PG-Allen
SG-Posey
SF-Pierce
I want this line up more in game 4.
Allen’s Shooting Keeps C’s Alive in Losing Effort
By Scott Tribble
Celtics.com Correspondent
June 10, 2008
Fittingly enough, only the resident thespian on Boston’s roster starred for the Celtics in Tuesday night’s Game 3 loss in Los Angeles.
Ray Allen, who knows a little something about Hollywood from his roles in He Got Game and Harvard Man, scored 25 points against the Lakers, boosting the Celtics on a night when Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce shot a combined 8-35 from the field. Despite Allen’s best efforts, the Celtics lost 87-81, but retain a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series.
“I was just trying to just keep the team in it, just trying to put as much energy as I could out there,” Allen said after the game. “I don’t know, it just seemed like offensively I was just trying to give us a boost of adrenaline out there. The ball came my way and I was just trying to carry the team for a little bit there.”
For Pierce and Garnett, the entire first half was an exercise in futility. The Truth shot one of seven from the field, while the Big Ticket succeeded only once in nine attempts. Allen similarly started off slow, logging only a single three-pointer in the first quarter, but heated up in time for the second. In that frame, Allen hit all three of his shots, including two from downtown. His efforts on offense, coupled with some unexpected scoring from Rajon Rondo and James Posey, helped to keep the deficit to a manageable six at the half.
The Celtics mounted a comeback in the third, as Garnett started to hit his shots, but it was Allen who remained the team’s primary offensive weapon. The shooting guard dropped ten in the quarter, including his fourth three-pointer of the night. During one 12-2 run that put the Celtics up 51-49, Allen and Garnett combined for seven points and temporarily hushed the boisterous Staples Center crowd.
Boston held the advantage through the first five minutes of the final quarter, but earlier shooting woes resurfaced and this time plagued Allen as well. Dogged by Kobe on defense, Allen mustered only a single basket on three attempts, while Garnett and Pierce shot a combined three of eleven from the field. Though the Celtics cut the lead to two in the final minutes, Kobe Bryant’s slashing drives and Sasha Vujacic’s outside shooting effectively ruled out any chance of a Celtics’ miracle.
Asked about the poor shooting on the night, Garnett said, “I think at times myself, I can’t speak for Paul, but rushing shots, hyped about the game, composure [all were factors]. I don’t make any kind of excuses for bad games.”
His so-so fourth quarter notwithstanding, Allen clearly has reestablished himself as a go-to guy in the Celtics’ offense. After enduring a shooting slump earlier in the playoffs, [b]Allen is hitting 51 percent of his shots in the Finals, while averaging 20.3 points per game.
“I thought Ray was fantastic… Guarding Kobe is no easy task, and still, to have the strength to play defense or to score was big,” said Celtics Coach Doc Rivers.[/b]
The Celtics face a pivotal matchup on Thursday, and, if Doc Rivers and his charges hope to avoid a sequel to Game 2, the three Celtics’ leaders together must do their L.A. shooting on schedule.
Prediction NBA Finals, Lakers vs. Celtics, Game 4,
The Lakers up-tempo game pace suits Ray Allen’s transition 3 point shooting. Game 4 will be determined by how effective KG and PP are in the post, and this mean Boston need to have a point guard who can shot the ball.
Can’t wait for the counter strike by Boston in game 4. Get KG in the ball in the post. These celebrity courtside Lakers fans make me want to puke.
Interesting scoring stats on Ray Allen
In 2007/07 season with Seattle he averaged a career high 26.4 points per game. Now at Boston 07/08 numbers are down to 17.4 during regularly season. Obviously now with KG and PP offensive is shared but I would like to see KG play more as offensive/defensive rebounder and pure post player , let Ray shoot the ball more. I think he is being wasted a little.
why that lineup, house is a good shooter.
PG house
SG allen
SF pierce
My guess, for why he wants that lineup, is so posey can guard kobe. That way allen doesn’t have to expend energy guarding kobe.
Allen guarded Kobe most of the game last night, got totally lit up and still had his best offence of the playoffs…funny.
You could say Allen totally lit up Kobe he hit 8/13 whilst Kobe scored 10/20 from the field and 15 of his points were scored at the free throw line. If Allen took 20 shots & he would for gone for 40.
Boston defense was good, Kobe didn’t play that well. I want the point guard who can shoot so KG and PP can’t be doubled so easily. In game three the Lakers were giving Rondo wide open looks and clogging the lane, this is slowing down Boston’s offense.
As this series moves along I am really starting to dislike the Lakers and especially Kobe. Its not because they’re a good team but they really bitch and act like little girls when calls don’t go their way.
So now we know how the Celtics and Lakers intend to claim this 62nd NBA championship: The Celtics want to win it the old-fashioned way (by earning it); the Lakers would rather win it the modern way (cry about the officiating)
.
Other shoe drops on Celtics
To nobody’s surprise, calls go Lakers’ way
Tony Massarotti By Tony Massarotti
LOS ANGELES - Immediately following Game 2, from the moment a bespectacled Phil Jackson looked down his nose, Game 3 was destined to play out like some predictable Hollywood script. Foul, Celtics [team stats]. Possession, Lakers. So it goes in an NBA world ruled by a pair of scientific truths.
First: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Second: The squeaky wheel gets the most oil.
Click to learn more…
“I’m just surprised he didn’t whine about fouls (last night),” Celtics coach Doc Rivers cracked of Jackson following an 87-81 Los Angeles win in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
“I told (Celtics players), ‘I don’t want to hear about coach Jackson complaining and that’s why (the Lakers got calls).’ That’s not why. They played harder. If you play hard and go to the basket, you’ll go to the foul line.”
So now we know how the Celtics and Lakers intend to claim this 62nd NBA championship: The Celtics want to win it the old-fashioned way (by earning it); the Lakers would rather win it the modern way (cry about the officiating).
On a day when dirty cop Tim Donaghy threw more mud at the NBA, Los Angeles took 22 of the first 29 free throw attempts of the game, finishing with 34 attempts to the Celts’ 22.
Had the Lakers shot better than an embarrassing 61.8 percent - MVP Kobe Bryant was 11-for-18 - they would have won this game by an easy 15 points instead of a hairy six. In fact, six happened to be the precise difference in made free throws (Lakers 21, Celtics 15).
But then, this is what people hate most about the NBA.
Before we try to connect the dots here, let’s clarify: This is not about the Donaghy investigation, though yesterday’s assertions certainly continue to cloud the matter. Officiating in the NBA has been an issue since the inception of the league, and star players like Bryant get the calls on a nightly basis. They come to expect them, too.
And when the calls don’t come, when Bryant unashamedly turns and gripes to the refs after most every possession (as he did throughout Game 2), you cannot help but consider the NBA lacks a certain, er, character.
“It felt like I was in foreign territory because I haven’t been there in so long,” a sarcastic Bryant said when asked to explain his poor effort from the line. “It’s like somebody took me and just dropped me off in the middle of Shanghai with no translator, you know what I’m saying? And no dictionary. It was crazy. . . . At least I got there.”
Naturally, all of this comes only two days after Dr. Phil put himself on the couch, lamenting the absence of love for the greatest active coach in the NBA who has the greatest active player. Leon Powe . . . Leon Pow . . . what’s the difference?
The Celtics shot 38 free throws to the Lakers’ 10 in Game 2, a contrast that led Jackson talk about all his years of coaching in the NBA Finals as if he were the one who brought Michael Jordan there.
Rivers, on the other hand, stooped to no such level, preferring to focus on his team’s timidity, at least relative to the Lakers’ desperate level of play. Whether this was a league conspiracy or merely human nature is open to debate, though Jackson admitted before the game he believed griping indeed can influence officials.
“Well, I do know it changes things,” Jackson said. “But for the most part, what we want is just good balance.
Apparently whether it comes in one game or two.
Does that mean the Celtics [team stats] deserved to win this game? Of course not. It just means the challenge entering Game 3 was considerable, for an assortment of reasons. The most stunning development was that the Celtics had a chance to steal the game - “Either that or they should have blown us out,” Rivers pointed out - on a night when the proverbial deck clearly was stacked against them.
“I don’t expect to get anything anytime,” said Celtics captain Paul Pierce [stats], who (sit down for this) played through foul trouble. “It’s not easy winning a championship. Nobody’s going to give you anything. You’ve got to go out there and take it, like on the playground. No refs, no anything. If that’s the way it’s going to be on the road, you’ve just got to go out and play.”
Click to learn more…
No refs?
Now that’s an idea.
tmassarotti@bostonherald.com
what a self effacing homer.
the whole boston mystique, where the fans feel that they are actually part of the team and hopelessly attach themselves and glory hunt is ridiculous. this quote, and article in general just panders to that bullshit.
i wonder where this guy was to write about the patriots losing the super bowl sitting around waiting to trademark 19-0, while the giants actually came to play.
Maybe but also note that the Lakers especially Kobe bitch when calls don’t go their way. Man, Kobe has a bitch when he misses free throws, remember he kicked the ball at the end of third quarter. I don’t know how people can compare Kobe to MJ, skill isn’t the only factor in Basketball that determines greatness.
Come on coach-start with House
Rondo’s Injury Adds Uncertainty to Celtics’ Backcourt
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By BILLY WITZ
Published: June 12, 2008
LOS ANGELES — When Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo wrenched his left ankle early in the third quarter of Game 3 of the N.B.A. finals, it was possible he may have turned something else — the series.
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Larry W. Smith/European Pressphoto Agency
Celtics guard Rajon Rondo injured his left ankle in Game 3.
N.B.A.
Rondo, who participated in a few light drills Wednesday, said that he planned to play Thursday night in Game 4, when the Lakers try to even the series.
But the question remains at what strength?
Rondo, who showed up at a news media session wearing a supportive boot on his left foot, said his ankle was about 70 percent healthy and that it was fragile enough that he nearly fell when he tried to put weight on it as he got out of bed in the morning.
“I’m pretty sure I’m going to play tomorrow,” Rondo said.
As the Celtics rolled to the best record in the league this season, the perception was that they could not win a championship with the 22-year-old Rondo, whose inexperience and unreliable jumper were widely viewed as Boston’s Achilles’ heel. But among the Celtics, Rondo’s quickness, his defense and the fact he is their only true point guard give him a different standing.
“In my opinion, he’s the most valuable guy to the team right now,” Celtics center Kendrick Perkins said.
“When Rondo’s in the game, we start our offense every time at 18-20 seconds,” Perkins added, referring to the shot clock. “When he’s not in the game, we’re starting at 10-11 seconds on the shot clock. That’s not good. When he’s in the game, we have the right tempo. He’s one of our best playmakers. He’s got one of the highest I.Q.s on the team, and we miss his rebounding at the guard position.”
Rondo had 16 assists, 6 rebounds and 2 turnovers in Boston’s victory in Game 2, although he scored only 4 points.
The Celtics can get more offense when they play Eddie House — as they did down the stretch Tuesday — or the 38-year-old Sam Cassell. This prevents the Lakers from cheating off Rondo, but it does not necessarily mean the Celtics are easier to defend.
“They’re a lot more stagnant when he’s not on the floor,” the Lakers’ Luke Walton said.
If Rondo is unable to start, or play effectively, the Celtics expect the Lakers to put plenty of pressure on whoever is handling the ball, a duty that could fall to Ray Allen or Paul Pierce. With House on the floor with Pierce, Allen and James Posey — all good shooters — the Lakers have been unable to double-team.
“That was good for us,” said Celtics Coach Doc Rivers, who added that Jordan Farmar gave them problems when he came in for the Lakers. “He pressured the ball and we struggled getting the ball into our sets with Rajon off the floor, and so we have to solve that,” Rivers said.
Rondo is not the only Celtic who is ailing. Perkins is playing with a sprained ankle; Tony Allen, who started in place of Rondo during the Celtics’ regular-season win in Los Angeles, is returning from a strained heel; and Pierce is still feeling the effects of a sprained knee in Game 1.
Rondo was injured early in the third quarter when he stopped to pass to Ray Allen on a fast break. His left ankle rolled slightly when he stopped and he crumpled to the floor. He tried to get up at first but could not put any weight on his foot.
But with the image still fresh of Pierce dramatically being carted off the floor by two of teammates in Game 1, Rondo took a moment and found the resolve to raise himself.
“I didn’t want to be carried off or anything,” Rondo said, again leaving the dramatics to others.
kobe didnt play that well? what? 36 and 7, 12/20 from the field, and all the big shots at the end.
are you kidding? even if you take away the numbers he hit 2 huge shots at the end…the only thing kobe didnt do well, was shoot free throws, which doesnt matter that much now becuase they won…
But he had a great game…no doubt.
And have you never seen Jordon get very pissed off at himself…what are you talking about? its an nba finals game, kinda close, your a very good free throw shooter and your missing, think anyone would get pissed off. I’ve seen jordan do worse than that…plus with all the adversity Kobe has to deal with from media, fans etc for him to continue to do what he does, its pretty amazing…
He wasn’t dominant, those two shots at the end were 17 foot fade away jumpers. I can live with that, those are 50/50 shots. I mean, if he was penetrating and dunking on Boston, I would be concerned.
Kobe continually talks down to his teammates; MJ had an ability to make the players around him better. I don’t see Kobe doing that.
15 hours to game 4 - the clock is ticking
Kobe has changed alot…and you can clearly see his team loves him now and responds to him very well…
remember back when Jordan was young, his team mates hated him and look at all the shit he said about Bil Cartwright when he was on the team…Jordan is anything but that pure role model your talking about…Kobe and MJ are very simular, trust me.
Kobe isn’t young anymore he has been in the league for years, that excuse doesn’t cut it. I am not talking about who is or who isn’t a pure role model, what I am saying is when Kobe has his back against the wall he bitches about officials or takes it out on his teammates, MJ never did that. Watch the game tomorrow and you’ll see what I mean. It’s never his fault.
[b]These Lakers fan have gone to far!!
[/b]
[b]This ones a classic
[/b]
Yes Kobe does love his team mates!