This game meant something. All the starters played real minutes and the Celtics came up short. The Heat bullied the Celtic's down low, destroyed them on the boards (42 Heat rebounds to 26 Celtics), Joel Anthony looked like '04 Ben Wallace, and Celtics offense looked stagnant...again. While Pierce and KG continued to play great, Ray Allen, Rondo, and the rest of Celtics continued to play horrible. Here are some statistics that might be able to tell you some of the story:
- Joel Anthony, who averages 3.5 rebounds and 2 points, had 10 rebounds and 7 points.
- Jermaine O'Neal and Kristic combined for 26 minutes and one rebound.
- Paul Pierce was on the floor for 34 minutes. During that time the score was tied (he had a +/- of 0). During the 14 minutes that Pierce was off the court, the Celtics were outscored by 23.
- Big Baby Davis has taken more shots then Ray Allen in 9 of the last 11 games while shooting 40%.
This is not the same Celtics team that strolled into the playoffs last year; the problems facing them are real and not just about effort. Ray Allen has not been able to get open due to nobody setting good screens (
Doc agrees),they are getting no second chance opportunities while also giving up a huge amount of second chance opportunities, Rondo's has a lack of intensity and is not attacking weak defensive PGs (Rose and Bibby), and the 2nd unit is giving no support. For the Celtics to do well in the playoffs, things will need to change drastically. C's need Shaq to be healthy, to feed the ball to Green more in the second unit (that is the reason we brought him here, right?), to stop letting Big Baby settle for long jumpers to end possessions, for Rondo to attack whether to get a lay up himself or to get an easy assist, and to get Ray Allen open and not have him create his own shot which continues to end in disaster.
Meanwhile OKC with Perkins just destroyed the Lakers last night, are 8-2 in last 10 games, and are only one loss down from Dallas for the 3rd seed.
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