Celtics Title Town

The Good

Obviously  the Celtics showcased their much improved offense. They scored 107 points last night in Miami. Compared to last years 90-91 points per game. Rondo played like an MVP on the offensive end for the most part, but honestly I wanted more than his 20 points, and 13 assists. The duo of Pierce, and Rondo were great. But James,and Wade just out worked them when it counted. Pierce finished with 23 points, and he was on fire for most of the game. He finished shooting 6-of-15, but he was perfect from the line 9-of-9.

I was very pleased with Bass on the offensive glass. He was aggressive, and a bright spot in the Celtics loss. Bass ended with 6 offensive boards, and the Celtics as a team had 7. They also held the Heat to just five offensive rebounds.

The Celtics desperately needed  something to start  the fourth quarter and Leandro Barbosa provided it, scoring nine points in a span of 2:02 to light a spark. Barbosa finished with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting -- all his points coming in the final frame -- but it wasn't enough to get the C's the win.

I really want to find more good from this game. I think the Celtics can build off of the first half, and the 4th quarter. The third was down right awful. You may say the Celtics let the game go in the first half Down a point (51-50) with 3½ minutes. The Heat went on a 11-4 run, and the Celtics never fully recovered.

The Bad

The trio of Sully-Terry-Green didn't live up to the billing. They scored a combined 13 points, and they shot 3-of-13 from the field. Green had the deer in the headlights look all night, and it saddens me seeing him play that way. Terry played the best out of the three. He had some moments last night, and it wasn't totally upset about his performance. Sully was benched in the second half after playing 8 minutes in the first half. His first NBA basket came from a Rondo dish, and than a slam dunk! I wasn't sure why Doc didn't put him back in, but he didn't.

KG played 32 minutes, and that's a plus compared to Pierce playing 41 minutes. And KG grabbed 12 big rebounds, and he was decent on the offensive end 4-of-8 from the field for 9 points. But he had five turnovers, and he pounded the ball inside a bit much. Doc tried to slow the game down in the 3rd, and he used KG as the driving force in that frame. Instead KG turned the ball over a bit too much. KG is the anchor of the defense, and the Celtics defense was crap. They allowed the Heat to score 120 points, and they shot over 50% from the three, and from the field.

The Celtics defense only forced 8 turnovers, and that's not the typical Celtics defense.

The Ugly

The Celtics defense, defense,defense, and will it get better? I truly believe it will. The Celtics won the glass 41-36, and that's a plus. Courtney guarded Wade very well, but once Lee got into foul trouble. Wade seemed to find something. James was just outstanding. The Heat's big three scored 74, and if you count Allen. The Heat's Big Four scored 93 points.

The Celtics defense will get better. They've been down this road before.