Well that was a nice game wasn't it? The Celtics had the worst half in the history of the NBA Finals and they still won. That's a pretty good sign for things going forward. The Celtics have 3 games to win one, and two of those are in Boston. So I'm feeling pretty good about things.
James Posey was my player of the game in this one. He hit some big 3's and played some solid defense as usual. When Perkins went out with an injury, Posey was the guy that lead the charge. I would have liked to see Leon get in after that but sometimes rolling the dice can work. Playing with a smaller line up could have either buried the Celtics or brought them back and lucky for Boston the plan just happened to work out. Sometimes when your getting blown out you gotta do unusual things to get back in the game and playing Posey with Pierce at the same time worked out well.
Posey played amazing, Eddie House played great, Paul and Ray played very well, But I can't undervalue the performance by my guy Leon Powe. Leon scored 3 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in his 9 minutes and it was just enough to get the job done. It was huge that Leon was able to hold down the fort while KG got his rest in the fourth quarter. Not only did Leon hold down the fort, he hit a big time shot to tie things up at 73, which was the first tie in the game since 2-2. I know Powe didn't have a huge game 2 like performance, but he stopped Lamar Odom who was hot earlier in the game, and he attacked the rim and brought physicality to the game. Although Leon can't get a call since that game 2 outburst, he's still putting the fear into Lakers defenders and bringing his tough presence. I hope Doc will give him some of P.J's minutes in the next game. He's proved that he earned that playing time with his efficient play.
Great all around team effort in this game. I can't believe the Celtics and Leon are one game away from being world champs again. I'm trying not to get too excited yet, but they're just so close.
5 comments:
Leon was a very unsung player in this game. Him being able to hold things together and weather the storm was huge!
I liked the smaller line up. But instead of PJ I'd also like to see Powe. Maybe KG,Powe,PP,RAY and Posey or Rondo
Don't forget about Eddie House. Rondo just won't shoot the ball. Having House in there changed the whole complextion of the game.
Also, Rivers mentioned Powe by name in his post-game comments. He mentioned that those four minutes at end of third/start of forth were huge for us.
Eddie did play huge. I was happy to see Eddie in instead of Selfish Sam. I'm happy Rivers actually gave Powe credit for once. It always takes a member of the media bringing it up for Doc to mention Leon's name but Doc saw what he did and gave him credit so that was nice.
My favorite play of the game was by Ray Allen in the 4th quarter. KG set up a screen for him and Allen waved him off. Then Allen lifted up his left pant leg, as in, "watch this", then drove from around the top of the key straight to the basket for an easy lay up while some Lakers were standing around. WOW! Reminds of the time Leon went coast-to-coast in game 2 for an easy dunk while Lakers were just standing around. Lakers don't seem to have any heart. After watching 4 games, I think it's clear the Celtics are the much better team than the Lakers. No doubt about it.
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