Knicks Defense + Celtics Offense = Boston 71-Knicks 87

Yep, she's back...just in time for the Playoffs!

 

Folks, that's really what it comes down to. The bench finally gave us some production and -- for the game -- four Celtics scored in double figures, though no one scored more than 18. The Knicks had only three players score more than 6 points, but when one of your three double-figure scorers -- of course I mean Carmelo -- rings up 34 all on his own and you're walking the ball up to get into a half-court offense that you don't actually have...well, ballgame: Knicks.

I will solemnly admit: I was fond of telling anyone who would listen that the Celtics booted away Game 1 by posting more turnovers than points in the 4th quarter and that really, it was our game to give away, but this one...this one, we just appeared to be out of our depth.

Was it the early (and some would call them awful) foul calls by the refs against Garnett, Pierce and Green that slowed everything down to a crawl? It didn't help, that's for sure. Was it an active but seemingly stuck-in-3rd gear Paul Pierce, who dropped 18 as the team high-scorer but never really got into the kind of groove you can depend on for the entire game? That wasn't great, but still, not the answer. Was it Jeff Green going from stud to dud from Game 1 to Game 2, contrasting his 26 points  on 8-15 shooting against tonight's 10 points on an embarrassingly meek 3-11 shooting performance? That REALLY didn't help, but again...there was something else at work, something more disturbing.

It was the Knicks defense that did us in this night. And this was with a formerly dependable defensive weapon like Tyson Chandler being rendered ineffectual by a bulging disk in his neck.

I could go into detail about the game and about how Ray Felton carved up the Celtics defense like it was a Thanksgiving Day turkey and he was...well, probably how he usually is (what I'm saying is, the kid doesn't look like he misses a lot of Thanksgivings. Or meals, in general. Or snacks. Or...). I could talk about how KG couldn't get into a rhythm because of the ludicrous fouls that were being called (which also affected Pierce and Green as they attempted to guard the apparently un-guardable mythological holy basketball god known as (Don't-Put-Your-Hand-On-This-Fellow) Melo. And, I could talk about how much I am growing to loathe the "wind up Jordan Crawford and watch him go" offense as it stagnates the rest of the team flow. But, none of these is more relevant than the brand of fiery, hostile tenacious defense that was played by the Knicks when the clock struck "winning time."

Can the Celtics get it back? Yes. Do I think they'll come back home and reel off two convincing wins at the Garden? Actually, I really, really do. Am I smoking a very large combination of Crack and PCP? No, I am not, and I am offended that you even asked.

As absolutely crazy banana go nuts as you think this may sound, I think we've seen the best that the Knicks have to offer and we have seen about 65% of what the Celtics have to offer in any one game. The Celtics can be markedly better on offense and they can be exponentially better on their defense. All they need is to A) stop trying to play Playoff walk-it-up basketball and try to get out on the run on almost every possession. They have the horses for it, so why not make it a race? and B) Turn up the defense back to where it was only a few short weeks ago and guard the paint a little bit better from the Felton's of the world. Also, the refs will HAVE to be better than they were in New York with respect to benefit-of-the-doubt calls like those Carmelo was given in MSG.

One last thing...can I tell you how much I wished I could jump through my television screen so that I could grab Tommy (who I normally love, respect and agree with) Heinsohn by his jacket collars and scream into his bewildered face, "RAJON RONDO IS NOT COMING THROUGH THAT DOOR, SO WOULD YOU PLEASE...FOR PISTOL PETE'S SAKE...STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM!!!"

No, I will not accept Rondo as the excuse for not taking better care of the basketball in Game 1 and I flatly and absolutely refuse to mention his name when it's clear that the team has stepped away from their brand of fast-break passing-game basketball that they were winning with AFTER Rondo went down.

I will agree with one thing about Rondo, though. If the Celtics can't find their fast-break offense in the next two games, hell, for the series...they'll all be joining him in wearing civilian clothes by the start of next week.

Tale of the Tape

Box Score

THE BUZZ:

NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs -- Round 1, Game 3:
Celtics vs. Knicks
Friday, April 26th, 2013
@ 8:00 P.M.
The Boston Garden
Boston, MA

Celtics Announce Charity, Then Hold Game 1 Give-Away To Knicks: 78-85

Okay, Folks...this one smelled like a 12-week-old boiled egg in an old sneaker lined with limburger cheese.

For those of you GreenHeadz looking for a recap, let me spare you the pain of a drawn out sobfest.

Eight turnovers (8!!) in the 4th Quarter...nearly all of them unforced and 4 of them by the otherwise transcendent Jeff Green (26 points on 8-15 shooting -- 3-5 from Threeland, 7 boards, 3 blocks and 2 assists), who had 6 total turnovers for the game. Green tied with Pierce, who frittered away 6 of his own possessions, 2 of which occurred in the 4th.

The Knicks over the same 4th Quarter stretch?

Zero. Zip. Notafinga.

That's the game in a nutshell. Not Anthony's 36 points. Not Kevin Garnett's abysmal shooting (4-12). Not the C's putrid bench scoring (4 points for the ENTIRE GAME!).

It wasn't even the fact that the C's could only muster a paltry 8 points in the 4th quarter. The bottom line was turnovers, turnovers, turnovers and more turnovers. The Celtics committed 20 turnovers [ UPDATE: I misspoke...TWENTY ONE TURNOVERS!!] compared to the Knicks rather conservative total of 13 -- great if the Celtics were running a popular bakery, but absolutely horrid if you're trying to win an NBA Playoff game.

Everything else that people may want to talk about in this game is irrelevant. The Celtics lost this one by 7 points. They had a lead in the 4th and turned the ball over 8 times in that quarter alone. Nuff said.

About the only great thing that happened in this game for the Celtics was the pre-game announcement that they would be committing to raise $200,000 for the victims of Monday's Boston Marathon bombing through their Shamrock Foundation for The One Fund. They'll be contributing $100,000 of their own dollars and raising an additional $100,000 with a series of future initiatives.

Hopefully, the Guys In Green will achieve their charitable goals off-court while delivering to their hometown the distraction of success on-court in Game 2 down in Madison Square Garden. They've already proven that they can handle the Knicks. Now, they need to prove that they can handle the ball.

And, you know what? I have every confidence that they WILL take better care of the rock and come out of MSG with a split as they head back to Boston for Game 3. I believe this because A) Doc will have them ready, B) They clearly have the talent to do it, C) the team has to realize that this was an eminently winnable game, one that they handed off on a blue and orange platter, and, finally...D) I know that they'll put on a better showing because there is no way on Red's Green Earth that they're gonna let THIS escape into the second round of the Playoffs:

Box Score

Tale Of The Tape

THE BUZZ:

NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs -- Round 1, Game 2:
Celtics vs. Knicks
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
@ 8:00 P.M.
Madison Square Garden
New York City, NY