Well, what more could we expect? Five on eight all through game seven. With a 25 to 15 free throw disparity and Lebron shooting 17 himself, two more than all the Celtics combined, Boston struggled to pull away in the first half and couldn’t put together an effective response in the second half, due in part to the blatant fouls on Celtic drives being roundly ignored. Miami was not called for a single foul in the fourth quarter until 1:48 left in the game, by which point the outcome had been essentially decided. Really, it wasn’t what the refs called tonight; it was what they didn’t call.
The travels and whining were also in rare form tonight, as both Wade and James demonstratively complained to the referees on multiple occasions. Two particular instances stand out in my mind—Lebron claiming Pierce pushed him and screaming at the ref, then making dismissive and derisive hand gestures as he trotted up the floor, and Wade, after Hollins blocked his layup, throwing an absolute fit and doing the “get outta here!” thrashing motion across his body multiple times, all with the expression of a man passing a kidney stone the size of an eight ball. Funny how those demonstrations “show up the refs” yet don’t warrant a technical, nor does Lebron hanging on the rim for a full 5 seconds after an alley-oops, kicking at Rondo’s head, and doing a chin up count as “hanging on the rim in celebration,” despite it being, y’know, something explicitly outlined in the rulebook as a technical.
As far as game play went, Lebron got into the lane effectively with his patented first step--that is to say, taking a first step and then dribbling the ball--all night, and it yielded him some easy dunks and 17 free throws, which was, again, more than the Celtics team, despite the men in green’s repeated efforts to attack the basket—Paul Pierce in particular, but also Brandon Bass in the first half. Wade looked athletic yet toothless, per usual, and will be soundly outplayed by James Harden in the finals.
Neither Lebron nor Wade had a particularly good showing offensively, both shooting poor percentages from the field. The difference was Chris Bosh going 8-10 and scoring 19 points, while also pilling off an unbelievable three-for-four performance from three. I guess he had ample time to practice and add a new shot to his repertoire while he was out with his ab injury. Battier shot 9 threes and hit 4 of them, which was good for 12 points and kept them in the game in the first half. That and Lebron parading to the line. It’s worth slipping in here than Shane Battier plays basketball like a WASP spitting on poor people. He couldn’t look more smarmy or pleased with himself. Forget a crap-eating grin, you can actually see the duke (pun) between his teeth when he flashes that gap-toothed smile.
Defensively, the Heat showed aggressively on Rondo in the pick and roll, and it worked well. They showed and then sagged, but not so much that they couldn’t get in a light contest against his jumper. Rondo needs time to gather himself and get in rhythm in order to drain a jumper, and while he has become proficient at draining wide open shots, he needs too much time to release the ball and does not get enough elevation to deal with even a moderate contest from a bigger, athletic player like Haslem, Wade, or Lebron. This really threw Rondo out of whack in the second half, leaving him in dreaded “stand there and direct traffic mode,” either with the ball tucked under his arm or dancing around nervously with his dribble. It was maddening to watch. Ray and Pierce’s lack of mobility became particularly apparent in these half-court situations, as they could not come off screens or v-cut effectively to get open, nor did they have any of their explosiveness to punish defenders with when they did make the catch with a man in their jock. There is no obvious answer for this other than Rondo driving aggressively in the paint and kicking to open shooters for uncontested looks, or Rondo taking the ball off the rebound and exploding into transition, something he never did tonight. Our fast break and semi-transition game was abysmal and nearly non-existent, and it put our offense into shambles in the second half.
To be clear with this X’s and O’s stuff – I do not think Doc got out-coached by Spoelstra. I think Spoelstra finally pulled his head out of his butt the last two games and made some simple adjustments that we simply did not have the personnel to counter. If Spoelstra was a good coach he would’ve figured out that he had a healthier, more athletic team and that Boston had severe offensive deficiencies, both as a product of their poor health, and their players’ weaknesses, after game three or four--not just in time to bring the Heat back from the brink of destruction in games six and seven. He nearly lost his job by messing around and being a dimwit and should not be commended for implementing a strategy that made the Heat two-thirds as good as they should be instead of worse than Philadelphia. I have more to say about the nitty-gritty of this game, but my brain is spinning and I don’t have the mental fortitude to delve back into this game any further. It hurts too much. In summation…
The referees certainly did not help tonight, and Miami got the home cooking tonight that Boston deserved in game 6, but ultimately the Celtics were an over-achieving team running on the fumes of fumes and several bad wheels. Chris Bosh’s stomach hurt, and aside from that, Miami was as energetic and bouncy as my cats when they get into the chocolate covered coffee beans. Hats off to this Celtics team, I hope Miami gets freaking destroyed by the Thunder, because they are Hollywood as hell. Peace out.
Topic: Celtics (3-3) at Heat (3-3) ECF Game 7 6/9 (Read 160454 times)