That was one great game.
I highly doubt any of the talking heads with microphones or those with pens in their hands are going to take the time to say that. They’ll instead do what they do and go for a storyline or a soundbite. This series…is not over. The road to the title now goes through Auburn Hills…
…just like it has the last 5 years.
You know you’ve seen a great game when both teams can come out of it with a positive outlook. I’m sure both teams fanbases’ or going to spin it. In Detroit’s favor is the fact that they did the “unthinkable”…they won a game in Boston in the playoffs. And they did it in impressive fashion. They not only won at home but they took the best shot the Celtics have given out all postseason. Pierce had 26, KG had 24 and Allen had 25 and they still won. To Boston they can say they’ve got Ray Allen back, that they missed opportunities, that they missed shots and that they have won in Detroit in the past.
(Speaking of Allen…I can’t have been the only one who jumped out of their seat when he had that baseline dunk. I did not expect that at all and was clueless to the fact that he still had one of those in him. You have to know that he is feeling that one as we speak. Some trip to the kitchen or to the bathroom really hurt him and he muttered to himself ‘Why did I dunk that?’)
Why Detroit won? Simple simon: they made shots. A couple nights ago the Spurs lost because they stopped making shots (sorry Kobe). Last night, Detroit kept making shots. It was Rodney Stuckey’s unforeseen onslaught in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. In the first 4 minutes of the quarter, Stuckey had 6 points….just as many as the Celtics. Everytime the Celtics made their push and seemed poised to takeover…the Pistons were right there with an answer. And they kept answering until they got the backbreaker: Rip Hamilton’s awkward runner with 48 seconds left that sealed the deal.
Doc Rivers and Boston fans may be disappointed in the “defensive effort”. They shouldn’t at all. Boston played really good defense, save for a few lapses. At the end of the day the Pistons made up their mind that they were going to make the game a “grind”. The Pistons decided that last night they were going to execute. Gone were those Detroit Pistons who settle for early shots. They worked the shot clock, they made the Celtics work and they just took the best shot possible. Also….can’t believe I’m going to say this, but kudos to Flip for opening up the offense and changing it up. It worked two-fold…it slowed the game down (so they couldn’t start jacking up shots) and it was a change of pace. When Rip came off those screens by the time the pick and roll came Ray was out of position, forcing rotation after rotation. Well done.
Also…I’ve got to call out KG real quick. KG generally gets a free pass on defense from people because he plays so hard and is genuinally insane. However he made two boneheaded plays last night that are worth mention. The first was pushing up on Rip Hamilton at half court which led to that backbreaking runner. There was no need for it. Rip was at half court with 7 seconds left on the shot clock. KG is 7 foot. Back off and make him shoot a jumper over you. Your advantage in that situation is your length. Don’t push up on him and let him use his quickness against you. No surprise he went right by him and got into the lane to make that ridiculous shot. The other play was not helping on that out of bounds play. I blame Doc more because he’s the coach. KG had to help on Chauncey on that out of bounds play. He couldn’t leave his man but he could have stepped in Chauncey’s way or hedged or something. Common sense says if your teammate is chasing someone coming off a screen he is a dead man if that player decides to curl. Unless you help. There was no help and that’s why there was a layup.
This series is far from over. Yesterday was the championship Pistons that we had yet to see this entire postseason. That Detroit team from last night can win the title. We all know better than to call this series in their favor, because we all know what the Pistons have been capable of. Especially in the Flip Saunders era. The question has now shifted. The Celtics now have to win a road game to win this series. They now have to face that cruel vixen adversity, something they had the luxury of staying away from for the majority of this year. Now she is right in front of them with a big bag of lemons.
Now we see if the Celtics can make lemonade. Or if the Pistons can stay focused and determined long enough to finally be as good as we all know they can be.