Those are the exact words that I said to myself about halfway through the third quarter.
The first half was ugly for most of the way. It seemed like nothing was working right offensively. Sam Cassell's five and a half minutes were a complete disaster (for the record, I've never seen so many Eddie House t-shirts). And, to make matters worse, LeBron was scoring points with ease (23 in the first quarter). At one point, Cleveland led by 14 and it seemed like the Celtics were just going to dig themselves into a deeper hole. You could feel the tension building in the arena. I couldn't cheer, I couldn't stand up, all I could do was sit there as the anger and frustration grew with every possession. To be honest, that whole first quarter and most of the second quarter seem like a blur now.
During the last five minutes of the second quarter, the Cs started to claw their way back in. Rondo came back into the game and hit a couple of big threes, we got some stops, and Pierce hit a runner with less than 5 seconds left that put us within three. Only down three, after that pathetic display. I got up for halftime and headed over to get some beer and a personal pizza. I was feeling less tense. I was relieved to only be down three, and excited that Jay-Z was in the building.As I waited in line, I started thinking about the Hornets on Tuesday night. They too had played a bad first half. They too had found themselves only trailing by three at halftime. They came out, made adjustments, played a great second half, and won the game. Of course, that was a team that has been playing just as well (and, probably better) than they played in the regular season. That's a team that has shown the ability to hang tough and come from behind in games in the post-season. That's a team with a great coach who knows how to manage players and make adjustments. I was tense again. Why couldn't this team just play like the Celtics we've seen all year? Who is this team that I just watched in the first half?
And then, just when things seemed on the verge of collapsing completely, the real Boston Celtics appeared.
I can't point to any specific moment when it happened, because they played great the entire half. The defense was stifling, the ball movement and execution on offense was smooth. The players carried themselves like a team that knows it's in control and is confident that it's going to win. The noise in the building rose to a near-deafening level as Celtics fans everywhere felt the tension of the last ten quarters rush away.
A few notes
- The Celtics almost blew the game in the last minute. I don't know if it was a result of them being too comfortable with the lead or if they need to spend some time practicing end of game situations when the opponent presses them hard. This game was not as close as the final score would indicate. But, the Celtics kept it interesting with turnovers at the end.
- Huge game tonight from Rondo. Not only was he spectacular on both ends of the floor, but he played the entire second half. We've been saying all along that he's the key. This game is going to be great for his confidence. I can't stress enough the importance of those threes that he hit in the first half. It was also good to see Doc leave him out there when he played well.
- Nice to see some second half adjustments from Doc tonight. While I was totally baffled by the way he used Glen Davis on Monday, I loved what he did tonight. Putting Big Baby on the floor with Rondo and the Big Three was a great move. He gave the team a huge energy boost, and he was able to grab a couple nice hoops while the Cavs were so focused on stopping KG down low. I also loved having Pierce (30 points) start with the ball up top. It was a great way to get him some separation and to give the Cavs another look.
- Those who have been calling for KG to step up, be aggressive, and take over games got it last night. KG was extremely active on defense, it seemed like he was hitting all of his shots, and you could see him getting in his teammates' faces to keep them hungry. It was the classic KG that we all love and have always seen at home. If he can take that same game with him to Cleveland on Friday, this series may not return to Boston.
Great quote from ESPN about Doc Rivers and why he didn't call KG over to calm him down during the game "Rivers said 'he was talking so much to himself anyways, I didn't think I'd be able to get a word in'".
I love this interview with KG and John Thompson. I watched it about 55 times the day that the Cs acquired Garnett from Minnesota:
Now, after watching that, can you ever imagine KG saying the things LeBron said last night after a loss? "Great individual performance by me" (an indirect insult to his teammates). I couldn't be happier to be on KG's side. The Celtics are going to win this series.
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Arlen Spector is an idiot (typical Eagles fan), and that's coming from someone that's not a Patriots fan. He clearly knows nothing about football, and I can't believe that that he is calling for Congressional involvement in this matter. Now, I was outspoken against the Mitchell Investigation. I thought that baseball's best option was to move forward with their harsh new policy, and not waste Congressional time, money, and energy investigating the past. But, at least when we talk about sterroids, we're dealing with actual breaking of the law. We're dealing with drug use, and international drug trafficking. We're dealing with high school kids all over the country with a dream of becoming a pro athlete, and a choice to make about sterroid use. What are we dealing with here? A breach of NFL rules? No law was broken here. I think Roger Goodell, by handing down a harsh penalty on the Patriots, did a great job of deterring this practice and I think that he will work hard to enforce it because he doesn't want his league to lose credibility. The incentive for him to police it is so huge, that I don't know why we doubt his motivation.
Right after the original Spygate happened in September, I thought that Belichick should have been suspended. I felt that the individual fine levied against him put too much blame squarely on him. It's never just one person. The organization as a whole should have taken that punishment. But, the organization did receive harsh punishments as well (most notably losing a first round draft pick). So, I might have gone about punishing the Pats differently. BUT, Goodell's punishment was harsh, and it was the largest punishment ever given out. What more does Spector want? We've seen everything that Matt Walsh has to offer, and to the best of my understanding there's no new evidence to indicate any new developments in this case.
Finally, let's take a minute to acknowledge the fact that the NFL is currently involved in a major dispute with Comcast, which just happens to be one of the largest overall contributors to the political campaigns of Arlen Spector. Those Eagles fans, you have to watch them.
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I was only able to catch the fourth quarter of the Lakers game, so I won't comment extensively on it. But, the two main things that stood out were Pau Gasol's passing abilities, and the fact that neither Boozer nor Okur can cover Lamar Odom. Kobe looked fine to me (although, Phil Jackson said his jumper looked flat. I defer to Phil). I think Utah wins game 6.
