CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Celtics Use Defense to Even the Score with Phoenix

The Celtics got a convincing 117-97 win over the Suns to even their series at 1 apiece. They played the first half even with the Celtics getting out to a big lead in the first and the Suns fighting back to tie the game at the half. But, in the third, the Celtics came out with swarming defense and put the game away.

There were two amazing plays in the game. One, was Leon Powe grabbing a rebound and then shooting from his knees as he drew the contact. Powe finished with 3 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal in 12 minutes. The other play was Rondo just freezing Nash in the lane as he faked one way and then the other and then just went around Nash to take it in for a layup. The ESPN announcers were just gushing over that play. Rondo had a very strong all around game and proved once again that he is equal to any task. He finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal.

Pierce came on strong in the second half and in 3 possessions he got 4 points and an assist as he hit 2 pull up jumpers and the third time he drove baseline and kicked out to KG at the top of the key for a jumper. He finished with 27 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Ray Allen had another solid game with 14 points, 2 rebounds and 8 assists.

KG had a very good game and pretty much shut Amare down in the second half on defense while finishing with 30 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 blocks. Perk had a very strong game with a double double. He worked very hard all game muscling Shaq on the block for position and did a good job against him. He finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 1 block. I have to say in this game, Rondo outplayed Nash and Perk out played Shaq.

Posey was back in the lineup and pitched in 6 points and 6 rebounds. Shaq was quoted as saying that without Posey in Miami, that team didn't win the championship. On one play, Posey hit a big 3 while getting shoved out of bounds and then completed the 4 point play. Big Baby played big and at one point, he missed a layup, got his own rebound, missed again, and got his own rebound, all the time getting hammered by the defense, and then finally he kicked out to Pierce for a jumper from the top of the key. House came in and brought some energy off the bench, finishing with 6 points. Sam played only 6 minutes and had 2 points. Tony played only 2 minutes and pulled down 1 rebound. PJ Brown didn't play for the second game in a row.

The Celtics shot 52% while the Suns shot 56% but it was rebounding that made the difference. The Celtics out rebounded the Suns 41-27. Also, the Suns had 21 turnovers to only 14 for the Celtics. The Suns only had 2 fast break points while the Celtics had 10. The Celtics scored 54 points in the paint to 44 for the Suns. I was very much puzzled by the fact that with the Celtics up 20, Ray Allen was still in the game at the end. He played 45 minutes. If it was a close game, I could see playing him, but with a big lead, Doc should have had him on the bench.

I hate ESPN games when they give you "Bonus Coverage." Tonight they cut away to the Hornets/Cavs game for about 5 minutes. If I wanted to watch that game, I would have tuned into that game. I wanted to watch the Celtics. I mean, it was an exciting finish, but I wanted to see what the Celtics were doing. Now, there is only one team that the Celtics haven't beaten and they are coming to the Garden on Friday. If the Celtics play defense like they did tonight, they will win that one too.

[Box Score]
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