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May 18, 2009
Cs' Season Ceases: Celtics Go Down Quietly
"Life guarantees a chance...not a fair shake."
That the Celtics are a lesser team without Kevin Garnett was never in doubt.
That they almost beat the Magic in this series anyway leaves me with conflicted thoughts that I may never sort completely out. Competing in my mind are the contrary ideas that the team over achieved and played poorly at the same time. But that's for another time.
Last night, they clearly did not over achieve nor play up to Celtic standard basketball.
The Celtics lost a rare game 7 on their own court, lost big, and surprisingly lost without much of a fight, 101-82.
According to Paul Pierce...
Tonight, I felt like we ran out of gas.
After seeing the series, but the last two games in particularly, the only conclusion that makes sense is just that. And maybe now, the Celtics will come clean on any hurts and injuries they have kept hidden for awhile.
The Magic defense is under rated, and the Magic, as a team, grew as the series progressed. Alternately, the Celtics grew more and more tired.
The Celtics shot progressively worse over the last three games, going .423, .416, and then a lethargic .392 at home in game seven. The most accurate (39.7%) three point shooting team in the NBA this season, they shot just 25% from the arc over the last three games.
The Orlando Magic broke a phenomenal, unmatched 32-0 Celtic record of winning series that they were up 3-2. The Celtics lost a game 7 for only the 4 time in 21 tries in their history as well.
One might wonder how the Celtics might have fared if they even had Leon Powe. It is possible that they would have moved on the face the Cavaliers. The series was that close. Those are 'what ifs' relegated to sports bars, college dorm rooms, and playground debates.
Magics' Well Played Night
The Magic had the Celtics wondering whether to sneeze or wind their wristwatch on the defensive end all night. When the Celtics defended the three point line or dribble drive, Dwight Howard got a dunk. When they defended the painted area, three point shooters were open. When they tried to hedge a bit on both, the Magic drove the middle and scored or kicked for an easy shot.
Doc Rivers...
I said all along that dribble penetration was the key to this series.
Dwight Howard had 12 points, but 16 rebounds, 5 blocks and a defensive presence and shot intimidation that cannot be overvalued. Offensively raw, Howard is a formidable defender.
Playing against Perkins...
Perkins is a tough player. I learned there are some things that I have to work on this summer.
Kendrick Perkins stature among his peers grew in this series. KP quietly played Howard, one of the top centers in the NBA, very, very well. He took away the easy shots and made him work from a range that was outside his current skill level - that is to say anywhere outside of 5 feet.
Perkins was the defensive anchor, but was often laid bare by his team mates on switches, as the Magic carved up the Celtics' defense.
Hedo Turkoglu played a superb game, leading all scorers with 25 points on a highly efficient 9 of 12 shooting, 4 of 5 from the three point line, with 12 assists, 5 rebounds, and a block.
Turkoglu had two specifically morale breaking threes. The first was to open the 4th after Rondo hit a three to end the third, getting the Celtics within 5 at 66-61. It stole momentum right back for the Magic. The other was with 4:20 left after the Celtics knocked down a 19 point deficit to 12. That erased any doubt about the ball game.
Rashard Lewis finished with a quiet 19 points in support. Mickael Pietrus had another back breaking night off the bench with 17 points on 6 of 7 shooting.
Rafer Alston played big with 15 points, including 3 three pointers and capable defense against Rondo. J.J. Redick turned into Ray Allen's shadow, while Courtney Lee did the same to Eddie House for most of the series. House scored just two points in almost 17 minutes tonight.
Ray finally broke loose for a team leading 23 points on 9 of 18 shooting and 3 of 6 from the three point line. But he generally had to work much too hard for his shots and no one else stepped up offensively for the Celtics.
This will not go down as one of Paul Pierce's great game sevens. Paul was slow defending all night, closed out shooters on the arc late, and generally looked like his off season started a few games ago.
Paul finished witn an uncharacteristic 16 points, on 4 of 13 shooting, with just 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
Rondo finished with 10 assists and 10 points, with 6 rebounds and 2 steals, but, save his big three point shot to end the third, was largely contained in this game by a guard he was outplaying early in the series, Rafer Alston. Maybe it is no coincidence that as Alston's play improved in the series, that Rondo's game was neutralized.
Glen Davis was a non factor, though scoring 13 points on 4 of 7 attempts.
The lack of a Celtic bench and poor defense was their undoing for most of the series. but the Celtic offense was contained much better than I ever thought it would be, as they scored just 75 and 81 points in their last two games.
It could be said that they died with their boots on, but if so, that death occured in the middle of the fourth quarter of game 6. To be fair, last night's game 7 was still in doubt until the Magic ran off 11 straight points to start the 4th quarter.
By that time, a team that was running on fumes came to a complete stop, sputtered to life to close within 12, then died on the floor.
There were no more magical moments for the Celtics. The magic belonged to the Magic.
Posted by Tom on May 18, 2009 12:30 AM
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Comments
I thought Doc's lineup in the end with PP as the four was the killer. To ask him to guard a bigger Lewis plus put up shots at the other end was not going to work. But Doc did say he was searching for something to work but that was asking too much of Paul at this stage of the season.
Hopefully Doc learned his lesson about riding your vets too hard during the regular season especially when they had already clinched a top 4 playoff berth with a couple of weeks left. He should have sliced PP,Allen and the rest of the starters minutes in half at that point. Home court is meaningless if you are dead on your feet. He should have played Walker and Moore more even if it meant losing games.
Not bashing Doc but we should stop pretending he doesn't make errors in judgement either. He even stated several times during the regular season that he should limit their minutes but come gametime he wouldn't follow through.
A dissappointing way to end this campaign but anything less than last year was going to be dissappointing anyway.
Posted by: yak at May 18, 2009 10:12 AM
Yeah, Yak, absolutely, Pierce was spent.
Your point about playing the reserves, even if they are failing, is a bit of a controversial position.
As it turned out, it looks like it might have made sense. The home court didn't help them anyway against the Magic and they were running on fumes.
I agree that Walker should have gotten more time and a chance to help this team. Maybe Moore, too.
Mikki said in an article somewhere today, that he felt he could guard Rashard Lewis - he has before (and played with him).
Mikki's jump shot would have been nice to have on the floor if that is true.
Doc does want to win every game. Your criticism of his use of minutes is fairly offered. Pierce has looked dead for a while.
T
Posted by: Tom Halzack at May 18, 2009 3:07 PM
