In the first half of Game 4 of the NBA Finals I was discouraged and disappointed. I figured we still had a shot at Game 5, but the Lakers were going to win Game 4. Afterall, Lamar Odom showed up and the Celtics were playing no defense.
They sort of gave me a glimmer of hope as they cut the Laker lead to 12 just before the Lakers put on a mini-run to push the lead back up at the half. Ray Allen was the only one who looked like he hadn’t been replaced by an alien look-alike. Pierce, KG, Rondo … anyone you named- horrible!
Doc needs more credit than he gets. He didn’t panic, and he assessed the situation well. He and his coaches did a great job. They worked to spread the floor and give their guys room to run the offense. Paul Pierce gets tons of credit for 1. volunteering to guard Kobe and doing a fantastic job, 2. reminding guys to play and not look at the score, 3. leading the charge offensively in the 3rd.
The Celtics returned to playing defense, and shut down the Lakers. I love that the Celtics didn’t give up, which would have been very easy. But they kept going. Leon Powe bought KG a few minutes of rest. Pierce was utterly exhausted when this was over. It is a testament to Ray Allen’s conditioning that he played the whole game and still had something left for that final layup on the isolation to basically seal the victory. He was moving all night long and had increased ball handling responsibilities with Rondo on the bench during the stretch run.
Cavman Considers 