Parting Shots on Game 6
Posted by Brian Robb on May 1, 2009
AP
Some additional thoughts are in order after having a night to sleep on one of the greatest games in NBA history
Rajon Rondo: The PG returned to his 2008 playoff form last night and I don’t know whether to be excited or disappointed by that reality. This team is at its peak, not when Rondo is looking for his shot but instead when he’s setting up his teammates. That’s what happened last night for a variety of stretches as the point guard took more of a pass first mentality on his way to 19 assists.
I am not going to lie though, I did a bit of a double take after this game concluded with I saw his final stat line. 4 of 17 shooting? How did a “non-aggressive” Rondo end up taking that many shots? And no turnovers in 57 minutes? That has to be approaching the record for most minutes played without a turnover in the playoffs. I hope someone does some research to confirm that.
It’s hard to get too high on Rondo after what was clearly his worst game of the series. If Rondo does not revert back to his attacking pre game 6 form on Saturday, the Celtics will lose by 10-15 points. Ray is not going to be able to go for 51 points again and the C’s don’t have enough other offensive weapons to counter Chicago’s firepower.
The C’s need Rondo around the rim and they need him to be less willing to settling for some of his most questionable shots during the game’s deciding moments. He’s gone 0/3 in clutch moments in this series (2 misses on jumpers in regulation and overtime of game 4). The guy needs to trust himself and his strengths when the game is on the line and not revert back to the player that Doc Rivers had to bench for prolonged stretches in the Finals last year.
The Scuffle: It was a dirty play, a stupid play and to put it bluntly Rajon Rondo is lucky that so much other drama happened in this game to distract the media from giving it more coverage. The 3rd year guard has come a long way this series but his 23 year old immaturity made a cameo in tossing Hinrich into the press table. Thankfully for Celtics fans, no major scuffle followed the cheap shot, besides Mikki Moore rushing into the fold looking to wreak havoc. Now that I think about it, I hope the NBA comes down hard on Mikki and suspend him for game 7…..nay the rest of the playoffs. Send him packing, it’ll only help the Celtics chances.
With Rondo putting up historic numbers though combined with the NBA striking gold with this series as a whole, you can count on them wanting both teams at full strength for the final showdown. A suspension of Rondo would take well deserved attention off of the game itself and highlight the few negatives instead of the endless array of positives the past six games have awarded us fans. That realization makes a hefty fine, a stern talking to (literally) and likely no suspension for the third year guard.
Officiating: For as much flack (warranted or not) the referees have caught in this series, I have to throw some kudos their way for their stellar performance last night. They handled the Rondo/Hinrich exchange perfectly and called enough fouls early on both sides to ensure the chippy nature of this contest would not get out of hand.
With cooler heads prevailing, the refs were able to swallow their whistles in the 4th quarter and overtimes and do nothing that could be deemed unnecessarily disruptive to this historic encounter. All the foul outs on both sides were deserving calls and they only blew the whistles when they absolutely had to. The officials were a non-factor in this one and that’s exactly the way it should be. I’m also giving them a mulligan on the non-call for Tyrus Thomas’ blow to the face on Paul Pierce.
Big Baby: If you are looking for someone unlike Rondo, whose always willing to take the big shot when it counts, look no further than Glen Davis. The infant has grown up during this series and was instrumental in helping the team sustain their 18-0 in the 4th quarter along with taking and making big shot after big shot in overtime. A final line of 23 points and 6 crucial offensive boards in 53 minutes only tells part of the story.
After TA’s performance down the stretch, Zach Lowe now has me fully on board with his request that Big Baby be on the floor at the end of any ballgame. The Celtics need players outside besides Ray and paul to have the fortitude to take the shot when it matters. Baby has proven he can be one of those guys and deliver.
Perk: I was actually impressed with how long the beast lasted in this one after picking up his 5th foul on a John Salmons drive with 2:08 remaining in the 4th quarter. The anchor of the Celtics defense was able to hang around all the way until the two minutes mark of the 2nd overtime when he got lazy and went over the back for a rebound on Brad Miller.
At this point, Kendrick Perkins may be the most valuable player in this series, primarily because he is the only legitmate defensive presence this team has. Facing a team of explosive penetrators and great shooters, Perk is our only real hope to be able to consistently deter one aspect of what is an otherwise superb Bulls offense. The center’s discipline will be crucial to the team Saturday Night as the team can’t afford to have Perk watching from the pine while Scal fails to take charges from Derrick Rose in the games closing seconds.
John Salmons: I figured it was only a matter of time before Salmons made his presence felt in this series. The small forward has been limited by a groin injury for much of the past month that kept him from becoming a pivotal offensive factor for the Bulls in this series…..up until last game anyway.
The former King had been on an absolute tear before suffering the groin injury in March, putting up over 21 points a game for Chicago to go with 43 percent shooting from downtown. I don’t know if the groin is completely healed or Salmons just is comfortable playing with the pain now, but the Celtics have to be concerned about Salmons looking like his old self and thus being forced to contain one more Bull (Paul Pierce has never looked older than trying to guard Salmons last night) for game 7.
Paul Pierce: Tough game. Never got into rhythm after taking that shot to the mouth from Thomas. Really admire the hustle in chasing Noah on the breakaway dunk even though the foul ended up being a dumb play for multiple reasons. The effort showed all he was worried about there was the team (making Noah earn it at the line) rather than keeping himself in the game by not fouling out. He’ll be ready for redemption in game 7.
Brad Miller: Never have I seen such a more impressive and likely fulfilling bounce back performance by a player. Hopefully he got all the great shooting out of his system last night.
Game 7: Bring it on.
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