Overlooked in today's emotional game is the fact that we had to really impress Blake.
Not only did we win, but we won while playing badly and jacking up 52 three pointers on 30% shooting and 42% shooting overall. That's hard to do.
Furthermore, we showed him what it would be like to be surrounded in the frontcourt by two actual starting caliber players instead of just DJ and a scrub at the 3. Horford had an excellent game with 13 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and a +15 overall. Crowder also had a solid game with 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, and a +15 overall. I'm sure Blake would love to have an offensive threat at the 5 next to him who can hit both threes AND free throws, along with a legitimate two-way threat at the 3 on the other side of him.
Finally, and most importantly, we showed him what it's like to be a Celtics player in Boston, and we also showed him the legendary status he could achieve by playing here. What are the two main reasons Al came here and left Atlanta - a promising present/future and our fanbase. Hell, even Doc said that other Clippers players were talking about how awesome our fans were:
https://twitter.com/Marc_DAmico/status/828359279694508034?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwDoc Rivers says that other Clippers players commented throughout the night on how amazing Celtics fans are.
So, I'm starting to think that Griffin potentially considering us in free agency isn't a crazy idea. It seems pretty clear that they're not really going to be able to get over that hump and beat GS, and what other team really gives him a better chance of sustained success going forward than the C's?
If they don't bring the band back together in LA this summer, which is no sure thing, especially if they underperform once again in the playoffs, then we honestly have to be the number one landing spot for Blake, right? What other team offers a better situation?