The Posterizing Pass

Glen Davis stole the ball and all of a sudden the Celtics were out on the break. Davis flung the ball ahead to Rajon Rondo, who was positioned just over half court, already moving towards the Cleveland basket. Rajon caught the ball and made a beeline straight towards the right side of the hoop as Mo Williams ran along side defending.

But, if you're like me and have watched every Celtics game intently for the past three or so years, Mo Williams wasn't the Cavalier defender you were paying attention to. Because all I saw was the MVP, LeBron James, laying in wait, gearing up for another one of his patented chase down blocks. Rondo in particular has been victimized more than a couple times by James over the last few seasons, as Rajon would attempt to go down for a layup or dunk and James would viciously reject it off the backboard, either igniting the Q or silencing the Garden.

And yesterday, as Rondo made his move for the basket, I quickly steeled myself for another monster block courtesy of LeBron. I wanted to close my eyes, to avoid seeing Rondo being thrown like a rag doll as James spiked his ball ten rows into the seats, but I couldn't shut my lids quickly enough. And thank goodness I didn't, because what followed was the play of the postseason so far for me.

As the play developed, Williams ran past Rondo, making a swipe at the ball and effectively slowing down Rajon just enough so James could time his block to absolute perfection. Rondo began to bring the ball up towards the rim, and LeBron lifted off as he prepared to devour our point guard's shot. But this time something different happened. Rondo brought the ball down and smoothly passed it behind his back, where Tony Allen was waiting for the perfect delivery. TA finished the play with a dunk and the garden went into a frenzy.

As Rondo made his pass, LeBron looked confused in the air, as if he was flailing for a rope that wasn't there, left in an awkward state of animation. Upon landing, he looked around, befuddled at the events that had just unfolded. And I had already left my seat, clapping and whooping in my empty dorm room, my neighbors no doubt taking me for a crazy person. It was THAT great of a play, and though I've viewed the replay hundreds of times by now, it gets better every I watch it. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNpQCbHHdUc