Boston Celtics

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) A couple months ago, ESPN The Magazine ran a fascinating article about what it takes to get to the NBA Finals. Guest writer Baron Davis interviewed fellow All-Star guards Kobe Bryant, Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker. Bryant, of course, teamed with Shaquille O'Neal to lead the Lakers to three straight NBA championships from 2000-02. O'Neal and Bryant's Lakers also made it to the 2004 Finals, where they lost to the Detroit Pistons as Billups won the Finals MVP. This year Bryant, sans O'Neal, guided the Lakers back to the Finals, where they lost in six games to the Boston Celtics. Parker has won three championships as a San Antonio Spur (2003, 2005, 2007) and he was selected as the 2007 Finals MVP.   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) Bryant was a landslide winner in the 2008 NBA MVP race because he led the Lakers to the best record in perhaps the toughest Western Conference playoff race ever and if that award needed "validation" then he provided it by carrying the Lakers to the NBA Finals, defeating the 2007 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs and the 2007 Western Conference Finalist Utah Jazz along the way. Bryant averaged 31.9 ppg on .509 field goal shooting in the Western Conference playoffs. James had a great 2008 NBA regular season, establishing himself as the second best player in the league behind Bryant, but his inconsistent outside shot enables elite defensive teams to sag off of him, resulting in low shooting percentages and high turnover rates: James averaged 22.0...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) What a difference a year makes! The Celtics packaged the fifth overall pick with other considerations and acquired All-Star guard Ray Allen from a rebuilding Seattle team. Now that the Celtics had two All-Stars on the roster, Kevin Garnett agreed to be traded from Minnesota to Boston and the remade Celtics were suddenly a bona fide threat to win the East and contend for a championship. Meanwhile, young Andrew Bynum emerged as a legit double double threat and the Lakers raced to a 26-11 start. Bynum went down with what turned out to be a season ending knee injury but Bryant held the team together until the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol from Memphis in exchange for Brown and other considerations. The Lakers now had a legit second option, which meant...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) All of the talk about a Lakers' dynasty in the making is extremely premature. Andrew Bynum has yet to put together half a season's worth of productive NBA games, let alone prove that he can be a reliable playoff performer. When--if--he fully returns to health he can give the Lakers more paint presence but he will not singlehandedly correct all of the problems that the Lakers had in the Finals. Also, I have yet to hear serious discussion of the fact that he Gasol and Odom cannot possibly play extended minutes together because none of them is a small forward. Bynum or Gasol can play center with Odom at power forward or Bynum can play center with Gasol at power forward but if Gasol and Bynum are on the court together then Odom will have to be on the bench i...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Throughout this season I have repeatedly asserted that teams could not guard Kobe Bryant the way that the Spurs and Celtics guarded LeBron James in the 2007 and 2008 playoffs respectively because Bryant's outside shot is far superior to James'. James averaged 22.0 ppg, shot .356 from the field (including .200 from three point range) and committed 5.8 turnovers per game during the Spurs' sweep of the Cavs in the 2007 Finals; the high number of turnovers were a direct result of the Spurs being able to sag off of James, daring him to shoot outside shots and positioning themselves to intercept his passes. In contrast, Bryant averaged 29.2 ppg, shot .533 from the field (including .333 from three point range) and committed just 2.4 turnovers per game as h...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) Depending on the outcome, Paul Pierce or Kobe Bryant will most likely win the 2008 Finals MVP. In my previous post I broke down Bryant's performance in the first five games of the Finals and compared his numbers in this series and the Western Conference Finals to the numbers that LeBron James posted against Boston in this year's playoffs and San Antonio in last year's Finals. Comment: The Lakers built a 24 point lead but unlike the Celtics in game two they could not completely hold off their opponent's furious comeback. Pierce had seven of the Celtics' 15 assists and he played good defense against Bryant, who still scored 10 points and had three assists in the fourth quarter; putting Pierce on Bryant late in the game was important because Pier...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Starting point guard Rajon Rondo only played 14:32, scoring three points on 1-7 shooting, passing for three assists and compiling a -15 plus/minus rating. Boston Coach Doc Rivers candidly admitted that Rondo was benched not due to injury but rather because of his ineffectiveness. Basically, Kobe Bryant has taken Rondo out of the series and forced the team with the best record in the league to change its rotation; in both game four and game five, the Lakers built big early leads in no small part because Bryant was nominally assigned to guard Rondo but in fact served as a roving help defender, much like Scottie Pippen did during his glory days. That left the Celtics playing four on five offensively and thus fueled the Lakers' transition game. U...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) The cliche goes that the media builds you up only to tear you down. After years of not giving Kobe Bryant the MVP votes that he deserved when he was clearly the best player in the league, this season the media selected him as the MVP and began making the tiresome comparisons to Michael Jordan that everyone--including Bryant--is tired of hearing. The easiest, color by numbers story to write in the wake of the Celtics' brilliant comeback victory over the Lakers starts with the words "Kobe Bryant should never again be compared with Michael Jordan." As I have stated in this space many times, I give Jordan the edge over Bryant in terms of skill set and in terms of overall career accomplishments; however, Bryant is the closest thing to Jordan in terms...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) In contrast, the only future Hall of Famers who are sharing the court with Bryant in this series are all wearing Celtic green: Garnett, Pierce and Allen. That means that the Celtics can target Bryant in ways that the Lakers cannot target any of Boston's "Big Three." Bryant is alternately asked to be a roamer defensively to disrupt Boston's offense and then he is asked to be a stopper against (at different times) Allen and Pierce. As detailed above, it is up to Bryant to create most of the Lakers' offense, while the "Big Three" not only share that load but also have veteran reserve players who can step up. So why did I pick the Lakers to win this series? I thought, based on how the Lakers played down the stretch of this season and in the first three round...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) I have repeatedly mentioned one element that I think should be a bigger part of their half court offense: a screen/roll play involving Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy pointed out during game two that the Celtics have struggled to defend that action and late in the fourth quarter we even saw the Lakers successfully run a screen/roll with Bryant and reserve center Ronny Turiaf. Not surprisingly, in game two the Celtics did well in the three key areas that I mentioned: Paul Pierce seemed to be fully healthy and he was very productive, the Celtics got a lot of easy points in the paint--particularly by reserve Leon Powe--and they slowed the Lakers' transition game to a crawl for most of the night. The Lakers' late run skewed a lo...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) The Boston Celtics led the L.A. Lakers 95-71 with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter but the Lakers pulled to within 104-102 before the Celtics escaped with a 108-102 win. Paul Pierce, showing no ill effects from his game one knee injury, led the Celtics with 28 points on 9-16 shooting from the field. He also had eight assists and four rebounds. Leon Powe came off of the bench to contribute a playoff career-high 21 points in just 14:39, shooting 6-7 from the field. Kevin Garnett controlled the boards with a game-high 14 rebounds but scored just 17 points on 7-19 field goal shooting. Ray Allen had an efficient 17 points on 6-11 field goal shooting. Rajon Rondo only scored four points on 1-4 field goal shooting but he had 16 assists, six rebounds and just two...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) After the teams alternated missed shots, turnovers and fouls, Bryant drove to the hoop, drew the defense and fed Gasol for a dunk. The Lakers seemed to be in great shape after another Bryant-Gasol screen roll play resulted in a Bryant bank shot to put the Lakers up 62-58. Celtic center Kendrick Perkins landed on Pierce during that play and Pierce lay in agony on the court before being helped to the locker room by several teammates. With the Lakers leading and the status of the Celtics' go-to offensive player uncertain it looked like the Lakers had a great chance to take command of the game. Instead, Bryant missed a couple jumpers and Vujacic played horrible defense on Allen, giving up a wide open three pointer that tied the score at 62 (Rondo had p...   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) 1986-87 NBA Leaderboard 1) L.A. Lakers, 65-17 2) Boston Celtics, 59-23 3) Atlanta Hawks, 57-25 4) Dallas Mavericks, 55-27 5) Detroit Pistons, 52-30 MVP 1) Magic Johnson (Lakers) 2) Michael Jordan (Bulls) 3) Larry Bird (Celtics) 4) Kevin McHale (Celtics) 5) Dominique Wilkins (Hawks) 1) Michael Jordan, 37.1 ppg (Bulls) 2) Dominique Wilkins, 29.0 ppg (Hawks) 3) Alex English, 28.6 ppg (Nuggets) 4) Larry Bird, 28.1 ppg (Celtics) 5) Kiki Vandeweghe, 26.9 ppg (Trail Blazers) 1) Magic Johnson, 12.2 apg (Lakers) 2) Sleepy Floyd, 10.3 apg (Warriors) 3) Isiah Thomas, 10.0 apg (Pistons) 4) Doc Rivers, 10.0 apg (Hawks) 5) Terry Porter, 8.9 apg (Trail Blazers)   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Tomorrow in Part III: After a one year hiatus, the Celtics and Lakers write the final chapter of their 1980s rivalry with a showdown in the 1987 NBA Finals. 1984-85 NBA Leaderboard 1) Boston Celtics, 63-19 2) L.A. Lakers, 62-20 3) Milwaukee Bucks, 59-23 4) Philadelphia 76ers, 58-24 5) Denver Nuggets, 52-30 MVP 1) Larry Bird (Celtics) 2) Magic Johnson (Lakers) 3) Moses Malone (76ers) 4) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lakers) 5) Terry Cummings (Bucks) 1) Bernard King, 32.9 ppg (Knicks) 2) Larry Bird, 28.7 ppg (Celtics) 3) Michael Jordan, 28.2 ppg (Bulls) 4) Purvis Short, 28.0 ppg (Warriors) 5) Alex English, 27.9 ppg (Nuggets)   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) In 1982-83, the Sixers acquired Moses Malone from Houston, stormed to a 65-17 record and swept the Lakers in the Finals; the Celtics were swept by the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, so that was the first year that Bird and Erving did not face each other in the playoffs. That Sixers team is still one of the greatest single season squads of all-time but rather than the start of a dynasty that turned out to be the end of an era, capping off a seven year run during which Erving's Sixers won more games than any other NBA team, made it to the Eastern Conference Finals six times and advanced to the NBA Finals four times.   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) NBA Finals The Lakers are not known as a great defensive team but their point differential (6.4 ppg) and field goal percentage differential (.045) in the playoffs are better than Boston's (4.3 ppg and .026 respectively). Athletic teams/players can cause problems for the Celtics, as we saw in the first round with Atlanta and even in the Detroit series with the contributions made by Rodney Stuckey and Lindsey Hunter. The Lakers are a long and fast team that is very formidable in the transition game. The problem with the Suns and the Warriors is not that those teams are high powered offensively but rather that they are terrible defensively; the Lakers play at a fast tempo and score a lot of points but they don't give up a lot of easy shots defensively:...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) What impressed me the most about the Celtics during the regular season is how hard they played on a nightly basis, particularly on defense. A little bit of that edge seemed to be missing in this game but more than effort I thought that Boston lacked efficiency and intelligence; during the telecast, Jeff Van Gundy repeatedly singled out the stupid fouls that the Celtics committed that just handed Detroit free points during stretches when the Pistons were not shooting well from the field. At one point, Van Gundy called Boston's defensive performance "substandard" and he said, "The Celtics have to be more disciplined with the Pistons' shot fakes." It seemed like every time a Detroit player pump faked he drew a foul. Detroit made six more free t...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) The Pistons were the well rested team while the Celtics had just survived a brutal seven game series against Cleveland but at the start of the game the Celtics seemed energized and the Pistons seemed like they were resting rather than rested. Boston jumped out to an 8-0 lead with Garnett, Pierce and Allen each scoring at least one basket. As this series progresses, pay attention to the difference between the shots the Celtics take and the shots the Pistons take: Boston's defense is forcing the Pistons to take difficult, contested shots outside of the paint, while at the other end of the court the Celtics are getting into the paint at will and either scoring from close range or kicking the ball back out to wide open shooters. Boston shot 36-69 (.5...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Other things to consider: Boston's road woes during this year's playoffs have been much discussed but the bottom line is that this is the first go around in the postseason for this team collectively and they have won every must-win game so far--not only the two seventh games but also the two fifth games which, as Coach Doc Rivers pointed out, are also pressure packed situations. Detroit has a tendency to get lackadaisical during the course of a playoff series and that flaw has prevented the Pistons from returning to the NBA Finals since the departure of Coach Larry Brown and center Ben Wallace. Coach Flip Saunders' much vaunted "liberation offense" works a lot better in the regular season against overmatched teams than it does in the latte...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Paul Pierce and LeBron James did their best to revive memories of the classic 1988 game seven Boston Garden showdown between Larry Bird (34 points, 20 in the fourth quarter) and Dominique Wilkins (47 points, 16 in the fourth quarter). Bird's Celtics beat Wilkins' Hawks 118-116 and the final result this time was very similar: the visiting player scored more points but the Celtics won the game. Boston advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals after a 97-92 victory over Cleveland in which Pierce scored 41 points on 13-23 field goal shooting (including 4-6 from three point range) and 11-12 free throw shooting. He also had five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Sam Jones is the only Celtic who ever scored more points in a seventh game (47). Ja...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Cleveland outrebounded Boston 45-37 and James went to the free throw line more than the whole Celtics team, who shot 11-13 from the free throw line. Boston Coach Doc Rivers, trying to avoid a fine from the league while still making a point, obliquely criticized the officiating by saying that he thought his players drove to the hoop just as aggressively as Cleveland's but they did not hear any whistles. The reality, though, is that Garnett and Pierce took more than half of Boston's field goal attempts and they spent most of the game firing away from the perimeter. Boston's 69 points are the fewest ever scored by a Cleveland opponent in a playoff game, breaking the mark shared by Detroit (May 15, 2006) and New Jersey (May 18, 2007). This is also Bos...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Other than James' record setting--and not in a good way--field goal percentage, this series has followed the script that I predicted it would when I said that Cleveland's best shot to win in Boston would come in game one and that if the Cavs lost that game then the Celtics would eliminate them in seven. Nevertheless, it still would be interesting to see the Celtics pushed to the brink for the second series in a row and there is always the chance that James could do something remarkable in that circumstance. It certainly would be anticlimactic for the Celtics to close out the series in Cleveland on Friday, because any true basketball fan outside of Boston surely would like to see James battle the "Big Three" in a seventh game.   [read the full post]

By noreply@blogger.com (David Friedman) LeBron James and Delonte West had 21 points each to lead a balanced scoring attack as the Cleveland Cavaliers routed the Boston Celtics 108-84 to cut Boston's lead to 2-1 in their second round playoff series. Joe Smith added 17 points on 7-8 field goal shooting, Wally Szczerbiak scored 16 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 12 points, eight rebounds and a playoff career-high six assists. Ben Wallace, whose playing status was uncertain until right before game time due to allergies and an inner ear infection, contributed nine points, nine rebounds and a lot of high energy hustle plays that do not show up in the boxscore. West and Smith each tied their playoff career-highs in scoring. Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 17 points and nine rebound...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman(noreply@blogger.com) Cleveland's three trumps are usually defense, rebounding and the brilliance of James but the Celtics won all three categories, holding Cleveland to .356 field goal shooting while shooting .403 themselves, outrebounding Cleveland 45-39 and doing an excellent job against James, the 20...

By David Friedman 1) The Celtics employed essentially the same defense that the San Antonio Spurs used against Cleveland in the 2007 NBA Finals: they built a wall around the paint by trapping James aggressively after every pick and roll that involved him and they sent waves of defenders in his direction any time that he tried to drive to the hoop. The idea is to force James to pass the ball or shoot long jump shots. In order for this to work, the defensive team has to have active, mobile big guys in the paint plus three perimeter defenders who understand the proper rotations and are committed to executing them. Few teams have the mental discipline and the right personnel to play this way for 48 minutes--the Spurs and the Celtics might be the only teams that can do thi...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman In most cases, seventh games are death for the road team and that was certainly true on Sunday when Boston hammered Atlanta 99-65. The 65 points are the second fewest scored in a seventh game in the shot clock era and the Celtics also held the Hawks to .293 shooting from the field, the best defensive field goal percentage performance in a seventh game in the shot clock era and the third best in NBA history. Paul Pierce led five Celtics double figure scorers with 22 points and Kevin Garnett contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds. Ray Allen never found his groove and he was the only Boston starter to not score at least 10 points (seven points, 3-12 field goal shooting). Joe Johnson was Atlanta's high scorer with just 16 points on 5-17 field goal shooting...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman It is safe to say that no thought that there would be a seventh game in the Boston-Atlanta series. In my 2008 Playoff Preview, I wrote that Atlanta could beat Boston only if "Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan and Dominique Wilkins emerge from a time machine." I saw the Hawks in person late in the season and it was simply inconceivable to me that this team could beat a Boston squad that played at such a high level defensively throughout the season. I had my doubts about Boston prior to the season and I thought that four other Eastern teams had a better chance of advancing to the NBA Finals; ironically, if the Celtics lose on Sunday they could indeed be said to have finished fifth since they would be the last team eliminated before the start of round two of the play...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman I have been very impressed with Boston this year, not just by the performances of the Big Three--Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen--but also by the team's commitment to playing great defense on a nightly basis. There were valid questions about starting point guard Rajon Rondo, how much the bench could contribute and who would take the shots/make the plays down the stretch in close games but a 66-16 regular season record refuted most of those concerns. However, several of those issues came to the forefront during Monday's loss: the Celtics got virtually nothing from their bench, their defense fell apart in the fourth quarter and despite having three All-Stars the Celtics' offense fizzled in the final stanza. Allen had the stronge...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman It is not easy to take a 3-0 lead in a series because even underdog teams tend to fight relentlessly to prevent that from happening; this year, only the Lakers and the defending champion Spurs have won the first three games in their respective series. Even the league-leading 66-16 Boston Celtics lost their game three versus the Atlanta Hawks, a team that had a sub-.500 regular season record. MVP candidates LeBron James and Chris Paul played very well in leading their teams to two home wins each only to lose their game threes on the road; James had a decent game three individually, while Paul played well below his usual standard. On the other hand, Bryant set the tone for his team with his approach to game three and he backed up that attitude with hi...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman 1 Boston 2, #8 Atlanta 0: The biggest single reason for the Celtics' remarkable turnaround this year is that the team plays stifling defense now. Kevin Garnett just received the Defensive Player of the Year award in recognition of the huge role he has played in turning Boston into a defensive powerhouse. Boston has held Atlanta to .382 field goal shooting while forcing the Hawks to commit 18.5 turnovers per game. None of the Celtics' Big Three--Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen--is averaging more than 18 ppg or shooting better than .450 from the field in this series but the Celtics are averaging 100 ppg versus the Hawks while giving up just 79 ppg. 2 Detroit 1, #7 Philadelphia 1: 3 Orlando 2, #6 Toronto 1: 5 Utah 2, #4 Houston 1:   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Did the Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards switch jerseys prior to Washington's 108-72 game three win? During the Cavs' 116-86 game two victory it looked like Cleveland could do nothing wrong and Washington could do nothing right but the tables turned completely on Thursday night; the Cavs went from setting a franchise playoff record for biggest winning margin in game two to establishing a franchise playoff record for worst loss in game three. This was also the largest winning margin in a playoff game in Wizards/Bullets history. I sat next to Boston Celtics' scout Dave Wohl during game two and as time wound down I said to him that the funny thing about the NBA playoffs is that as bad as the Wizards looked they could very well win gam...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman If these series go as I have predicted, we will see second round matchups of Boston-Cleveland, Detroit-Orlando, L.A.-Utah and Phoenix-Dallas. Game one in the Boston-Cleveland series will be an opportunity for LeBron James to add to his already impressive legacy by having a big game and helping his team to swipe away homecourt advantage. I liked the Cavs' overall cohesion much better prior to their big midseason trade but if everyone stays healthy they do have a puncher's chance to beat Boston. However, although I can visualize a perfect scenario in which that happens, I think that Boston will prevail over Cleveland in six tough games. I expect Detroit to likewise defeat Orlando in six games. The Celtics have refuted all concerns about the po...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman 15) Tracy McGrady, HOU 21.6 ppg 24) Kevin Durant, SEA 20.3 ppg What happens when three career 20 ppg scorers join forces? Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen each failed to average 20 ppg, sacrificing individual glory for the good of the team. Of course, the real story in Boston is not what those guys did on offense but rather how quickly the Celtics emerged as a dominant defensive team. 1) Dwight Howard, ORL 14.2 rpg 2) Marcus Camby, DEN 13.1 rpg 3) Tyson Chandler, NOH 11.7 rpg 4) Tim Duncan, SAS 11.3 rpg 5) Al Jefferson, MIN 11.1 rpg 6) Emeka Okafor, CHA 10.7 rpg 7) Lamar Odom, LAL 10.6 rpg 8) Carlos Boozer, UTA 10.4 rpg 9) Sam Dalembert, PHI 10.4 rpg 10) Antawn Jamison, WAS 10.2 rpg   [read the full post]

By David Friedman The Boston Celtics quickly patched up any chinks that may have been appearing in their armor. After looking sluggish in back to back losses to New Orleans and Philadelphia, the Celtics took a quick lead against the Phoenix Suns, withstood a strong second quarter rally and completely dominated the second half en route to a 117-97 victory. Kevin Garnett scored 30 points and he also had six assists, though his board work was subpar (just three rebounds). Paul Pierce repeatedly exploited mismatches to score 27 points on 9-16 shooting, posting a glittering, game-high +29 plus/minus rating. All five Boston starters scored in double figures and the Celtics enjoyed a 41-27 rebounding advantage. Center Kendrick Perkins had a game-high 10 rebou...   [read the full post]

By David Friedman Now it was Detroit's turn to make a strange move. Billups had been having his way all quarter long on isolation plays, to the extent that Boston Coach Doc Rivers took out Rondo and put in Tony Allen. However, after the timeout, Detroit ran a screen and roll with Billups at the top of the key. That brought Kevin Garnett--the Celtics' best defender--into the play and after Billups bobbled the ball Garnett got the steal. Boston called timeout and had a chance to go for the win with five seconds left. Pierce received the pass and fired a fadeaway from the left baseline--but he not only missed, he shot too soon and Detroit secured the rebound with just under two seconds left. After another timeout, Detroit inbounded to Billups, whose pump fake suckered T...   [read the full post]