Girls Dig Sports

Celtics Win!

by Lyndsey D'Arcangelo on June 18th, 2008

I couldn’t live blog last night for two reasons:

1. I was playing basketball myself and didn’t get home until after tip off.

2. I wanted to focus ALL of my attention on the game and the game only.

And what a game it was. The Celtics were unstoppable. They totally dominated the Lakers for four whole quarters. They were the better all-around team, they were the deeper team and they were the better defensive team. I said it before, even at their best, the Lakers couldn’t hang with the Celtics. Their best wasn’t good enough. Their best just barely got them wins in games three and five. When the Celtics are at their best … well, they clobber you by almost 40 points.

This game wasn’t even close. The Celtics played with so much heart and determination. The bottom line is that they wanted it more. And it showed.

Paul Pierce was amazing. Kevin Garnett was aggressive and gave us the “I will be better” performance that he had promised. Ray Allen shot the lights out even after being hit in the eye.

And my unsung hero pick of the game is Rajon Rondo. After playing poorly in all three games at LA, he stepped up big last night. He was this little fly buzzing around the entire court and harassing the entire Laker team to no end. And they couldn’t shake him or swat him. He never stopped. He hustled on every play and it showed.

He out rebounded Laker players who were taller than him. He took the ball right out of Odom’s, Gasol’s and even Kobe Bryant’s hands. He was all over the court. He played smart and got the ball to his teammates for open looks. And he shot the ball when he was left open. As a result, Rondo finished with 21 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, six steals and only one turnover. He was absolutely fantastic the entire game. Oddly enough, I was proud of him. I don’t even know him and I was proud of him because he took the criticism in stride, he took being benched by Doc Rivers like a man and turned it into a motivational tool. He, like Garnett, promised to be better. And he, like Garnett, delivered.

Unfortunately for Kobe, nobody else on his team stepped up the way the Celtics role players did. As good as he is, Kobe can’t do it all by himself. Even MJ was surrounded by talented role players. I do have to say that I am disappointed that Kobe didn’t at least try to take the game over though. It seemed as if he gave up and I know for a fact that MJ would never do that. Yet, the comparisons live on. Can we finally let it go? Can we stop with all the Kobe vs. Jordan nonsense.

Kobe will never be MJ. That’s the bottom line. And his performance throughout this series proves it. Enough said.

Congrats to the Celtics! It was so great to see Garnett, Allen, Pierce and Rivers finally get their championship. I’m wearing green today in their honor.

Image provided by Newscom

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POSTED IN: Basketball