By Kevin Henkin

Okay, we’re live from Providence to cover the second game of the preseason and, again, we’re pretending that the game is meaningful (see previous article) to add some spice to things. Onto the game summary:

Pregame

Before the game. Leon Powe is given a microphone and addresses the crowd for about 8 seconds, most of it unintelligible. It’s not exactly the stuff of “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth…” but in Leon’s defense, he was a social welfare rather than a fancypants public speaking major in college.

The Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, the venue of the game, has just recently reopened after extensive renovations. Of note, the huge new scoreboard hangs precariously low over the center of the floor. This might not be much of a factor for the Providence Bruins but for basketball, it doesn’t make much sense (My point is later driven home at the end of the first quarter when one of the Celtics heaves a desperation shot as time runs out and it clangs off the bottom of the scoreboard).

First Quarter

I love the first six minutes of preseason games because they closely approximate regular season games. All the starters are in and, because they know they won’t be seeing too many minutes in the game, they play hard. After that, though, all bets are off. For example, it was fun to watch Tom Thibodeau managing the end of the first pre-season game with a Vince Lombardi face while he had guys like Gabe Pruitt and Tony Allen running the crunch time offense. I’m sorry but, as much as I appreciate the effort by the coach, it’s sort of like taking break dancing lessons before your wedding. In other words, why bother?

Garnett does a touch pass behind the back to a driving Rajon Rondo, which is just about as sweet a move as you’ll ever see on a hardwood floor. KG says “NO, MOTHER&^%$#!!!” to preseason rust.

Apparently Joey Crawford hates Rajon Rondo, considering he sneezes into his whistle every time Rondo makes physical contact with an opposing player. I wonder if Rondo made the grave error of laughing in the presence of Crawford. Bad career move, podna.

Darius Miles in the game at 2:30. Launches 19 foot airball at 1:49. I still like the cut of his jib, though. He positively exudes those “I’ve finally grown up, gotten religion and now just want to win” vibes.

J.R. Giddens is a confirmed headband guy. Not that getting sweaty has been much of an issue for the rookie as of yet.

Second Quarter

Alright, I’ll say it. Tony Allen is BACK. The swagger is back. So is the aggression and the fearlessness of throwing his body into the play. It’s acknowledged that Tony Allen is no James Posey but he’ll at least help in filling those big empty Big Game James Posey shoes with a return to pre-injury form.

You honestly had to see this play to believe it: Bill Walker sneaks in for a Brian Scalabrine miss coming off the rim, stuffs it down with thunderous authority, hollers at the nearby Celtics bench and then proceeds to push LeBron James out of his way as he trots back up the court. This kid is about a mile away from a wide eyed doe rookie. It’s hilarious to watch, as long as he keeps playing well.

A rare J.R. Giddens appearance at the 4:37 mark! Because why would you want to use precious preseason minutes to assess your top draft choice? (Yes, I know, because they’re using those minutes to round Tony Allen back into form). Giddens airmails his first shot and looks forlorn on the other end of the court. A couple of plays later, he passes on an open look with the shot clock winding down. I think Giddens needs to borrow some confidence from Bill Walker.

Third Quarter

Cavaliers Coach Mike Brown is too far away, so I can’t tell if he’s wearing eye-glass frames that match his jacket and shoes. But I’m sure they do. Somewhere, Red Auerbach snickers.

Glen Davis almost puts Cavaliers point guard Mo Williams in a body cast after he crashes into him running a play on offense but when the whistle blows for a foul, he looks around as innocent as a kitten. Ah yes, gone are the rookie days and their rookie ways. Doc Rivers isn’t impressed, though. His expression is that of a man whose puppy has just messed on the new rug.

This needs to be mentioned. The Celtics bench has been deeply invested during the whole game. It may only be preseason but it seems to me that they are treating each of these contests as a valuable means to an end: As a live-action team building exercise. As a way to build chemistry with the new players. As a way to get better each game by facing real completion, even though these particular games don’t count. It seems obvious to say “Well, duh, that’s how it should be”, but it has not always been that way around here before last year and it certainly isn’t that way everywhere else around the NBA. Exhibit A: The New York Knicks.

Tony Allen sees an opening to shoot a 20 footer and drains it. He now has 19 points. Did I mention Tony Allen is back? Preseason or no, TA has clearly gotten his groove back.

Fourth Quarter

Glen Davis’s evening is over. His line: 6 points, 0 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 6 fouls in 16 minutes. His right knee is wrapped in ice. Of note, both of Paul Pierce’s knees are also wrapped in ice after 9 and half minutes of play.

Tony Allen just swished a 3. Not to belabor the point but last season, a swished 3 by Tony Allen was about as common as a sasquatch sighting or a good Dan Shaughnessy column.

Gabe Pruitt just took it end-to-end, weaved through the Cleveland defense and stuffed it down their throats. Nice work by the fourth string PG!

Doc Rivers rides a lineup of Giddens, Scalabrine, O’Bryant, TA and Pruitt throughout most of the fourth, then sends in Walker and Powe for Scalabrine and Giddens, down by one with about 2 minutes to go. Clearly, he’s going for the V without doing something so blatant and unnecessary as using his starters.

Boston pulls it out when Leon Powe corrals a rebound on the defensive end, draws an over the back foul with Cleveland in the penalty and sinks the freebies. Yay! Boston’s backups can beat Cleveland’s backups! The crowd files out in a hurry to catch the rest of the Sox Game 1 of the ALCS. Alas, it appears that the title defense campaign is back on track.

By Kevin Henkin

When last we left off in June, the Celtics were busy humiliating the Los Angeles Lakers in the Game 6 clincher of the NBA Finals. Last night, after a long near four months of glory basking, the Celtics finally returned back to game action. True, they’re only back in the form of preseason scrimmages, which aren’t much more than glorified pickup games. Nevertheless, you won’t find us here at Full Court Press using the preseason as a means to shake off our rust or slack off with our coverage. Instead, we’ll be bringing you the same level of intensity that we provided throughout the playoffs last spring. In short, our attitude is: Even preseason games can be exciting if you try hard enough to pretend that the games are meaningful. That’s how we roll here at FCP. Meaningful serious fun. Onto the recap:

The Celtics picked up exactly where they left off last June, starting out of the gate with a 9-0 run. It was the usual cast of characters except for Kendrick Perkins, who sat on the bench in natty street clothes while awaiting to be cleared from his shoulder woes. In his place was off-season addition Patrick O’Bryant, who did his best to imitate Perkins by offering a mix of active rebounding and occasional cleanup baskets with unnecessary overaggressive fouls. The Celtics kept on the pressure, eventually building the lead to 16-4 against a befuddled Philadelphia 76ers team before Mo Cheeks called a time out to regroup. Of note, Ray Allen hit his first three shots from deep waters. He then missed his next two as the wheels came off the Boston offense, which let Philadelphia back into the game with a mix of poor ball management, lousy shot selection and a shooting touch that only a mason could love. At the end of the first quarter, Boston’s lead was diminished to 30-24.

In the second quarter, Tom Thibodeau, who subbed in for an absent Doc Rivers, sat the starters throughout. In their place, blatantly shunning the idea of a rotation, he employed a revolving door of flurried substitutions that at one point had me thinking, “Uh oh, Bill Simmons isn’t going to like this…”

Four minutes into the quarter, Boston’s offense stalled again with a unit of Brian Scalabrine, Patrick O’Bryant, Tony Allen, Eddie House and Glen Davis, which was good news for fans who enjoy low-scoring and poorly executed games.

Darius Miles also played some minutes in the quarter and looked pretty good, making a few nifty moves on offense early (and later on a converted alley oop dunk in transition). On the flip side, during the occasional breaks in the game, he looked more winded than David Ortiz after legging out a triple. He’s also carrying more weight on his frame but you couldn’t go so far as to call him fat. It’s just that in his former playing days he was always a rail-thin high flyer who made his living off his potent athleticism so the change in body weight is clearly noticeable. Last night, Miles played primarily at small forward, used in tandem with Leon Powe and Glen Davis in the front court. It will be interesting to see how his game adjusts to his increased bulk and to his wings that have been clipped by injury and, bearing those factors in mind, if he might be better suited in the long term at power forward.

The biggest thrills of the frame, however, came courtesy of rookie Bill Walker who provided a couple of thunderous Gerald Green-like circus dunks. In the aftermath of the slams, the Celtics’ bench momentarily transformed into a rowdy mosh pit befitting of a Ministry concert circa 1992. Thanks in part to Walker’s dunks, as well as the 76ers’ general apathy towards the sport of basketball, Boston carried a 54-44 lead into the half.

In the third quarter, the Celtics starters returned in full force and built the lead up to 14 before eventually relinquishing it entirely at a 67 all tie resulting from a combination of bad passing and extended fitful naps on defense. At the end of the quarter, Boston was holding onto a precarious 75-72 lead.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Celtics fielded a quintet of Eddie House, Leon Powe, Glen Davis, Darius Miles and Tony Allen, which predictably had the UMass crowd whipped into a frenzy. The two teams traded occasional baskets over the first eight minutes, during which Philadelphia mounted a very minor comeback to take a four point lead. Down the stretch, Gabe Pruitt took over at the point and Tony Allen led the charge as Boston temporarily retook the lead and extended it to 92-89. After that, however, despite a gritty effort (which included a bizarre 10 second stretch during which Brian Scalabrine gained the ball and lost the ball twice), the Celtics gave up 8 unanswered points to the 76ers and succumbed to a 97-92 defeat. It all felt a little too reminiscent of the days of the 18 game losing streak until you remembered that a healthy Paul Pierce was sitting alongside Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen yukking it up on the bench together as defending World Champions.

Patrick O’Bryant finished as “Player of the Game” with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in 25 minutes. Preseason or not, the Celtics will take that kind of production from their new backup big man seven days a week and twice on Fridays.

By Kevin Henkin

In case you missed it, old friend Gerald Green has a job in the NBA again. Last month, the Dallas Mavericks signed him to a one-year minimum contract. Dallas represents Green’s third team since the Celtics shipped him away in the Garnett deal last summer. It’s also probably his last chance to make it happen in the NBA.

If you’re like me, you recall Gerald Green’s time as a Celtic with a sad shake of the head. You recall the immense athleticism. The 48 inch vertical leap. The superior release point on a jump shot that so often held the promise of a soft touch. The circus sideshow dunks. The kid certainly had, and still has, physical gifts aplenty.

But then, that was always his problem. Those same physical gifts that made him a highly touted prospect also consistently railroaded his maturity process and allowed him (and others) to think that his thunderous dunks and occasional bursts of loud scoring were enough to justify a career in the NBA. Never mind that he was utterly incapable of grasping the concept of team defense or that his shot selection never quite fit within the flow or parameters of his team’s offense. He was a smug kid stuck on a cloud and he never seemed to take personal responsibility in addressing his multiple glaring weaknesses.

As a quick aside, if you want some real insight into Gerald Green’s mindset during his early days in Boston, check out his original MySpace page, which is, well, frankly beyond description in terms of its comedy value. Here are some of the highlights:

Gerald’s favorite books: “I don’t read. That’s my agent’s job.”

Gerald’s heroes: “Michael Jordan and T-Mac cause that’s who they compare me 2.” (I particularly enjoy the channeling of Prince here)

Who Gerald would like to meet: “I can’t wait to play against LeBron James. Ima throw that boy around haha.”

Gerald’s job description: “I was the 18th draft pick of the NBA draft and I can’t believe I fell that far down I was supposed to be a lottery pick o well I will show everybody haha.”

Excuse me for a moment. My eyes are bleeding. It’s too bad Green’s agent didn’t also consider editing his client’s MySpace entries as one of his additional job responsibilities. It’s all fun and games until you start comparing yourself to Michael Jordan and LeBron James simply because you schooled a bunch of relative stiffs in high school and AAU ball.

To Green’s credit, these days it seems like he has finally turned the corner onto the road of maturity and in terms of taking real responsibility for his career. Before signing with Dallas, he spent much of the off-season working with John Lucas, who helped Green to focus more on developing his fundamental basketball skills. Afterward, Lucas told the Dallas News, “[Green] had to learn that there’s a big difference between being AAU famous and NBA famous.”

In a recent exclusive interview with DallasBasketball.com, after his signing with the Mavericks, Green said, “A lot of people think I’m limited to just being a dunker, like it’s all about highlights. I don’t blame fans for that, either. People tend to look at the highlights and judge me on that. I’m here to prove that I can do other things. I have the ability to shoot the ball and I’m trying to show the people at the Dallas Mavericks I can do other things. It’s really about me just working harder and having my game become more mature.”

In terms of targeted areas for self-improvement, he said, “I need to be a better ball-handler. I need to be better defensively. I have the physical ability to be good on defense, I think. And I need to learn exactly how the Mavs like to do things, and then execute those things. Oh, and I need to just slow everything down a bit.”

Sounds about right. Expanding on the topic, Coach Rick Carlisle recently said, “We know he can be a scorer. Gerald is starting to understand that there is a difference between being a sideshow performer and being a basketball player.”

My favorite part of the big Resurrection of Gerald Green’s Career story down in Dallas was a tidbit about how Green had given away his big collection of dogs to place more focus on basketball, explaining, “Right now, Spalding is my dog.”

In the meantime, Mavericks fans are left to speculate and dream about what could be with Gerald Green, which of course like a very familiar drill to Celtics fans. Upon the news release of Green’s signing, one reader gushed, “Green has been tearing it up in Utah in the summer league. Seems like with every game he gets a little better. I think he’s been humbled and wants to learn from his mistakes. It is going to be fun watching Kidd lob him the ball this season. I think the Mavs have gotten themselves a diamond in the rough for very little moolah.”

Upon which, another reader responded with, “As a Celtic fan to all Dallas fans out there: Think of him as the [draft pick] you didn’t have this year [but] with only two neurons: the dunking one and the lazy one.”

Only time will tell whether the grass will truly be greener in Dallas.

By Kevin Henkin

During the off-season, the only time I want to see Paul Pierce’s face in the news is, well, never. When it comes to the Celtics’ Captain, no news is the best kind of news because when Pierce is off the radar, that means he isn’t involved in nearly fatal stabbing incidents or representing the face of USA Basketball during one of its lowest moments or denigrating his surrounding cast of teammates and making veiled demands to be traded a mere year after re-signing a very lucrative contract extension or senselessly comparing himself to Kobe Bryant. When Pierce stays out of the news, the hope is that he is off somewhere treating his body like a temple and doing everything within his power to fend off the process of aging that will soon rob him of his special gifts.

It’s important to consider Paul Pierce in terms of who he is and where he has been. By the time they unfurl Banner 17 and hand out the rings, Pierce will be 31 years old. He’s a 10-year veteran of the league and has nearly 800 regular season and playoff games under his belt. Ten years is a long period of time in this league. Hell, it’s an era. And it hasn’t been a quiet ten years either. During that time, there have been some powerful lessons personally delivered to the doorstep of Paul Pierce.

First and foremost, there was the stabbing attack that almost left him dead during the pre-season in 2000, his third pre-season as a professional. It seems hard to believe but the incident took place eight years ago this September. Still viewed as a minor miracle, Pierce was able to recover to the point of submitting a strong (and full) season and a significant step forward as a player and a premier scorer.

That recovery season is best viewed as a testament to Pierce’s toughness and intestinal fortitude. It was also the season, however, in which Pierce’s young team sufficiently quit on Rick Pitino, ultimately driving the pocket-tyrant out of town. Pitino left with his reputation left in tatters and with millions (about 27) of his dollars left on the table. It was a textbook case of NBA player empowerment and it would likely later impact Pierce’s attitude towards and relationship with Doc Rivers.

When Jim O’Brien took over, the first and best thing he did was to turn the team over to Pierce and Antoine Walker, made them part of the leadership, made them accountable. And it worked. Pierce (and Walker) quickly grew up as players and eventually led their team as far, perhaps farther, than it deserved to go in 2002.

Then that likeable (apologies to Bob Ryan) team was dismantled by a trifecta of Paul Gaston’s frugality, Chris Wallace’s incompetence and Danny Ainge’s alternate longer (and I mean longer)-term vision. And thus began Paul Pierce’s five year odyssey into the wilderness as a disgruntled star player.

There was the trading of Antoine Walker, the unloading of other close teammates like Tony Battie and Eric Williams, the huffy departure of Jim O’Brien, the subsequent banana republic of John Carroll, the seemingly endless carousel of unlovable loser teammates like Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. What was the official low point, the immature ejection and foolish press conference during in the 2005 playoff meltdown against the Pacers or the 18-game losing streak season that included Pierce’s first serious injury? Who knows? Better yet, who cares? The point is, those five years are clearly acknowledged as not a fun time to be Paul Pierce. But the wilderness at least had to give him some perspective, on just how bad it could be to live among the dregs and also-rans of the NBA, to feel hopeless against the ticking of a career clock.

Then, finally, Pierce experienced the sweetness of the flip-side scenario. He saw his hard work converted into the ultimate payoff, an NBA championship. The title came largely as a result of Pierce’s renewed dedication to the game and, some would say, a first-time dedication to real team defense. In short, Pierce (along with Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett) set aside personal glory for the benefit of his team and that sacrifice paid off. One would assume that such a powerful lesson would resonate and sink in deep, would carry over into his approach to his first off-season as a defending champion.

Which is why this Vegas incident is so puzzling. Is begs the specific question: Why is a 30-year old 10-year veteran player out at 3 in the morning in Las Vegas? Or, more to the point, why is this particular player out in the middle of the night in a dangerous city? Shouldn’t he simply know better by now, after all that he’s been through, both good and bad? If his own experiences haven’t been enough of a judgmental driver, what about the notable example set forth by Kevin Garnett? What about the continued need to serve as a leader to the younger players? How many times have you heard Doc Rivers caution his rookies: “Nothing good happens ever after midnight.” By doing what he’s done, Pierce negates that message. He drowns it out. “Hey, I hear what you’re saying, Coach, but look at the Captain…”

Is this the end of the world? Hardly. In terms of impact, it’s a relatively minor incident. The loss of James Posey is the far more disturbing development of the off-season thus far. But at least Posey’s flight was understandable. Business is business. It happens. With Pierce, however, these days of controversy were supposed to be over, as much a part of the past as Antoine’s wiggle or Dan Shaughnessy’s relevance. The time is now more than ever for Pierce to wear that “C” on his chest on a year-round basis.

By Kevin Henkin

Quite a ride, wasn’t it? When I took over as editor of the FCP last July, the Ray Allen trade had already been made but Kevin Garnett was still in Minnesota, James Posey was still in limbo and most of us remained confused as to the direction of the franchise. Obviously, in the eleven months that followed, much in the way of monumental happenings took place, culminating of course with the World Championship that was formally celebrated yesterday. In some ways, it still hasn’t all settled in, that it’s over and they won it all. I still need time to process, and to catch up on some sleep. While I do that, however, I wanted you all to know how much I and my fellow writers here appreciate your readership. I know there are plenty of Celtics-themed blogs and other forms of media coverage to provide you with your Celtics news and analysis so the fact that you’ve chosen to stop here makes us feel pretty proud.

If you have any feedback, either positive or constructive, please feel free to e-mail me at kevin@bostonsportsmedia.com, or leave a comment on one of the articles. We’re always looking to improve so your feedback is a valuable source for suggestions. In the meantime, enjoy a summer of basketball bliss. Lastly, for now, I leave you with this picture of Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown, only wearing Lisa Loeb’s funky glasses. It was left on the cutting room floor during the Cleveland series, for obvious reasons. However, now that we’re in summer sandals relaxation mode, I figured it would be a good time to share. Yes, it’s an immature photoshop but it still makes me laugh every time I see it. Take care.

By Kevin Henkin

With a systematic dismantling and destruction of the Lakers in Game 6, the Boston Celtics clinched their 17th NBA title. The final score was 131-92 but the game was essentially over after a dominating second quarter in which Boston outscored Los Angeles 34-15.

Silencing his critics, Kevin Garnett came up huge, especially during the first half, and was instrumental in Boston’s early run to an insurmountable lead. His final line was 26 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. He was aggressive early and often on offense and helped set the standard of in-your-face basketball that his team demonstrated wire to wire.

Ray Allen was similarly magnificent, scoring 26 points that were fueled by his 7-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc. It was the capstone performance of an exceptionally played Finals series by Allen, who set the record with 22 treys.

Rajon Rondo also submitted a watershed effort, finishing with 21 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 6 steals. If Garnett had a partner in aggression during this game, it was Rondo, who finally seemed able to put his ankle woes behind him and regain the quickness that is so integral to his game. Throughout the evening, Rondo wreaked havoc in the passing lanes and prevented the Lakers from ever finding a flow to their offense.

James Posey and P.J. Brown were the other major factors for Boston. Posey predictably lived up to his nickname of “Big Game James”, scoring 11 points on 4-for-4 shootings (including 3-3 from deep waters) and playing a stifling defense on Kobe Bryant that effectively neutralized “the greatest player on earth”.

Bryant finished with 22 but shot only 7-for-22 and scored only 11 more points after the 5:30 mark of the first quarter. In other words, he wasn’t a factor, which could never be said about Michael Jordan in June. Pau Gasol scored 11 points in 32 minutes, which wasn’t nearly good enough for a team that desperately needed their number two scoring option to step up.

Regardless, the end result of this game had little to do with the failings of Gasol, Bryant or anyone else in the purple and gold. It was all about what drove this Celtics team to victory all season long: defense and teamwork. Time and again, help defense sealed the gaps and forced the opposing offense into difficult shots. On the other end, the Celtics ran a clinic on passing out of double teams and finding the open man with the best shot. Forget the triangle. Give me a rotation of players who can make the right pass to the right man on a consistent basis.

Some other thoughts:

I respect Phil Jackson. I even like some things about him. That said, it adds a little oomph to Banner 17 knowing that the Celtics’ victory prevented Jackson from surpassing Red Auerbach to take the lead with 10 coaching rings.

Yes, it’s been said a million times already but it needs to be said again. It was less than a year ago that the ping pong balls fell horribly wrong and drove the Celtics down to the number five slot in the draft. After that, Celtics Nation had every reason to despair. Hope was a fallacy and only the truly optimistic and/or naïve believed that the core of youth would ever evolve into anything but a middle-of-the-road playoff team. Then it all happened. Ainge pulled the trigger on the Ray Allen deal, which on its own merits was a bit confusing because it left the team in limbo with a too young youth movement mixed together with a couple of aging swingmen. Then the Garnett deal happened, which, well, changed everything. The culture. The outlook. Expectations. The collective commitment to defense. Throw in the additions of James Posey and Tom Thibodeau and the ability to win based on defense was cemented.

Early on, there were some questions with some answers that could only be answered over the course of a full season: Could the Big Three (Can we call them that now, Oh Guardians of the Gate? Are we within our rights now? Are you sure we have your permission?) jell together and set their egos aside? Could the aging superstars handle the rigors of a long season? Could Rajon Rondo, a kid that could’ve potentially still been in his senior season at Kentucky, handle the pressure of running the offense for the big dogs? Were the supporting cast of players good enough? Was the ambitious concept of team defense as the primary focus going to work? Could Doc Rivers lead this team to the promised land? In summation: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes, in that order.

This all reminds me of a poster of the Philadelphia 76ers following their title in 1983. It featured Doctor J and Moses Malone and it said “Paid in Full” in big block letters at the bottom. It signified the fulfillment of the promise of a great team after a long drought of misery for a proud franchise on behalf of a devout fan base. That’s how I feel about this Celtics team. Paid in Full. Damned straight. After all, it’s been a long 22 years. Not necessarily the stuff of stupid curse books but it’s still a long period of time to watch a team fall short, sometimes woefully and embarrassingly short, of glory. I still recall being stunned in watching the Celtics get run off the floor in losing the Finals clincher to the Lakers in 1987. There were excuses then, of course, McHale had the broken foot. Walton was hurt. Blah blah blah. Regardless, in our wildest imaginations, none of us ever could have conceived that it would be the end of an era, that it was take another two decades plus for the team to return to the Finals, let alone foresee the string of tragedies, mishaps and seemingly endless stretches of futility that would befall the team in the years that followed. It feels good to leave all that baggage and bad karma behind for good. It’s cathartic.

As much as anyone else, this moment belongs to Danny Ainge for engineering this whole thing. A year ago, I was writing articles looking back fondly on the 2002 playoff run, as if those were the days of Camelot. It was, however, an expression of frustration over watching a bunch of kids who didn’t quite grasp the game running around in Celtics jerseys and speculating about how good they’d be in a few years. Some of the die-hards understood Ainge’s long-term game plan which, in a nutshell, was to collect enough marketable chips to eventually cash them and convert them into a core of veterans in their prime. It certainly made sense on paper but we all wondered whether he’d actually be able to pull it off, especially considering the challenges of fitting it all into CBA guidelines and fighting the uphill battle of wooing players to Boston (hello, Kevin Garnett, who at first took a pass on us if you recall). But Ainge did pull it off. He therefore deserves every molecule of that tiny glass trophy the league awarded him a couple months ago for Executive of the Year.

Finally, kudos to Wyc and the boys. They claimed they’d overspend if and when the team became close to contention. And when the time did come, they did indeed spend, willingly paying mounds of luxury tax penalties for guys like Garnett, Posey and even P.J. Brown. Way to back it up with action and balls, fellas. A city and a fan base owes you all a debt of gratitute

Congratulations to the Celtics and to all that have chosen to follow them in their quest for title 17. To all those who watched each and every one of the games during the 18 game losing streak, desperately searching in vain for a glimmer of hope. To those who rediscovered their passion for basketball this year with a team that demanded their attention. To the new generation of fans who now have their own stories of glory to tell. Paid in full, baby. Paid in full.

By Kevin Henkin

Lakers 105, Celtics 98. What a damned shame of a heart-breaking loss. And a damned shame of a wasted headline opportunity (”Who’s Your Daddy? Celtics Slam Lakers for Series Clincher on Father’s Day”). At least maybe now that the league has reached its desired minimum goal of a six game series, it will allow its officiating crews to call more balanced games going forward.

Regardless, this was truly a game of inches and on this evening, those inches happened to belong to the Lakers when it mattered most. The real shame of it all was the wasted monster effort by Paul Pierce, who scored 38 points (including 16 hard-earned free throws). Pierce strapped his team across his back and nearly dragged them to glory before allowing a tragic poke from behind steal by Kobe Bryant, who converted the subsequent breakaway dunk. The play, which happened with 40 seconds left in the fourth, put the Lakers back ahead by 4.

Of note, on the following possession, Boston set up a play for Ray Allen, who drove hard and nearly converted on the drive in heavy traffic. Kevin Garnett had a clean look at a put-back but missed wide, a play that epitomized his evening in that he worked hard to be in the right place at the right time but just wasn’t able to convert. Not enough, anyway. His team needed more from him on offense and he just wasn’t there to provide it. Exhibit B: His two missed free throws at the 2:31 mark that would have brought Boston back to a tie.

Allow me to expand on Garnett’s game a bit further here, because it was a complicated performance to assess. His official line for the game was 13 points on 6-11 shooting as well as 14 rebounds and 4 turnovers. Although the 14 boards accurately reflect Garnett’s terrific work on the glass, the statistics otherwise tell only a fraction of the story. On defense, he was an outright menace and was the direct cause of numerous disruptions to the Lakers’ offense. He was also especially effective on the offensive glass where he collected 7 of his 14 rebounds. Expanding on his role in the offense, he was an integral part of the pick and roll that continued to work so well in freeing up space for his teammates. BUT….on the dark side, he remained mostly absent in the offense in terms of contributing directly. Down the stretch, again, he looked far more comfortable passing out to his shooters on the perimeter than in taking on the inferior Laker bigs and creating his own shot against them. It was frankly disappointing and marred an otherwise solid performance.

With Rajon Rondo’s game, on the other hand, there wasn’t much of a silver lining to be found. He finished with 3 points on 1-7 shooting along with 3 assists and 2 turnovers. Whatever percentage of capacity he deems himself to be, it simply isn’t high enough to help his team at this point. Look no further than Rondo’s last moments spent on the court in the third quarter before Doc Rivers mercifully replaced him:

5:42 Rondo misses open jumper
5:25 Gets tied up with Derek Fisher on a loose ball. Loses tip to Fisher on the jump ball.
5:17 Arrives late on defense as Fisher spots up an open mid-range jumper and crashes into Fisher, who sinks the shot and the free throw.
5:11 Turns the ball over to Vladomir Radmanovic on a terrible pass.
5:00 In transition, Randmanovic sinks the open three.

Let’s review. At the midpoint of the third quarter, Boston trailed by one at 65-64 and had the ball, poised to take the lead. Less than a minute later, the Celtics trailed by 7 and were back on their heels against yet another Lakers run.

Out of a timeout, Rivers replaced Rondo with Eddie House but his stint was cut short by a bleeding problem after a collision with Derek Fisher. To his credit, Sam Cassell came in and came up big, at one point scoring 7 straight for Boston (he finished with 9 on 4-8 shooting).

All of the above said, the game might not have even been so close had the Celtics played a respectable first quarter. Instead, they again allowed the Lakers to run wild out of the gates, outscoring the Celtics 39-22 in the first 12 minutes. Read that again. 39-22? Early Hole, meet Boston, Boston meet Early Hole…Oh, I see you two have already met. Thus, the Celtics were forced to clamp down hard and expend extra energy just to get back into the game, which they did by shutting down the Lakers to just 16 points in the second quarter vs. Boston’s 30. At the half, LA’s lead was 3 and again, everyone repeat after me…the Celtics had to feel fortunate to be down by only 3 after such uneven play. Of note, Kobe Bryant palyed a big role in that early Lakers lead by scoring 15 of his points in the first, looking ever the part of the hyped dominator. Over the final three quarters, though, he shot 3-13 and scored only 10 more.

Coming out of the half, Boston submitted a disappointing third quarter. If there had been one constant throughout this series to count on, it had been Boston’s domination of the third. Alas, that trend came to an end in Game 5 as the Lakers increased their lead by another 6. In that third frame, Boston became over-reliant on the three but just didn’t hit many of them.

Thus, they entered the final frame down 9 and were down by as much as 14 at the 9:17 mark before storming back to tie it all 90-90 on the backs of Posey, Pierce and Cassell. After that, though, the wheels came off. A chintzy call that sent Derek Fisher to the free throw lin here, the aggresive Kobe Bryant steal there and LA was onto victory. Although the Celtics came within reach of the win, it was all simply too much to overcome.

Two games to go. Boston needs only one. Cue the Jumbotron…

The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves and everyone around us to pieces for that inch….

Until Game 6 back in Beantown…

By Kevin Henkin

Wow. Let me write that again, just for the sheer pleasure of it, and because of what it represents. Wow. In short, it was a historic (and frankly embarrassing from an LA perspective) comeback by the Boston Celtics, one that puts them in prime position to win their first NBA title in 22 years. Sweet. Where to begin? The score, I suppose. Boston 97, Lakers 91. Oh, and a 3-1 series lead for the Celtics.

After submitting one of the most hideous first quarters ever witnessed in the NBA Finals, the Celtics stormed back over the last three quarters until the Lakers finally relented. Seriously, there is no way to overstate how badly the Celtics played in the first quarter. Even Lamar Odom looked spectacular, to the point where he was preening and sticking out his tongue out in reaction to his own good fortune, as short-lived as it would prove to be. Specifically, Odom finished the first half with a surreal 15 points (13 in the first quarter alone) on 7-7 shooting. He was a big factor in building the early Lakers lead, appearing in the lane seemingly out of nowhere to make thunderous dunks and even draining a few 18 foot jumpers. Then, however, his fairy tale carriage morphed right back into a pumpkin again. His second half: 4 points on 1-4 shooting, which provided strong evidence that order had indeed been restored in the universe.

Los Angeles had led by as many as 24 points earlier in the game and by 20 as late as halfway through the third quarter before Boston stormed back furiously. In the final 18 minutes, the Celtics outscored the Lakers to the tune of 47-21. It was the suffocating Boston defense that fed the offense and it was the small ball squad for Boston who led the way in the scoring comeback.

Just to put things in perspective of how bad things went earlier in the game, a couple of first half stats to digest:

Lakers shooting percentage 50%, Celtics 35%
Lakers rebounds 26, Celtics 16

It seems silly to say it now but at the time the Celtics seemed fortunate to only be down by 18 at the half (it would have been 15 if not for that golden horseshoe running desperation three made by Jordan Farmar, which seemed just so indicative of how the evening had been going up until that point).

It must be noted that while the chips were down, it was James Posey and Ray Allen that represented the poise needed to sustain the comeback effort. For the game, Posey contributed an enormous 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting (including 4-8 from beyond the arc) and 4-4 from the line. His biggest shot, of course, was a heart-piercing three with 1:13 left in the fourth that brought Boston’s lead to 5 on the heels of an aggressive layup by Kobe Bryant. Beyond his offense, however, James Posey provided so much of the requisite backbone. He seemed utterly fearless out there and that kind of mental toughness is contagious among veteran players. When Posey was on the floor, you could see teammates gain strength from his presence. It’s not hyperbole. His impact was that visible. He’s like the second coming of Eric Williams, only with a much better stroke.

And Ray Allen? Let’s just say that Cleveland series is all but forgotten. Allen scored 19 in addition to 9 rebounds and 3 steals. He also did another commendable defensive job on Kobe Bryant, playing a big part in holding Mr. Universe to 3 points in the first half before giving way to Paul Pierce on the defensive assignment. But the biggest contribution by Allen was his drive past Sasha Vujacic, who had poked and scratched at Allen on prior possessions like an alley cat in heat, only to collapse at the most crucial moment in the game. After his teammates cleared the entire lane with an area wide enough to land a 747, Allen gave a few obligatory jukes and fakes to Vujacic at the top of the key and then froze his hair-netted opponent with a crossover from heaven and converted a layup with such ease that the officials almost felt obliged to call an offensive foul on him. The play put Boston up by 5 with 16.4 seconds remaining. Doom. Worthy of note: Ray Allen played all 48 minutes.

In another storyline, Rondo played much of the first half (17 minutes total) but eventually gave way to Eddie House, who scored 11 points and provided some high energy. As mentioned by Jeff Van Gundy roughly 8,000 times during the broadcast, House’s threatening J spaced the floor on offense and allowed teammates to roam more freely than when constricted by the Lakers’ 5-on-4 defense with Kobe as the freelancer. Give credit to Doc Rivers for going with and sticking with both House and small-ball throughout the second half. It was gutsy and it worked.

Alas, this is a game to savor. The headline on Yahoo at 12:53 a.m. is: “Historic Collapse by Lakers”. Sublime. The fact that it happened in LA makes it all the sweeter. The additional fact that the game was decided on a play at Game 3 chest-thumper Sasha Vujacic’s expense seems almost to good to be true.

Can you smell it? The cigar smoke from above? Must bother the shit out of Phil Jackson, which makes me smile even wider. Get those Duck Boats fired up, boys. One victory to go.

By Kevin Henkin

“Giving yourself permission to lose guarantees a loss” - Pat Riley

Honestly, I’m not quoting Pat Riley to provide a cute tie-in to the prior incarnation of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry. I cite the above-noted words because I find them to be the best summation of the Celtics’ collective effort in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, which they lost 87-81.

Heading into the game, there were a litany of excuses to lose floating about. The Lakers are back at home. Kobe is due. The league wants the officials to extend the series. The Lakers need the win more badly than the Celtics. And once the game was underway, even more excuses floated to the surface. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett are both awful. Our starting point guard is injured. Our bench is mostly invisible. P.J. Brown is playing like he’s nursing a 17 beer hangover. The officials are indeed calling a more favorable game for the Lakers. Some little greasy guy named Sasha Vujacic is killing us. Yes, the excuses appeared to be sufficient for all Celtics not named Ray Allen or James Posey to give themselves permission to lose. And lose they did, as the esteemed Mr. Riley would say was the inevitable result.

The shame of it all was that this was a game that could have been had and thus a series that could have been all but over. Other than Vujacic’s unlikely breakout game and Kobe Bryant’s slightly-better-than-average performance (36 points on 12-for-20 shooting) , the Lakers just didn’t play all that well. Pau Gasol was lousy (9 points, 3-9 shooting, 3-8 from the line) but he looked positively Russell-esque next to Lamar Odom (4 points, 2-9 shooting, 5 turnovers), whose basketball IQ has officially progressed into the negative.

To summarize the game, the Celtics were thoroughly outplayed in the first half and were plagued persistently by poor shot selection. Here are some numbers to paint the picture: In the first two quarters, the Celtics shot 32.6% from the field, turned the ball over 8 times and shot only 7 free throws to the 22 awarded to the Lakers. And yet somehow, amazingly, they found themselves only down by 6, 43-37. More than anyone else, it was Lady Luck who deserved the biggest high five from the Celtics heading into the locker room.

To their credit, in their only sustained stretch of good play, the Celtics won the third quarter 25-17 and retook the lead by 2. It was during that quarter that Ray Allen scored 10 of his 25 points and Kevin Garnett dished 3 assists and scored 8 of his 13. It should be noted that 44 seconds into that quarter, Rajon Rondo twisted his ankle and was removed from the game for examination. Although quickly re-taped and cleared to play, Rondo remained on the bench until the 7:59 mark in the fourth. In his absence, Eddie House hit a couple of meaningful threes but shot 2-for-8 overall. Poor Eddie House. The man is rustier than a French rifle so it’s a bit unfair to tap him on the shoulder at this point and ask him to go win the game from behind the arc.

As a quick aside, while we’re on Doc Rivers, can we conclude that those “Wired” segments aren’t doing him any favors in terms of cementing his legacy as a cerebral coach? Here’s the word-for-word sample from his segment taken from a timeout in the second half: “You’ve been hanging in there all night, guys. Let’s pump that lead up. Let’s get stops and scores. Stops and scores…” Although I can’t be sure, I suspect that was followed up with, “So let’s go over the game plan again, guys. Let’s score some points on our end, then prevent them from scoring on the other end. Tom will tell you how to do that last part. Then do that over and over again until you hear the loud horn go off…” I digress.

In the fourth quarter, if you’re looking for an answer for how the game was lost, spin the wheel because there are simply too many reasons to list here. Repeated defensive lapses? Check. Poor ball handling and offensive execution? Check. Kobe playing semi-unstoppable with the refs on his side? Check. Vujacic left wide open to shoot threes at his leisure? Check. Speaking of this, do you remember when Kobe had time to set his feet, size up the rim, floss his teeth and check them in the mirror of his purse before sinking that wide open three? Yup, he was Paul Pierce’s assignment from a switch on that play. Pierce, however, was busy crowding the boards and not covering anyone else. Then, do you also recall that dagger three that Vujacic hit just under the two minute mark that put the Lakers back up by 5? Pierce’s man again. I’m just saying it’s worthy of mention. In retrospect, it remains astounding that the Celtics kept within striking distance until the very end, when they inexplicably seemed content to let the Lakers run out the clock up by 6 with 21 seconds remaining. Way to go end-to-end, guys.

In summation, this is officially a series again. Let’s hope this fact leads a few more Celtics players to conclude permission denied on the excuses to lose going forward.

By Matt Richardson

Some further reflections on Game 2 of the Finals…

Shades of Game 5 in the Eastern Conference Finals, anyone? With the Celtics up by twenty-something with 7 minutes left to go, I was already counting the “W” and looking at the 2-0 lead heading to LA. My mind wandered to thoughts about what would change when the series moved out west. I concluded that Kobe would find his stroke at home. That Boston’s bench (America, meet Leon Powe; Leon Powe, America) wouldn’t play as well. That the Kobettes would play with more confidence. That there would not be a +28 disparity in free throw attempts.

The problem was that the Celtics players apparently were sharing some of the same thoughts, hence the complete breakdown in the final seven minutes. In the aftermath of that ugly stretch, we’re going to hear a lot about how champions make runs like the Lakers did, not surrender such runs. And we’re going to hear about how the Celtics provided the Lakers with confidence, and perhaps mentally allowed them back into this series. Don’t believe any of it. That celebrated Lakers team that made the dramatic fourth quarter run was the same team that got tuned by the Celtics for the other forty minutes of the game. Did the Lakers’ intrinsic talent suddenly show up with 8 minutes to play? Or, more likely, did the Celtics get up by a gaudy 24, consider the game over, and basically stop playing hard? I believe the latter, and while that is not entirely good, it’s eminently more curable than the former scenario. And, as noted in this space yesterday, there are no moral victories in the playoffs. The Celtics are up 2-0 in a best of 4 series. Boston needs to win 2 of 5 remaining games, while the Lakers need to win 4 of those 5 remaining games. Call me crazy but I like those odds. Besides, if the Celtics go on to win the title, nobody is going to remember that they nearly coughed up a 24 point lead in 8 minutes. It will simply be remembered that they won Game 2.

Also, expanding on this notion that allowing the fourth quarter run gave the Lakers players confidence: It might have. I won’t argue that. At this point, the Lakers will assuredly take whatever rallying point they can find. But what do you think the Celtics’ players are thinking? To a man, I’d guess, they feel they were kicking the crap out of the Lakers until they stopped trying, and then the Lakers got back in it. This is not intimidating to the Celtics. Rather, it’s a lesson learned: namely, that the Lakers, above anything else, are a team that can get hot and score points in bunches. Take your foot off their neck at your own peril. It’s a useful lesson for sure. Just don’t read too much more into it. If the Lakers’ players choose to believe the run was something they accomplished rather than something the Celtics allowed, they are deluding themselves.

As has been discussed in this forum and elsewhere, the Celtics don’t fit the conventional “champion” template. Their best player does not necessarily step up when they need him. They can be inconsistent and downright ugly at times on offense, and Paul Pierce frequently has to bails them out. They’re at their best when playing great defense, which in turn feeds their offense. On their really good nights, they get big contributions from random bench players. In Boston, by now we’re accustomed to this identity and recognize it as our own. The Celtics’ trademark wins are close affairs where they make one or two more plays than the other guys, plays that usually involve James Posey flying out of bounds, Kevin Garnett swatting a layup attempt or Ray Allen taking a charge. Remember in Top Gun when Goose described Iceman’s style, concluding with: “Eventually you get bored, frustrated, make a mistake, and then he’s got you…” That’s basically how the Celtics play. Nationally, I think fans and experts alike who are unfamiliar with the Celtics are struggling to reconcile their evident flaws with their more subtle strengths. It’s the only explanation I can come up with for this excessive national wave of Lakers love.

Other thoughts:

The Lakers don’t play great defense, they don’t rebound particularly well and they are not very physical. Oh, and they float in and out of the vaunted Triangle Offense apparently based on whimsy. Other than that, they are damned scary.

I don’t ever remember Paul Pierce ever playing this calmly on offense. He seems to be in complete control at all times, knowing exactly where he is going. His 5 footer in the lane with 2 minutes left was a perfect example. Oh by the way, Pierce and Posey scored Boston’s last 9 points, including going 4-4 on the game clinching free throws.

My wife and mother in law guessed that the Garden held 35,000 and 40,000 people respectively. I think the place looks bigger in HD.

Early in the first both Van Gundy and Jackson object to the fouls being called on Kobe, feeling they were too soft for playoff basketball. Imagine that, two former Knicks objecting to fouls being called. Clearly Ray Allen’s sternum was not cracked on that elbow, so no way is it a foul.

In the third quarter as the Lakers were falling further and further behind, they came out of a time out during which Jackson evidently told them to be more aggressive. Lamar Odom immediately took the ball at the top of the key and went barreling towards the hoop, getting whistled for a charge. You could see that one coming a mile away. In related news, I’ve been waiting to see this new and improved Odom I keep hearing about. So far he looks like the same old “not nearly as good as he thinks he is or people think he should be” guy that he’s always been.

Good to see old friend Antoine Walker in the crowd looking relaxed and relatively fit. And sporting a plain white tee shirt complemented by a $40,000 wristwatch. Gunpoint hold ups will apparently not convince him that five figure timepieces are excessive.

Mandatory anti-jinx prediction: The Celtics will come back to Boston down 3-2 and Kobe will have scored approximately 200 points in 3 games.