanta. The good news is that our guys got to sleep in their own beds last night and the next game isn't until Saturday. That should be plenty of time for their bodies to heal and to watch some video and practice.

5. Perk outplayed 6x all-star Jermaine O'Neal for the 5th straight game. Let's hope it's a "name-thing" that he's figured out, because he's staring down the barrel of another O'Neal next. This is what we have him for; not his scoring, not his hands (and certainly not for his free throw shooting). It's to shut the other guy down. Great job Perk. You're now getting promoted and get to do it again against the bigger, stronger O'Neal. Buy stock in Tiger Balm.

6. Sorry Pat Riley, but after the series Beasley had, you won't get much for him and that means you're stuck with the team you have or perhaps just slightly better.

7. Sorry Pat Riley, but after the series the Heat had as a team, you won't find it easy to keep DWade in Miami, especially considering you're going to be stuck with Beasley and he'll know it.

8. Carlos Arroyo is an adequate NBA backup point guard. That's the crux of the Heat's problem. He's not their backup. When 2 of the 4 other starting players shouldn't be starters, that won't make for a happy Wade.

9. We had 12 fast break points. Not that many out of 96 points. The Heat only had 2 out of 86 points. That's good transition defense. If we do that, if we stay focused on transition defense and run opportunistically, we're tough. The Cavs, last night, had 20 fast break points off of 73 fga. That's a running game.

10. We shot 48.6% on only 72 fga. We need to increase our fga, but a more uptempo game should help that and our fg% will improve as well. So, I'm ok with this.

Last night was our last easy game. From here on out, until we hang #18, it's going to be all-out war. Every damn game is going to be smashmouth. A minimum of 12, a maximum of 21. Good thing we've got veterans who have been there before.

bob


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