Celtics Central

Talk about O-zone depletion. Talk about Green living. Talk about recycling.

The Celtics were oh so good and they were oh so bad.

O my goodness. This was an O-ffensive game.

Kevin Garnett led a surprise dynamic offensive trio that was delivered in iron man like performances for the starters (They averaged just under 42 minutes as a group) as the Celtics broke out to a 17 point 3rd quarter lead, only to almost implode on themselves in the 4th quarter.

Memorial Day just ended, but after firing dud after dud on the holiday, Kevin Garnett anchored a spectacular Celtic fireworks display for the critical game 5 of a Conference Finals series against Detroit, tied at 2-2. He finished with a game high 33 points on 11-17 shooting, with 10 of 12 foul shots and a rare three pointer, to go with 7 rebounds and 5 TOs.

KG lit up the sky with a vast array of multi-color crowd pleasers. Two other big time O-zoners, surprising offensive stars – Ray Allen and Kendrick “Rasheed” Perkins brought along their own cache of sky flashers, poppers, and loud bursts. There were oohs and ahhhs all night long. It almost ended with ooh no.

Kendrick Perkins provided the early fireworks for the Celtics and went on to have the best offensive game of his young career. He had 8 points and 8 boards in the first quarter alone.

Doc said he played the starters like it was a game 7. Fittingly, they created…. and almost destroyed their own destinies. But it was going to be their own doing. No one else’s.

Kevin Garnett calls Rasheed Wallace a mirror of himself. This night, Kendrick Perkins was a mirror of Rasheed. He rebounded with passion and shot like he was Rasheed, putting the Celtics on his back for much of the first half. Cedric Maxwell would have been proud. Perkins said they were leaving him open to guard Paul and Kevin and he wanted to do something about it. He surely did.

For 3 quarters, Perkins was a Monster with a capital M. For a long while, he was out rebounding the entire Piston team. Of his game and play-off career high 16 boards, 5 were offensive to go with his 18 points. Perkins hit tough lay-ups in traffic, little hooks, turn around jumpers, and unblockable fadeaways like his opposite number on the Pistons. Kendrick picked the exact right time to play the game of his life. The Celtics desperately needed someone other than the big three to contribute offensively lately. The ESPN announcers said they had to give Perkins a nick name if he kept it up. The Perk-o-later already has one.

He also played solid inside defense until the 4th quarter, as the Celtics decided to let Wallace roam the 3 point line and fire away at will. The strategy almost back fired as Rasheed looked like Larry Bird, making 5 of his first 6 from the arc. By the end of game, Rasheed’s arm must have been tired from all the long distance chucking, as he missed some crucial three pointers down the stretch. He finished 6 of 9 from downtown.

Ray Allen says, “Can You Hear Me Now?”
Also in the O-zone was Ray Allen. What a time to have a break out game. Ray was dialing it up long distance all night. The signal was strong everywhere. Yes, Ray. We can hear you now. His deadly nano-second release was back, as he was a big part of the fireworks show, even with defenders right on his shooting hand. For a while, his shots looked like back breakers. But Piston backs don’t break. They bend. Ray finished with 29 points on 9-15 shooting, 5 of 6 from the three point line, and 6 for 6 in critical foul shots

The Celtics established a 17 point second half lead on absolutely fantastic offensive shot making. By the end of the game, it was more like ‘oh no’ and ‘oh boy’ as the O-zone layer disappeared and Pistons took immediate (and continued) advantage of sloppy and lazy Celtic execution in the 4th period.

The Celtics started the 4th quarter with a 15 point lead, 86-71, when Kevin Garnett made a jump shot and his 24/25th points in what was the most clutch shooting I’ve seen him display. He constantly rained jumpers from deep, dunks, mid range moves, and foul shots that kept the Celtics from falling behind early and kept them in the game later. He even banked a three pointer in the first half, as the shot clock ran down, a la Tim Duncan. It would turn out that the Celtics would need every basket and most every foul shot.

The Celtics played like the game was over to start the 4th. The Pistons were just waiting for a chance to strike. They had hunkered down very well, striking back from ‘behind the hedges’ whenever they could during the Celtics’ shooting onslaught. It was a testament to their ‘never say die’ approach that makes them so dangerous.

The Celtics offensive discipline completely fell apart. Turnovers, passed up shots and bad shots almost led to their downfall. Team IQ dropped to double digits as the lead dropped to single digits. They looked stunned while their lead dwindled to a single point twice, at 99-100 with 1:23 left and 101-102 with just 8 seconds left.

They had 5 of their 17 turnovers in the 4th and made just 5 of 13 shots. Luckily Garnett, and Ray Allen hit 4 big foul shots in the closing seconds and Ray hit the biggest jump shot of his Celtic career so far to give the Celtics a 102-99 lead with 1:02 left. His foot was on the three point line. But it was enough to hold off a closing Piston squad.

Paul Pierce played a solid, but unspectacular floor game finishing with 16 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and but a single TO (for once). Rajon Rondo was the iron man of the team playing almost 46 minutes. Doc told him that he was going to play him the entire second half. Sam Cassell did not play well in his brief appearance in the first half. Rondo responded with a terrific floor game, finishing with 13 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, a blocked shot and a single turnover. His shooting was off at 3-14 again, but he did enough positive things with the rest of his game to more than offset his shooting woes.

So it was the Celtics at their best and their worst. Predictably, yet always somewhat of a surprise, we have seen this before. I believe in a Green Earth policy and recycling, but that isn’t what I had in mind. And for a while, it looked like the Beantown Ballers ran out of precious energy. But they dug down to find enough to just eek out a victory. You could say they almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. But a victory it was.

One only wonders if this kind of game gives hope to the Pistons, and mitigates the positive for the Celtics. You saw Detroit take every lunging punch the Celtics threw. They waited, jabbed, waited, and countered punched in the final round. They almost got up from a knockdown to win on points – literally.

But predicting this series’ outcome is a difficult thing. Boston has played well enough to win every time they have been tied in the post season. This game’s defense left a lot to be desired. It hasn’t always been a Rembrandt, but Picasso or Pollack will do. Next time, I hope they enter the D-zone again. It is their natural workspace and they can’t expect to get the same shots to drop as they did in this game. But more important, they have 2 tries to get one win that will put them in the NBA Finals. That is the Celtic dream. Precious game 7 is at home. So there’s a lot for the boys in green to be hopeful for.

There are some poised Pistons in the way.