Boston Celtics Daily Dish: June 6, 2014
Happy Donut Day, Boston Celtics fans!
Yep – you heard me right: today is national donut day, so if donuts are your thing, swing by your local Dunkin Donuts and grab a free donut with your purchase of a beverage!
No, I didn’t get paid to say that! I just like donuts.
Game One of the NBA Finals is in the book, and the big story out of San Antonio isn’t the Spurs’ victory – it’s LeBron James‘ inability to finish the game due to severe leg cramps. Thanks to a problem with the air conditioning, the AT&T Center provided the Spurs with a bit of an unconventional home-court advantage:
"The NBA witnessed its version of the Super Bowl XLVII power outage on Thursday, as the Texas heat and a broken air conditioning system at the AT&T Center combined to double-team James out of the game with leg cramps, a twist of fate slash public relations nightmare that played a central role in swinging the result in San Antonio’s favor.A tightly-contested Game 1 of a highly anticipated Finals rematch got off to this false start, with the league’s biggest star coming up lame with just four minutes remaining in regulation. What was a two-point game at the time of James’ injury ballooned quickly into a 110-95 Spurs victory."
For those of us who can remember that far back, last night’s game conditions provided some fun flashbacks:
Of course, ESPN’s Michael Wilbon insists that Boston Garden was nowhere near as hot as the AT&T Center was – like he would know better than Magic. LeBron’s injury is unfortunate (I guess – but it’s not like he was the only one playing in that heat), and distracting, as it takes away from the fact that Danny Green seems poised to make the most of playing on the big stage for the second year in a row:
"It was deja vu all over again for Danny Green. Last year, Green tipped off his first appearance in the NBA Finals by hitting 4-of-9 from three for 12 points in a four-point victory for the San Antonio Spurs. This time around, Green opened the league’s championship series with 13 points on 4-of-9 from the field (3-of-7 from three) to spark the Spurs to a 110-95 Game 1 victory over the Miami Heat."
Enough about the Finals – you’re going to be hearing enough about them for the next two weeks. How about we turn our attention to Akeem Williams, who got to live the Celtics dream for at least one day yesterday:
"It was just a normal Monday. Brockton native Akeem Williams was playing NBA 2k14 with his friends when the phone rang. He answered it, heard his agent, Jim Buckley, and figured the call would bring news about his passport. Instead, Buckley offered something unexpected: the Boston Celtics had invited Williams for a workout. The 5-foot-10 guard checked his caller ID, just in case, to make sure he wasn’t getting pranked by an unknown number. His favorite team, the Celtics, wanted him in to their practice facility during the pre-draft process?"
Great story! Enjoy your donut day, everyone!