The Big Three a Big Joke

By Jeff Christenbury in Celtics, Featured, Top Story ⋅ May 15, 2009 at 7:26am ⋅ Post a comment

On Thursday night the Celtics reminded us that they are just lambs waiting for slaughter.

Yes, their run through the playoffs without Kevin Garnett has been admirable. Yes, the emergence of Glen Davis, Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo has given Celtics fans a pretty good feeling about the near future. And yes, they will probably one of the favorites to win the East in 2009-10 with a healthy KG.

But no, this team is not going to defend it’s East crown this season, let alone it’s World Championship. Thursday night, we were witness to one of the worst performances by Celtics superstars you will see. The Celtics will return home for Game 7 on Sunday and have a decent shot of taking care of business, but it will only prolong the inevitable of a Cavaliers slaughter in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Thursday night, with KG on the sidelines, the other two of the Big three layed a Big egg. Paul Pierce finished with 17 points on 14 shots in 41 minutes. Except for a quick three bucket run in the fourth quarter, the Celts were unable to figure out how to break the double team on Pierce effectively. Instead, we saw Rondo shooting deep jumpers with the shot clock running down and Big Baby trying to do it all himself. Pierce’s performance made him look tired and out manned.

Then there was Ray Allen. The stats are not pretty for one of the greatest shooters of all time: five points, seven rebounds and five personal fouls in 41 minutes. Allen was 0-7 from three point range and did not score a point in the second half. We saw a slump by Allen in last year’s playoffs, but the Celtics were able to weather the storm because of the other weapons. Simply put, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce cannot combine for 22 points and have the Celtics win a playoff game.

The Celts were plagued by turnovers the whole game, losing that battle 19-9. The Magic dominated the offensive boards and had 13 fewer fouls than Boston. The offense managed a measly 29 points in the entire second half.

Rondo (19 points, 16 boards, six assists, five turnovers) and Perkins (15 points, 10 boards) showed the strength of the home grown talent in Boston but cannot be counted on to carry the team in a playoff atmosphere on the road. That job goes to your star veterans, your NBA Finals MVPs, yet many times they did more harm than good.

I fully expect Paul Pierce to come ready to play on Sunday and though I picked the Magic in the series, I think the Celtics will find a way to win. But all of the little men in our heads that started to say, “hey, we maybe have a chance against Cleveland if we play well” were just crushed by a bunch of fanboys in blue spray painted hair in the land of Mickey. The Celtics are not a championship team in their current form, and the remaining Big 2 aren’t playing consistent enough for us to even dream of a repeat.

Tags: Celtics, Kevin Garnett, NBA Playoffs, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen

Discussion

3 comments for “The Big Three a Big Joke”

Our boys in green are tired. Sunday should be interesting.

Posted by Boston Knucklehead | May 16, 2009, 11:10 am
It is true, Ray Allen’s offence was pathetic in game 6, but he is capable of lighting it up in game 7. Pierce, the same. With their playoff savey the C’s will win handily. Unfortunetly, the Cavalier’s are way too much for anyone. Even without LB they would beat Boston.

Posted by mark boylson | May 16, 2009, 11:33 am
Jeff speaks the truth. Even if the up and down Celts manage to win on Sunday, I fully expect them to be swept by Cleveland. Same goes for Orlando if they should win. It’s almost better to lose Sunday than face the awful humiliation awaiting them at the hands of the Cavaliers. The lack of Garnett and Powe is simply too much to overcome.

Posted by Ken | May 17, 2009, 11:09 am