Saying that we lose this series without Hollins says all I need to know.
lol
We won this series in 6 games, buddy. 6 games. Not 4, not 5, but 6. This game goes to a game 7, who knows what happens.
Doc Rivers, the coach of the Boston Celtics, even greatly credits Hollins for giving the team a ton of energy off the bench that he believes sparked the Celtics towards their game 2 win without Rondo. He acknowledged Pierces incredible game, but he pointed out with excitement that a major unsung hero of that game was Ryan Hollins. Doc specifically credited him yet again in their OT victory in game 3. Hollins has been huge for us in very key moments in this series, and if people really believe it hasn't helped tremendously to tip the scales of this series to the outcome we have now, then just look at what happened to the Mavericks in game's 1 and 2 against OKC. Or what happened to Dallas in Game 4. If someone on their team stepped up and did in specific moments what Hollins has been doing for us, they likely steal one of the first two games, maybe even win the first 2, and we aren't talking about the Mavericks having been swept out of the playoffs right now.
If Ryan Hollins does not grab that offensive rebound for us tonight, KG's incredible night ends in a lost game. If Ryan Hollins doesn't have a killer boxout in the paint off a Hawks miss, they probably get the ball back and pad the board, making this win far less likely for us. And if you don't understand how bad a rebounding team the Celtics are, and how huge it is for us to be able to prevent second chance opportunities in crucial points in the game, something Hollins did for us especialy tonight, then I don't know what else to say other than you have to open your eyes and look beyond the impressive stats. That isn't all that wins a basketball game.
For example, Rondo's amazing save in throwing the ball off of a Hawk player when we failed to inbound the ball in time was another one of those plays that don't show up in a stat sheet.
Check this out for a moment, please.
9:00
Ryan Hollins blocks Josh Smith's 8-foot jumper 65-72
8:59 65-72 Kevin Garnett defensive rebound
8:41 65-74
Kevin Garnett makes 10-foot two point shot (Paul Pierce assists)0:42 79-78
Kevin Garnett misses 4-foot jumper0:42 79-78
Ryan Hollins offensive rebound0:42 Al Horford personal foul (Ryan Hollins draws the foul) 79-78
0:42 Boston full timeout
0:42 79-78 Ray Allen enters the game for Avery Bradley
0:42 79-78 Brandon Bass enters the game for Ryan Hollins
0:30 79-80
Kevin Garnett makes 13-foot two point shot (Ray Allen assists)We likely lose this game without these huge plays. And the rest of the amazingly helpful things he did in this game that led to bad Hawks offensive possessions, or prevented them from having as good a shot as they would normally have gotten otherwise are a pretty big deal. The Hawks were taking the shots we wanted them to take while Hollins was in there. That means something. There were many possessions where the Hawks wasted out the shot clock because Hollins was such a [dang] nuisance smothering them. They had plans to get into their offensive sets much sooner, but there were quite a few important possessions where they just couldn't, and it was largely because of what Hollins was doing.
And that Josh Smith block. He just started out his shot in such horrible position, and that was because so much time on the clock had been wasted due to Hollins' pressure.