Comeback C’s
Wow. The Celtics now have been part of two of the biggest comebacks in NBA playoff history. The other being in the 2002 conference finals vs. the NJ Nets. And the only similarity? Paul Pierce was on that team too.
What a tale of Jekyll and Hyde this game was. The Celtics were down 35-14 after 1. Yes, 35-14. That’s 5 touchdowns to 2. They were still down at halftime, 58-40, after a backbreaking, one foot, floater of a 3 pointer by Jordan Farmar at the buzzer. Myself, I thought that was it. I thought, every run we make, the Lakers had an answer. Glad I was wrong.
As in Games 1-3, the Celtics absolutely dominated the Lakers in the 3rd quarter and cut well into the lead and went into the 4th quarter down by only 2! The Celtics have outscored the Lakers by 43 points total in the 3rd quarter through the first four games of the series. On another positive note, Paul Pierce told Doc that he wanted to guard Kobe in the 2nd half, and boy did he deliver!
As we got to the 4th, it was a back and forth battle. The Celtics kept getting within a bucket, but couldn’t get over that hump. Then Paul Pierce went down, all Celtics fans gasped again, as he lay on the floor as Kobe flushed home a fast-break dunk to put the Lake-show up by four. But luckily Pierce was ok, he’s a true warrior.
The deciding three plays were made by Ray Allen (times two) and The Big Ticket. Allen made an amazing up and under almost Dr. J-esque move, and KG came down soon after with a beautiful turnaround J in the paint. Up three, Ray Allen had Sasha guarding him, and told KG not to set a screen (which was the play mind you!!) Instead Ray Ray took Sasha to the “cup” (as Marc Jackson would say) one-on-one and delivered the final blow to cap off the greatest comeback in an NBA Finals game in history.
My MVP(’s) for this game? Pierce? Nope. Allen? Nope. KG? Nope. James Posey and Eddie House. They get their own little mention here. Posey and House both hit HUGE shots when we needed it the most, including numerous threes. With Rondo being ineffective, Eddie House took his opportunity and ran with it. Posey was his usual hustling self, and added a few timely buckets, especially near the end nailing a HUGE trey putting the C’s up 5 when Kobe had just cut it to two. Three down, one to go.
Notes:
Here’s clips from the game
Leon Powe, the game two hero, played an important stretch from the end of the 3rd quarter into the 4th. It was only 4-5 minutes, but it gave KG the blow that he needed. Paul Pierce looked to re-aggravate his knee injury in the 4th, but stayed in the game to cap this historic comeback. Kobe Bryant talked about this loss reminding him of “wetting the bed.” Um, ok? Sasha was livid after Ray Ray took him to school in the closing minute of the game and smashed a chair on the bench w/ his hand as someone tried to console him. One of the Lakers took their jersey off after the game and I believe left it. Still looking into that story.
This entry was posted on 13. June 2008 at 17:50 and is filed under Playoffs, NBA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.
