Captain's Thoughts: A Sad End to a Happy Era for Celtics

In what could be the last game of the Big Three Era in Boston, the Celtics fell to the Heat 101-88. It was likely the last time that Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen were all on the same floor on the same team in a meaningful game.

It was a brutally painful end to an enjoyable 5 seasons. So even though the ending wasn't a triumphant one, and there was no ride into the sunset with an 18th NBA Championship trophy in tow, I'd argue that as a whole the story of The Big Three was happy one.

In the Big Three Era, the Celtics won 5 divisional titles, 2 Eastern Conference titles, and an NBA Championship. They won 11 playoff series (they'd won 10 between the 1986 NBA Finals and the start of the Big Three Era). They had a .693 winning percentage and won 273 regular season games. They rekindled the rivalry with LA. They won rings for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. And they made sure that the number 34 would one day hang in the rafters of the Garden with the other Celtic greats.

More important than all that, the Big Three Era made the Celtics relevant again. Before, the C's were struggling on the court and were struggling for attention in a town that had Super Bowl and World Series winning teams. The Big Three Era returned the Celtics to prominence in this town. And nationally, Boston was once again a focal point of the Basketball world.

It's been a very special 5 years.

Now, let's talk about Game 7.

The Celtics and Heat were tied 73-73 going into the 4th. The Celtics led 82-81 with 8:00 left in the 4th. Then the Heat went on a rampage and the C's cooled off. They outscored the Celtics 20-6 from that point on. The Heat executed, the Celtics didn't.

The common explanation for this is that the Celtics "had nothing left in the tank." They simply ran out of gas. That may be. And it might be part of the reason Miami was able to pull away so quickly. I'm not quite sure that's the reason, though.

This Celtics team has been very streaky all season, especially with their shooting. Hot for 10 minutes, cold for 10 minutes. They've blown several leads (and built several leads) in the postseason because of this streakiness. They were cold at the end of the 4th last night, but it didn't look much different from previous cold stretches.

And give credit to the Heat for their execution. I hate that I have to do that, but they made the big shots in the 4th last night. They made the momentum swinging plays (example: late in the 2nd Celtics had a chance to go up by 9, Pietrus turned it over, then LeBron dunked to make it a 5 point game). They played better than the Celtics, especially in the clutch.

I'm not calling the Celtics a team of chokers. You can't be both a Choker and a Champion, and you can't be a Choker if you're also the underdog. But the Celtics could have won this series if they played just a little bit better. The effort was there, but not the execution.

Earlier in the series, the Celtics got cold at a key time and let another game get away from them. Game 2, remembered mostly for bad officiating, saw the Celtics up 5 points with 3:00 left in the 4th. And they couldn't hit a shot. Miami took a lead, then the Celtics had to miraculously tie it, hope for LeBron to choke (which he did), and go to OT. Which they eventually lost, thanks in part to the refs. But the C's had that game in their hands, and didn't execute.

And that's fine. The Bruins didn't execute against the Caps. The Patriots didn't execute against the Giants. It happens. I'm not trying to lead an anti-Celtic crusade here. I'm not trying to criticize them or call them losers. It just seems like every time the Celtics lose, there's always an explanation and it never includes the phrase "didn't play well enough to win." It's either the refs, or their age, or health, or injuries, or running out of gas.

It's okay to admit that these guys are human, and that it's tough to execute perfectly for 16 games and win an NBA Championship. If anything, I think it emphasizes how impressive their 2008 title was. The NBA Playoffs are a grind. Only a freak could play their absolute best in every single game.

Anyway, in 10 years we won't remember this game much. We'll remember the players, but not for their shooting percentages in the 4th quarter of this game. We'll remember them for what they did the 5 years they were here. They brought pride back to the Green and White, to the most storied franchise in the NBA, and to Boston.

-The Captain

Celtics Are More Talented Than We Thought

The narrative of the Heat/Celtics series has been that Miami are talented chokers and the Celtics are gritty finishers. I'm not going to argue against that. Miami does have talent. And there's no denying that the Celtics know how to win tough playoff games.

But let's not sell the Celtics short. They have talent. They have some serious talent. How many Hall of Famers are on the Heat? How many are on the Celtics? How many Celtics players have nation-wide name recognition? We thought maybe the Celtics were too old, but they're proving that talent knows no age. At least not before 40.

Let's start with a guy who isn't old: Rajon Rondo. Fast, slick, great vision, decisive with the ball, able to drive to the hoop, and occasionally able to shoot well from the field. Rondo led the NBA with 11.7 assists per game. 1.0 more than Steve Nash, 2.8 more than Chris Paul. You can argue that he had so many assists because he was surrounded by talent. And that only furthers my contention that the Celtics are a very talented team.

The biggest criticism of Rondo is that he's not spectacular every single night. His inconsistency is sometimes baffling. But talented players are sometimes inconsistent. There's no arguing or doubting Rondo's abilities. He's a talented player.

Kevin Garnett might be healthier now than he's been the past three years. And when healthy, he is a game-changer. He looked sluggish at the start of the regular season, but he's quickened every month. His defense is better now, his shooting is better, he's making a difference in the middle of the court. He's averaging 19.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game in this postseason. He's shooting 50% from the field. In this series, the Heat have shot 60% when Garnett is on the bench, 40.8% when he's on the floor. KG changes the shape of the game when he's playing. Tell me he's not talented.

Paul Pierce is clutch. And talented. Clutchness might be an intangible, but without talent it's meaningless. Clutchness is an ability to maximize the impact of talent in the most important moments of a game. Pierce also averaged 19.4 points per game in the regular season, not much off his 22.0 career average. And keep in mind that for a good chunk of his career, he was the Celtics ONLY scorer.

With KG, Rondo, and Allen around him, Pierce hasn't had to dominate games for the Celtics to win. But when Pierce was by himself, he was very impressive. That talent hasn't dissipated much. It simply doesn't need to be harnessed every single possession. He's got talent.

This is a talented team. LeBron is a perennial MVP candidate, and Wade is a superstar, but the Celtics have three sure Hall of Famers, and one of the most talented point guards in the league. Pierce and Rondo were both All-Stars in 2012. KG was one in 2011. Pierce, Rondo, and Garnett have combined for 27 All-Star appearances.

This is a talented team that we all dismissed. Remember the trade deadline? There was debate over breaking this team up, selling off the pieces to rebuild for the future. They believed in themselves and their talent. And now they're making believers out of all of us here as well as across the country.

-The Captain

Celtics vs Sixers Game 6 Preview

So tonight is the infamous game 6, the Celtics took control of the series after manhandling the Sixers at home, but I'm sure Philly crowd will have some extra motivation and they will be doing what they do best, boo. I see them booing him the first quarter until the Celtics take control of this game.

I'm kind of thinking Avery Bradley will be out this game, which hurts as he is a defensive ace. But Ray Allen did an admirable job last game and if he keeps up that intensity on the defensive end, I will forget his offensive struggles. The Celtics proved game 5 that Rondo and a big man can win you a game as he killed it with the pick and rolls and pick and pops with KG, Big Steisy and Brandon Bass. The Sixers will do everything they can to stay at home with the picks, so we will need relief from some jump shooting with Paul Pierce and Mickael Pietrus.

Pierce has been walking through this series so far, so it's time he comes awake. Pierce will have a huge game and then that will open up everything for the rest of the team. I have been pounding this throughout this whole series, they MUST remain aggressive, and if they do that and stay in attack mode on offense they will walk away with this game fairly easily, and getting that rest.

That will happen UBUNTU!

Celtics win 98-91
Tommy Award: Paul Pierce

Celtics 107, 76ers 91

I thought the Celtics would win, but it would be close and low-scoring. As long as I got the first one right, I'm happy.

Paul Pierce isn't injured. He might be experiencing some pain, some wear and tear. But he's not injured. He scored 24 points, he drove to the hole all night (14 free throws) and hauled in 12 rebounds.

All the Celtics played more aggressively. It seemed like they didn't want to wait for the 4th quarter to win. They wanted to win in the 2nd and 3rd. And they did. Convincingly so.

Rondo was amazing. He took his shots, scoring 23. And he had 14 assists.

Garnett also had a big night. 13 rebounds and 27 points.

All the Celtics were physical. They ran all over the 76ers. They sped the game up. Before this series, the experts didn't think the Celtics could play a full court game against the 76ers and be successful. The C's proved that wrong last night.

The Celtics have Rondo. And Rondo can run all day. And by speeding up the pace of the game, the Celtics put the pressure on the 76ers to execute on every possession. You could almost hear the Celtics collectively saying "Try to keep up with us." The 76ers started making mistakes, turning the ball over, missing shots. It wasn't rampant, but it was enough to give the C's chances to add to their lead, and also add to the pressure.

The Celtics sprinted in the first three quarters, then walked through the 4th. But by then, they had a big enough lead that they didn't need to run anymore. So essentially, it was a 3 quarter game. The Celtics can run for 3 quarters. And after running, they're better at executing than the 76ers.

There are simply too many weapons on this team to lose a series to Philadelphia. The 76ers aren't equipped to stop Pierce, Garnett, and Rondo every night. Now Pierce has started his engine, KG is rolling, and Rondo is red hot. Which is more likely, that two of these guys are shut down, or that Lavoy Allen will score 10 and get 8 rebounds off the bench?

When people testify in court, they're asked if they'll swear to tell the Paul Pierce, the whole Paul Pierce, and nothing but the Paul Pierce. Because he's the motherfucking truth.

I love plays on words. And puns. I wish I could bring Big Pun back.

Game 4 Friday night in Philly.

-The Captain

Celtics vs Sixers Game 3 Preview

The series is split 1-1 and the Celtics are going to Philly who won home court with the split in Boston. Philly as an arena doesn't scare me but the way Boston ground it out in game 1 and played in game 2 scares the shit out of me. Philly is a young, scrappy team and Doug Collins has out coached Doc Rivers thus far. We really need Paul Pierce to step up and have a game, I don't know if it's his knee, him running out of gas, etc, the Captain is needed more than ever. If the Celtics take this game, I will be very confident going forward, however, if they lose, they will be in serious trouble. This is the make or break game of the series, it's a must win for Boston.

Other than Doc and Paul Pierce's performances in game 2, the thing that irritated me the most was that KG only got 12 shots. He came off maybe 2 of the best games in a Celtics uniform and to see him getting only 12 looks is perplexing. I couldn't watch the game, so I don't know if the Sixers made an extra effort to make sure he didn't get the ball or whatever, but the offense almost needs to run through him if Pierce continues to struggle. I also am scared of the effectiveness of Avery Bradley who's injury flared up last game, hopefully he will be good to go, as he seems to be a spark plug for the Celtics.

I'd also like to see Mickael Pietrus show up. He is a high energy guy, who plays excellent defense, who can knock down some shots. He has been invisible out there on the offensive end.

HOWEVER, the Sixers won by 1 points and lost by 1 point with an ineffective Paul Pierce. I believe the Captain comes through in the clutch and the Celtics win this one fairly easily at Philly.

Celtics win 101-93
Tommy Award: Paul Pierce

Celtics Injury Update

The Celtics announced today that Paul Pierce has a sprained MCL, so I guess that explains why he was jumping like a 60 year old man last game. The team also announced that he will be playing through it and will be in the starting lineup. The Celtics also announced that there are no tears or spurs in the knee, so if the Celtics can win tonight and get him some rest I think he will be close to 100% heading into the next series.

The Celtics also said that Avery Bradley has been playing with a sore rotator cuff in his left shoulder. He also is expected to start and play in Game 6 tonight. Bradley said that he has been playing with it all season, and that it really shouldn't slow him down.

DP has a preview coming up, but I think the Celtics win by 15 points. I think Rondo has a crazy line like 22 pts, 17 asts, 11 rebs, and I think KG has a huge game (28 pts, 14 rebs).

101 Celtics, 79 Hawks

It's weird because this is the performance I would expect in game 3, not in game 4. In game 3 they needed overtime to defeat the Hawks without Josh Smith and Al Horford, in game 4 they absolutely rolled the Hawks from start to finish with Josh Smith and Al Horford back in the line up.

It was a great game, and I would take a win like last night over an OT win anyday. Other than a small scare with Paul Pierce's knee (which he says is fine) the Celtics played pretty flawlessly. Speaking of Pierce, he was incredible in 17 minutes of play Pierce had 24 points on 10-13 shooting, just on fire. Rajon Rondo once again played like a man possessed and absolutely torched Jeff Teague and in 35 minutes he had 20 points 8-11 shooting, 16 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 turnover. Incredible. Brandon Bass, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Keyon Dooling all scored in double figures.

This game was great not only because it put the Celtics in a position to take the series next game, but it was huge that our starters had a chance to rest. Next game is on Tuesday in the ATL.

Celtics Trades That Almost Happened

It's rumored that the Celtics almost broke up the big 3 here are 2 interesting trades:
As the NBA trade deadline lurched into its final hour a month ago, league sources say the call Ray Allen long feared had come: Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers was on the line, telling him he had been traded. Allen had been sent to the Memphis Grizzlies for a package including O.J. Mayo and a draft pick, and the Celtics' Big Three had come to a most brusque ending.

and

Before the Big Three could make it past the trade deadline, Allen-to-the-Grizzlies had to fall apart and discussions on a deal that would have sent Paul Pierce to the New Jersey Nets for an expiring Mehmet Okur contract and a lottery pick never reached completion, league sources said.

First of all, not all people believed the Celtics could have this type of resurgence, second of all Danny did the right thing by leaving it alone.

But I am intrigued by the OJ Mayo one, if we had Rajon, Bass, Mayo and Avery going into next year, and even a healthy Mayo this year, we may have been better.

I definitely wouldn't have done the Pierce to Nets deals. But it's funny how the Nets Panic'd and did that exact same deal for Gerald Wallace.... womp womp.