I often wonder what opposing teams, their beat reporters and bloggers
are saying about the Celtics after playing the Celtics. Here's a dose
of 'enemy chatter' from Los Angeles.
The Celtics make some critical errors tonight. A moment before Davis’
big shot, Rajon Rondo misses a pair of free throws in a 90-90 game.
Prior to that, Ray Allen makes a disastrous decision to collapse on a
driving Davis with fewer than 15 seconds left. With the Clippers
needing three to tie, there’s no reason for any Celtic defender to
leave a perimeter sniper open for an uncontested 3-pointer. Yet, both
Allen and Eddie House slide over to pick up Baron at the expense of
leaving Rasual Butler and Eric Gordon alone on the arc. Butler is the
easier pass for Davis.
The preceding two Celtic possessions are conservative — even passive —
and don’t produce good looks at the basket. Both Allen, who misses a
21-footer off the dribble after moving right of a Perkins screen, and
Rasheed Wallace, who misses a 3PA from the right corner, are capable of
draining those shots, but a team with Boston’s collective skills should
generate better opportunities for itself.
This is some excellent analysis (Who knew all the smart basketball fans in LA were Clippers fans?). You could say Ray Allen's decision to leave Butler in the corner was a bigger "choke" than Rondo missing two free throws.
this.' He told us to give him the ball, so
we draw up a play and it paid off."
– Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy
take a shot," Davis said. "I didn't know what Coach was gonna draw. I
made it known that I wanted to get the ball and if I got it with a
second left, if I can get to my fadeway over [Rajon] Rondo, at least
we'd be able to get a good look."
– Clippers guard Baron Davis
Back when he played for the Golden State Warriors,
BD and buzzer-beater were virtually synonymous. Five times in his four
years with the Warriors he hit winning shots in the final three seconds
of regulation or overtime.
The last one, coincidentally, came in a 119-117 win over the Celtics on Feb. 20, 2008.
A lot has happened since then, though. Or, rather, not much at all has happened since then.
Since
joining the Clippers as probably the club's highest-profile free-agent
acquisition, Davis has done almost nothing of substance except get into
a furtive feud with coach Mike Dunleavy and endorse Jenny Craig
weight-loss products.
Nothing of substance until Sunday night.
Ramona Shelburne – ESPN Los Angeles
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