The Celtics staved off a furious 4th quarter rally by the Cavaliers and won their Easter day battle, 117 – 113.
The hero – Ray Allen (33 points, 6-9 3 FG). Ray's three-pointer with 45 seconds stretched the lead to 4 and turned the momentum.
The Celtics offense was high-octane for three quarters. They lead by 15 at the break (64-49), 22 at one point in the 3rd and by 17 after 3 (98-81).
Everything changed in the 4th. LeBron James (42 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists) took over. He drove to the hoop repeatedly and scored or drew a foul. On offense, the Celtics went cold. Ice cold. At one point, the Cs were 1-12 in the quarter. KG was 0-6.
With two minutes remaining, the Celtics broke their cold spell by getting to the free throw line.
For all his heroics, King James missed two free throws in the final 16 seconds.
Things got chippy in the final minutes. TA and LBJ were jawing at one another and KG shot some looks at the Cavs after the buzzer. There were 6 technical fouls – Mike Brown (2), Mo Williams, LeBron James, Rajon Rondo, and Rasheed Wallace.
After picking up his 15th tech of the year, Sheed exchanged words with Doc, who was trying to calm him down. Sheed kept jawing and found a seat on the bench. I'm not sure what was said, but Doc deserves more respect from Sheed.
Marquis Daniels and Nate Robinson were DNP Coach's Decision. After the game Doc said today's rotation is the one we'll likely see in the playoffs.
A good friend texted me this in the final minute: "Win or lose, this is a disgrace."
Do you agree?
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