Bob Ryan, the famed sportswriter for the Boston Globe, told me this in an encounter I had with him at Tiger Mart on the afternoon of Game 1 of this series. It's not the first time I've run into Ryan, but it's the first time I got to have somewhat of a conversation with him. I once sold him a jockstrap at Pro Sports (true story), and I also held a door open for him once (he didn't thank me). So I figured third time would be the charm.
When I say "conversation", I really mean that maybe two or three sentences were exchanged by each of us. I asked him if they [the Celtics] were gonna do it tonight, and he gave me his words of wisdom. Predictions are worthless.
Of course....I did say heading into this series it'd be a 7-gamer. I didn't figure the Celts would drop the first two and then win three in a row, but no matter how we got here, the bottom line is we got here.
LeBron James has been downright brilliant at times this series, and downright frustrating in others. I mean I still can't get over the fact he decided not to drive on Mickael Pietrus at the end of regulation in Game 4, opting instead to pass the ball. In typical LeBron fashion, he had a monster first half in Game 6. His onslaught continued into the second half, putting the game out of reach. There's really no joke I can make about the fact that just 4 of his 45 points came in the 4th quarter, either, because as I said, the game was out of reach.
The key tonight for a Celtics victory isn't so much slowing down James, because quite frankly I just don't see it happening. But if they can neutralize D-Wade the way they've been doing (for the most part) this series, it will take another Jordan-esque effort from LeBron for the Heat to have a strong chance of winning. Yes I just said Jordan-esque. I'm not ready to live in a world where LeBron James is considered "clutch", and neither should you.
Another aspect of tonight's game that will be crucial is pretty simple: which Paul Pierce shows up. Obviously he won't go 4-18 shooting again, but can he reprise a previous Game 7 battle with LeBron, back from 2008? I have no doubt in my mind
Paul Pierce has been a Celtic his entire career. He's been through it all. Antoine Walker. Bimbo Coles. Tony Delk. Vin Baker. Dan Dickau. Wally Szczerbiak. The Big 3. Through it all, he's got one ring to his credit. That's enough for players on most teams to cement themselves as an all-time great, but not in the land of Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and the others. Pierce may be the Celtics second all-time leading scorer, but if he ever wants to be mentioned consistently in the same breath as Russell, Bird, Havlicek, Cousy.....it's gonna take some more bling. And this may well be Pierce's last chance to accomplish that.
Forget LeBron. He'll have more chances. Paul Pierce has just as much on the line tonight from a historical perspective, probably more so.
So back to this whole prediction thing. Whatever Bob. I think predictions matter coming from the right people , if they know what they're talking about. I'm not saying that I do, and I'm not saying that I don't. But I'm 100% saying that the Celtics are going back to the NBA Finals tonight, to the tune of a 100-95 victory in South Beach. Bring on the SuperSonics.
No comments:
Post a Comment