Is That The Best You’ve Got?

If so, the Celtics will win in 5. Make no mistake about it; this was an elimination game for the Lakers. You don't come back from 0-3, ever. The Celtics wanted to win this game, but the Lakers absolutely had to. Yet the Celtics still had the opportunity to steal it from them.

It would have been stealing too, because the Celtics simply didn't have the offensive firepower to win the game in legitimate fashion. Ray Allen was a man on an island, wondering when the other 2 amigos were going to come paddling up and save him. They never did.

You can blame the foul trouble for Paul's shooting woes. Perhaps the lack of playing time didn't let him find his rhythm. Or you could blame jetlag for just about anyone's poor performance. But the bottom line is that Pierce just didn't have it last night, and that's ok. He gets a free pass for all the hero work he's done to get us this far. He's proven that he can score against this Laker team and he'll be back for games 4 and 5.

You can complain all night about Kevin Garnett's reluctance to take the ball to the hoop with regularity (I know I do). But that's really not his game and he didn't even have much success down low when he did try. Give credit to the Laker defense for forcing him outside. He still chipped in with a modest double-double and maintained his focus defensively. Like Pierce, he'll show up for games 4 and 5. I have no doubt.
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Until next time,
JT