PLAYOFFS 2011 - POST GAME NEW YORK

HOPEFULLY THIS GAME WILL JUMP START US!!!!!!!!!

BOSTON 87 NEW YORK 85

GAME STATS

CELTICS


FGM-A 35-80 43.8%
3PM-A 5-13 38.5%
FTM-A 12-18 66.7%
OREB 15
DREB 29
REB 44
AST 20
STL 5
BLK 5
TO 16
PF 15
PTS 87


NEW YORK

FGM-A 33-78 42.3%
3PM-A 8-23 34.8%
FTM-A 11-16 68.8%
OREB 13
DREB 21
REB 34
AST 16
STL 5
BLK 9
TO 14
PF 17
PTS 85

112288

Won the second half 48-34!
and thank goodness for points 46-47-48
and RAY ALLEN

beat

Hoo RAY!!!

OK, my heart has finally stopped pounding.

I'm sure we'll see several adjustments for the next game. I think we'll also see the keys are Jermaine O'Neal, Ray Allen and quickness.

JO - Clearly Stoudemire has an edge over KG. When the Knicks have the ball and JO is in he is able to provide help needed on the interior to allow KG to play up on Stoudemire and offset the damage somewhat. He's a good second line when Stoudemire gets past KG and even one of the dancers can rotate to cover Turiaff on those.

Ray - Still the go-to guy in transition. If we can play tighter D (see my J O'Neal comment) and push the ball off missed shots we're in good shape.

Quickness - Having Rondo, Green, West and Ray on the floor together for some stretches helps even the Knicks speed advantage.

I think we'll put in these and a few other needed fixes and be OK.

Oxygen and defibrillators in each fans house are also an option.

NYC,

Could one of the dancers rotate and cover me also please.

Got to play 4 quarters not 2. JON was sensational with 4 blocks. Looks like he has recovered and should be our rock going forward!

112288

bobc33 wrote:NYC,

Could one of the dancers rotate and cover me also please.

There's nothing in the rule book against it!

ray muthaflipn allen! JoN! yeah baby a win!

I think that, chemistry-wise, this game was very important. Even more important is that the late-game effort was rewarded with a W. The post-trade roster needs moments like this to build confidence.

Ray looked like he found himself out there tonight. The NY pants have no one who can guard him, so he needs to play exactly like he did tonight if the C's are going to win this series. In a way, I'm glad that we have a challenging first-round opponent. This team needs to keep the intensity levels up for 48 minutes, or they simply won't be prepared to do so in the later rounds. If we don't see any more injuries, I think that they're a threat to win it all this year. Also, spurs and lakers both lost, so that's good news out west.

Hats off to Jermaine for his yeoman work in the middle.I saw him on the post game press conference on NBA TV. He is quite humble and unassuming. He accepted the win graciously with compliments for his teammates while expressing honest happines that he seems to be hitting his stride. Great last couple of plays drawn up by Doc. Knicks were napping on the lob to KG who somewhat redeemed himself for the off night he had guarding Stoudamire. How Doc explained the last play in the press conference he said the play gave the C's 3 options 1. Pierce if unguarded can take it to the hole: 2. KG sets the pick-if his man covers Ray, Pierce throws the lob to KG almost like the previous bucket: 3. His man stayed with him so Ray was open to, "Rock the 3" like Sean Grandy called it. It was a super win, but the C's need to come out more focused in the first half so it doesn't have to come to this kind of finish. Oh well, I believe the Spurs and Lakers would have taken our finish in place of what happened to them. Sorry to see Billups hurt. He's a class act and seemed uncertain as to his status for Game 2.

Kudos to JON-Go C's!-MD.

On NBA TV Wrap Up, Brent Barry suggested Rondo treat Ray to a steak dinner since Ray's 3 pointer bailed Rondo out of consequences for his 2 critical turnovers in the last 2 minutes of the game.

MD.

Hi,
My ball of the game goes to JON: 4 rebounds, 4 blocks, 6-6 FGs and a very important charge.
As for KG, he had to respect both AS' agility and outside shot. I think he and JON will get better defending AS. Also, not much KG could do about hot hands of AS.
My concern is about RR. Despite getting 10-9-9 he's still bothered by his p.f. and/or whatever else. Thankfully he left his sour mood in the regular season.
I think they need to give more opportunities to JG to shoot jumpers. For whatever reason NYK were treating him almost like RR - why not to use it.
Last but not least - RA. He happened to be Celtics strategic reserve: lulled the opponent in the first half and exploded in the second half including the winning exclamation mark.

Now a general question. Does Doc have somebody to watch the refs and alert him if they crew up? For instance, last night at the end of the game the ball didn't touch the rim but the clock was reset, thank fully NY lost the ball.

AK

PS A couple of additions. First, the play of the game is RR-KG aley-oop, IMO. Second, what's the word on Billups?

All's well that ends well. It sure didn't start that way, though. 39 points in the first half? Yuck. We were doing so badly I was screaming for Wafer to come in and just shoot. 51 points given up in the first half with Melo on the bench for almost all of it? Double Yuck. The good news is that NY only scored 24 points in the second half.

We started the game with good movement, and then it stopped. Our spacing was almost non-existent, which allowed the Knick defense to collapse and that made life a lot harder for Davis and KG.

1. The game ball has to go to JON. This is a guy none of us had much confidence in and that had a couple of VERY mediocre game just off of surgery. If anything will help us get over the loss of Perk, this game by JON might do it. 16 points on 6-6 and 4 blocks in just 23 minutes. An efficient outing from our center position. We all know this is our achilles heel. JON helped us sleep a little better last night I think, right? JON has been lobbying Doc for more minutes, claiming his knee is pain-free and he's ready to contribute more. I think he made his point in spades last night.

2. Ray freaking Allen. 18 of his 24 points in the second half, after taking only 3 (and making 2) fga in the first half. Everybody focuses on Ray's deadly range but I love watching him post up. He's actually quite effective at recognizing a mismatch and calling for the ball to take advantage of it. Landry Fields is a helluva rookie, but he went up against the master last night. Ray Allen almost single-handedly won this game last night by carrying the team offensively in the second half. 35 is the new 25.

3. At first glance, I thought Melo outplayed Pierce last night. Melo picked up his obligatory quick 2 stupid fouls in the first minute and a half and only played a few minutes in the first half. He came in the 2nd quarter, after taking 0 fga in the first quarter, and went 4-7 including 2 threes. That was the first half. In the 3rd quarter he was 1-7 with 4 of his misses being at or around the hoop and in the 4th quarter he was an almost invisible 0-3 (which includes his attempted game-winning 3), all from range. Pierce didn't have a great game, but he hung in there and worked and ended up holding his own against Melo. Overall, I'd call it a draw.

4. Our bench stunk. A combined 4-15 with Davis being the biggest culprit with 1-8. Davis claimed, before the game, that he knows how to guard Amar'e. I can't wait to see how he plans to do that next game, because he sure as hell didn't do it this game. West was dribbling way too much, way too much one-on-one. Jeff Green did ok, but no better than that. He was a revolving door on defense, but he did hit a couple of very timely jumpers to stem the bleeding from NY runs. Krstic only played 5 minutes for a reason. He was NOT aggressive at all. At one point he got the pass on the baseline, maybe 12-14' out, with NOBODY in sight near him. Instead of recognizing that and putting it on the floor he took a quick jumper (and missed). Even if the defense came over a dribble or two would have gotten him a better jump shot. When Krstic is aggressive and attacks, he's effective. "Team player" translates into "unassertive" in Serbian? Who knew?

5. One of the questions I had was "can we stop the great one-on-one players on the Knicks if the game is tight and the clock is running down?". Well, we can't stop Amar'e. KG couldn't. Davis sure as hell couldn't. Carmelo's brain, or lack thereof, beat him and Billups went down with his injury. Billups scares me like nobody else on that team. Amar'e is a force of nature but Billups has ice in his veins. If he took that last second buzzer beater instead of Melo, we might be singing a different tune today.

6. Our offensive rebounding helped save us. 15 offensive boards out of a total 44. They did well too, with 13 offensive boards out of a total of 34. We took 80 fga to their 78. When you're shooting 44%, two fga are worth roughly one bucket (yeah, I know it's not scientifically correct, but it's a general idea). We only won by 1 bucket. Two offensive rebounds more than them, maybe two additional fga...

7. A lot has been made of Mike D'Antoni's run-and-gun style. Well, we had 10 fast break points vs 2 for them. Is it just me, but are they almost a completely different style of team with Melo and Billups? They just don't run as much anymore. That plays to our strength since they don't have the size to truly compete in the halfcourt either.

8. I've always liked Ronnie Turiaf. I liked him when he was with the Lakers, I liked him when he was with the Warriors (in fact, I thought he was the only real man on the whole team) and I think he's perfect for the Knicks. Doesn't demand the ball (which is just as well considering how many "on-the-ball" players the Knicks have), sets good solid picks (watch and learn, Nenad!) but will roll to the hoop on picks. I thought he played a very effective game last night. I also thought Bill Walker did well too. Scored some buckets and didn't get caught in any obviously blown defensive assignments like he usually does.

8. Rondo was a whisker or two away from a triple double. 9 boards, 9 assists and 10 points. Maybe if we could have thrown the ball in Boston harbor in the first half he'd have had his 10th assist plus. Brent Barry was right about his decision making late though. Two completely unnecessarily over aggressive full court passes could have cost us the game. Ray bailed him out. Maybe we can get away with those turnovers in this series, but in subsequent series they might cost us.

Ok, so, we're 1-0. I feel mo betta now. Billups is questionable for game 2, straining a knee that had already just been tweaked two games earlier against Chicago. If he's out, they're done. I like Toney Douglas a lot, but he's not Billups. You cannot just replace a player who was a Finals MVP with a player who has youth, enthusiasm and athleticism coursing through his veins. You have to replace him with ice water.

bob

.

Here's an articl by Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston, about Doc:

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/columns/story?columnist=forsberg_chris&id=6379535

BOSTON -- Some artists dabble in chalk, others in paints. As the Picasso of the dry erase board, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers is partial to marker, his fingers often covered with green and blue smears at the end of a night at the bench easel.

The success rate of Rivers' plays coming out of timeouts is so astoundingly high, one can't help but wonder if the Celtics are tempted to use all of theirs early on, simply to allow Rivers to draw up more plays in the first half. And while the players must make the plays on the court, no one puts his troops in better position to succeed than Rivers.

Celtics guard Ray Allen will get plenty of ink, and deservedly so, for his latest theatrics, sinking yet another late-game 3-pointer, this time with 11.6 seconds to play in Boston's 87-85 triumph over the New York Knicks in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal Sunday night at TD Garden. But Rivers warrants much of the credit for what he scribbled down over the final 37.8 seconds of play.

Ray Allen hit the shot, Paul Pierce made the pass, but Doc Rivers gets credit for drawing up the play that set it all in motion.

"You see it for yourself, man," reserve forward Jeff Green said. "The last couple of plays that we ran, he drew them up. It's amazing. Getting the alley-oop for Kevin [Garnett], the 3-pointer for Ray … he's an amazing coach."

And like any good coach, Rivers sat at the podium after Sunday's game and heaped praise on all the little things every player on the court for those final seconds did, never invoking his own name. He had every right to stick out his chest after reaching into his coach's toolbox and producing two plays that have had mixed results, but worked when Boston needed them most.

Instead he kept the focus on his players.

"It's funny because we have not been executing great of late," Rivers said. "And all we stressed this week was that it may come down to one play and execution, and our guys did it. So that was terrific."

So was the play-calling. Start with a lob play coming out of a timeout that couldn't have been more ideal for the Celtics.

The Knicks' Toney Douglas had just canned a crowd-silencing 3-pointer to put New York in front, 85-82, with those 37.8 seconds to play. Rivers immediately reminded his squad to avoid looking for a 3-pointer to answer and suggested they go two-for-one, essentially requiring the team to execute multiple offensive plays with a defensive stand in the middle in order to win.

Rivers dipped into his bag of tricks and produced a play that had fizzled against Dallas back on Feb. 4. It's a play in which Allen acts as a bit of a decoy before setting a backside screen to free Garnett for a run to the rim. Against Dallas, the play developed as desired, but Rajon Rondo's lob was a bit strong from the sideline and sailed over Garnett, sealing the Mavericks' win.

This time, with the stakes far higher, the lob was perfect (this after Rondo had been too strong on an outlet pass to Allen a short time before) and Garnett delivered the jam that shaved a mere half-second off the clock.

"We wanted to go two-for-one," Rivers said. "Being down three, the first point I had to make to them was that we didn't need a 3. We needed to score quickly. And the play was for Ray and it was a bad pick, but Ray set a great pick [for Garnett].

"And our belief was that they weren't going to get off of Ray's body because he was on fire and, if they didn't, then Kevin would maybe have a lob. And if not, if they did get off his body, we were hoping that Ray got a shot. So it was great execution for us."

And therein lies one secret to why Rivers' plays are successful more times than not. There are always multiple options, so a play shouldn't fizzle because the defense successfully takes away Option A. Boston thrives by finding Option B (or C or D or E).

Aided by an offensive foul call on Carmelo Anthony at the other end with 21 ticks to go, Rivers called a 20-second timeout for a quick talk about the play Boston would run with the game hanging in the balance. It's one they've gone to countless times over the past three years and, like on the lob play, there were numerous options.

Rivers told his players to react to what they saw, and when Allen sneaked open running a pick-and-roll at the top of the arc with Pierce, he caught the pass back, got another pick from Garnett to slow his defender Douglas, and drilled his latest winning triple.

"[On] the last play, [the Knicks] did a nice thing putting [Jared] Jeffries on Rondo, so we had to change," Rivers said. "But we never changed the play. We could see how they were guarding Ray again. And by Ray setting the pick, we thought it would cause confusion. It did, a little bit. That got the guy off of Ray's body. And Paul [Pierce] made a great pass.

"Ray's the hero with the shot, but to me, Paul's the hero with the pass. That's a great example of not playing hero basketball, just trusting what we drew up."


And why wouldn't they trust the play? Asked what makes Rivers so good at drawing up X's and O's, Kevin Garnett pondered a second before bottom-lining it: "He's the best."

Jermaine O'Neal expanded on the topic.

"Everybody has a job to do on this team," O'Neal said. "So many years I played against these guys in some tough games and you see how they work. Everybody has a particular part to do in this machine."

And when everyone does their job, the Celtics produce the desired result. Pierce and Allen both noted how Boston's veteran experience aided it during the late-game stretch. Not only has Boston been in tight, high-pressure situations before, Rivers constantly works on final possession plays during five-on-five work in the practice gym.

Allen's ability to hit that 3-pointer likely stemmed, at least in part, from the reps running that play against Boston's second team to close out practice last week.

"We've run that play many times in different situations," Allen said. "Sometimes the shot goes in, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes Paul has the ball in his hands and he shoots it and he scores it. There are so many different options off of that play that, when we went to that, we knew exactly what to expect.

"We don't predetermine me setting the screen getting Paul open, sometimes he gets the layup all the way to the hoop. Sometimes my guy switches and I end up being open, Baby or Kevin clean up a guy and I'm open at the 3-point line, or the roll is wide open. It's a play that has so many options and tonight I was just the option."

Which strengthens the argument that it's the coach putting the players in position to thrive.

"It's both [the players and coaches], but it's just [the players] reading [how the play unfolds]," Green said. "Doc is the guy who draws it up and gets both. Doc is the guy who draws up the play and gets it going."

bob


.

bobheckler wrote:All's well that ends well. It sure didn't start that way, though. 39 points in the first half? Yuck. We were doing so badly I was screaming for Wafer to come in and just shoot. 51 points given up in the first half with Melo on the bench for almost all of it? Double Yuck. The good news is that NY only scored 24 points in the second half.

We started the game with good movement, and then it stopped. Our spacing was almost non-existent, which allowed the Knick defense to collapse and that made life a lot harder for Davis and KG.

1. The game ball has to go to JON. This is a guy none of us had much confidence in and that had a couple of VERY mediocre game just off of surgery. If anything will help us get over the loss of Perk, this game by JON might do it. 16 points on 6-6 and 4 blocks in just 23 minutes. An efficient outing from our center position. We all know this is our achilles heel. JON helped us sleep a little better last night I think, right? JON has been lobbying Doc for more minutes, claiming his knee is pain-free and he's ready to contribute more. I think he made his point in spades last night.

2. Ray freaking Allen. 18 of his 24 points in the second half, after taking only 3 (and making 2) fga in the first half. Everybody focuses on Ray's deadly range but I love watching him post up. He's actually quite effective at recognizing a mismatch and calling for the ball to take advantage of it. Landry Fields is a helluva rookie, but he went up against the master last night. Ray Allen almost single-handedly won this game last night by carrying the team offensively in the second half. 35 is the new 25.

3. At first glance, I thought Melo outplayed Pierce last night. Melo picked up his obligatory quick 2 stupid fouls in the first minute and a half and only played a few minutes in the first half. He came in the 2nd quarter, after taking 0 fga in the first quarter, and went 4-7 including 2 threes. That was the first half. In the 3rd quarter he was 1-7 with 4 of his misses being at or around the hoop and in the 4th quarter he was an almost invisible 0-3 (which includes his attempted game-winning 3), all from range. Pierce didn't have a great game, but he hung in there and worked and ended up holding his own against Melo. Overall, I'd call it a draw.

4. Our bench stunk. A combined 4-15 with Davis being the biggest culprit with 1-8. Davis claimed, before the game, that he knows how to guard Amar'e. I can't wait to see how he plans to do that next game, because he sure as hell didn't do it this game. West was dribbling way too much, way too much one-on-one. Jeff Green did ok, but no better than that. He was a revolving door on defense, but he did hit a couple of very timely jumpers to stem the bleeding from NY runs. Krstic only played 5 minutes for a reason. He was NOT aggressive at all. At one point he got the pass on the baseline, maybe 12-14' out, with NOBODY in sight near him. Instead of recognizing that and putting it on the floor he took a quick jumper (and missed). Even if the defense came over a dribble or two would have gotten him a better jump shot. When Krstic is aggressive and attacks, he's effective. "Team player" translates into "unassertive" in Serbian? Who knew?

5. One of the questions I had was "can we stop the great one-on-one players on the Knicks if the game is tight and the clock is running down?". Well, we can't stop Amar'e. KG couldn't. Davis sure as hell couldn't. Carmelo's brain, or lack thereof, beat him and Billups went down with his injury. Billups scares me like nobody else on that team. Amar'e is a force of nature but Billups has ice in his veins. If he took that last second buzzer beater instead of Melo, we might be singing a different tune today.

6. Our offensive rebounding helped save us. 15 offensive boards out of a total 44. They did well too, with 13 offensive boards out of a total of 34. We took 80 fga to their 78. When you're shooting 44%, two fga are worth roughly one bucket (yeah, I know it's not scientifically correct, but it's a general idea). We only won by 1 bucket. Two offensive rebounds more than them, maybe two additional fga...

7. A lot has been made of Mike D'Antoni's run-and-gun style. Well, we had 10 fast break points vs 2 for them. Is it just me, but are they almost a completely different style of team with Melo and Billups? They just don't run as much anymore. That plays to our strength since they don't have the size to truly compete in the halfcourt either.

8. I've always liked Ronnie Turiaf. I liked him when he was with the Lakers, I liked him when he was with the Warriors (in fact, I thought he was the only real man on the whole team) and I think he's perfect for the Knicks. Doesn't demand the ball (which is just as well considering how many "on-the-ball" players the Knicks have), sets good solid picks (watch and learn, Nenad!) but will roll to the hoop on picks. I thought he played a very effective game last night. I also thought Bill Walker did well too. Scored some buckets and didn't get caught in any obviously blown defensive assignments like he usually does.

8. Rondo was a whisker or two away from a triple double. 9 boards, 9 assists and 10 points. Maybe if we could have thrown the ball in Boston harbor in the first half he'd have had his 10th assist plus. Brent Barry was right about his decision making late though. Two completely unnecessarily over aggressive full court passes could have cost us the game. Ray bailed him out. Maybe we can get away with those turnovers in this series, but in subsequent series they might cost us.

Ok, so, we're 1-0. I feel mo betta now. Billups is questionable for game 2, straining a knee that had already just been tweaked two games earlier against Chicago. If he's out, they're done. I like Toney Douglas a lot, but he's not Billups. You cannot just replace a player who was a Finals MVP with a player who has youth, enthusiasm and athleticism coursing through his veins. You have to replace him with ice water.

bob

.

Bob

Nice sumation. Probably a typo but in your intro you have the Knicks with a 24 point second half (it was 34)

As for the bench, agree Davis did not do much in 25 minutes. And your point on Nads missing a wide open 15 foot baseline jumper when a dribble and two steps might have been a dunk and/or a foul are right on. Hell I was as close to him as were any of the Knick players.

As for West and Green, they need more minutes. I thought both did OK during the minutes they got 12 for West and 17 for Green is just not enough. Which meant our starters (minus JO) played: KG 34 (thats OK) PP 39, RA 42, RR 43. Just too many minutes but they came in rested and were able to preform. Rays legs were certainly there in the 4th, but as the playoffs wear on I wonder how well these guys will hold up. Even though there are no back to backs would be nice taking the Knicks out in 4 to get whatever rest we can before the next round cause Miami is looking to sweep too.

Gotta wonder about the final quarter too. How is it Amari can score at 8:51 with a jumper, layup at 7:43, dunk at 6:56, another 18 footer at 6:15, short shot at 3:36 and a driving layup at 2:47 that gave the Knicks a 82-78 lead...................and then NEVER TOUCH THE BALL AGAIN?

Melo was turning into a mini version of LeBron.

Also have to wonder after Douglas hit the trey and Doc took the time out, why did the Knicks not put someone on Rondo who was inbounding the ball. Making the alley oop pass would have been much tougher. (Wonder if in the previous game that was mentioned in your followup post if Orlando had a guy on him, if so it is easy to see how the pass could be overthrown)

Actually even though your point is well taken about Billups, Douglas is shooting at a slightly better clip from the field and from 3 than Billups. Rondo might find him a tougher one to guard as he has a lot more quickness. No word out on Chauncey yet and it would be a blow to the Knicks if he can't go but hey injuries happen, don;t we know that.

Looking forward to game 2, and it was nice to not have any cameo shots of Spike. Wonder if he even got in the building. We'll see enought of him in 3 and 4.

beat

another fav part of the game was seeing kg attempt a dunk and just get clocked, take a hard fall and just bounce right back up! he is back!

Agree, it was good to see him pop back up. However, KG seems to be having problems finishing dunks and lay ups close to the basket. That is very disconcerting!

MD.

beat wrote:

bobheckler wrote:All's well that ends well. It sure didn't start that way, though. 39 points in the first half? Yuck. We were doing so badly I was screaming for Wafer to come in and just shoot. 51 points given up in the first half with Melo on the bench for almost all of it? Double Yuck. The good news is that NY only scored 24 points in the second half.

We started the game with good movement, and then it stopped. Our spacing was almost non-existent, which allowed the Knick defense to collapse and that made life a lot harder for Davis and KG.

1. The game ball has to go to JON. This is a guy none of us had much confidence in and that had a couple of VERY mediocre game just off of surgery. If anything will help us get over the loss of Perk, this game by JON might do it. 16 points on 6-6 and 4 blocks in just 23 minutes. An efficient outing from our center position. We all know this is our achilles heel. JON helped us sleep a little better last night I think, right? JON has been lobbying Doc for more minutes, claiming his knee is pain-free and he's ready to contribute more. I think he made his point in spades last night.

2. Ray freaking Allen. 18 of his 24 points in the second half, after taking only 3 (and making 2) fga in the first half. Everybody focuses on Ray's deadly range but I love watching him post up. He's actually quite effective at recognizing a mismatch and calling for the ball to take advantage of it. Landry Fields is a helluva rookie, but he went up against the master last night. Ray Allen almost single-handedly won this game last night by carrying the team offensively in the second half. 35 is the new 25.

3. At first glance, I thought Melo outplayed Pierce last night. Melo picked up his obligatory quick 2 stupid fouls in the first minute and a half and only played a few minutes in the first half. He came in the 2nd quarter, after taking 0 fga in the first quarter, and went 4-7 including 2 threes. That was the first half. In the 3rd quarter he was 1-7 with 4 of his misses being at or around the hoop and in the 4th quarter he was an almost invisible 0-3 (which includes his attempted game-winning 3), all from range. Pierce didn't have a great game, but he hung in there and worked and ended up holding his own against Melo. Overall, I'd call it a draw.

4. Our bench stunk. A combined 4-15 with Davis being the biggest culprit with 1-8. Davis claimed, before the game, that he knows how to guard Amar'e. I can't wait to see how he plans to do that next game, because he sure as hell didn't do it this game. West was dribbling way too much, way too much one-on-one. Jeff Green did ok, but no better than that. He was a revolving door on defense, but he did hit a couple of very timely jumpers to stem the bleeding from NY runs. Krstic only played 5 minutes for a reason. He was NOT aggressive at all. At one point he got the pass on the baseline, maybe 12-14' out, with NOBODY in sight near him. Instead of recognizing that and putting it on the floor he took a quick jumper (and missed). Even if the defense came over a dribble or two would have gotten him a better jump shot. When Krstic is aggressive and attacks, he's effective. "Team player" translates into "unassertive" in Serbian? Who knew?

5. One of the questions I had was "can we stop the great one-on-one players on the Knicks if the game is tight and the clock is running down?". Well, we can't stop Amar'e. KG couldn't. Davis sure as hell couldn't. Carmelo's brain, or lack thereof, beat him and Billups went down with his injury. Billups scares me like nobody else on that team. Amar'e is a force of nature but Billups has ice in his veins. If he took that last second buzzer beater instead of Melo, we might be singing a different tune today.

6. Our offensive rebounding helped save us. 15 offensive boards out of a total 44. They did well too, with 13 offensive boards out of a total of 34. We took 80 fga to their 78. When you're shooting 44%, two fga are worth roughly one bucket (yeah, I know it's not scientifically correct, but it's a general idea). We only won by 1 bucket. Two offensive rebounds more than them, maybe two additional fga...

7. A lot has been made of Mike D'Antoni's run-and-gun style. Well, we had 10 fast break points vs 2 for them. Is it just me, but are they almost a completely different style of team with Melo and Billups? They just don't run as much anymore. That plays to our strength since they don't have the size to truly compete in the halfcourt either.

8. I've always liked Ronnie Turiaf. I liked him when he was with the Lakers, I liked him when he was with the Warriors (in fact, I thought he was the only real man on the whole team) and I think he's perfect for the Knicks. Doesn't demand the ball (which is just as well considering how many "on-the-ball" players the Knicks have), sets good solid picks (watch and learn, Nenad!) but will roll to the hoop on picks. I thought he played a very effective game last night. I also thought Bill Walker did well too. Scored some buckets and didn't get caught in any obviously blown defensive assignments like he usually does.

8. Rondo was a whisker or two away from a triple double. 9 boards, 9 assists and 10 points. Maybe if we could have thrown the ball in Boston harbor in the first half he'd have had his 10th assist plus. Brent Barry was right about his decision making late though. Two completely unnecessarily over aggressive full court passes could have cost us the game. Ray bailed him out. Maybe we can get away with those turnovers in this series, but in subsequent series they might cost us.

Ok, so, we're 1-0. I feel mo betta now. Billups is questionable for game 2, straining a knee that had already just been tweaked two games earlier against Chicago. If he's out, they're done. I like Toney Douglas a lot, but he's not Billups. You cannot just replace a player who was a Finals MVP with a player who has youth, enthusiasm and athleticism coursing through his veins. You have to replace him with ice water.

bob

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Bob

Nice sumation. Probably a typo but in your intro you have the Knicks with a 24 point second half (it was 34)

As for the bench, agree Davis did not do much in 25 minutes. And your point on Nads missing a wide open 15 foot baseline jumper when a dribble and two steps might have been a dunk and/or a foul are right on. Hell I was as close to him as were any of the Knick players.

As for West and Green, they need more minutes. I thought both did OK during the minutes they got 12 for West and 17 for Green is just not enough. Which meant our starters (minus JO) played: KG 34 (thats OK) PP 39, RA 42, RR 43. Just too many minutes but they came in rested and were able to preform. Rays legs were certainly there in the 4th, but as the playoffs wear on I wonder how well these guys will hold up. Even though there are no back to backs would be nice taking the Knicks out in 4 to get whatever rest we can before the next round cause Miami is looking to sweep too.

Gotta wonder about the final quarter too. How is it Amari can score at 8:51 with a jumper, layup at 7:43, dunk at 6:56, another 18 footer at 6:15, short shot at 3:36 and a driving layup at 2:47 that gave the Knicks a 82-78 lead...................and then NEVER TOUCH THE BALL AGAIN?

Melo was turning into a mini version of LeBron.

Also have to wonder after Douglas hit the trey and Doc took the time out, why did the Knicks not put someone on Rondo who was inbounding the ball. Making the alley oop pass would have been much tougher. (Wonder if in the previous game that was mentioned in your followup post if Orlando had a guy on him, if so it is easy to see how the pass could be overthrown)

Actually even though your point is well taken about Billups, Douglas is shooting at a slightly better clip from the field and from 3 than Billups. Rondo might find him a tougher one to guard as he has a lot more quickness. No word out on Chauncey yet and it would be a blow to the Knicks if he can't go but hey injuries happen, don;t we know that.

Looking forward to game 2, and it was nice to not have any cameo shots of Spike. Wonder if he even got in the building. We'll see enought of him in 3 and 4.

beat

beat,

Melo is a mini-LBJ, although he does move without the ball better than LeBron. Amar'e can't touch the ball if they don't give it to them. Everytime they did, he did something good with it.

Doc needs to manage Rondo and Ray's minutes, but we need effective minutes from their backups. In the case of Green, he is, to all extents and purposes, the backup for Pierce. In West's case, we can bring in Wafer at 2. West is, however, the backup for Rondo. If they're not playing well, we got issues.

Douglas might be shooting better than Billups, but if you're Doc, whose hands do you want the ball in with the clock (game or shot) running down? Douglas's or Billup's?

You're right about sweeping NY. It'd be sweet. If Billups is out, that becomes a real possibility.

The alley oop to KG came with 37 seconds left. The Celtics wanted to go 2-1, but they didn't need the score that fast. A full 24 seconds on the shot clock, already over the halfcourt line, the Celtics could have run a play for 8-10 seconds and still get the ball back with a minimum of 3 seconds left. D'Antoni was taken by surprise, but when you think of it, a regular inbounds and a pass to Pierce or Ray for a shot would have been something more likely to expect. GREAT play call by Doc. GREAT pass by Rondo and an easy flush for KG.

bob

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I have to believe that the lack of more time for the bench was attributable to four factors:

1. We all know how much of a roller coaster ride the end of the season has been. Whenever it seemed that the team was developing cohesiveness,they'd backslide. I'm quite certain that Doc felt the starters represented the best shot at a positive momentum going into the playoffs.

2. When the bench was in during the second quarter, things did not go well.

3. It was apparent at halftime that the Celtics would be playing catchup ball, and the starters had greater likelihood of success in that regard. The playoffs are the best example of the need to take one game at a time. They are not the time for long-term thinking. You do what you can to win each game. Getting the starters on a roll was their best shot at coming from behind and winning this; I seriously doubt the win would have been a possibility had the bench played more.

4. "Schedule fatigue" is less a factor than in the regular season—especially when your next game involves no travel.

An ideal scenario would be that the playoff neophytes from New York will be so stunned by their loss that they'll be a bit back on their heels for Game Two. If the Celtics can get out to a very good start, Doc should be able to ease the bench more extensively into the rotation.

Sam

Seems "some" of my Knick fan coworkers are bitchin about the late offensive foul on Melo. (play on, no call or what?)

Well back up to part way thru the 2nd when KG was posting up with Turiaf and cleared him out a bit with the left elbow and got called.

Melo's clear out was very similar and if the prior one was called then this one should be too, and it was.

So sick of hearing the talking heads say let um play and don't make the ticky tac calls. Or you can't make that call with under a minute to go. Well don't make um in the first 3 quarters either.

beat

beat

most of the press hates the celtics.

with apologies to miss t SCREW EM.

and md celt...kg seemed to elevate pretty good with the game on the line...we WON man REJOICE!

love

jEb

beat wrote:Seems "some" of my Knick fan coworkers are bitchin about the late offensive foul on Melo. (play on, no call or what?)

Well back up to part way thru the 2nd when KG was posting up with Turiaf and cleared him out a bit with the left elbow and got called.

Melo's clear out was very similar and if the prior one was called then this one should be too, and it was.

So sick of hearing the talking heads say let um play and don't make the ticky tac calls. Or you can't make that call with under a minute to go. Well don't make um in the first 3 quarters either.

beat

Gotta love the Knicks.

Douglas complained after the game about KG's pick the freed up Ray Allen....saying he could have covered him if not for the illegal trip by KG. I would like to hear his excuse for all the other times in the 4th that Allen TORCHED him...lol.

As for the Melo call. On the very next possession, when Pierce received the inbound pass - Melo nearly ran him over...with NO CALL. That would have been his 6th foul....instead the ref told Pierce to play on....he fed Allen for the 3 and the rest is history.

The refs were definitely letting them play at the end. The repeated replays of the Ray three offered plenty of opportunity to review the way on which Douglas fell flat on his face. I can see why the Knicks felt they'd been jobbed because there definitely was a trip, and it didn't look inadvertent to me. It was a subtle move with a big-time ramification. It was fortunate for the Celtics that the refs put away their whistles after the offensive foul on Melo. That trip could easily have resulted in a makeup call.

But I have to repeat the same thing I always say when anyone gripes about referees' calls. A team that lets the other team stay close enough for one call to make the difference deserves what it gets.

Sam

The Bulls were the beneficiaries of two non-calls at the end of last night's game against the Pacers who stood a good chance of winning otherwise.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The NBA on Monday admitted the refs blew a key call in the Denver Nuggets' 107-103 loss to Oklahoma City on Sunday night.

With 1:05 left, Kendrick Perkins of Oklahoma City was credited with a tip-in after a miss by the Thunder's Russell Westbrook. Video appeared to show Perkins interfering with the net, and tapping the ball while it was in the cylinder.

The NBA issued the following statement this afternoon.

"Kendrick Perkins was improperly credited with a basket that should have been ruled offensive basket interference with 1:05 remaining in last night's game. Although a player is permitted to touch the net while the ball is in the cylinder above the rim, Perkins also touched the ball while it was still in the cylinder, which is a violation and constitutes goal tending."

The basket gave OKC the lead, 102-101, and the Nuggets were unable to regain the lead over the final minute.

http://www.denverpost.com/nuggets/ci_17874601