Post Game Thread - Celtics even series 97-87 over cavs

[dboss]

Finally a competitive game where both team played well.

The Boston Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 97-87.
If there was ever any doubt about who is the best Celtic on this team and the unquestionable leader that question was answered big time today with a historical performance that ranks right up there was all time great performances by a Celtic player.

Rajon Rondo put his stamp on this game in no uncertain terms with a dazzling display of basketball. His triple double was an amazing accomplishment. The stat line is mind blowing as he scored 29 points, dished out 13 assists and grabbed 18 rebounds including 4 on the offensive glass and 2 steals.
In a game where Paul Pierce remained in a deep funk, Rajon took control of the game and never let up from wire to wire.

The other notable performer was none other than Tony Allen. Ta came off the bench with PP in foul trouble and simply played great defense against Lebron and also managed to drop in 15 big time points.

Kevin Garnett played a another strong game again scoring 18 points and ray Allen also dropped in 18 points and also play very good defense against Lebron.

It is now a 3 game series.

I think all Celtics fans have to be pleased to see our team come out and fight like hell and win this game.

dboss

[dboss]

Rondo became the third player in playoff history to have at least 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists. Oscar Robertson had 32 points, 19 rebounds and 13 assists in 1963, and Wilt Chamberlain had 29 points, 36 rebounds and 13 assists in 1967.

dboss

[RosalieTCeltics]

What a great game it was indeed!! And, to boot, Tony Allen and Rasheed Wallace were in the mix when the Celtics made their big push. Alllen was terrific, playing under control for most of the game. Rasheed played terrific defense and was a force out on the floor. I even hated to see him leave the game.

There just is something not right about Pierce. I guess Donny Marshall said today that he thought that he might be sick, but this has been going on all series, it is truly something to be concerned about. We are going no where without him contributing more. Ray had to take over the duties guarding LeBron, he scored 18 points and did a terrific job guarding LeBron until TA
took over at times. I am sure that this is why he slowed down at the end of the game and missed a few shots. Garnett was impressive again, I am seeing alot of the old Garnett coming out. Granted, he is not quite as powerful as he was three years ago, but he looks good to me.

All in all, it was a great game, exciting and very rewarding. That makes it two for two for me, a big win against Miami and then a big win today. I wish I could say I was going on Thursday night, but no such luck~!!!!! I guess I will have to will them to win from home!

GO CELTICS!!!!

[Sam]

Rosalie, if you read through the game-on thread, you'll note that plenty of credit was given for you as the catalyst who brought them home. At one point, someone (I think it might have been Jeb) said the thought he heard you.

Congratulations and thanks from all of us.

Sam

[sdceltfan]

Great game by the Celts. Rondo was nothing short of spectacular!! For whatever reason, Pierce seems to be in a funk. He shows very little emotion. On the court or on the bench. It has definately affected his confidence offensively.

I believe KG better go to Pierce next and relate to him how much the Celtics need him the rest of the playoffs. Regardless, Tony Allen must continue to get 20+ minutes. If Pierce continues to struggle, play Tony. If Ray struggles, play Tony.

In Cleveland, the Celtics must stay away from fouls.

Go Celtics!!

[jeb]

sd

how sweet was that?!

jeb

[jeb]

best game I have seen a celtic play since bird...maybe pp against bron in 08 but just epic ganas by rajon rondo...

[worcester]

How sweet? California raisin sweet. Baked butternut squash sweet. Ripe mango sweet. The only bittersweet aspect was watching Paul struggle. C'mon Cap'n!

[dboss]

PP will get his licks in before this one is over. Right now he is aiming the ball instead of shooting it.

He'll come round.

dboss

[cowens/oldschool]

dboss

Astute call,every shot Pierce took the ball looked off coming off his hand,something is off,his elbow could be as bad as......who knows?

[mrkleen09]

Thing is that unless he is very injured, you know Paul will come back with at last one strong performance. If that happens to be game 5 in Cleveland....the Cavs are in trouble.

I was at the game today in a luxury box - as I won a contest on BostonCeltics.com called Banner Moments. Had my Dad with me and we watched one of the best games we have ever seen live, or otherwise.

Great win - great game from Rajon - TA - Big Baby - KG - Ray - Sheed played great D - just a solid effort down the line.

Once again, the refs were pretty horrible - but that clearly is not going to change, so you just deal with it and move on.

Lets go steal one on Tuesday in Cleveland and take this thing home on Friday Night.

[Sam]

Something I haven't seen mentioned (maybe it's just "understood") is that Tony played a great game in relief of BOTH Pierce and Ray when they had their respective foul problems.

Sam

[steve3344]

Usually out-of-town papers just use AP stories when their teams are not involved. The NY Times assigned their own reporter to Game 4 and he wrote a good piece that some of you might not check out:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/10/sports/basketball/10celtics.html?ref=sports

[beat]

steve, nice find.

so James wants to guard Rondo!

Bring it on.

beat

[beat]

4th quarter rebounds

Cavs 7...............RONDO 8

beat

[dbrown4]

I actually like the foul trouble we had. Good calls or not by the refs, if you're being aggressive, unless you're LeBron, the fouls are going to rack up.

I have to admit, I was still so pissed from Friday's game that I didn't watch Sunday's game live. I waited until it was just about over and found the score on my Blackberry. Then I told the boys we're watching the game tonight! It was fun watching it with them knowing they won in advance. Evan kept reminding me, "Dad, why are you mad (when CLE pulled ahead)? They're gonna win!!" Priceless!

I think the "As goes Rondo, so goes the Celtics" saying isn't exactly true. Close but not always. In our two losing efforts, his numbers were still Triple D type. You still need a #2, and in our case a #3, #4 and #5. Rondo did alot of scoring in Game 1 but we came up short. Mind you, it's a huge part of the equation, but not always a given.

Another thing to keep in mind is that 4 games have gone by and we still have no advantage. So it's a 3 game series with 2 in CLE. This I love. Our road win savvy has been handed to us on a platter. Other than the Mike v. Doc and Rondo v. CLE true advantages we have in our favor, everything else cancels except we have this road edge in our favor. This series is now our to win or lose. But I'm still pissed about Friday.

Once again, I have nothing to offer about Game 5 because I simply don't know what's coming out of Boston. Same as it ever was. But I like our chances with potentially two away games and one home game.

I know we bounced back from Friday. But for some reason, even though it only counts as one victory for CLE, it felt like 1 1/2. It still feels that way and until we win this series, I'm going to feel this way. CLE is capable at any time of taking the starch out of us. And I know we dominated them in Game 2 just as much as they did Game 3 so it should be or feel equal. The good news is Stuart Scott of ESPN is now using a much smaller sample space to justify CLE is still going to win this series. "In games where CLE was ahead 2-1 and loses the next game, they are still 4-0." I like our chances.

Good news is, we'll know everything by Thursday night or Sunday. Potential outcomes still haven't changed. We're either going on or going fishing.

[beat]

What an afternoon!!

With the C's on the big, TV Marcus and I kept making dashes to the other room where I had on the Oakland baseball game watching the perfecto by the young Oakland pitcher. Was quite the relay race as the C's game and baseball game were winding down at the same time. With great finishes by both. Got the perfecto and the C's won without having to play much the last minute. Seems to me the Cavs gave up a bit soon too. Wonder what that was all about.

beat

[bobheckler]

Great game. Paced like a caged lion for just about all of it, didn't sit down for any of it (including halftime). Try to imagine what the other people in the bar with me were thinking.

It would have been very easy for Gang Green to fold up their tents and disappear quietly into the night when the Cavs caught them at the end of the 3rd quarter, like we've seen them do all too many times this past season. They didn't. Their "sphincter reflex" could have taken over and made them curl up into fetal position after getting bludgeoned in the previous game. They didn't. They sucked it up, they played like Champions.

1. This is Rondo's team now. The torch has been passed. When the only two players who have had more dominating playoff games than you are Wilt Chamberlain and Oscar Robertson, you know you've arrived.

2. If Mike "don't ask me, I only work for LeBron" Brown grants LBJ his wish, and LBJ guards Rondo next game, then Pierce better light up whomever they put on him. If he doesn't, it's time to call it a career, Paul.

3. Tony Allen played great. It's ludicrous to consider giving the game ball to anybody but Rondo, but Tony had a super game. I'm not sure, despite Rondo's amazing performance, we would have won this game without him. Good defense on LBJ, making him take jumpers instead of driving to the hoop constantly. Running the floor on fast breaks with Rondo. When the Cavs came back and we needed to stretch it out in the 4th quarter, it was the trio of Rondo, TONY Allen and Davis that did the damage. Tony's weakest muscle is the 4" one between his ears. Well, he was flexing it yesterday. His two steals were as big as his 6-7 shooting and defense on LBJ. They were momentum breakers.

4. Kevin Garnett is in playoff form. He's not the player he was 2 years ago, maybe one more year will bring him all the way back and maybe not, but he's outplaying everybody Spoelstra and Brown have thrown at him so far.

5. Pierce's fall from grace is almost complete. He must step it up in the upcoming games. JVG said that Pierce's time on the bench hurt the Celtics because they lost a credible outside shooter, to keep the defense honest. Credible? Which playoffs have you been watching, coach?

6. I don't think I harp on the refs that much in my post-game rant. I truly don't think I do. I try not to blame losses on them, since the games are decided by play over 48 minutes, not the handful of bad calls (which are often made up anyway on the next sequence) but this is absolutely ridiculous. Tony Allen gets dragged down by his shoulder on an inbounds pass with seconds left in the half and no call? Perk is getting called for loose ball fouls because he's 280# and Anthony Parker is 215# (stretched out over a 6'6" frame) dripping wet? Pierce is getting repeatedly bounced around like a pinball and no calls? LBJ and Shaq hop (HOP!!) and no traveling calls. Really, really, really bad calls this game. If there isn't a league office conspiracy to move Cleveland forward in the playoffs, then the refs are just plain horrid.

7. Nice round of applause for Leon when he came in. Classy crowd (that includes you, Rosalie).

8. Cleveland had 5 players in double figures. Their entire bench scored eleven.

9. The Cleveland backcourt (Mo, Delonte and Parker) shot 6-23 (26%) for a total of 26 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists. 5 turnovers. Rondo shot 9-21 (43%) for a total of 29 points, had 18 rebounds, 13 assists and only 4 turnovers. When was last time you could say that one guard outplayed the other team's entire backcourt, including bench, singlehandedly. And the stats don't even fully tell how completely Rondo owned and controlled this game. This is a game we can and should tell our kids and grandkids about watching. To quote Jeb, "it was EPIC!".

Time to "feel good", but not too good. It's only 2-2. It's now a 3 game series with 2 in Cleveland. The good news is, we've already proven we can win there. Now all we have to do is prove it wasn't a fluke.

bob

.

[babyskyhook]

by bobheckler Today at 8:41 am

Great game. Paced like a caged lion for just about all of it, didn't sit down for any of it (including halftime). Try to imagine what the other people in the bar with me were thinking.

.........

Bob- they were thinking that if it looked like the Cs weren't going to win the game, they were going to make sure they got out of there before the final horn sonded in case you went postal.

Congrats on the win, buddy. Great game to watch.

[bobheckler]

by bobheckler Today at 8:41 am

Great game. Paced like a caged lion for just about all of it, didn't sit down for any of it (including halftime). Try to imagine what the other people in the bar with me were thinking.

.........

Bob- they were thinking that if it looked like the Cs weren't going to win the game, they were going to make sure they got out of there before the final horn sonded in case you went postal.

Congrats on the win, buddy. Great game to watch.


babyskyhook,

This was my local, usual pub. They've seen this behavior in me for years now. They know not to put their fingers near my mouth if they want to keep them. They put the game on the big screen in the back room, away from the bar and most of the traffic. They know I'll be watching the game while I pace back-and-forth-and-back-and-forth and God help anybody who doesn't see me coming, because I won't see them.

bob

[RosalieTCeltics]

Watching Pierce shoot, it is obvious that his form is way off. If you watch the way he shoots alot of free throws, he is throwing them, lunging with his body.
Every now and then he goes back to his right form and makes them look easy.
I am puzzled by what has happened to Pierce in this series. He is such a gamer, a warrior if you want to call him that. He looks lost at times out there.
I just can't believe that he is going to break out and have a terrific game, and it had better be Tuesday. They need him badly. James has it in his head that he is going to stop Rondo, this is going to be an interesting match up. The good thing is that it will leave Pierce or Allen free to roam and get their shots from where they are comfortable.

I guess you can call it wishful thinking, but I do believe it will happen.

[cowens/oldschool]

We better get ready for LBJ on Rondo,if I was Brown I would do anything possible to slow Rondo to his regular season numbers or below.In game 3 we weren't ready to adjust when Cavs started game in desperation mode,we all want Pierce to respond and we've never seen a playoff stretch this unPierce like......has the game passed him by?If Pierce can respond great,Doc better have something prepared with LBJ on Rondo.One play they have to run is the Pierce lob catch deep that won't work with Lebron,surprised Doc didn't call this old staple for Pierce vs Delonte.

[worcester]

Even in Cleveland, I think LeBron, who never fouls out, will do so if he guards Rondo all game long.

[RosalieTCeltics]

This could really work to our advantage if we play smart and the other guys are hitting their shots. So ..Rondo ends up with 15 plus assists instead of points tonight and PP finally breaks out for a 25 plus game and 22 from Allen
Garnett will be Garnett, he will make is 16-20, and we will be okay. See....
I've got it all thought out.

Oh, by the way, LeBron will get thrown out for a flagrant 2 foul on Rondo in the third quarter when he is so frustrated that he can't keep up with him that he throws the little guy down on the floor and Rondo takes 5 minutes to get up. We can act too, LeBron!!!

[bobc33]

Rosalie,

I always worry when Rondo hits the floor, but I do think he is learning how to act as well. Doesn't Tommy call it a "Stanislovsky?"

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