You may remember this finish from when I posted it last week. Here’s a better angle that shows just what happened after the team in white (Cibona) hit the go-ahead bucket.
That just shows you how crazy Euro basketball is. The refs don’t even wait until the reserves get back to the bench before putting the ball into play.
The Celtics led by four at halftime before a blistering 31-12 third quarter that left the Cavs and their fans completely stunned. Cleveland managed a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 10 with 4:33 to play, but the C’s woke up and rattled off their own 11-3 run to put the game away.
LeBron James posted 24-7-4, but didn’t look like himself for long stretches of the game. He turned the ball over five times and went just 10-for-15 from the free throw line. He seemed to be favoring that elbow, so speculation about his health will continue. Antawn Jamison went for 16-6, while Shaq played just 19 minutes and posted a measly 9-4. Mo Williams was the goat for the Cavs. He went just 1-of-9 from the field and scored just four points. (However, he did dish out seven assists.)
Rajon Rondo (13-19-4) thoroughly outplayed Williams and controlled the tempo of the game. Ray Allen (22-7) got hot, and Kevin Garnett chipped in with a solid 18-10.
And then there’s Rasheed Wallace. I wrote earlier today about Doc Rivers’ comments about Wallace’s defense, wondering why he’d bother trying to motivate Sheed through the press, but the big man responded with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting. To put that performance in perspective, Sheed scored 17+ points in just five games this season.
The Celtics have to feel great about heading back to Boston for Game 3 tied 1-1. They’ll have three days to rest their old bones and need to win both games in Boston to have a real chance to win this series.
One thing’s for sure — Cavs fans are a lot more worried now than they were a few hours ago.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
Mo’s dunk in Game 1 against the Celtics was apparently the first of his career. After the game, Mike Brown was asked about it and could barely respond.
Scott Cooley of Covers.com put together a top five of greatest sports conspiracies, including Muhammad Ali’s “phantom punch” on Sonny Liston in the boxers’ rematch in 1965.
The rematch of the Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston world heavyweight championship was highly anticipated after the first fight ended abruptly when Liston tapped out because of a shoulder injury.
But the viewing audience barely got a chance to settle into their seats for Ali-Liston II that May evening of 1965. Midway through the first round, Ali threw a jab and Liston dropped to the floor.
That glancing blow has become known as the “phantom punch” because Liston went down nearly unscathed. Conspiracy theorists contend Liston was on the take, like so many boxers have been accused of in the ring.
Some say Liston took a dive because he owed the Mafia money so he bet against himself while others believe he was being threatened by Nation of Islam extremists who had recently converted Cassius Clay.
Even Ali himself was skeptical about the effortless knockdown. While towering over Liston in one of sports’ most recognized moments, The Louisville Lip was apparently screaming at his opponent, “Get up and fight, sucker!” And a more detailed footage of the fight shows Ali asking his corner, “Did I hit him?”.
Liston actually claimed in an interview with Mark Kram for the book Ghosts of Manila that he intentionally lost because of his fear of retaliation from the Black Muslims. Of course, he could have just said that to cover up for taking a dive to erase his Mafia debt.
Be sure to check out the rest of the list, which also includes the 1985 Draft Lottery, “Spygate,” and the 2006 NBA Finals.
David Kalb, who according to YouTube recently beat LeBron James at H-O-R-S-E, makes four pretty amazing shots. I’m assuming they’re real.
I wonder how long it took for him to hit each one…
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