BOSTON – No one thought the Philadelphia 76ers would make it this far. And no one gave them much of a chance in Game 7 either.
But there they were, down three with the ball and a little more than four minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Paul Pierce had just fouled out, and you had to think the Sixers had a shot.
It turned out, instead, that Rajon Rondo had a shot. And when Rondo beats you with a long two and a long three, and when Ray Allen finally connects on a couple of shots from beyond the arc after missing his first five, you might just have to shrug your shoulders and realize it just wasn’t your day.
The Sixers could look back at Game 7 and the series as a whole, and choose to remember the turnovers and missed free throws. They shot 24-for-30 from the free throw line on Saturday and just 69 percent in the series. These seven games were downright ugly and the Sixers struggled to score throughout. So to not take advantage of every trip to the line is just shooting yourself in the foot.
“It’s just our inability to score that’s sort of plagued us throughout the season,” Sixers coach Doug Collins said.
But Philly also had their positive moments to look back on. They out-executed the veteran Celtics in three of the seven games. Their young players certainly gained a ton of valuable big-game experience. And they learned that if you play hard, play together, and play defense, you can go further than you should otherwise.
That’s really what this Sixers team should be remembered for. If you can overlook the missed free throws, they made the most of what they had. They were a great defensive team without a dominating big man. And they were a decent enough offensive team without a go-to guy.
Really, teams without stars aren’t supposed to take teams with four stars to seven games in the conference semifinals, but the Sixers did. They played the Celtics’ style and almost matched them defensive stop for defensive stop.
“The Sixers are a pain in the ass,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “They are a tough basketball team.”
Sure, things would likely have been different if Derrick Rose didn’t tear his ACL in the first game of this postseason. But that doesn’t mean the Sixers didn’t earn their way here.
“It was a good run,” Jrue Holiday said. “We fought to the end.”
PHILADELPHIA – It’s not clear if Brian Scalabrine is ready to retire yet, but he’s already in preparation for his next career.
Comcast SportsNet New England, which broadcasts Celtics games, hired Scalabrine to provide pre-and postgame analysis during the Celtics-Sixers series. So, there he was, in a suit at TD Garden on Saturday, talking about the Sixers just 48 hours after Philly had eliminated his own Chicago Bulls.
The former Celtic got a huge ovation from the Garden crowd when he was shown on the Jumbotron on Saturday. But Scalabrine’s finest moment of this postseason came after Game 3, when he asked Rajon Rondo one of the smarter questions you’ll ever hear in a postgame press conference.
“The adjustment on the side pick and roll,” Scalabrine said, “you guys went to the ‘ice’ or the ‘down,’ or whatever you guys use in your terminology. Do you like that better than going over the top with the ‘show’?”
“I like it better,” Rondo replied. “I don’t think they do. Their offense, we watched the first couple of games, they got into the paint pretty good on the side pick and rolls. And it led to corner threes, it led to the high-low. I think we took a clip from you guys. You guys ‘iced’ a lot of the side pick and rolls in that series, and I think they struggled offensively. I think we did a good job tonight. The bigs did a great job talking, and guards kept fighting over, even when they did step up and set the side pick and roll.”
OK. So what the heck does it mean to “ice” a pick-and-roll?
PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia 76ers had their most efficient offensive game of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Wednesday. And they lost by 16.
This was the Boston Celtics’ night, an easy 107-91 victory to grab a 2-1 series lead and take back home-court advantage. In the wake of their anemic offensive performance in Game 2 and countless articles (including this one) about their inability to score, the Celtics exploded for their best offensive game in a long time.
After going scoreless on their first four possessions of the game, the Celtics did what Doc Rivers has been asking for the last two days. They went to Kevin Garnett in the post on their next two possessions. He gave them two short jumpers over Elton Brand, and the flood gates opened from there.
Rajon Rondo also set an aggressive tone early, scoring 13 points before he recorded a single assist. Garnett owned the Sixers bigs in the post and led all scorers with 27 points. And Paul Pierce finally got into the scoring act. He shot just 6-for-17 from the field, but got to the line 14 times.
All around, the Celtics were sharper than we’re used to seeing them. The ball movement was crisp and contagious all night. And after the Sixers scored 33 points in the first quarter, Boston also turned up the heat defensively.
It’s doubtful that the Celtics can pour it on like this again in this series, and in the playoffs, every game has its own personality. But Boston clearly found a rhythm in Game 3 that can help them going forward.
HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – How many times have you heard someone say it, “that one play didn’t cost us the game?”
Don’t care to count?
No?
We understand.
Technically speaking, one play might not cost you the game. But one crucial play at the right time in a tight game can certainly have a more significant impact on the outcome of said game. And that was indeed the case in Boston last night for Celtics’ forward Kevin Garnett. He was called for an offensive foul on a moving screen on Andre Iguodala as he tried to make space for Paul Pierce with 10 seconds to play in a game the Philadelphia 76ers led 78-75.
The call, made by Michael Smith after Garnett had already been warned by Danny Crawford to watch the moving screens, helped seal the deal for the Sixers.
“I just thought in that situation you let the players decide the game,” Garnett said after his illegal pick took the air out of the building and a spirited, fourth quarter rally from the home team. “But if he felt like that was an illegal pick, then that’s what it is.”
It was glaring (check the video above). But not necessarily a call anyone expected in that situation. To his credit, Garnett tried his best not to make a huge fuss about it afterwards, choosing instead the common refrain that it was one of many mistakes made that led to the final outcome.
“Danny had already given me a warning about how I was setting the picks,” Garnett said. “I’m going to continue to set picks. I’m going to continue to get guys open. That wasn’t, to me, the game. We did things going up to that point in determining the game.”
That’s not exactly a bullet point for Iguodala’s All-Defensive Team resume, nor is it a positive for the Sixers as they prepare for Game 1 of the conference semifinals (8 p.m. ET, TNT).
But a deeper look into Pierce’s numbers show that Iguodala does a pretty good job of holding Pierce in check.
Over the last five years (since Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett arrived in Boston), Pierce has shot 49.8 percent from the field and 45.3 percent from 3-point range in 591 minutes with Iguodala on the floor. Both of those numbers are better than Pierce’s overall numbers in that time. But the percentages don’t tell the whole story.
Against Iguodala, Pierce doesn’t get as many shots or trips to the line…
Paul Pierce, last five seasons
Year
FGA
FG%
3P%
FTA
FT%
FGA/36
FTA/36
PTS/36
with Iguodala on floor
203
49.8%
45.3%
68
88.2%
12.4
4.1
17.7
Other minutes
4,854
46.5%
38.5%
2,196
84.5%
13.9
6.3
19.8
Total
5,057
46.6%
38.7%
2,264
84.6%
13.8
6.2
19.7
Over the last five years, only three teams have held Pierce to fewer shots per 36 minutes than the Sixers have. And no team has held him to fewer free throw attempts per 36 minutes than Philly has.
Paul Pierce, fewest free throw attempts per 36 minutes, last five seasons
Opponent
MIN
FTA
FTA/36
FT%
Philadelphia
634
71
4.0
88.7%
Chicago
650
83
4.6
86.7%
San Antonio
344
44
4.6
79.5%
Phoenix
295
40
4.9
87.5%
L.A. Lakers
405
56
5.0
85.7%
Pierce/Iguodala is the best matchup in the series. And if Iguodala can keep Pierce in check, the Celtics may have to look elsewhere for the bulk of their offense.
HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – Survival came in the form of a furious 6-foot-10, 245-pound package for the Atlanta Hawks. You might remember him. His name is Al Horford. He’d been missing from the scene for months, stuck on the Hawks’ bench in a suit, courtesy of a torn pectoral muscle that cost the All-Star center all but 11 regular season games.
Horford made up for lost time Tuesday night, though, scoring the final four points and saving the Hawks’ season with a last second defensive stop on Rajon Rondo to preserve his team’s 87-86 win over the Boston Celtics to push this series to a Game 6 Thursday night in Boston.
Rondo’s steal of a Josh Smith inbounds pass intended for Joe Johnson with 9.5 seconds to play was thwarted when Horford closed off all driving lanes on the sideline in front of the Hawks’ bench. Rondo lost his dribble and then flung a pass to Kevin Garnett that Smith batted out of bounds before laying his head on the scorer’s table, knowing full well that Horford had just saved him from being the Hawks’ playoff goat.
In his first full-game action in four months, Horford battled his way to 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assist, three steals and three blocks. It helped the Hawks stave off elimination and provided their fans a glimmer of hope that the home-court advantage Horford’s teammates earned in his absence might still be available for use by the weekend.
HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – When the playoff pairings came into focus late in the regular season, we knew there was the potential for this when the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks got locked into the No. 4-5 battle in the Eastern Conference.
An era was coming to an end. A five-year run for one of these two franchises would continue on for at least another series and that same five-year run (that began in their epic first-round series in 2008) for the other franchise would have run its course.
Well, it’s time for the Hawks to face the reality of their own situation and turn the page. The Hawks are facing more than just elimination after their disastrous 101-79 Game 4 showing in Boston Sunday night. Most compassionate observers turned away from when the Celtics’ lead grew to 37 points … with more than a quarter and a half to play remaining.
How many times can you hear about a team talk about “not responding” or “we just didn’t have it” or “our energy and effort was nonexistent” in a big game situation before it sinks in?
The Hawks have dropped 12 playoff games by 20-plus points since 2008, a staggering number that does not include all of the games they lost by 16, 17, 18 and 19 points.
They’d fight back with stats of their own — such as along with the Celtics and Lakers, they are one of just three teams to reach the second round in each of the past three seasons. But that would foolishly suggest that the Hawks belong in the same sentence with two franchises that have won championships in the past four seasons.
The Celtics won it all in 2008 while the Lakers won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. The Hawks, for all of their accomplishments during this same stretch, have been escorted from the postseason in an ugly fashion each and every time, without once truly breaking through with this current core group.
They’ll tell anyone willing to listen that this series is far from over at 3-1 with Game 5 Tuesday night at Philips Arena. And with their history against these Celtics, it might be worth a listen. They played seven games in 2008, with each team taking turns ruling their home floors all the way through to Game 7.
But this time is different. As much as you’d like to believe these limping Hawks have a chance to make a series out of this one, the stench of inevitability is floating in the air after that Game 4 debacle in Boston.
HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – No Rajon Rondo. No Ray Allen. No Problem for the Boston Celtics.
The Celtics didn’t let their lingering issues, Rondo’s one-game suspension for bumping into a referee or Allen’s ankle injury slow them down last night in Atlanta.
It certainly helped that they had the “Tebowing” Truth, Paul Pierce, on their side. And it certainly helped that they had a willing dance partner in the Hawks, a team that’s almost always guaranteed to do exactly what they did last night (over the years, the Hawks have a made a habit of falling down when everything seems to be lined up for them to thrive) in losing home court advantage.
For all of the posturing that goes on and all of the moves coaches make in the course of a playoff series, sometimes the final result hangs on the answer to a simple question … whose will to win is greater?
That edge in this series belongs to the men in green and white, and one in particular.
Pierce showed last night that his is greater than anyone else’s in this series, and that includes the ultra-intense Kevin Garnett, Rondo, Allen, Celtics coach Doc Rivers, Hawks stars Joe Johnson and Josh Smith (who left the game with a sprained left patella tendon with four minutes to play) and anyone else you care to toss into the mix.
The Hawks led by 11 points with three minutes to play in the third quarter, a lead that we’ve learned in the past few days means next to nothing for a home team (ask the Grizzlies) and could not hold Pierce and the Celtics off.
HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Go ahead and mark it down now — the two cities that every team dreaming of a championship needs to avoid at all costs during the playoffs are Memphis and Boston.
Just like the Grizzlies in the Western Conference, the Celtics have given everyone ample warning that they will be in the business of crushing hopes come playoff time. Their work since the All-Star break has been well documented. They have all of the components needed to derail the title aspirations of any other team in the playoff field, just as the Grizzlies did to the Spurs last year.
From a coach in Doc Rivers (who is arguably the best in the business at taking whatever parts he has and crafting them into a cohesive unit) to a clear leader in Rajon Rondo (who has finally asserted himself as the true catalyst for this club) to the fading-but-still-furious-glory of future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen (who have all had to accept diminished or drastically different roles than they are used to at this stage of their careers), the Celtics have everything in place to squash dreams and realize their own.
Their demolition of the Miami Heat twice in the past 10 days is no fluke. The Celtics, the league’s nastiest defensive team, showed last night that when they’re knocking down shots, they are nearly impossible to deal with. The Heat scrapped their way back into the game and still couldn’t overcome the Celtics, who shot a blistering 61 percent.
With Rondo directing the traffic, the ball moves all over the floor, making it hard for any team — even one as talented as the Heat — to concentrate its defensive focus in any one place. Garnett and Pierce both turned back the clock last night.
HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – We are still a week or two away from finalizing the ballot, but it is time to start considering the options available for the 15 spots on our All-NBA team.
Most of the slotted positions are obvious. We know who the best players at every positions, so filling up the first five is a breeze. The second five shouldn’t be much of a problem either, at most positions. And the third five, when you have to start splitting statistical hairs for one guy over another, is a task that won’t take all night to complete.
But there is at least one position that will require some serious debate and deliberation: how we rank the power forwards this season. The league’s marquee position when Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki were all operating at their full powers, the position has been passed up for that top spot on the marquee in recent seasons by the point guards.
In fact, a new wave of young(er) power forwards should overtake the incumbents this season, led by All-Stars Kevin Love of the Timberwolves and Blake Griffin of the Clippers. The most glaring option for that third team power forward slot, however, belongs to a surprise entrant in this contest, a guy who has yet to reap the recognizable awards for all of his hard work this season.
Hawks power forward Josh Smith didn’t get the nod as an Eastern Conference reserve for the All-Star team, a slight the coaches who left him of of their ballots should be ridiculed for until they make up for such a transgression. But he might very well earn a spot among the league’s top 15 players on a list that carries just as much weight, if not more, here at the hideout.
