Down 22 early in the game? Who cares?
The Celtics battled back from a gigantic hole to cut that 22 point lead down to 10 by the half. Then after taking a lead in the 3rd… they fell down 7 with 7 minutes to go. Then Sam Cassell showed everyone EXACTLY why we probably covertly broke a ton of NBA rules to get him (Hey fans of other teams… David Stern is in on it… so don’t bother bitching. Boston’s a big market and the Clippers are a joke. You think he’s going to do anything?)… by hitting a huge 3 to give the Celtics the lead for good.
Not to be outdone… Rajon Rondo had 20 points and 6 rebounds… but it was that 6th rebound (his 4th offensive board) and 2 free throws that really made it almost impossible for the Spurs to come back.
This was a fun one. You really experienced a range of emotions in this one. From “I can’t believe we’re crapping our pants” to “WE CAN’T BE STOPPED.”
Notes:
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Doc made some great substitutions at the end of each half to facilitate the comeback. From matching up defensively to slow the Spurs down… to getting Rondo back in time to run the team in the clutch and come up with that big board. Huge.
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Paul Pierce carried this team in the last few minutes to give them a chance to win. It might get lost in all the “Sam has huge balls” conversation that everyone will have. But Paul did what a captain should: Carry his team and keep them in it. Awesome job by him.
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Our bench is awesome. Sam hit the big shot…. and Perk was doing the “big balls” dance on the sideline. Watch the replay… it lasts about half a second… but it’s a beautiful half second.
Final score: 93-91 Celtics. Next up… the Rockets tomorrow night… and the end of their 22 game winning streak.
Let me just say… as I started writing this post… Robert Horry had a shot to win the game with a 3… and *GASP* he missed. Someone alert ESPN and the rest of the national media that its time to stop swinging from his nuts.
what i really loved about this game was how with Ray Allen out, and Garnett playing one of his worst games of the season, the Celtics still found a way to come back from 22 down against the best team in the league. that speaks volumes for this teams readiness.
I’m assuming that Ray was held out because of the back to back games. He’ll be back tomorrow.
But right on, Pat. KG had trouble early… no Ray… huge hole… ton of reasons to pack it in… but they didn’t.
It was a great win… because honestly… I’ve been a huge asshole on the internet today. Red’s Army has gotten some hate around the web because were… oh…. let’s call it “brash.” Thank you Celtics for backing up my shit talk. A win tomorrow night will be much appreciated as well.
Actually John I think I heard that Ray will likely sit tomorrow as well and return on Thursday. But who knows.
Well.. I hope he’s back tomorrow. I’d like to be at full strength.
We’ll see in the morning, I guess.
Holy cow, are you kidding me with a win like that on the road. What a team effort, like the spurs could win on ST.Paddys day (Red was definatly looking down on this one.) Manu’s shot rolling around the rim and then out. KG with a bad game, Rajon on the bench, and still coming up with the win shows the depth this team really has. I must admit I was only half heartedly watching in between sips of the guiness tonight. I did catch the 4th and seeing Eddie House hit the big trey, Rajon stealing the ball and running around like a little cousey, I am 28 and have been longing for a celtics team to be this good, I was only a wee tot when the big three existed. Every night that I watch this team makes me more and more convinced that they will win their 17th title. Keep the roll going go C’S, snap into Houston like Randy Savage to a slim jim.
Oh my fucking lord. Long time reader, first time commentator. Best game of the year bar none. I don’t even know what to say.
And you know Red personally knocked that Ginobili ball off the rim.
you celtics fans are worse than spurs fans…haha…
kevin garnett with his foot up duncan’s ass all night?
robert horry and posey’s phantom jump ball?
paul pierce’s left arm (without the ball) being fouled?
damn irish refs…
nice win…can’t wait to see you try and get 4 out of 7 for the first time since, uh…the 80’s???
What? They went to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002.
Celtics fans are only stating–the truth!
I can’t believe I am saying this I got to root for Boston 2mrrow (did I just say that a laker fan) cause rockets really pissed me off so again its hard to say this or even type this but GO BOSTON
what a huge win for the celtics..i’ll be honest…when they went down 22 i said “they look like pretenders right now”…but i never turned the game off and loved hte comeback
i jumped outta my chair at cassel’s huge 3 near the end…that jump rivaled brady to moss 50 td against ny giants in 16th week
bottom line..i loved this win…if they take down houston tommorow…they have to be favorites for the title
That first quarter was hard to watch. Rondo and Tony looked like they forgot how to shoot, and Paul wasn’t taking any shots. After that they looked like A completely different team. Almost everyone came up with a big play, and Paul’s defense and aggressive offense were huge down the stretch. It was like watching two different teams.
[...] and Sam Cassell (17 points), they made the comeback in the second half to pull out the narrow 93-91 win over the Spurs. The champs have lost 4 in a row and 6 out of their last 7. They better get this handled now, or [...]