I went and shot around after this game and the adrenaline carried me for about 15 minutes. I'm a mediocre shooter at best. And I hit at least two three pointers from 30 feet. I was throwing in deep baseball shots and all sorts of fall aways as well. Then I crashed back down the earth. I was spent. How can a basketball game take that much out of a person watching at home? If I were at the game I would have stumbled out of there in a daze.
Paul Pierce had one of the biggest games of his career. He shot 56% from the floor and 91% from the line. On top of that he had 5 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals. And those assists don't account for the two times he got Leon Powe to the line. He was dialed in and even called the final 3 minutes the toughest 3 minutes of his life. Keep in mind the fact that he was brutally stabbed once and almost died. I'm assuming he's completely blocked that out. He also took advantage of the shooter's role and then some.
Eddie House had 4 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal and a turnover in just under 15 minutes of time. Yet he led the team in +/- (+13). And the hustle play where he dove to save a ball going out of bounds, passing it directly to Posey in the process, was downright awesome.
P.J. Brown had 10 points (4-4 from the field), 6 rebounds and some hard fouls in 20 minutes of time. He also hit arguably the biggest jumper in the game.
In related news is anyone else as completely and utterly confused by Doc Rivers' substitution patterns, or lack thereof, as I am? For example Glen Davis had one big game on the road in Detroit. Will he be the first big off the bench?
Home court matters.
I was going to run a "Witness LeBron going home" style post or something along those lines if the Celtics won. But I have to give him credit. He's a remarkable basketball player. If he improves his post game, does not have to work as hard on offense and ever gets the right assortment of teammates around him he won't be seeing too many more game 7s. He's that good.
I swear James Posey did a solid job on LeBron earlier in the series. That was not the case tonight. He couldn't stay in front of him.
I'm a little nervous about how hard Boston had to work in this one.
For all the talk about the officials I think it's safe to say those things even out over time.
Home court matters.
Jeff Van Gundy may get bored in blow out games. And his attempts at humor are painful at times. But when he's dialed in I learn a lot. He straight up knows the game of basketball.
Delonte West missed a huge shot that could have tied it. And his 6 turnovers take some luster off of his 15 points and 5 assists. Still today provided indisputable proof that there is plenty of fight in West. He was one of the players that was not afraid.
Nice job by House, Pierce and Ray Allen, as they went a combined 6-6 from the line down the stretch.
Let's talk Pistons tomorrow. Until then enjoy it...
via d.yimg.com
