JUST when we were beginning to believe Paul Pierce was hurt or reconciled to getting beat without Kevin Garnett (“How else can you explain no lift on shots that everybody seemed to be getting a piece of, and no separation to create space, which he’s one of the best at?” reader Ricky St. Jean wonders) he buried 6-of-6 to start Game 3.
Presto! P-Squared’s swagger and stiletto stare were back in full force.
Imagine how good you have to be for people to question your health and head when averaging 20.5 in Games 1 and 2!
Here’s what happened to the Bulls when they went back to Chicago with the series deadlocked at 1-1:
Less pressure on the rookies (coach Vinny Del Negro included) and the other young players on the road than at home. Expectations were raised. At the same time, an immature core tends to think its home court/crowd edge translates into points and poise, which might be the case against many opponents, but not the defending champs.
Then the team got distracted by the ostentatious (rose petals were scattered on steps throughout the arena) top rookie presentation to Derrick Rose.
And let’s not forget about family and friends rolling into town with two days off to fawn all over and pump up the already bloated egos of their heroes.
The majority of Bulls, counting Del Negro and Rose, appeared uptight. Coming off Game 2, I suspected Tyrus Thomas might have a bad reaction to being passed over in favor of Brad Miller down the stretch and it was worse than imagined. Considering Thomas’ crucial jumpers with the verdict in doubt at the end of regulation/overtime in Game 1, it was a grave miscalculation.
Forget about Thomas having trouble contributing from his front row seat, if not for Miller, the Bulls would’ve beaten Boston in Game 2. For some strange reason, Rose kept passing him the ball, inevitably leading to a fumbling, bumbling, stumbling turnover, spilling into a Celtics fast break.
After 11 seasons Miller still can’t make a layup, has no sense of shot clock (passing to someone further away from the hoop with the shot clock’s red light about to illuminate) and dribbles around outside in a fog trying to split defenders like he’s Jermaine O’Neal.
At the same time, Ben Gordon didn’t get his first basket until Pierce (18 of his 24) and Rajon Rondo (13 of 20) had the game well under control (47-34) with 3:28 left in the half. He and one-legged John Salmons, who never fails to over-dribble — known to kill team chemistry — tried to do too much early all by their lonesome.
It didn’t take long for offensive stagnation to colonize. By intermission, the Bulls had committed 13 turnovers (22 overall) and aborted nine free throws after shooting .902 in Games 2 and 3.
It doesn’t get any simpler today. The Celts celebrated more passionately following Ray Allen’s deadeye duel with Gordon — the most spectacular playoff shootout witnessed since Larry Bird-Dominique Wilkins — than after last June’s championship, indebted, no doubt, to Jesus Shuttlesworth for breathing new life into them.
The Celtics figure to grow more confident as Kendrick Perkins and Glenn Davis dwell less on Garnett’s absence.
On the other hand, jarred awake to the reality that a loss almost certainly will be this season’s last home game, it’s a given Gordon, for one, won’t crinkle under pressure. Exhibiting unwavering confidence in his talent’s value, the 6-foot-3 compulsive scorer gambled plenty by declining mega millions from the Bulls for two off-seasons running — risking bodily damage and point reduction as a rising free agent — and has hit the jackpot; if only the Knicks had sufficient cap space this summer to throw at the Mt. Vernon native.
In any event, Game 4 is merely another chance for Gordon to increase his winnings.
It shouldn’t go unstated or unnoticed that nary a single soul from the NBA, NBPA, NBA Retired Players Association, Knicks, Sonics, Nuggets, or a solitary current or former NBA player showed up for the funeral services of Marvin Webster, reports Charles Bennett, a former union official/player agent and current Tulsa CPA who had The Human Eraser’s back and bankbook throughout his troubled years.
“David Stern did send a real nice flower spread. So did the Oklahoma City team. And I think the Knicks sent a rose,” Bennett said.
The Baltimore crowd of 300-plus, including most of his college and high school teammates, was extremely disappointed as they searched in vain for NBA representation, Bennett added.”I tried to represent the league but the crowd didn’t buy it. Here is an area where a small investment by the league would’ve yielded priceless goodwill amongst retirees and fans of the game, and it struck out looking.”Shame on the NBA!” Bennett declared.
This just in: Mayor Bloomberg look-a-like Tony DiLeo won Interim Coach-of-the-Year. Before Game 4 against the Magic, 76ers president Ed Stefanski should announce he has every intention of retaining DiLeo.
How about Robin Lopez getting a second-place vote for top rookie. The voter must think it’ll get him (or her) some time alone with Jennifer Lopez. Hedo Turkoglu also received a third-place vote for defensive POY? Reader Mr. Hoffman demands to know: “Is the NBA now giving votes to people who send in the most bazooka wrappers?”
Chris “Birdman” Andersen looks like Christopher Walken in “The Deer Hunter” just before he lost his one-on-one duel with Russian Roulette.