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Not So Fast

After a dominating game 3 win for the Boston Celtics against the Philadelphia 76ers, Philly knew they had to play their heart out to tie this series up or else the future would be very bleak.  It didn't start off so well for Philly, because Boston came out firing on all cylinders.  Boston outscored Philly 24-12 in the first quarter & then 22-19 in the 2nd, leading to an impressive 46-31 lead at halftime.  The game was so lopsided that Philadelphia was booed by their homecourt fans.

Some teams would probably crawl into their shell after a half like that.  It was the biggest game of the year for a young team that nobody even expected to be in this round & they were getting punk'd out.  The fans booing them may have a motivating factor, though, because they came out ready to play in the 3rd quarter.  Philly's offense emerged in the 3rd quarter as they dropped 28 points on Boston & only gave up 17 to the Celtics.  The 76ers were back in the game.  Still, Boston had the lead going into the 4th, Philly would have to play that much better to complete this miraculous comeback.  They did just that.  Philly is a team centered around depth, they don't really have that prototypical "superstar" player.  Their proverbial "best" player showed up last night, though.  Their potential Olympic representative Andre Iguodala put the team on his back & led the 76ers to an improbable victory against the mighty Celtics.  It was Iggy's 16 points that helped propel the 76ers, including 5 straight points for Philly in the final minute & a half when the game was tied.  With less than 2 minutes left, Iguodala calmly took a step back jumper & drained a go-ahead shot to put the 76ers up 85-83.  Immediately after that, Rajon Rondo had his shot blocked & Philly was back on the attack.  Iguodala sank a 3 point shot for the dagger, giving Philly a 5 point lead & causing the passionate fans, the very ones who were booing this team earlier, to go into a frenzy.  76ers somehow win 92-83.

I wrote in my small prediction yesterday that I believed if the Celtics could get the kind of stellar production they got from Rondo, Kevin Garnett, & Paul Pierce in game 3, then game 4 would be just as easy for them.  It started off that way, but they fizzled fast.  Garnett no longer looked like he was 10 years younger, he looked old again.  Only 9 points after his epic game 3 is definitely not what Boston was looking for.  Pierce played well, getting 24 points, but seemed to take a backseat as he watched Rondo try to make plays by himself, even though he is not a play-making point guard. Brandon Bass had a good first half, but disappeared in the 2nd half, finishing with 15 points.  What's really hurting the Celtics is the lack of production from their former all-star shooting guard, Ray Allen.  He played 31 minutes but only scored 5 points.  He has been disturbingly quiet this series & God knows they could have used him last night.  This supporting cast is awful for Boston, the stars need to make the plays & they just didn't last night in the 2nd half.  Keyon Dooling was bricking shots left & right while no one else could even pray to hit the rim.  Philly, on the other hand, has great depth & put their trust in all of their players to complete the comeback.  Evan Turner, their much maligned former lottery pick, poured in 16 points for them while the runner-up for 6th Man of the Year, Lou Williams, scored 15 points off the bench, 13 of which he scored in the 2nd half.  Williams was really the spark this team desperately needed in the 2nd half.  All of Philly's starters had a negative +/- rating, save for Evan Turner who finished neutral at 0.  Williams, on the other hand, finished with an impeccable +28 rating.  Add in 12 points off the bench from Thaddeus Young, 9 from Jodie Meeks, & 8 from Lavoy Allen & you've got some pretty solid bench production.  Philly's bench outscored Boston's 44-12.

Game 5 will be played on Monday as this series has quickly become one of the more exciting ones left in the playoffs.  It's anyone's guess as to how the next game will play out.  After watching Boston dominate game 3 & the first half of game 4, you gotta believe they have what it takes to shut down this young 76ers team.  The thing that keeps Philly more than just alive, but with legitimate reason to believe they can win is their depth & confidence.  Boston has their big 3 of Rondo, Pierce, & Garnett, but that's about it.  If they don't perform, they're screwed.  Philadelphia, however, has a rotation that goes about 8 men deep.  Boston will be playing at home on Monday, which should give them the emotional charge they may need to shake off this heartbreaking loss.  Philly seems to play off the energy their crowd gives them, it's time for this young team to prove they can win pivotal games on the road.  I still believe Boston ultimately wins this series, but this has 7 games written all over it.

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 Sweating in Miami

Remember game 2 of the series between the Pacers & Heat?  The Pacers managed to get out of Miami stealing a win on the Heat's homecourt & they were amped about it.  The Heat players were none too pleased by Indiana's reaction to the win & thought their celebration was too over the top.  So you gotta bet that the next game, the Heat would be ready to embarrass the Pacers for such a thing, the motivation had to be through the roof.  Uhh...I guess not.  The Pacers gave the Heat the biggest beat down they've seen all year long & it was in the biggest game (until the next game) of the year.

The game started off according to script.  Another low scoring game with some physicality.  The Pacers came out red hot to open the game as Roy Hibbert managed to completely embarrass Erik Spoelstra's new starting center, Dexter Pittman.  The Pacers went on an 11-2 run to open the game in front of their golden crowd & were flying high.  Unfortunately for them, LeBron James led the Chris Bosh-less Heat on an impressive run of their own, managing to outscore the Pacers 24-6 to end the quarter & take a 26-17 lead at the end of 1.  The first quarter was a tale of 2 runs, the Pacers made theirs while the Heat did as well.  James was playing fantastic & carrying his team along with, not Dwyane Wade, but rather, Mario Chalmers.  Wade struggled mightily from the field.  The 2nd quarter was the same story, but played by opposite roles.  The Heat watched their 9 point lead diminish as Indiana went ahead & outscored them 26-17 in the 2nd to lead to a 43-43 tie at halftime.  The Heat had to feel okay, considering they were on the road, LeBron had played great with 16 first half points & despite Wade having an atrocious game so far, they were still very much in it.

It seemed as though, once the 3rd quarter began, the Pacers decided to stop messing around with the Heat.  Indiana dominated the 3rd quarter in every aspect, their defense holding Miami's electric offense to a measly 12 points.  Wade continued to struggle as LeBron stopped dominating.  The Heat's best player on the floor was Mario Chalmers, which doesn't bode well for them.  The Pacers spread the ball around, the major standout being their 7'2 center, Roy Hibbert who finished the game with 19 points, 18 rebounds, & 5 blocks.  There is not a soul on this Miami team that can dream of stopping him, Roy is setting himself for quite a hefty contract whenever these playoffs end for him.  The loss of Chris Bosh is such a crushing blow for Miami, not only for his ability to be the best 3rd option in the NBA, something that would have been vital for this team in game 3, seeing as how much Wade struggled, but also for his ability to at least be a big body down low.  No Bosh means LeBron has to play out of position as a power forward & you can tell it is exhausting LeBron.  He just doesn't have as much energy in this series as he normally does.  Danny Granger, whose main objective this series is to guard LeBron (which he did & got in his face for the 3rd consecutive game) got hot, he finished with 17 points & David West, their emotional leader on the floor who got face to face with Mario Chalmers at one point, finished with 14 points.  Their starting PG, someone Larry Bird brought over from San Antonio in the offseason, George Hill, was the one who really shut the door on any idea of a Heat comeback in the 2nd half.  He finished with a team leading 20 points, including 3-4 from 3 point land.  The Pacers bullied the Heat in the 2nd half & were clearly the better team, walking away celebrating a 94-75 victory.

LeBron had a very pedestrian game, finishing with 22 points (only 6 in the 2nd half), 6 rebounds, & 3 assists.  Dwyane Wade had his worst game, possibly ever, with 5 points & only 1 assist, compared to 5 turnovers.  The boiling point came in the 3rd quarter after another missed Wade shot led to an Indiana fast break and easy bucket.  Wade didn't hustle back on defense & coach Erik Spoelstra called a timeout & basically told Wade to sit his ass on the bench.  Well, Dwyane being the emotional prima donna that he is, did not approve of his coach telling him what to do (even though that's his job) and could be seen verbally sparing with Spoelstra.  He had to be calmed down by Udonis Haslem & Juwan Howard.  I know what you're thinking; yes, Juwan is still in the league.  Wade was 2-13 from the field & had a whopping -25 rating.  Mario Chalmers seemed to be the only one who really wanted to play the entire game, because he ended up with a game high 25 points with 6 rebounds & 5 assists.

So what's next?  Game 4 takes place on Indiana's floor, so no party atmosphere for Miami to lift them.  When there's two minutes left in the quarter, they won't hear the ear cringingly annoying "2 MINUTES...DOS!!!!"  Indiana is a basketball crowd, not a party waiting to happen that just so happens to catch a couple moments of the game in front of them.  The Heat need to come out and prove that they are the better team that every single expert chose to win, including ESPN analyst & former NBA player, Jon Barry, who even said the Heat would sweep.  I swear, I look at some of these predictions & think to myself how it would be so awesome to be a sports columnist.  You make awful predictions, you're basically the weather man, you can suck at your job but somehow continue to keep doing it.  Seems nice.

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Who the hell is Rob Lowe?

Some actor named Rob Lowe took to Twitter yesterday to announce some Earth shattering news.  Peyton Manning is going to retire.  Lowe, who is apparently good friends with the Colts owner Jim Irsay, said that his "people" have informed him that Manning is going to retire.  Regardless if it's true or not (I don't think it is) why would he run to Twitter and tell everyone instead of allowing Manning, a future Hall of Fame inductee when he DOES retire, to announce it to everyone on his own time.  Classy move of Lowe to steal the spotlight away.  Doing some remedial research on this dude, I've found out that he was in Wayne's World (which I have never seen) and Tommy Boy (a role in which he plays a douche bag, which seems to fit him well) He is also in the television show Parks and Recreation (another one I've never seen and is currently rumored to be on the chopping block) For what it's worth, Peyton's father Archie has said he doesn't think his son will retire.  I hope Manning himself comes out soon and announces his intentions soon.

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LeBron ≠ Clutch

Last night the Miami Heat lost their 2nd straight game, this time to the Los Angeles Clippers.  Some may say the Clippers won this game, but sorry, the Heat LOST it.  Absolutely atrocious play from Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, & LeBron James led to an implosion during the 4th quarter & overtime.  The free throw shooting is what did Miami in as LeBron proved once again, late in a close game, he cannot be relied upon.  James only made 9 of 17 free throws, including missing on several key ones late in the 4th, which basically cost them the game.  It wasn't just LeBron, to be fair, as the big 3 as a whole played terribly.  Chris Bosh (6-16), Dwyane Wade (6-17), & LeBron James (7-19) all had bad shooting nights while Chris Paul played lights out for the Clippers.  This was a big road test for the Heat, playing against a good team and they didn't live up to expectations, often times screaming at the referees for more calls to go their way.  Caron Butler helped carry the Clippers in the 2nd half, lighting it up for a total of 20 points while Blake Griffin fooled around and got himself a 20 & 12 double-double.  Key defensive plays from DeAndre Jordan helped propelled the Clippers to their biggest win this year and Miami is left wondering, yet again, if LeBron's inability to close out games will be their eventual downfall.