If you happened to see my post about Game 3, where I compared the Celtics’ failure to steal a win to that person in everyone’s past that is the proverbial “one that got away,” you’ll understand why I’m now saying that Game 4 is the Celtics’ soul mate.
Generally, when a team makes a humongous comeback like the Celtics did tonight, they don’t have the energy to win the game down the stretch. Boston was down 70-50 after two Vladimir Radmanovic free throws with 6:03 to play in the third quarter. Over those final six minutes, the Celtics went on a 21-3 run to cut the lead to two heading into the final period.
It was chemistry that kept the Celtics alive. There was no poisonous body language or yelling at teammates when Boston was trailing. They just kept their heads down, chanted ubuntu and chipped away at the lead. Much has been written about Paul Pierce’s defense this season, and he was terrific in making life difficult for Kobe Bryant tonight. Pierce’s block on Kobe’s turnaround jumper when the Celtics were still down 15 might have been the turning point of the game (and the series). He bounced back from a horrid Game 3 to post a workman-like 20 points, seven assists and four rebounds.
In fact, the so-called “Big Three” all had their moments. Kevin Garnett owned the glass and hit a couple of big shots during the run and down the stretch. Ray Allen, now known more for his outside jumper than his ability to penetrate, made two huge drives to the hoop. The first was an impossible (for a 32 year-old, anyway) reverse, double-clutch layup and the other was a clear out where he schooled Sasha Vujacic into a sweet left-handed layup. (If my son ever questions my insistence that he develop his off-hand, I’m going to show him that play.)
In a way, I think it might have been to the Celtics advantage that they got down by such a big margin. On the surface, this doesn’t make much sense, but with the game completely out of hand, KG looked relaxed for the first time in the series. Since nobody was really expecting the Celtics to win the game at that point, the pressure was off and they were able to pull of the mother of all comebacks.
On the flip side, it was interesting to see the Lakers succumb to the mother of all meltdowns. Once things got really dire for L.A., Kobe looked like he wanted to bite all of his teammates in the throat. That’s the problem with his style of leadership; the guys around him are afraid to screw up and that only increases the chances that they will.
And I can’t discuss the Lakers without mentioning Vladimir Radmanovic’s awful defense. With 2:10 to play and the Lakers down five, Jeff Van Gundy was excited when they brought in the same unit that made the big comeback in Game 2, which included Radmanovic at power forward. After a couple of free throws and a driving layup by Kobe, L.A. trailed by two, 89-87, with 1:30 to play. Things were looking up.
Then Vladimir Radmanovic happened.
He was covering James Posey who is, as Mark Jackson is so fond of saying, a “knockdown shooter.” Posey is slow, so there’s no real reason to worry about the drive. So you crowd him and force him to put the ball on the court. Anyway, Radmanovic does that, and Posey is forced to give up the ball to Allen on the opposite elbow. Vujacic had defensive position, but when Allen dribbled the ball, Radmanovic inexplicably let Posey go to provide help that wasn’t needed. Posey spotted up on the wing, Allen made the extra pass, and Posey knocked down a three pointer that put the Celtics back up by five with 1:13 to play. Where was Radmanovic? He was up past the top of the key, completely out of position.
Game (pretty much) over.
Series (pretty much) over.
No team has come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals, but it’s not an impossible task. The Lakers need to take it one game at a time, get a win on Sunday and then go from there. The Celtics have a history of getting in their own way psychologically, so if the Lakers can win Game 5 and somehow force a pressure-packed fourth quarter in Game 6, anything can happen.
