Is Chicago on the way?
April 21, 2009 by James Edwards
Filed under Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Kevin Garnett, NBA Playoffs, Ray Allen
Here is a team that won over 60 games playing a team that won only 41, but that 41 is deceptive, because they added Salmons and Miller to that roster and Derrick Rose just kept on improving.
This is not a blog about the Celtics being one and done, but it does play into my prediction from last year.
Funny thing about predictions, you can always bring up the ones that are correct and just forget the ones that are way off. Even timing just gets in the way of the truth. It is kind of like golf, fishing, or stock investing. Hey, did you hear about my fishing trip last summer? There as this fish and it was so big that it barely fit into the boat and, oh, there was this golf hole, number 5, and using a 7 iron, uh then there was that small company in my portfolio and it just zoomed and , wait, wait, wait…We were talking basketball here.
Last year, my prediction/concern was that one of the 3 amigos would get hurt. They didn’t and Boston won. This year Garnett did get hurt (the 3 amigos are getting old and brittle.) and Chicago may steal the series.
In the NBA, there are few office pools because there are few series upsets. The higher seeded home teams should win handily at home and lose by a bucket on the road. That is not happening here. In Boston these two teams look equal. Chicago may get at home and win easily.
Ben Gordon almost out dueled Ray Allen to win this last game, while Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo each had super games.
”I really liked our team’s poise. Obviously, Ben Gordon was tremendous. I love the grit, love the toughness of our team, but we can’t get outrebounded like that and expect to win.”
They nearly pulled it off, though, thanks mainly to a postseason career-high 42 points by Gordon, including the Bulls’ last 12 points. Gordon was 14-for-24 overall and 6-for-11 from three-point range.
”He’s one of the best at hitting clutch shots,” Bulls point guard Derrick Rose said. ”I don’t know how he blocks everything out, but he always finds a way to hit the shots.”
As hot as Gordon was down the stretch, he was matched by Allen, who was able to shake off his shaky play in the first six quarters of the series — a total of six points — to score 28 of his 30 in the second half.
Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo had a triple-double with 19 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds, while Rose — the Game 1 hero with 36 points — had 10 points and seven assists.
