Sixers 82, Celtics 81: “It’s 100% clear to me that the Celtics have zero respect for the 76ers.”
That was Charles Barkley, of course, speaking during halftime. I thought he was dead on. At that point, the Celtics led by two… but with just 38 points on the board. Philadelphia’s offensive woes probably had as much to do with their own ineptitude as they did with Boston’s defense, and Ryan Hollins had been responsible for 6 of Boston’s 13 second-quarter points. Meanwhile, Kevin Garnett was yet to take his fourth shot and Rajon Rondo was walking his way through one of those games.
We probably should’ve seen it coming. Remember Rondo’s little chat with David Aldridge after the rather-unimpressive victory in game one? I considered making a negative post about it, but everyone seemed to love it, so I let it go. However, now that Rondo and his Celtics have given away a game on their home floor… I think I’ll go ahead and relay my opinion: the conversation oozed more arrogance than it did confidence. At least that’s how I received it.
The Celtics did show up to play eventually–at about the start of the fourth quarter, I’d say–but they already trailed by eight at that point. Behind some timely three-point shooting from Mickael Pietrus, they did manage to come all the way back to tie the game at 65 (yes, 65-65 was the mid-fourth-quarter score), but Philadelphia was able to stay up by a bucket or two for the majority of the stretch run. The Celtics actually put up 32 in the fourth (5 threes), and their defensive effort was there. They paid the price for their questionable first-half play, though, as Lavoy Allen knocked in a banker at the shot-clock buzzer, Jrue Holiday stuck a three-pointer, and Evan Turner connected on a driving, falling, scoop shot with the wrong hand. Those scores, along with a couple easier shots/made free throws, put the Sixers up three with just 10 seconds left. The shocking conclusion:
While I can understand a Celtics fan’s frustration over the timing of such a call, as an advocate of officiating equality who has been dying to see KG get whistled for a moving screen since 1995… I felt like justice had just been served.
I’m not trying to take anything away from the Sixers with all this talk about the Celtics… I just feel that Boston is the superior team, and that they could’ve very easily put themselves in a better position to win this home game had they simply played with a little bit more passion from the get go. In the end, though, Philly made the shots to win it (perfect 5-5 on their last 5 FG attempts) against a great defensive team that had begun to bring it. It would be unfair not to credit them for doing so. Jrue Holiday played an excellent game as he went 4-6 from downtown to score a game high of 18 points. Rajon Rondo missed 8 of 12 shots, Paul Pierce scored just 7 on 9 attempts, and Brandon Bass finished 5-15.
*Wondering why I didn’t do a “starting lineup?” Well, let’s just put it this way: in the evening’s other game, Nazr Mohammed gave Oklahoma City a 33-point lead with a 15-foot jumper… with 5:50 to go in the third quarter. I’m not sure one play has ever summarized a game so effectively. The Lakers got absolutely trounced by the Thunder, and I don’t think you need my help to understand a 29-point game in which one team shot 53% on their way to 119 points.
