To say that Rajon Rondo was "aggressive" to start the game would be a vast understatement. He was a predator and he smelled blood and kept going after the soft underbelly of the Knicks defense. The Knicks countered with a whole lot of Carmelo Anthony and some inspired play from Toney Douglas and (of all people) Jared Jeffries.
In the end, everyone was wondering who's number Doc would call. Would it be Pierce? Back to Ray? Or maybe go with Rondo's hot hand? Instead, it was Kevin Garnett who backed Jeffries down for the go ahead bucket and it was KG who shut the door with a game saving steal.
This one shouldn't have been anywhere near that close with Billups already out and Amare Stoudamire leaving the game early with back spasms. The Celtics are a few clutch plays away from being 0-2 but because they are the Celtics and they (usually) make those plays when they matter most, we're sitting on a 2-0 lead headed to New York.
More notes:
- One reason it was so close: Knicks outrebounded the C's 53 - 37
- 30 points from Rondo and he still managed to find time for 7 assists
- 42 points for Carmelo - so much for that game 1 slump
- Good call by Doc to start double teaming him at the end.
- I was very disappointed in the subs for much of the game - they gave up a 10 point lead in the first half and only contributed 14 points as a unit.
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