Czar’s Playoff Preview: Heat vs. Celtics Game 6

June 7 by Leave a Comment


When the 2012 ECF started, the feeling around the basketball buzz yard was that this would be the last series for the Celtics ‘Big 3’ in Green and White. GM Danny Ainge’s ageing, banged-up veteran core took seven games to beat the young, 8th-seed 76ers in the previous series.

Now speculation has turned to what will happen if the Heat’s two-year-old triumvirate of James, Wade and Bosh are eliminated tonight in Boston, where they are 1-7 since coming together last season.

After Miami took the first two contests of the series at home, it appeared as if coach Erik Spoelstra’s squad was headed back to the NBA Finals to silence their global critics and naysayers once and for all.

The battle-hardened Celtics did take the Heat to OT in an epic Game 2 before succumbing, but to many hoops analysts this was merely the last gasp of a proud, championship warrior group.


However, when coach Doc Rivers’ guys got back to the famed parquet, they evened things up with one fairly easy victory in Game 3 and one OT white-knuckler in Game 4.

Then in Game 5, the C’s, led by KG and Paul Pierce, bested the Heat in Miami, 94-90, in a back-and-forth 48 that was broken open with 53 seconds left by a Pierce 3-bomb over LeBron James’ extended arm.

The crowd was stunned and silenced on a night that began with the joyful return of All-Star big man Chris Bosh after missing the previous nine playoff games with a lower abdominal strain.

If the 17-banner Celtics win tonight they will return to the NBA Finals for the third time in five years to compete for a second Larry O’Brien trophy. If 2012 NBA MVP James and 8X All-Star Wade can will their side to victory, then Game 7 will be back in Florida on Saturday night.

All who follow the NBA will have their eyes on what promises to be a thrilling Game 6.

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Czar Star: Kevin Garnett

June 6 by Leave a Comment

The Celtics stole Game 5 in Miami and will return to Beantown with a chance to close out the ECF on Thursday. Their anchor, on the floor and emotionally, has been the 17th-year ‘Big Ticket’ Kevin Garnett. Through a rough, up-and-down regular season and 18 postseason games thus far, future HOF’er Garnett has provided increased production on both ends of the court as well as the leadership that few in the NBA posses.

36-year-old KG is averaging 19.9 ppg, 10.8 rpg and 1.6 apg in 37.3 grueling minutes of competition each night. His intensity and consistency allow him to affect the game on almost every play. On Sunday in Boston, Garnett had 17 points, 14 boards, 5 blocks, 3 dimes and 2 steals in a game that the Celtics had to win in order to avoid going down 3-1 before heading to Miami for Game 5. After helping his teammates tie the series, Garnett followed up with a 26-point performance and 11 rebounds in Tuesday’s thrilling 94–90 coup on the Heat’s home turf, giving the Celts a 3-2 lead.

Garnett has surpassed his regular season high of 25 points four times in he playoffs, and he only failed to score in double digits once. In addition, his rebounding, shot-blocking and steals have all increased in the postseason, and Garnett is shooting 80% from the line and 50% from the field. While playing out of position at the 5, KG has yet to foul out in the playoffs. This is especially impressive in the Miami series considering two of the games went to OT.

The Boston fandom felt that there was a three-year championship window when C’s GM Danny Ainge traded to get Garnett in 2007. Well, this is year 5 of the new ‘Big 3’ + Rondo era, and the Celtics are one victory away from reaching the Finals for the third time (2008, 2010) with KG in the Green & White. His mental toughness, savvy and amazing athleticism have Boston in a position that few hoopsheads predicted at the start of the 2011-2012 season or when the playoffs began. If this is Garnett’s last year with the C’s (his contract is up) then he’s determined to leave it all on the floor and to hang another banner from the rafters before the end of his legendary career as a Celtic.

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Czar’s Playoff Preview: Heat vs. Celtics Game 3

June 1 by Leave a Comment

The ECF resume tonight in Boston for Game 3, and the one certainty is that the 17-banner Celtics must win. No NBA team has ever come back to capture a playoff series after being down 0-3.

On Wednesday night in Miami the Heat bested the C’s 115-111 in OT. PG Rajon Rondo had perhaps the best game of his career going for 44 points, 10 dimes and 8 boards while playing every second of the 53-minute playoff classic. He also scored all of the Celtics’ 12 points in overtime.

Boston’s Big 4 combined for 96 points (the most they’ve ever totaled as a group), but it still wasn’t enough to overcome the Heat. 2012 MVP LeBron James had 34, 10 and 7 and got to the charity stripe 24 times. Dwyane Wade scored 23 points, and PG Mario Chalmers chipped in 22 points including several lethal 3-point daggers.

A lot of the postgame talk centered on the officiating. The Heat took 47 free throws to the C’s 29 attempts. Notable were two instances in the extra period. First, Rondo drove to the basket hard with a mismatched Udonis Haslem checking him, and when Wade came over to help he clearly hit the Boston 1-guard in the head. At that point the score was tied at 105 and the no-call made Rondo furious.

Then with 59 seconds to go, Wade attacked the rim, scored and drew a foul from Kevin Garnett. It appeared on the replay that Wade actually kicked KG while in the air to create space for his shot. The Green Team fandom was upset and felt the zebras affected the outcome of the pivotal contest.

However, the Celts find themselves down 0-2 due to multiple other factors. The Heat grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and made ten 3-bombs, while their bench outscored Boston’s 28 to 7. In addition, the Miami subs had 17 boards and 6 assists to the C’s 5 and 1. The Heat totaled 24 assists to Boston’s 15 and also tallied more blocks and steals.

Both Miami and Boston will look to improve on areas of weakness tonight. The Heat missed 16 of their 47 free throw attempts on Wednesday. The Celtics have had trouble in these playoffs protecting big leads. They led by 15 in the first half in Game 2 and let Miami erase that hole rather quickly.

These two sides know one another well and are very familiar with each other’s sets and objectives. So the winner of tonight’s game will be determined by poise and execution. Doc Rivers’ guys have their backs against the wall, and Erik Spoelstra’s squad would love to get this game to effectively secure a return trip to the Finals. The Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics Game 3 will tip off at 8:30 PM ET on TNT.

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Gameday Dish: Heat vs. Celtics

April 24 by Leave a Comment

Copyright 2012 NBAE - Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

 
The Miami Heat come to Boston to take on the Celtics in Game 65 of this lockout-shortened regular season. Tonight’s contest will be their third meeting this month and the last of four matchups in 2011-12.

It is still mathematically possible for both the Heat (46-18) and the Celtics (37-27) to catch the teams just ahead of them, the Bulls and the Hawks respectively. However, this abbreviated schedule has taken a physical toll on both teams, and Doc Rivers and Erik Spoelstra may choose to rest their stars for the all-important postseason instead of going full throttle to improve their seeding.

Miami last played Sunday at home against the Houston Rockets. The Heat prevailed 97-88 playing without Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. LeBron James made up for the absence of two thirds of the ‘Big 3’ with 32 points, 8 boards and 5 dimes.

Boston last played on Friday in Atlanta. The Celts lost 97-92 against their soon-to-be first-round opponent. But the 48 was far from a true preview of an upcoming playoff series. All of Beantown’s ‘Big 4’ of Pierce, Garnett, Allen and PG Rondo sat out the game.
 

2nd-year guard Avery Bradley scored a career-high 28 points in the defeat. With 16th-year, 10X All-Star Allen dinged-up, Bradley has started 16 of the past 17 games, and his production has exploded with added court time and confidence.

When these two recent rivals last met on April 10th in Miami, the C’s came out on top, 115-107. The Green were on fire offensively, shooting a season-high 61% from the field and 64% from beyond the arc. In fact, it was the best any team has shot against the Heat since their core of LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh got together last year. In the game, possible/probable league MVP James had 36, 7 and 7.

Both coaches have to make crucial decisions going into their final two regular season games. Is resting their key guys for the playoffs more important than possibly moving up in the Eastern Conference standings and locking down home court advantage? Should they bench their veterans and give added run to their younger guys to improve depth and expand rotation? Is it better to head into the first round on a hot streak or to sacrifice a couple wins in order to save the legs of their starters?

Tune in to TNT tonight at 8:00 PM ET to see which way Rivers and Spoelstra decide to play it.

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From the Booth

April 13 by Leave a Comment

[nba-video vid=channels/tnt_overtime/2012/04/13/20120412_Czar_end_game_analysis.nba]

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