This series has easily been the best of the First Round and after that double-overtime extravaganza yesterday, you really can’t ask two teams to provide better entertainment.
Game 1 featured Derrick Rose’s national breakout, which to those of us who have been salivating over the dude all season was just great to watch. Game 2 featured Ray Allen’s game-winning trey with two seconds remaining, which to those of us who love all-time great jumpshooters and were saddened by his gross 1/12 shooting display the previous game was just great to watch. Game 3 was apparently a blowout, which to those of us who missed the game because we were off at a horrible business conference and were hoping we didn’t miss anything too fantastic was just great to hear.
Then came Game 4.
I don’t want to make too too much of this since the first great game of the Playoffs each year is always overblown because people forget how great the previous year’s Playoffs were (not to mention the fact that aside from the Orlando/Philly series, LA/Utah Game 3 and NO/Denver Game 3, this year’s First Round has been fairly whatever), but that right there was one helluva basketball game.
Given the world we live in today, most of the discussion about yesterday’s game will undoubtedly center around asking why Doc Rivers didn’t foul John Salmons when the Celtics were up by three before Ben Gordon drilled that dagger or why no one could make a clutch free-throw (though, even in a hyper-critical climate of people discussing sports on TV like it’s the Cuban Missile Crisis, I’m sure the sloppy analysts paid to break down the game will still fail to mention Big Baby’s borderline tackle of Joakim Noah on the “screen” that set Jesus Shuttlesworth free prior to that huge three at the end of regulation).
But round these parts, we would much rather just praise the game’s greatness. There are too few spectacular Playoff games to waste our fan energy on nit-picking every little flaw or second guess every decision. Theoretically, we watch basketball — and all sports — because we enjoy them. So, to me, it seems counterproductive to only sit around talking about all the stuff we didn’t enjoy after the game is over. Alas, that’s what most people want to do.
But round here we say fuck that.
Round here we talk about the Rondo vs. Rose mano-a-mano duel that kicked off the 4th Quarter. Round here we talk about Ben Gordon, who just when you don’t think he could possibly be any dumber after turning the ball over trying to go one-on-two for no real reason while freelancing outside of the offense (best Twitter line of the entire game: “@the_tigercub I suddenly want to spit into Ben Gordon’s cereal.” ) completely redeems himself with a game-tying three to send the game into a second overtime. Round here we talk about Paul Pierce overcoming some serious ballhandling issues and general poor play to stick a few patented daggers late in the fourth. Round here we talk about Ty Thomas making some of the best and worst plays you’ll ever see on back-t0-back possessions as if he’s deliberately trying to force his inclusion into the Gerald Wallace/Josh Smith section in the second edition of Free Darko Presents the Macrophenomenal Basketball Almanac. (I never write the proper review of this that I had intended, but trading these guys $15.64 for the right to own this book is one of the better moves any basketball fan can make this year.) Round here we talk about Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo again — what an epic shootout that was. (My in-game tweet from the time “@BothTeamsPlayed Can these other eight irrelevant players just got off the court please?”)
And round here, we watch clutch shots again. (via Hoop Doctors)
Enjoy. (Or at least try to.)
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