Alright.. There’s One Step in The Right Direction
BLAZERS 95 CELTICS 98 F/OT
I’ll tell ya there is nothing more energizing than a huge Celtics victory. Especially after losing every game for what has seemed like the past month. I can tell you right now that I would probably not have written a post tonight recapping this game after doing a post game pod cast, if the Celtics lost. Well, that wasn’t the case, so here I am writing you a recap, and I might as well put up a Daily Poll after it, huh?
Anyway, Kevin Garnett got his first start after missing 10 games. INSTANT, and I mean INSTANT energy. No other way to describe it. This team is the Celtics when KG is on the floor. Not the Celtics, but the Celtics. Now I know you get what I am saying. He is the heart and soul of the team that brings them together and it is great to see that despite his 13 point performance, and Ray Allen shooting 3-14 from the floor and missing not 1 but 2 free throws, the team still wins. Why? Well because they have their glue.
After getting out on top early, the Celtics almost always played from in front. That is until the 4th quarter. Suddenly the Blazers started to go on a run, and that was when we stated to say, “here we go again”. The difference between tonight and the past, was that the Celtics didn’t take it personally that the other team was giving them a run for their money. No, instead they fought back. In Detroit, when the Pistons came back and started battling with them, the Celtics flopped. They rolled over and settled for one on one basketball. Not tonight, not with KG on the floor.
With 1.1 seconds on the clock, and the Blazers with the ball at half court, suddenly my mind flashed back to Baron Davis of the LA Clippers. Flashbacks to him nailing the game winner. I thought to myself, “The way things have been going lately, SOMEONE is going to hit this shot. They are going to run around and jump everywhere because they just won.” That is not a lack of faith, that is just the Celtics luck lately. That would have been the ultimate dagger. Luckily, they did not succeed on their attempt at a quick tip in.
Overtime ensued, and after Ray Allen missed shot… after shot…. after shot.. after shot… after shot, I didn’t know what to think. Yay, KG had returned and now… we are going to lose (AGAIN). The Blazers had the ball up 2 in the overtime period, and I could just see them hitting a big 3 to put them inevitably out of reach. They missed. Holy crap, they missed. Ray got the ball for the 3, and what a relief. Weight off my shoulders AND I DONT EVEN PLAY (haha).
No but seriously, this has to be very uplifting for the Celtics. This game gave them everything they have not been able to get over for the past week. It spit out every single challenge they have failed, and instead tonight, they were successful. I hope for the near future, and into the distant future, this will give them the confidence as they head into a very tough stretch of games. The Clippers come into the Garden on Monday night at 7:30 PM ET.