Celtics Can't Relax, Fans Maybe Should

by Jeff Clark on Jun 9, 2008 5:58 AM EDT in Boston Celtics Articles

There are two psyche's I'm interested in today. One is the Celtics players and staff. I hope they don't feel complacent. Reminders of the 4th quarter should take care of that. The other is the Celtics fans. I hope we don't feel too worried. Reminders of the scoreboard should help that.

The Celtics

Predictably the media and Laker backers are already trying to chip away at our 2-0 lead. Phil Jackson is leading the charge to complain about the officiating. No surprise there. Phil will attempt any level of psychological warfare he can manage (including calling Pierce a faker). Of course complaining about the officials is for losers, so we'll let them have that.

As expected, people are pointing to the 4th quarter as reason to believe that Kobe and the Lakers can come back. Wonderful! I hope they remind the Celtics players and coaches every hour on the hour that the Lakers almost came back and won that game. If this team has a "biggest flaw" it is that they sometimes lose focus when they think they've got the game or the series in hand. It happened in Atlanta, it happened at times in Cleveland, and it happened last night. This team needs to be reminded sometimes of just what kind of effort it takes to win Finals games.

The Lakers didn't get here by accident. They aren't going to roll over and give up just because they are down 24 points. The Celtics lost the lead because they didn't step on the Lakers' throat. They took their lead for granted and so the Lakers took the lead (almost) away. It was a good lesson to learn and thankfully the lesson didn't cost us a game.

And if they need any reminders of why it is important to stay focused when up 2 games to none in the Finals, they need look no further than the Dallas Mavericks of 2006. The Heat obviously won the next 4 games in most part due to a dynamic scorer that got a lot of calls at home. Know anyone on the Lakers that could play that role?

The Fans

The game 1 win was robbed a little of its luster because we were still worried about Paul. After game 2, we can all be excused for feeling more relief than excitement because of the way the game ended. We have to hope that the Celtics will keep telling themselves that this is far from over so a maximum effort is going to be needed for 48 minutes a game. With that said, we have to keep telling ourselves (as fans) that we're up 2 games to none.

Fans still have a ton to be happy about. Like the first 3 quarters and the last few seconds for starters. The good guys won. The bottom line in game 2 was that before the Lakers started knocking down desperation three pointers, the Celtics simply dominated the game.

Paul Pierce was nails all night. Rajon Rondo spread out 16 assists. KG had a relatively quiet (for him) double double (17, 14). Ray Allen seems to be back in form, hitting 3 pointers when we need them. But the story of the night had to be Leon Powe. Not to pat myself on the back, but back in April I singled out Powe as the Unsung Player on the Celtics.

Other teams may look past him, which is exactly what we want. He’ll be picking up a loose ball or putting back an offensive foul for a bucket, or setting his feet to pick up an offensive foul, and he’ll change the momentum of the game in our favor. He’s one of those guys that nobody thinks about until they have to play him in the playoffs and then they wonder how they let this guy be the difference in the game.

Well, the Lakers won't be looking past him anymore. Everyone knows his name now.

The Celtics are up 2 in the NBA Finals. They are 2 games away from Banner 17. Enjoy these moments Celtics fans. Just don't tell the Celtics.

(By the way, I don't think I could have summarized the game any better than the way Kelly Dwyer did in this column. Nicely done.)

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Comments

This is a great way to look at things. I feel that sometimes we as fans get a little to wrapped up in the success. Granted, its been 21 years since our last Finals appearance and 22 years since our last Championship so its not easy! We just need to sit back and soak it all in. Do not get too high, because as soon as we do we will get a big smack of reality! Enjoy it for what it is. The C’s are up 2 games to none, but there still is a lot of work to do!

by wildo05 on Jun 9, 2008 6:24 AM EDT reply actions

oh, the drama. It only gets better when we go “there”. I can’t wait to see Jack and Dyan with their faces in their hands. I love watching FauxBee(f) pout. Nothing like watching the biggest spoiled brat this side of Barry Bonds think he is above the law (of physics).

The 2008 Celtics are proving something. Again

D-# wins championships.

by johnnymost on Jun 9, 2008 7:02 AM EDT reply actions

In the win I feel like the team lost the mental edge. How I think the Lakers feel the can win a game in this series. That being said the Cs need to come out early in game 3 and really show the Lakers that the 4th quarter in game 2 only happen because the Cs let up.

by CT34 on Jun 9, 2008 7:15 AM EDT reply actions

Nothing new about the fourth quarter. We’ve struggled to close out big leads before. All we have to do is keep defending, because the Lakers and those Euros aren’t going to defend. Not last night. Not Tuesday. Not Thursday. Not ever.

by CoachBo on Jun 9, 2008 7:27 AM EDT reply actions

The end of the game didn’t bother me. The Lakers couldn’t miss, and (contrary to what some Laker fans are saying) they got a bunch of favorable calls and non calls during that stretch, starting with Vlad Rad getting away with 5-6 steps on that breakaway.

by Brickowski on Jun 9, 2008 7:38 AM EDT reply actions

Agree with Brick, even though the Celtics got complacent, L.A. couldn’t miss and the game swung in L.A.’s favor at the that moment which carried them along with the whip lashing they received from Kobe during the time-out.

This team still needs to learn to finish games when they have an opponent down and out.

by Ancient Red on Jun 9, 2008 8:22 AM EDT reply actions

Hey Jeff,

I’ve been waiting for you to write a tribute about the late “Gino” LOL

by Ancient Red on Jun 9, 2008 8:23 AM EDT reply actions

I’ll just say that Powe is being effective against the Lakers because he’s playing against PFs who aren’t able just to “out-big” him. Cleveland had Varejao and Smith: justv too big for Leon. Structurally, unless you think PJ can and will re-sign and play the way he is now (as opposed to the way he played in the regular season), then we need a 6’10" or larger guy who can play, coming off the bench. Leon is great against smaller teams, but not against the larger teams, IMHO.

Two more wins to go, and five games to do it in!

by Eeyore III on Jun 9, 2008 8:27 AM EDT reply actions

1. Phil Jackson complained that Powe took more free throws than the entire Laker team. Well, Powe made the Lakers foul him. Denial by Phil.
2. I don’t think the C’s will be complacent with 2-0. I actually think the Laker’s may get a false sense of security by their “comeback”. I don’t think they really came back, the C’s stopped playing. But they did make big plays when they had to near the end—Posey getting that rebound and getting fouled and making the free-throws.—-PP going hard to the basket, fouled, made free throws.—-And one or two more extra-effort offensive rebounds and getting loose balls.
3. I think the reason the C’s got (or looked) complacent when they got that big lead is that they played such a hard, intense game for 3 1/2 quarters. As KG would say, I think the “gas” or adrenaline just ran out.

by TrueGreen on Jun 9, 2008 8:49 AM EDT reply actions

Isn’t this very similar to the Detroit Piston’s way of thinking going into Game 6? All the talk of how there was NO WAY the Celtics could not win after an “almost collapse” in Game 5? We all know what happened there. I do hope the Lakers feel VERY comfortable going into Game 3.

by afflatus on Jun 9, 2008 8:57 AM EDT reply actions

KG dissapears in big moments for the most part and PP steps up. Whatever good things to say about KG (and there are plenty) the fact remains he is NOT a CLOSER. PP has the killer instinct that wins games in big moments and KG shoots jumpers. And what happened to the title Master Po(we) Jeff? Perfect time for that headline and where is it? Sad.

by Master Po on Jun 9, 2008 9:09 AM EDT reply actions

I’ll take the lack of comments to be the collective Celtics fans holding their breath

this team doesn’t make it easy on itself (or on us), but they just keep winning

2 more, just 2 more

by Jeff Clark on Jun 9, 2008 10:27 AM EDT reply actions

The sports page here in the Bay Area had a picture of Leon Powe on the front page. Fans are starting to lose interest in the series. Its great that Pierce’s knee held up. Lets up the that the series gets done quickly for his sake.

by greendoc on Jun 9, 2008 10:37 AM EDT reply actions

The Lakers are a joke.
I hope we get the sweep for RED….Phil neds a new look….his his looking well not so good.

by tommyfan on Jun 9, 2008 11:10 AM EDT reply actions

Jeff, I also wrote about Powe and Baby coming through at the beginning of the year. Injuries and foul trouble got them in games when KG went down earlier this year. You could see they were both great rebounders and have hustle. Just got to keep them signed. Leon is a Paul Silas type of rebounder, Baby is more a Wes Unseld type can pass and will develop a good 15 foot shoot. Hopefully the C’s will win game 3 or 4 if they don’t anything can happen in a 3 game series.

by CelticsWin on Jun 9, 2008 11:37 AM EDT reply actions

With Pierce and Leon having great games the props can fairly go their way. But, man, Rondo is not turning the ball over in the pressure pot of NBA Finals. That kid is playing great. So what if he declines to shoot sometimes. I really hope Doc pulls the switcheroo again and goes with Eddie for backup PG minutes but Rondo has come up large.
And then there is Posey. I don’t know how many times yesterday I said “Posey again” with another small thing. ESPN looks absolutely foolish after these two games giving the Lakers the advantage for bench.

Good pitching beats good hitting in baseball playoffs and good defense beats good offense in NBA playoffs.

Master Po, I think you are wrong about KG disappearing. Compared to Pierce, OK give you that one. But he is still filling the lane on D and not hesitating on his jumper, and his team intensity is just about crazy.

So we got the calls yesterday. Ken Mauer killed us against Detroit.

by Wildblu1 on Jun 9, 2008 11:38 AM EDT reply actions

No more lakers in 5 !!!

by Champzilla on Jun 9, 2008 11:56 AM EDT reply actions

Red’s presence still alive…..

I realized that when POWE went coast to coast on the parquet floor….. It was RED from above parting the parquet for POWE and the Celtics to banner 17….

You don’t think he wants Phil breaking his record, do you, especially against his beloved it Celtics….

Just like Moses parting the sea… RED’s hi above parting the way for the C’s ;D

by Ancient Red on Jun 9, 2008 11:57 AM EDT reply actions

i hope the c’s resign james posey. he is a hustler and a great team communicator and has been cement to this team. jackson is a jerk but a darn good coach and he will have his team ready.the c’s already got their wakeup call in game 2,and let’s hope they stay alert and in their defensive mode.

by nazzbo on Jun 9, 2008 4:07 PM EDT reply actions