You may have caught this clip of a sit down conversation between Bill Russell and Kevin Garnett during halftime of last night's game.  For those of you that are unfamiliar with Mr. Russell - he only won 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons as a player and coach.  He is truly a living legend and you can see the amazing level of respect these two men have for each other. 

I definitely had goosebumps watching this for the first time last night.  ABC and ESPN are planning to show additional pieces of the conversation as the Celtics continue through the playoffs and I can't wait to see more!

By the way...no disrespect to Ted Williams, but can Bill Russell get a tunnel or bridge or something named after him around here.  We certainly know that decision wasn't based on the number of championships brought to the city!

The highlight of tonight's contest between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers happened during the halftime show.  ESPN ran about 3 minutes of a conversation between Bill Russell and Kevin Garnett.  I'm not ashamed to admit the ol' eyes got a little watery.  Bill told KG, with tears developing in his own eyes, how proud of Garnett he was, and told him that he believes KG will win 1 or 2 rings before he retires, but if he doesn't, Bill said he'd share one of his championships with Garnett.  KG sat there, virtually speechless, and we're going to try to find a clip of that to share with you.

Other than that, tonight was a bloody disaster.  Boston came out flat... once again.  The bench wasn't able to rescue anybody this time.   We were porous on defense, embarrassing on offense and I have no confidence that we'll be able to make any road game even competitive from here on out.  Thank God for home court advantage!

The Celtics came out in the first, missed a couple of easy baskets, and Cleveland immediately grabbed the momentum-reigns and never looked back.  After the first quarter, Boston was down 32-13 -- we let the Cavs shoot 65% from the field, and at one point the score was 16-6, with Ben Wallace having as many points as the entire Celtics team.  It was that kind of night.  Boston made a couple runs to cut down the lead, rattling off 10 straight points in the 2nd and 7 straight in the 3rd, but both times we let Cleveland regain control with some easy 3 point shots.   

We're not going to dwell too much on tonight's performance.  With the exception of Garnett and Posey, the entire Celtics team was sub-par.  To paint a picture of the type of night it was, Boston didn't attempt a single free-throw until there was 3 and 1/2 minutes left in the first half.  To close out the 2nd quarter, Perkins airballed a 7 foot jumpshot, and in the third he actually attempted a 15 foot turnaround jumper while being covered by Ben Wallace (look at the picture if you think I'm making that up).  Delonte West played "Rover", wreaking absolute havoc on our offense.  Rondo had zero confidence in his jumpshot in the first half (he knocked down a couple in the second), effectively allowing Cleveland to ignore him.  Cleveland shot 54% from the field, 53% from downtown, dished 29 assists and only committed 10 turnovers.  West dominated Rondo, scoring 21 points and 7 assists (on 7-11 shooting with 4 3's), to Rondo's 7 points (on 3-10), 1 rebound and 0 assists.  

BOXSCORE 

MVC: We're giving co-MVC tonight to KG and Posey.  The only two Celtics who came to play.  Garnett finished with 17 points (8-13 shooting) with 9 boards.  Posey had 11 points with 3 3's.  Neither was spectacular, but they hurt Boston the least... 

In keeping with my post-loss venting sessions, there are a couple things I want to touch on.  First, the officiating was atrocious tonight.  Now, I'm in no way blaming the loss on the refs.  We blew it by playing terrible basketball, but were this a close game, my blame may lie on the striped shirts.   I'm not sure what our guys  need to do to get to the foul line, but they're getting roughed up out there and not getting any calls.  Second, it looks like we're going to get at least one Oscar-worthy performance from LeBron per game.  Tonight it happened on a flagrant foul on Posey.  LeBron was driving, Posey reached out to stop him -- obviously going for the foul, but he did go for the ball -- LeBron happened to drop his head and shoulders (as he usually does) and Posey grazed LeBron's neck with his hand.  The way LeBron dropped and rolled on the ground clutching his neck, you'd think he just had a run-in with the Boston Strangler.  Of course, once he made his point he jumped to his feet as if nothing had happened.  His act (and Varejao's just as bad) is getting old, quick.  The man is 6'9" 250.  Act like it.  My favorite part about all the LeBron acting is his new Vitamin Water commercial where he plays the defense attorney.  At the end of the commercial, as he proves his case, he says, "Besides, dude's fakin'".  Yes you are, LeBron.  Yes you are.

Lastly, we're going to dispense some amateur, outsider advice for Doc.  Number one, there's no reason that ice-cold Ray Allen should have 1 fewer field goal attempt than KG -- more importantly, there's no reason that KG should've only taken 13 shots.  Tonight he was all we had -- get him the ball.  Second, try throwing Eddie House out there.  If the Cavs are going to let Delonte West roam around and disrupt our offense, replace Rondo with House and let's make them pay.  There's a reason that we have Eddie -- for situations exactly like this.  That'll keep West where he should be (and where we know where he is) and let the rest of the offense function as it should.  Third, let's mix it up for Game 4.  We haven't won on the road yet -- let's try something else.  Sit Perk and start Posey -- or bring Ray off the bench.  Our defense is clearly better when Posey is on the court.  The only downside is matching up with Big Z, but Zydrunas is killing us no matter what we do, we don't have the height to deal properly with him.  At least with Posey out there we can cut down on the perimeter attacks and ensure LeBron is kept in check. 

That's all I have for you tonight.  I'm still confident we're moving on to the next round -- mainly because we kept LeBron in check for 3 straight games now (he was 5-16 tonight if you were wondering) and we seem invincible at home -- but it sure would be nice to win an away game. 

I'll let the Rock tell you all about it.

Thanks to Redsarmy

We can chalk the Celtics decisive victory up to two very important factors: Defense (of course) and our bench; mainly, Posey, Powe, Cassell and PJ. 

The game began like a nightmare.  Boston's offense mimicked the complete lack of flow from game 1.  The Cavs were triple-teaming KG on the block, not allowing him any good looks.  Not only was Ray Allen missing his field goals, he was missing free-throws as well.  Worst of all, the Cavs head coach Mike Brown, decided (intelligently) that he was going to let Big Z anchor the Cleveland offense.   Zydrunas scored the Cavs first 8 points (not missing a shot), Cleveland jumped out to a 12 point lead and it had all the makings for a looooong night in Beantown.

That's when Doc went to his bench, and the tide turned for good.   Posey did all the same, great Posey things he did in Game 1, Cassell kept his finger off the trigger and focused on getting his team good looks and hitting his open shots, Powe was a monster under the rim, and even PJ Brown got in on the action.  With the energy group on the floor, Boston quickly turned the deficit upside down, putting the Celtics on top (where they'd stay for good).  At the end of the half, the bench had outscored our starters 26-18 -- Powe had 9 points (and 6 boards), and we went into the half up 44-36.

Quarter number 3 began with a bang.  Ray Allen scored the first basket of the half on an easy lay-in (off an offensive rebound from a previous missed shot attempt), and Boston quickly rattled off 6 straight points (including 2 more from Ray on a pair of free-throws) before Mike Brown called a timeout.   It didn't matter.  Boston didn't lose an ounce of momentum and they completely steamrolled the Cavs in the quarter.  Not sure what happened to Ray Allen during halftime, but he came out playing masterfully.  Not only did he score 11 points in the 3rd (after being held scoreless for 72 minutes of basketball), but he orchestrated quite a few easy baskets for Boston.  Doc finally used Ray appropriately, getting him the ball off of screens.  Cleveland would double-team Ray as soon as he received the pass, and he'd hit the open Celtic.  Cleveland had no counter.

Boston's defense was astounding once again.  The Cavs began the game hitting 11 of their first 22 shots.  Out of their next 22, they only made 3.  One of the announcer made the comment that, "It is almost like there are 6 Celtics on the floor".  Not only did they keep LeBron in check, but nobody in red could establish anything.  Boston snatched 11 steals and held Cleveland to just 36% from the field.  However, the best defense was saved for James.   After shooting 2-18 on Tuesday, James only converted 6 of 24 tonight (including 4 bricks from downtown).   He finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 7 more turnovers (to add to the 10 from game 1).   While the Cavs did a better job of getting LeBron in a position to score, the Celtics defense wouldn't allow it.  Hustling back on transition, what looked like easy baskets by James turned into missed layups (or no shot attempts at all) as LeBron was met by 2, 3 or sometimes 4 white jerseys between him and the rim.  I could gush about the Celtics defense for 10,000 words and I wouldn't be doing them enough justice.

MVC: Paul Pierce.  In the first quarter, Paul was the only Celtic doing anything productive on offense (scoring 7 points, after his anemic game 1).  He finished the game with 19 points (on 7-13 shooting), with 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals (and no turnovers).  Despite leaving the game for a bit with an injured thumb (he appeared to bend his thumbnail back at the start of the 2nd), his D on LeBron was top-notch again.  He's not intimidated by LeBron, and more importantly, he's up to the challenge of guarding him.  Congrats to Paul as well for winning All-NBA 3rd team honors (Garnett made 1st team, not surprisingly), although Pierce definitely should've been 2nd team of Dirk.  Just a great day for Paul Pierce and his fans.

A couple things to touch on before we sign off here.  First, LeBron James' crying, overreacting and over-acting on the court.  Just 2 days ago I got into a debate on the CelticsBlog forums about LeBron and whether he's a "crybaby".  Oddly enough, I took the stance of defending King James.  The discussion started over his over-acting on the flagrant that was called on Cassell during game 1.  My stance was that his reaction (while absurd) worked, he got the flagrant call and the opportunity to get some extra points out of the situation.  Did I necessarily agree with it?  No, but I didn't think we should attack LeBron over it, as he was just trying to put his team in the best position to win.  My stance was, and still is, that it is the ref's faults for being so easily swayed and the NBA's fault for doing nothing about all the flopping, whining and acting on the court.  Well, tonight LBJ took it to a whole other level.  First, he got a call on Posey when they both went for the ball along the sideline and LeBron literally propelled himself backwards as if he was shoved (even though Posey didn't touch him).  Worse, the ref was RIGHT THERE.  Incredible.  Second, and far worse in my opinion, was the call THAT HE GOT when he was driving down the middle and Pierce grabbed him, preventing him from attempting the layup.  LeBron wanted it to be a shooting foul -- it was called a blocking foul.  It truly could've gone either way.  LeBron had not, by any means, began an attempt to shoot or to get into a position to shoot.  But, it was obvious that that was what he was going to do once he took the next step... Pierce, wisely, stopped him before he got the chance.  Anyway, LeBron spend the next 5 minutes complaining directly to the refs.  He got in their huddle while the refs were debating, and he carried his whining all the way through while he inbounded the ball -- he literally stood there while he held the ball to inbound it, yelling at the ref.  Is there another player in the league who can show up an official for MINUTES in a row and not get a technical?  I still can't blame it on LeBron, but the league needs to do something about this.  It really turns off the casual fan and makes the league look tainted.

 Alright, I'll end my anti-acting rant now.  Boston played amazing defense, once again.  They kept LeBron in check, and minus the opening minutes outburst by Zydrunas, didn't let another Cav get anything going.  They had more energy, more desire, and the deeper team.  Our bench bailed us out, KG owned the paint (partially due to the fact that Ben Wallace left early with "dizziness" and didn't return), and KG's wingmen stepped it up.  I'd like to see if Boston can keep this momentum up and win a game on the road.

Lastly, let's calm down with the chants of "over-rated" and thinking that we somehow own LeBron.  I brought this up briefly after Tuesday's game, but last season Detroit had similar success at home against LeBron in the first two games... only to see him go off and single-handedly win 4 straight games (and the series).  He's still an unstoppable player, and although we've been able to keep him in check for 8 quarters, we can't realistically expect to keep it up.  LeBron is going to get his points... if he has to hog the ball to do it, he's going to.  My concern is how we'll match points with him down the stretch on the road if we get into a dogfight.  Up 2-0 feels good... but it felt great against the Hawks and we know how that turned out.  Beyond all that, though, just a great game by the entire Celtics team and coaching staff. 

Oh, and during the pre-game show Stephen A. Smith was talking about Tyson Chandler and said that he's, "long, lanky, and has long arms".   Just thought you'd enjoy that.  GO CELTICS!!!

This one comes from Pierce talking about one of the problems in Game 1 was that he was too hyped up to play.

Sometimes looking at the video montage the Celtics put together for pregame introductions "makes you feel like you drank 10 Red Bulls."

Round 2 of the playoffs brings old friend Delonte West back to town with the Cavs as he faces the team that he began his career with - the Boston Celtics. 

Delonte was shipped to Seattle in the Ray Allen trade on draft day last year.  He's now the starting point guard for Cleveland after being traded for a second time during the season.

If you're a fan of Delonte or even if you know nothing about him, you need to check out this video made during his time in Boston.  Words really can't even begin to decribe it.  Let's just say...Delonte is one unique cat!

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish...

There a a ton of storylines for tonight's game, but the biggest, and most important, revolves around LeBron James.  LeBron nearly had a quadrupal-double tonight, putting up 12-9-9-10... that's 12 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 10 turnovers.  Oh yeah, he also only made 2 field goals (on 18 attempts) and missed the potential game-tying layup with a few seconds left.  To understand just how masterful the Celtics defense was tonight, try to let this little fact sink in:  LeBron scored the first field goal of the game, and he didn't score another until there was only 5 minutes left in the 4th.  James was shut out (from the field) for 3 whole quarters of basketball.  You don't need to be a rabid NBA fan to know that as LeBron goes, the Cavs go.

OK, enough LeBron talk... the last thing I want to do is get that man all riled up.  On the flip-side, Boston's main cog, Kevin Garnett, was absolutely dominating.  He finished with 28 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.  He made two clutch baskets down the stretch to help seal the win.  He busted out of the gates, scoring 12 first quarter points, attempting to set the tone for Boston.  In the first half, he was an offensive juggernaut down-low.  Cleveland (like most other teams) couldn't handle him in the post.  Unfortunately, in the second half he reverted back to hanging out by the 3 point line... although one of his big, down-the-stretch shots was a 20+ foot jumper, so I'm not complaining.

Rondo was excellent at home, once again, notching 15 points (5-8 FG), 5 rebounds and 6 assists.  Rondo came out just as hot as KG and rattled off 8 of Boston's first 12 points.  He and KG were literally the only Celtics contributing on offense for the majority of the first half.   At one point, KG had 16 points, Rondo had 10, and the rest of the team had 9 combined.  The confidence and swagger were back for Rondo... now only if he can keep that up on the road.

Pierce and Ray Allen were a completely different story.  Ray was held scoreless for the first time in 11 years,  shooting 0-4, committing 4 turnovers and didn't get to the free-throw line once.  Pierce struggled even more, putting up a LeBron-like 2-14, with 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 6 turnovers.  He also didn't attempt a single free-throw.  You can't complain about a win, and Pierce was lights-out guarding LeBron, but these two need to come with something more in Game 2.  Perkins, on the other hand, picked up right where he left off in Game 7.  12 boards, 2 blocked shots and 7 points. 

Off the bench, Posey was tremendous and Sam Cassell (yes, THAT Sam Cassell) came up huge.  Posey did all the great James Posey things we've seen him do all year long... except he did them to LeBron.  Pierce go into early foul trouble and Posey stepped in and put the clamp on James.  Posey logged 25 minutes of PT, with nearly all of it guarding LeBron -- and you can attribute the King's terrible play on the defensive stylings of Posey.  He never let LeBron get into any kind of rhythm, and if you want the key statistic for the game, just look at Posey's +/-: 17+, the next highest player was KG with +7.  Posey was lights-out, and he had himself a pretty impressive offensive game as well, with 8 points and 2 three's.

BOXSCORE 

Cassell on the other hand, still has a bit of that gunslinger mentality, but tonight his shots fell.  He hoisted 8 shots in his 18 minutes, but made half (including 2 three's), and had 9 huge points in the 4th quarter alone.  As much as it terrifies me to admit, we may need Sam on the court late in games to hit some big shots for us. 

On the other side of the ball, Zydrunas had his way with us once more -- 22 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.  Ben Wallace was a non-factor, Delonte had a solid game but only managed 4 points on 2-10 shooting, and Wally hit some open shots, made a couple hustle plays, but came away with only 13 points with two 3's. 

MVC: Kevin Garnett.  He played 39 minutes of inspired basketball, dominating on both ends of the court.  Finally, FINALLY, a Celtic told the rest of the team to get on his back.  He made big shots at the end of the game,  locked down on D, and  didn't let his team lose tonight.

Lastly, the low score can be attributed to some sloppy play and some missed open shots, but both  teams played stellar defense.  This series is going to be a dogfight.  Doc kept screaming all night that we were playing into Cleveland's hands by slowing the ball down and getting stuck in a half-court basketball game.  Luckily, our defense was able to keep LeBron in check and come up with just enough baskets to win.  Next time, I fear we won't be that lucky.  LeBron can't be shutdown forever, but neither can Ray and Paul.  I am ready for Game 2.

I just wanted to take a few paragraphs of your time an share some of my thoughts for the Celtics round 2 matchup with the Cavs.  Oh, and to apologize for my lack of Game 7 blogging -- due to a family engagement, a car accident (not involving me) which severed some fiber optic cables, there was to be no blogging yesterday... nor cable, nor internet.  But we're back in the 21st Century now, so all's good.

Anyway, the obvious storyline for Round 2 is Lebron versus the Big 3.  Unstoppable force versus United Team, etc, etc.  Of course King James terrifies the bajeezus out of me.  He truly can't be stopped -- he's just too strong and too good.  Much like Larry Bird, at the end of the game, Lebron is going to be getting the ball, and he's going to get his shot.  Most of the time it falls... but that's not the point.  Our glaring weakness during that way-too-long Hawks series is that we don't have that guy.  At the end of the game, no Celtic stepped up and traded shots with Joe Johnson, or anybody else.  We need that.  I can't say who it should be, but in Paul I trust.

The rest of the Cavs really don't scare me.  Of course, they didn't scare anybody last season and they made it to the Finals, so let's not take ANOTHER team for granted.  The 'X' factors for the Cavs are, oddly enough, ex-Celtics Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak.  They've been fairly inconsistent (which isn't all that surprising to us), but each have a game or two in these playoffs where they've stepped up and brought Cleveland a victory.  Luckily, neither of these guys is Joe Johnson, and I sure hope Ray Allen is able to stick Wally and I know Rondo can handle West.  The only way these guys are going to kill us is if we let Lebron draw our defense in and we leave these guys open outside.  Hopefully KG and Perk can protect the rim and it'll be a non-issue.

The only other guy who worries me a little is Ilgauskas.  He's just too damn tall -- Perk does his best on Big Z, but it's a frustrating cover for him.  At 7'3" Ilgauskas is able to virtually get his shots off at will, and we have no one with the length and size to cause him much trouble.  As long as we can keep a body on him and prevent him from hanging around the rim, he shouldn't cause us too much trouble.  The rest of the Cavs can't be ignored, but shouldn't cause sleepless nights either.  Boobie Gibson is named Boobie, Ben Wallace just doesn't have it anymore, and Joe Smith is solid, but nothing more.

For the Celtics, we just need to keep that game 7 intensity and execution level.  That's really all it comes down to.  We're a solid team, made up of mostly veterans.  They either play their game, or they don't.  When they do, it's amazing to watch.  When they don't, they make guys like Zaza Pachulia look like future hall of famers.  As long as we can lock down on defense, prevent transition bucks, and prevent offensive rebounds, our offense takes care of itself.  Ray needs to find his shooting touch.  We need to keep putting the ball in Pierce's hands, and KG needs to hang a little more near the rim and a little less near halfcourt.  Rondo seems to have regained his confidence, and Perk was an absolute Beast in game 7 -- so if we can keep that train rolling, we'll be alright.

I think I've watched this video 50 times already. USA, USA, USA!

This quote comes from Larry Legend before game 7 in 1988 vs. the Hawks.

They might as well forget it. They've got no chance.

This is the attitude we need today. Go Celtics!

After last night's loss I sat in front of my computer, searching for something to write about.  I couldn't form quality, coherent sentences in my head, let alone type them out on a blog.  So, here I am the following morning... and I'm going through the exact same thing.

You know what it feels like?  It feels like I'm a six year-old who just got a shiny new red bike for Christmas... I'm all excited, can't wait to ride it... but before I get a chance to even get on the bike, my older brother grabs the bike from my hands, brings it outside and begins to repeatedly run the bike over with his car, until there is nothing but bent metal and shards of cheap plastic littering the driveway, and there's nothing I can do but to watch in horror.

The worst part of this whole debacle is the fact that the Celtics are actually trying to win.  They are giving their full effort out there... this is as good as we're going to be.  And that isn't good enough to win anything meaningful.  What that translates to is no banner 17 for quite some time.  The "Big 3" aren't getting any better, just older and more prone to breaking down.  Our salary cap is absolutely shot for the foreseeable future.  We're not going to be able to break these guys up, and based on this post season, I don't know that we're going to be able to persuade many quality veteran free-agents to Boston hoping to ride the "Big 3"'s coattails to a championship ring.

Last night's loss was truly a team effort.  Doc was terrible last night.  Could he have possibly been thinking, "Ray Allen single-covering Joe Johnson worked so well in games 3 & 4, let's try that for a stretch in the 4th quarter!"?  The Hawks are literally unable to defend KG in the post, so let's make sure he keeps taking those 20 foot jump shots!  Oh, we need a three to tie the game?  Let's have Rondo run down the court and stare blankly as his teammates run around like a scene from a poorly made video game.  We won game 5 by putting the ball in Pierce's hands and letting him drive?  The Hawks will be expecting that, let's make sure Pierce doesn't get many touches, and that Ray Allen takes a bunch of quick, off-balance 3's with hands in his face.  Atlanta won't see that coming.

OK, I'm just getting angry, bitter and sarcastic now....  I do apologize, but I refer you back to the second sentence.  Much like Boston, I just don't have it in me.

Yes, I'm feeling hopeless and depressed right now.  And, yes, once we win Game 7, sweep the Cavs and head into our series against Detroit, I'll deny that I ever wrote any of this.   

This Paul Pierce “menacing” gesture thing was blown way out of proportion. Danny Ainge said they will appeal and Paul issued this statement before yesterdays game.

I don’t want to take the focus away from the playoffs. In sports, emotions run high and playing 10 years in Boston, I think Celtics fans know I am a passionate player. I 100 percent do not in any way promote gang violence or anything close to it. I am sorry if that was misinterpreted in Saturday’s game. In fact, through my Truth foundation I am committed to giving back to youth groups and making sure young people have the opportunities to succeed in life. I am extremely proud of the work I have done through the foundation to provide positive influences and safe havens for inner city kids.

Then last night during last night' introductions all the players did their usual thing, but not the extremely focused & ticked off Pierce.  He skipped all his moves and just stood there at the end of the line. Then went out and dropped 23 pts, 7 reds & 6 asst all while playing tough D all night long.

Now in today's Herald is this NIFTY LITTLE PHOTO OF MAYOR MENINO from 2005!

The mayor was snapped doing the three-finger salute at the 2005 Boston Hip-Hop festival with the guys from Special Teamz: Slaine, Edo G, Jaysaun, and DJ JayCeeOh. But we don’t think the mayor has gone off and joined the Crips or the Piru Blood either.

According to photographer A. Garcia, who snapped the pic of Menino and his hip-hop posse, the guys were not giving a shout out to the aforementioned Piru Blood. They were throwing the “Boston” sign - a “three up” or “B” thing meant to signify the Hub. Or, sometimes the three stripes on Adidas shoes. Confused yet?

Can David Stern and the NBA just come out and admit their mistake please?

See more artwork here.

The Celtics came out tonight with defense on their mind and walked off the court with a convincing 110 - 85 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

From the opening tip, Boston's demeanor was completely different than it was in Atlanta.  They were once again focused on defense, playing aggressive, playing smart and maintaining their intensity for four quarters.  Atlanta's first couple possessions, and many many more after that, consisted of being smothered by Celtic defenders, half-heartedly chucking the ball around the court and putting up desperation shots as the shot clock was winding down.  We only came away with 5 steals and only forced 13 turnovers, but the reason for tonight's victory isn't going to show up on any stat sheet.

Immediately following tonight's game, Cheryl Miller interviewed Kevin Garnett.  They talked about getting back to playing "Celtics Basketball", and what that meant.  Mainly, KG said (and I'm paraphrasing), that it meant playing unselfishly, giving yourself on both ends of the court and keeping your intensity level high.   We did all of that tonight, and more.  We reverted back to making that extra pass on offense.  Boxing out around the hoop, preventing the Hawks from getting those cheap second-chance tip-ins and put-backs.  Rotating intelligently on defense, coming out to meet the Hawks' perimeter shooters.  Just executing and doing all the little things that you need to do to win.

The Celtics' defense was the star of the show tonight, but their offense was nearly as impressive.  Ray Allen had 19 points and 4 assists.  Paul Pierce had 22 points and 6 assists.  Kevin Garnett had 20 points and  7 assists, and Rajon Rondo had 12 points and 7 assists.  Not only did everybody get their points, but they shared the ball, made sure everybody was involved and frankly, were way too much for the Hawks to handle.

Mike Bibby was terrible, yet again... 6 points on 2-8 shooting, with 1 assist and 3 turnovers, with a -17 +/- rating.  Joe Johnson had a pretty strong game considering he was in early foul trouble, and the Boston defenders had him absolutely smothered.  He scored 21 points on 6-11 shooting (with only 2 3's).  For those of your keeping track at home, Johnson only took 3 more shots than Bibby.  That's a direct result of Doc's defensive gameplan.  Each time Joe got the ball, we doubled him, no matter where he was on the court.  A few times he was able to break away, a few times Atlanta was able to get him an open look... mostly he was frustrated and had to pass the ball up to someone else.  With Johnson out of the equation, Atlanta's offense was stagnant.

BOXSCORE

MVC:  Leon Powe.   He didn't do much in the second half, but Leon was in full on Beast Mode in the first.  Coming in for Perk who was in early foul trouble, Leon was the answer to the Hawk's interior domination.  Running on nothing but hustle and determination, Leon snagged 5 offensive rebounds (7 total) and notched 7 points in the half.  He wasn't scared to put up a shot around the rim, and he wasn't letting any high-flying Hawk snatch any rebounds.  He was pure old-school tonight, banging down low and letting the Hawks know that we were taking back control of this series.  If we're going to be going all the way this year, we're going to need a few more nights like this from Leon... but I have confidence that we'll be getting those.

Every Celtics fans knew (after we recovered from the Game 4 shell-shock) there was no way Boston was going to lose this game at home.  Atlanta isn't in the same league as us, and it may have just taken that little scare to bring us back to reality.  Regardless of who you're playing, there is no easy victory in the playoffs.  You still have to execute on both ends of the court and stick to your gameplan.  Like I wrote last night, the Hawks aren't going to roll over for us... but I think tonight we may have finally pushed them to the ground for good.

It's time for the boys to get serious tonight.  The C's need to come out and smash Atlanta in front of a wild Garden crowd and then fly back to the ATL to close the show on Friday night.  I have tickets for Game 7 on Sunday and I'll be pissed if I actually have to go.  Let's get it Celts!!

Reebok is sponsoring a “Green Out” in the Garden tonight. Everyone who goes to Game 5 will get a free Celtics T-shirt, courtesy of the Canton sneaker giants. Go Celts!

I feel better today.  I think we're going to be OK.  KG and Perk avoiding suspensions feels like we're getting a second chance.  I trust these Boston Celtics, and I know they're going to do the right thing -- mainly play defense and box out.

One of my buddies Chris, who's a Spurs fan, was giving me a real hard time at the office today about last night's loss.  He was busting my chops pretty hard, and I was getting very upset.  When he asked why, I told him that I was no longer confident that our team was going to win it all, let alone make it to the Finals.  He, definitely still busting my chops, told me that I should be happy with the way the season turned out.  That, after the last few years, I should be thrilled that we won that many games and made it to the playoffs.   I replied that if we didn't win the championship, that this would be one of the most disappointing seasons in sports history.  He told me that I was starting to sound like a Yankee fan with all this, "No Championship means we had a terrible season" talk.  I told him that it was the truth... that you don't bring in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen just to make the post season.  You do it for the banner.

Anyway, the reason I'm telling this story is this:  I once again realize that these guys have come together for one common goal -- becoming NBA Champions.  They're not here to have some minor success and win some moral victories.  They want rings.  And across the court, with their ugly mohawks and highlight-reel dunks, are a group of guys who are standing directly in the way of that goal.   I don't think that we've yet looked at them as real threats.  Even after game 3, I think we all chalked that up to an off night.  Now, we know better.  These Hawks truly think they can win.  They are neither scared nor intimidated by us anymore.

But they're about to be again.   We're going to take back control of this series, get back to shutdown defense, and just get back to executing on the court and playing smart basketball.  The Hawks are not going to roll over for us.  After game 2 we kept waiting for it, but it's not going to happen.  So we're going to have to push them over and keep them pinned.

The Boston team that comes out of that lockerroom tomorrow night is going to be the most focused, determined team we've seen in Beantown for some time.  I don't think we realize what this team's ceiling is, and what they can do once they're backed up against the wall.  We're going to find out real soon, though, and if you're a Hawks fan, it ain't going to be pretty.  The crowd is going to be absolutely insane, KG is going to scare all the small children watching from home, and Doc is going to put Tony Allen on Joe Johnson, offense be-damned.  

Thanks for playing, Atlanta.  You've made it interesting.... now go away.