Matthew Yglesias » Celtics-Bulls

Apr 30th, 2009 at 11:08 pm

Celtics-Bulls

Holy crap, what I game! I was planning to go the Kills show tonight, but triple-OT wound up making that infeasible.

This has been an incredible series.

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46

46 Responses to “Celtics-Bulls”

Rich in PA Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:19 pm
What makes the series especially poignant is that they’re fighting for the right to be annihilated by Cleveland, assuming they can get past Orlando.
kid bitzer Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
hey, matt–souter is retiring.

obama’s first scotus pick! and i hope only the first of many!
ConorClockwise Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
I was about to post something to this site about this series. Mindbogglingly good.
Though I am a born ‘n bread Celtics fan (Ray Allen as a warrior), only the Bulls have a chance of benefiting from this slugfest and forcing a Cavs series to anything over 5 games.
Mike Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
Shuttlesworth seems always to have his best games in losses. I don’t think that’s a good thing, much as I love the guy (God, what a beautiful stroke!).
Jim Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Yes, what I game, indeed.
Medrawt Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
I’ve been so underwhelmed by Orlando that I think either of these teams, exhausted and depleted as they may be, have a shot at making the conference finals, though I think the Bulls forwards match up better with Orlando’s forwards.

As a Celtics fan, I have to say that I love this series and I loved this game, although of course the outcome was painful. I just spent five minutes on the phone detailing for my dad exactly where I think Ray Allen’s foot was on the might’ve been a three but was called a two shot. (I do think it was a two.) Playoff basketball! Finding out that Bob Cousy scored 50 points in a quadruple overtime game in 1953! Derrick Rose’s block on Rondo was amazing, however much I wish it hadn’t happened. My one true regret about the game is that I cannot cannot cannot understand what Paul Pierce was thinking when he fouled Noah on the break. Oh well.
joe from Lowell Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
It’s agonizing to watch this as a Celtics fan, because this would have been a 5-game series if KG was healthy.

Damn, the Bulls are going to be a good time when they grow up. Noah and Rose in four years? Forget about it.
rapier Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
Great series. I was an often involved Bulls fan from 1967 till 97. Distance and nothing much to root for took care of that. I am rooting for them now but it’s a shame about Garnett. Would the Bulls have won one game if he was in? No.

I used to hate Boston but they had their seasons of hell and even if Garnett was not home grown it’s a shame for them and everyone that such a great player is on the sidelines. How lucky for the Bulls and everyone that Jordan never missed time due to injury during his prime.
Nicholas Warino Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
As a Celtics fan, part of me is glad that I know they won’t get by Cleveland if they get that far. If I felt a championship was truly on the line with this series, I think I would have had a few heart attacks by now. I can barely take it as is.

Ray Allen was unbelievable, which makes it that much more insane how little he touched the ball at the end of the game and in OT.

With the exception of the beginning of Game 3 and the end of Game 5, Paul Pierce has been awful. He’s obviously giving it his all, but he’s made way too many boneheaded plays this series.

Rondo has been superb the whole series, and I love the 19 assists, 0 turnovers in this game, but he choked this game away several times. He choked away free throws, open jumpers, and that terrible fadeaway jumper in the 3rd OT. WHAT WAS THAT!?!

Big Baby and Perkins have been very good, a few dumb fouls aside.

The bench has been absolutely pathetic. Just God awful. An abomination. They make me hate basketball.
k1 Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
5 Facts about Bulls v Celtics

1. Hay-soos is the best player on the Celtics team (sans KG). Paul Pierce is a shot heavy guy who offers little to nothing else against athletic opponents and looks like he eats a large pizza before every game.

2. Vinny Del Negro is consistently getting outcoached.

3. Brad Miller is a warrior, give me him as a backup C any day.

4. Rajon Rondo is pretty darn good (so is the boy D-Rose)

5. The C’s run absolutley BEAUTIFUL end of game sets for 3’s. One wouldn’t think the cross screening/off screening/misdirection action would work in a league full of professionals but time and again (see 3 point baselin screen play for House.)

*I’ll tell Eddie what my coaches told me “stay out of no man’s land.”
Duvall Says:
April 30th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Ray Allen for the Supreme Court. Derrick Rose probably needs to spend a couple of years on the Sixth Circuit before he’ll be ready.
Nylund Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:01 am
Neither team has impressed me. Kinda ugly on both sides, but goddamnit if they aren’t equally ugly! Its made for a lot of nailbiters and close games are exciting. But, compared to the Cavs, its kinda like watching two fat kids race. Rondo has impressed me though. I like him more than Rose, but Rose is young and with time he may prove to be something special.
eric k Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:18 am
The NBA is lucky the Bulls won, if they had lost after the blown goal-tending call on Heinrich’s lay-up. 2 bad calls deciding a game in the same series in a row would have been pretty tough to explain away.
Robert Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:18 am
Celtics fans should stop whining about KG. Don’t forget that the Bulls are without Luol Deng, who tore it up in the playoffs two years ago. But you’re right about Del Negro getting outcoached.
Bob Violence Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:26 am
@Robert #14:

Please don’t tell me you think the absence of Deng is equivalent to the absence of KG. That’s just crazy.
joe from Lowell Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:29 am
Luol who?

“KG” stands for Kevin Garnett.
thehova Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:37 am
It’ll be interesting to see in what direction the Bulls move next year.

How will Luol fit in? Is Ben Gordon worth big bucks (2nd and 3rd overtime seem to say no)? How will Rose progress (He looked awful tonight)?
too many steves Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:59 am
The NBA is lucky the Bulls won, if they had lost after the blown goal-tending call on Heinrich’s lay-up.

Watch that one again, Rondo didn’t touch the ball. His hand was in the cylinder, though.
eric k Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 1:42 am
One angle looked like he didn’t touch it, one looked like he did.

I was in a packed pub theater in Portland full of Blazers fans who were watching it during half time of the game we actually cared about, we sure all thought he touched it and we had no skin in the game.
Raoul Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 6:36 am
I bet those who think Rondo is better than Rose are eating crow courtesy of an incredible rejection of one over the other at the end of the game to decide the outcome. The play of the game was the steal/slam by Noah.
cd Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 7:22 am
Ray Allen is so nasty. Also, the only NBA player lamer than Noah is paul pierce, so that steal and slam emotionally confounding. But I’m glad the Bulls won.
Alex Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 10:35 am
No matter what the outcome of this series (I am a die hard bulls fan who came of age in the Jordan and watched them through thick and thin ever since), this will make the Bulls a much better team next year. What a great experience for an up and coming rookie who will be leading this team for a long time to come. I also hope it improves Del Negro as a coach, because he is pretty awful. Ben Gordon is too small to isolate on Paul Pierce for these last shot scenarios. Yes Pierce is slow, but when he is motivated at the end of a game and is many inches taller than Gordon, what does Vinny expect?
Mike Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 10:39 am
People who whine about KG being out should shut their yappers. The Celtics still have a Big Three with Rondo stepping up his game big-time, which make their failures this series against a banged-up, mediocre Bulls team all the more embarrassing.
Richard Cownie Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 11:06 am
“I bet those who think Rondo is better than Rose are eating crow courtesy of an incredible rejection of one over the other at the end of the game to decide the”

Not really. It’s not about one mistake or one good play, but
sustained excellence. Didn’t Rondo have 19 assists ? If you
want to bash him, I’d pick the 2 missed free throws that would
have put the C’s 10 points up with 3 minutes to go. This has
still been just an amazing series for Rondo. The two problems
for the C’s (apart from the obvious of missing KG) have been
the lack of scoring from the bench, and Pierce only showing up
for a quarter here and there. He sure doesn’t look a Finals
MVP in this series.
Josh R. Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 11:34 am
“People who whine about KG being out should shut their yappers. The Celtics still have a Big Three with Rondo stepping up his game big-time, which make their failures this series against a banged-up, mediocre Bulls team all the more embarrassing.”

Point taken. But I can still whine about not having Leon Powe. Why? Because it means we have to see Brian Scalabrine play major minutes in triple overtime games. I don’t know if it would swing any games, but I’d certainly feel more comfortable with him in the lineup than that fuck up, especially after Pierce fouls out.

As a side note: this is the game where they missed having James Posey. For the reason above, for Pierce fouling out, for them not being to go totally small…uggh!
Josh R. Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 11:37 am
““People who whine about KG being out should shut their yappers. The Celtics still have a Big Three with Rondo stepping up his game big-time, which make their failures this series against a banged-up, mediocre Bulls team all the more embarrassing.”

Acutally, I somewhat take away the point taken. Who is banged up on the Bulls? They’re missing Deng and Gordon has a bad hamstring. Well, the Celts are missing KG and Powe and Rondo has been playing with a sprained ankle. And, frankly, the Bulls are probably better than what we thought they were coming into the playoffs – or, since they were playing well down the stretch, playing better than their early season would suggest. Who knows, were they to have real coach they might have been a few seeds higher.
FRANK S Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Ray Allen’s performance is more amazing given his age for a shooting guard. Rondo played a little tight for the first time in the series, and Pierce seems unwilling to go to the hoop after he did not get questionable calls in the first 2 games. One never knows with injuries and motivation, but Chicago should be back on top in a couple of years.
Mike Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:24 pm
“Acutally, I somewhat take away the point taken. Who is banged up on the Bulls?”

In addition to Deng & Gordon, Salmons suffered a groin injury about two weeks before the end of the season. He ordinarily would have sat out, but the Bulls were trying to make the playoffs so he has been playing on. And of course, Brad Miller has ten stitches in his mouth.

Point taken about the Bulls’ “mediocrity”. Since the trade for Salmons and Miller, the Bulls have been playing extremely well. But I still thought the Celtics would handle this team rather easily. I was wrong.
kid destroyer Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:53 pm
More to the point, the game going to 3OT made it so I missed more than an entire HALF of my Blazers-Rockets game. I seriously want to punch someone at TNT in the neck for that. What, you don’t have sister stations? NBATV couldn’t have picked it up? mother fuckers
too many steves Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 12:54 pm
This series should be reminding everyone what an all-time great Kevin Garnett is. With him, the Celtics are the #2 seed in the east, a 62-win team. Without him, they’re no better than the #7 team, a 41-win team. He was worth 20 wins to that team even now, well past his prime and only playing 2/3 of the season.
eric k Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 1:51 pm
29, yeah ABC/ESPN does a good job of using their other channels for those situations why is TNT so clueless?
Chris Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Damn what a phenomenal game and series. As a Bulls fan, I loved it, obviously…although I almost died several times yesterday. As a UK fan, I’d always been pretty high on Rondo…until, of course he decided to become a thug on what is fast becoming a goon squad out in Boston.

Hey KG, I didn’t see you talking smack to the bulls this time. What happened? As a former fan of yours who was glad to see you get a ring last year, you can go suck a fat one. No class. Just like the rest of your team.

Bulls take game 7. Cs are old and tired, and can’t win even when the officials try to hand them the game. I don’t know how many times Salmons has to get fouled on a drive to the basket before he gets a whistle. I swear there was one replay they showed where I counted FOUR fouls and no whistle. Paul Pierce lays the ball out of bounds at end of game 1…Cs ball. Rondo horsecollars Miller…no flagrant. Whatever, Bulls take it anyways…although its not like it matters because even if they beat the Magic, no way we top the LeBrons. Oh well. This series is our NBA championship, and great experience for DA BULLS.
brewmn Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Fuck Kevin Garnett. One of the most consistently overrated players in the history of the NBA. Plus, he’s an asshole and an utterly classless piece of shit to boot.

I hope he never gets a whiff of an NBA championship again in his pathetic, underachieving career.
howard Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 3:11 pm
toomanysteves, i had to get to your comment before someone made the point i wanted to make, but i’m going to echo it: there is no sport in which the superstar is more important than basketball, and the tightness of this series sans KG just shows it.

and brewmn, there is no cheaper way of acting out than your comment #33: there’s always some clown in every group who can’t stand a great player, and it usually says more about the clown than about the great player.
jk Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Unless the kills now have a live drummer instead of a drum machine on the road then you made the right choice. They get kinda stuck in a rut because of the drum machine, can’t really get into the groove for a particular night…. at least that’s what I recall from seeing them in SF a year or two ago… good but pretty miss-able…
brewmn Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 5:25 pm
And, speaking of classless pieces of shit, here comes howard, endorsing trash talking from a loser in street clothes on the bench.
Petey Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 5:52 pm
“More to the point, the game going to 3OT made it so I missed more than an entire HALF of my Blazers-Rockets game. I seriously want to punch someone at TNT in the neck for that.”

My immediate thought on the segue to the Blazers-Rockets game in the middle of the third quarter was to pity the poor fans of those two teams.

While you have my sympathies, you sacrificed for the greater good.

——

Hallelujah to the Redemption of Brad Miller!

And Johnny Salmons actually managed to find a way to show up.

——

I fully assume the Celtics will win game 7 by 20 points with the game not in doubt after the first quarter, but it’d be pretty storybook if the Bulls can pull it off. And I say that as someone who likes the current Celtics quite a bit.

Tim Thomas to hit the winning 3 after everyone else has fouled out in the fourth overtime? You heard it here first…
Chris Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Yeah, I’m with ya brewmn! I’m a Chicago guy, so I tend to side with Chicago guys…Garnett being one of them (McNabb is another) even though he doesn’t play for my team. I thought he was a great player stuck on a bad team, and I was happy he got a ring last year, even though I thought it was in semi-cheap fashion.

After watching this series…no more. He is a classless punk. And it rubs off on everyone on the team. Which is a shame, because once upon a time I really liked Rondo as well.
Petey Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 6:01 pm
And while I haven’t spent the necessary time to fully review all the competitors, it really is difficult to believe this isn’t the greatest first round series of all-time.

The fact that we’re less than a decade into 7 game first round series makes a snap judgment easier.
Kansachusetts Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 6:58 pm
As one who has begged Matt for months to do a Rondo post, I must admit that Rondo played a lousy game last night, despite the 19 assists. The ball movement was poor, he choked on the foul shots, and he never drove. Maybe he’s more banged up than we think, or maybe he knew he was asking for it if he put himself up there for Miller or Thomas to tomahawk.

And Pierce — except for the brief moments of clutchness, he’s playing so poorly that it reminds me of Earl “the Pearl” Monroe scoring a basket in the opponent’s hoop at the end of a game one time. Anybody checking the point-spreads? The whole set-up-eight-feet-beyond-the-top-of-the-key-and-settle-for-a-jump-shot thing is new in recent weeks, and it stinks. Pierce is double-teamed all the time and I can’t remember one time that he’s hit the open man.

Big Baby, on the other hand, has really stepped up — a few blunders aside — and I agree with Bill Simmons that there was no excuse for taking him out of the game late.

If they win Saturday, they beat Orlando. If they beat Orlando, Cleveland will at least be interesting.
Petey Says:
May 1st, 2009 at 7:38 pm
“And Pierce — except for the brief moments of clutchness, he’s playing so poorly that it reminds me of Earl “the Pearl” Monroe scoring a basket in the opponent’s hoop at the end of a game one time. Anybody checking the point-spreads?”

Dude. You’re kinda nutso.

Pierce is playing his heart out this series. He’s giving you everything he’s got.

It’s not his fault KG got old and Boston management balked over a single year on Posey’s contract.

—–

The brilliance of Noah’s play is that he was helping on Pierce off of Scalabrine. So Noah knew Scalabrine was open, and he knew Pierce knew that too. Noah knew Pierce would make the correct move and pass to the open Scalabrine after drawing him into the lane, and so he was able to guess which way to leap.
Joel Says:
May 2nd, 2009 at 10:22 am
All I can say is.

Fuck Tony Allen. What the fuck, Doc?
Kansachusetts Says:
May 2nd, 2009 at 11:09 am
Dude. You’re kinda nutso.
Pierce is playing his heart out this series. He’s giving you everything he’s got.
It’s not his fault KG got old and Boston management balked over a single year on Posey’s contract.

Nutso, sure, but wrong about Pierce … um, no.
Pierce has played great in many games, both offensively and defensively. But take it from someone who has watched every Celtics game since December 2007: Pierce has concentration problems and other weaknesses that are apparent when he isn’t playing his best — because of exhaustion, over-confidence, or whatever reason.

As stated above, Pierce rarely hits the open man when he’s double-teamed. When the Celtics lose, he’s often a partial culprit because of lazy or ill-advised passes in the lane, and because he relies so heavily on his one-on-one spin move but he frequently gets stripped on the spin in double-coverage. Sometimes his legs aren’t there and the threes don’t fall, but that’s to be expected, I don’t complain about that.

And there is one more problem you’ve got to worry about with Pierce, and that problem is showing itself is spades now that more of the offensive burden is on him: Unlike every other player on the Celtics first team, he’s never developed a relationship with Rondo on offense other than “give me the ball at the top of the key and let me do my thing.” He doesn’t move without the ball in order work back-door plays and create easy layups or open threes, he moves only to get into position to go one-on-one. So on nights when he doesn’t have the legs, or the defense is too strong, or his concentration flags, his offense bogs down and the momentum of the game can shift quickly.

You can bet that Rondo is not calling the shots in this matter. It’s a case of Pierce’s status giving him carte blanche to generate the offense that he is most comfortable with.

All that said, Pierce is capable in any given game of focusing, cutting down on the turnovers, tightening his spin move, and driving to the basket instead of settling for jumpers. He’s also capable of hitting all those jumpers, and he loves to rise to a heroic challenge. And he can play great defense.

So I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him come through with 30 points and a sterling game tonight and watch the Celtics drub the Bulls, just like they broke Atlanta’s heart in game seven last year.

The problem is, when you toy with fate and let it all come down to one game, no amount of heroism will overcome bad breaks, bad calls, and incredible shooting by the other team.
Petey Says:
May 2nd, 2009 at 2:40 pm
“And there is one more problem you’ve got to worry about with Pierce, and that problem is showing itself is spades now that more of the offensive burden is on him: Unlike every other player on the Celtics first team, he’s never developed a relationship with Rondo on offense other than “give me the ball at the top of the key and let me do my thing.” He doesn’t move without the ball in order work back-door plays and create easy layups or open threes, he moves only to get into position to go one-on-one. So on nights when he doesn’t have the legs, or the defense is too strong, or his concentration flags, his offense bogs down and the momentum of the game can shift quickly. You can bet that Rondo is not calling the shots in this matter. It’s a case of Pierce’s status giving him carte blanche to generate the offense that he is most comfortable with.”

Again, dude.

Pierce is an on-the-ball talent. That’s what makes him good.

You give the ball to Pierce, force the defense to find a way to avoid him taking an open shot from the foul line, and use his decision-making to take advantage of where the defense cheats. That’s your offense. With KG out, that should be your offense.

How do you think Glen Davis becomes an effective NBA player?

—–

And all of you Boston fans massively overvalue Rondo.

Don’t get me wrong. He had a wonderful season. He’s had a wonderful first round series. He’s become the exact player the team needs him to be.

But he’s just a cog in the machine. He’s not the driver of a team that could contend for a title.

Pierce is calling the shots in the matter because that’s the correct basketball decision.
Petey Says:
May 2nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
“The problem is, when you toy with fate and let it all come down to one game, no amount of heroism will overcome bad breaks, bad calls, and incredible shooting by the other team.”

Boston isn’t “toying with fate”. They’re just not a dominant team with the current active roster.

This isn’t a matter of lack of will.

You guys have some serious weaknesses this year. You’re basically in the position of trying to steal a title.
Kansachusetts Says:
May 2nd, 2009 at 2:57 pm
You give the ball to Pierce, force the defense to find a way to avoid him taking an open shot from the foul line, and use his decision-making to take advantage of where the defense cheats. That’s your offense. With KG out, that should be your offense.

Them’s the words of someone who doesn’t understand why the Celtics won the championship and how they won 60+ games this year. Their offense even now is about ball movement, not about Pierce going one-on-one.

How do you think Glen Davis becomes an effective NBA player?

By playing Celtic defense, which is team defense, and by perfecting both his intermediate-range shot (which he has greatly improved) and his ability to get to the hoop and score against bigger guys. It has nothing to do with what you describe for Pierce. Except when Pierce can lay the ball off to him on a double-team, and that ain’t happening as much as it should.

And all of you Boston fans massively overvalue Rondo.

We’ll see who laughs last on this one.

Matt Yglesias

Celtics-Bulls

46 Responses to “Celtics-Bulls”

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