Celtics Gut Out 85-75 Game 7 Win Vs. Sixers, Bring On Miami

In a series that was extremely ugly from start to finish, the Boston Celtics did just enough to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 85-75 tonight in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at TD Garden.



Boston is now 21-7 all-time in Game 7s (4-2 in the Big 4 era) and that victory sets up the juicy matchup in the Eastern Conference Finals that we all wanted: Celtics vs. Miami Heat. Now everyone else in the world will be jumping on the Celtics' bandwagon since the Heat are the most hated team in professional sports.



Rajon Rondo (18 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds) had his 22nd career triple-double (9th in the playoffs) and take a guess what Boston's record is in those 22 games: 21-1. So yeah, Rondo is somewhat important to their basketball team. It was far from a one-man show since for the first time all postseason every starter scored in double figures. Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 13 rebounds, Brandon Bass scored 16, Paul Pierce filled the stat sheet with 15 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, two steals and Ray Allen (11 points) came back from the dead to hit a pair of dagger 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.



The Sixers fought the Celtics tooth and nail and they have nothing to be ashamed of since they go home for the summer with the second-most wins (7) ever for a No. 8 seed in the NBA playoffs, trailing only the 1999 Knicks that made the NBA Finals. Doug Collins' team plays great defense and is unselfish but they are a consistent scorer away from being a true obstacle in the Eastern Conference in the near future.



Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 18 points, Elton Brand had 15 points and Jrue Holiday put up 15 points, nine assists and five steals. Thaddeus Young pulled down 10 rebounds off the Philly bench which outscored Boston's 17-7.



Rondo essentially saved the Big 4 era by taking over after Pierce fouled out with 4:16 left in regulation and Boston holding a slim 71-68 lead. Rondo scored the next nine points by himself which went layup, long 2-pointer (that was initially called a 3 but he had his foot on the line), rhythm 3-pointer and two free throws. To close out the game he went 4 for 4 from the free throw line and 3 for 3 from the floor. That is Rondo in a nutshell, just when you think you've figured him out (which is impossible), he does something absurd like that. He's the most frustrating yet unstoppable force in the NBA and that I can ever remember on the four Boston teams in my lifetime.



It was tied 20-20 after the first quarter and Boston led 41-33 at halftime. KG's jumper at the buzzer saved the C's from an awful third quarter (outscored 19-14) and gave them a 3-point lead (55-52) heading into the fourth quarter.



In a seven-game series where the Sixers never scored over 92 points, the Celtics saved their best defensive effort for last as they held Philly to a horrid 35.0% shooting from the field while Boston shot 42.5%. The other vital numbers were the Celtics free throw shooting (20 of 22) vs. the Sixers (14 of 20), blocks (6-1) and fastbreak points (14-5). That shows an older team buckling down and seizing the moment with what got them here.



Most will give the Celtics no shot against the Heat and that's the way I want it and they like it. Let Miami have all the pressure, we know how LeBron responds in those type of situations. Obviously with no break and heading to Miami for Game 1 on Monday night (8:30 p.m., ABC), the Heat will be rested and ready to go. All the C's have to do is win a road game (more likely Game 2) and flip the series. It sounds like Chris Bosh will miss the series so that's some good news for Boston.



This is the third time in five seasons (during the Big Four era) that they've made the Eastern Conference Finals. It's also the fourth time in the past five years that they've faced LeBron in the postseason. The Celtics are not scared of the Heat and they went 3-1 against them during the regular season, this is going to be a tougher series than most think.



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Bass's Career Night Carries Celtics To One Game Away From Eastern Conference Finals

If you asked me to pick the Celtic that would basically save their season in the playoffs, the odds are that Brandon Bass would never come up in my first four choices.



However, shame on me since Bass was the player that woke Boston up after a quiet first half tonight against the Sixers. He scored a career-high 27 points, including 18 in the decisive third quarter, as the C's beat the Sixers 101-85 in the pivotal Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at TD Garden.



Bass is the only player from either team to score in double-figures every game so far in this series but nobody could have seen this explosion coming. He even had three dunks in the third quarter, something he very rarely does.



The Big 3 improved to 8-0 in Game 5s when Boston has been tied 2-2 heading into it and they also moved to 5-1 this postseason on their home court. Most importantly, they erased the bitter taste of Game 4's choke and moved one win away from another trip in the Eastern Conference Finals.



Philadelphia controlled play for the first two quarters as they led 27-23 after one and 50-47 at halftime. Honestly, the Celts were lucky to only be down by three points since the 76ers were making seemingly every shot and Boston wasn't playing with any sense of urgency. Philly was up by six early in the third quarter before the Celtics woke up with a 14-2 run. They closed the frame on a 10-2 spurt as Bass outscored the Sixers by himself (18-16).



There would be no epic collapse by the C's tonight as they wrapped it up with a strong fourth (26-19) thanks to some rock solid defense. It also helped that Boston lived at the free throw line (26 for 33) compared to Philadelphia (10 for 16), a typical NBA byproduct of being in front of the home fans. The Sixers unraveled in the second half as it felt like they turned it over on nearly every possession. Philly's 15 turnovers led to 18 points for Boston.



Bass also had six rebounds while Kevin Garnett (20 points, 6 rebounds), Rajon Rondo (13 points, 14 assists) and Paul Pierce (16 points) all played their parts. Greg Stiemsma made the most of his minutes with 10 points and three blocks off the bench. Avery Bradley missed the game due to his shoulder injuries (plural) so Ray Allen started for him but only had five points in 33 minutes. If Bradley is out longer, the C's have to find a way to get Allen more involved in the offense.



Elton Brand had by far his best game of the series with a team-high 19 points. He picked a bad time to play like that since most of his teammates were no-shows. Lavoy Allen was the next highest scorer with 12 points off the bench. If Doug Collins is set on Brand in the starting lineup (which was rewarded tonight), maybe he should consider starting Allen over Spencer Hawes (10 points) who has been awful. Evan Turner had 11 points and 10 rebounds while Jrue Holiday scored 10 points with seven assists. Andre Iguodala was held to eight points in the loss.



We all know how much the Celtics like to make things difficult on themselves so I'm expecting them to play worse in Game 6 on Wednesday (8 p.m., TNT) in Philadelphia. Plus, the Sixers will get the benefit of the calls. Still, it would behoove the C's to wrap it up since the Western Conference Finals are set (Spurs vs. Thunder) and they need to close out Philly. No reason to give them any hope and prolong this series even further when it should already be over.



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The Celtics Could Write A Manual On How To Not Close Out Series/Opponents In The Playoffs

I'm fairly certain as long as you live (and watch NBA basketball), you'll never see another game like the one between the Celtics and Sixers that we all witnessed this evening.



Boston opened Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on a 14-0 run. They parlayed that into a 46-31 halftime lead and increased it to as much as 18 (49-31) early in the third quarter. From there, the Celtics proceeded to gag it away until it turned into an unforgivable 92-83 loss.



It is not hyperbole to say that it was one of the worst losses (in terms of leads) in franchise history; Boston tied its record for biggest halftime lead blown in a playoff game so there's that.



So how does a team seemingly in complete control of a game and on the verge of taking over the series, fall apart in such epic fashion? The easiest explanation is that Boston's foul trouble caught up to them as Brandon Bass (15 points) and Avery Bradley (8 points) each picked up four fouls by the third quarter so they had to sit for long stretches.



Using the spirit of their superb head coach-Doug Collins-the Sixers are too young to give up even in a game that seems doomed like this one. They kept fighting, going to the basket and taking advantage of Boston's 17 turnovers which they turned into fastbreak points (27-13).



Any Celtics fan will rightfully complain about the free throw disparity: Boston shot 16 of 19 while Philadelphia was 25 of 36 but I can't pin the loss solely on that shady number and simply some homecooking NBA referees. Because to do so would mean that the C's deserved to win Game 4 and they most certainly did not since they peed down their leg Miami Heat style in the second half (37 points).



Big picture, I am still confident that Boston will win this series but this loss is troubling in that it mirrors their failure in the first round (vs. Atlanta) to step on a team's throat when it's down (in that case up 3-1). The Celtics had a great opportunity to really seal this up and get some rest but now it is a three-game series and they're guaranteed to have another game in Philly.



Paul Pierce had his second straight quality performance, he led Boston with 24 points and six rebounds. Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 15 rebounds but Kevin Garnett was held to nine points (3 for 12 from the floor), 11 rebounds and three blocks. KG committed a wretched seven turnovers.



Andre Iguodala led Philly with 16 points and seven rebounds, he hit a monster 3-pointer and a jumper in crunch time. Evan Turner (5 for 22 from the floor) had 16 points and nine rebounds while Jrue Holiday notched 11 points and seven rebounds.



The story of the game was the benches: the Sixers reserves outscored the Celtics 44-12. That's not a misprint. Lou Williams scored 15 points with eight assists, Thaddeus Young had 12 points, nine rebounds, Jodie Meeks tossed in nine points and Lavoy Allen put up eight points and 10 rebounds.



When you look at the box score, it's hard to believe that Philadelphia had to make such a crazy comeback since almost every statistic favors them. Philly had 14 more rebounds overall (52-38) including 12 more offensive boards (17-5), two more steals (9-7) and eight more points in the paint (34-26). Boston shot better (42.3%-37.8%), hit two more 3-pointers (7-5), dished out five more assists (23-18) and blocked four more shots (6-2).



If I know the Celtics, they'll follow their usual script of coming back with a win after a disappointing loss. We should have remembered that they like to fall short in the games following blowout victories. Still, if they get by the Sixers, we need to remember this Game 4 plus Game 5 of the Hawks series as the ones that got away from the C's.



Game 5 is Monday night (7:00 p.m., TNT) back at TD Garden. Boston split their first two games there in this series, winning Game 1 by a point and losing Game 2 by a point.



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