When he walked into the post-game press conference, Doc Rivers looked like he had just spent the last 48 minutes trying to guard Ben Gordon coming off multiple screens. “The only comment I have,” Rivers said, “is I pray that Danny Ainge didn’t watch this game.”
Doc could afford to joke after Ray Allen’s 3-pointer at the top of the key with two seconds left (thanks to a masterful little adjustment by the coach on the play call) gave the Celtics a 118-115 win over the Bulls and a 1-1 series tie. Besides, a little gallows humor is always appreciated after watching a season come so close to evaporating. It’s not a stretch to say that after 82 regular season games and 62 victories, the Celtics faced their mortality Monday night at the Garden.
They had everything lined up perfectly—a blitzkrieg start, a hopped up building, and still the Celtics couldn’t put away this Chicago team, even after storming out to an 18-6 lead. They had more injuries (Leon Powe went to a Boston hospital to have an MRI on his knee and Rajon Rondo crumpled in a heap midway through the second quarter), no bench and suddenly the Celtics look old and very thin.
But defeated? Not just yet.
With just over three minutes left, Gordon knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to put the Bulls ahead, 109-104 and things looked bleaker than a marathoner crossing the line at the five-hour mark. Gordon put together one of the more astounding lines in the history of basketball—42 points, one rebound, one steal and zero assists, but it was those 42 points that threatened to derail everything the Celtics have worked for this season.
At halftime, Rivers walked into the locker room. Rondo was lying on a table, his right ankle swollen. Powe was on his way to the hospital. Kevin Garnett and Brian Scalabrine were in street clothes. He looked around the room and he asked for a volunteer. Someone who could carry the Celtics into Chicago with a tied series. He got Ray Allen.
The final play was a bit of a twist from their usual number. “We disguised it,” Rivers said. “We never run it with Ray and Paul (Pierce). We never run it with Rondo having the ball. Usually we have a big.”
Eddie House took the ball inbounds, another twist. Rivers felt that the Bulls had to watch Rondo, and they couldn’t afford to leave House so the play was designed to either get Pierce the ball in the low post, or Allen coming off the curl screen. It went to Allen, but Joakim Noah threatened to blow it up.
“Noah recovered,” Rivers said. “It was unbelievable. I thought, right when I saw Paul curl, I saw their two (guards) get mixed up. I actually thought Ray was going to be wide open. And when he got it, Noah came from nowhere. That was a hell of a recovery by him.”
It was a hell of a recovery, but it was an even better shot by Allen. And so, the Celtics live for another day. They have two days to rest and recover and they’re going to need it in Chicago where the Bulls have won 14 of 16 at home. It’s a series now, and no one really knows how it’s going to turn out.
RAJON RONDO IS STILL THE BEST POINT GUARD IN THE EAST
How did you enjoy the Derrick Rose era? Was it good? Rose is a fantastic player, and quite possibly will one day be the premier lead guard in the East, but for now, Rondo is still the best player at his position in the conference.
Rondo had a triple double halfway through the third quarter, and if he hadn’t sprained his ankle he might have had it in the first half. Before the game, Rondo was full of questions. He had questions about how he should defend Rose, questions about how he needed to play-- was he dribbling too much, not getting the ball to Allen and Pierce enough?
“I told him a bunch of stuff,” Rivers said. “And when he left I got to thinking, ‘That’s too many questions.’”
So Rivers simplified things. He told his young guard that he had the keys, now just go drive. Rondo managed to get both Rose and Kirk Hinrich in foul trouble in the first half, and make or miss, good things happened when he attacked. “I thought the first seven minutes were the best he’s ever played,” Rivers said.
He was so good the Celtics didn’t
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