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Terry was signed with the express purpose of hitting open 3-pointers, adding energy, and hitting significant shots in the postseason. But before Game 4, Terry was best known in this series for getting beat on defense by fellow 30-something Pablo Prigioni and being the recipient of an elbow to the chin by New York’s J.R. Smith in Game 3, causing a one-game suspension.
Sunday was vintage Terry, the one who peppered the Miami Heat with jumpers in the 2011 NBA Finals, the fireball who plays with fearlessness, not anxiety, who approaches the moment with vigor, not hesitancy.
“He was great,” Rivers said. “You know, that’s what he does. He’s made so many big shots in his career. It’s amazing, you know, you guys don’t get to see it, but when you watch all the guys, and not just Jason Terry, but when you watch them practice on the floor on their own, they work on certain shots. And that’s the shot, that transition three is something he works on all the time. And you knew once he got it what he was going to do. I thought it was interesting when you watch the play, I thought Jason Kidd knew it, too. Because you could see him coming from the basket, from them playing with each other. So it was a big shot.”
Globe: It took a while, but Jason Terry shows up to the party with big shots in Celtics overtime win
I”m not going to lie… I almost shit myself when I saw Jason Terry pulling up for that three.
In my head, it was going to be a miss… long rebound to the Knicks… and then some kind of Raymond Felton shot to just kicks us in the baby maker one last time.
But….
It went in. So did his next one. And then two more free throws on a…. ahem…. “drawn foul” (when it happens with one of your guys, it’s called “selling the call”. Why do you think he was smiling so much after the play?). And then the cherry picking layup to put the game away.
Jason Terry had finally played like….. Jason Terry.
He played 40 minutes, only the fifth time this year that he’s done that. The Celtics are now 3-2 in those games, and one of those games game Jason Terry his season high 26 points.
We’ve speculated before that more minutes might be what Terry needs to get going. Maybe he just needed an elbow to the jaw. Whatever it was, the Celtics will need more of it to bring this city another basketball game before the summer.
“A lot of Knick fans were here tonight, it’s a closeout game and they take over our building? Not our building,” Terry said. “The Jet’s been in the hangar for a while, so I had to let that out tonight.”
The thing about JET’s game yesterday is that it was more of his kind of game, and not him being forced into “three-point specialist” mode. Yes, JET can hit 3’s, and hit them in bunches. But he was 6-6 from inside the arc, and it’s those mid-range jumpers and shots in the paint that can get him going from long-range.
Let’s face it, the Celtics need this guy if they’re going to have any chance in Game 5. They’re going to need him to carry it over to New York and shove some more big shots in the face of the other Garden’s crowd. They’re going to need him to bring more than sunshine if they’re going to extend this season.
“You know, I didn’t know him until this year and I said it the other day: he’s just one of those guys you want around your team, whether he’s playing or not. He brings sunshine. There’s guys – I would say probably most of you guys, you bring those dark clouds every time I see you – a couple of you don’t. But the sunshine-bringers, that’s who you want. And Jason Terry is one of those guys.”
Related links: CSNNE: Terry’s big shots in OT save C’s season | Herald: JET soars to keep season alive | ESPN Boston: C’s, Terry bounce back | WEEI: Terry saves C’s season | Terry leads C’s to win, Game 5
The rest of the links
Herald: Aging C’s stay for extra credit, avoid sweep | Brandon Bass makes sure of no Melo drama | Knicks content with split | Rondo points to a knee’d | C’s bleeding, but not finished yet | Globe: Melo off the mark in Game 4 loss | Rondo: It’s hard sitting and watching | Production of Felton again crucial against the Celtics | Celtics display veteran pride in win against the Knicks | CSNNE: Put away brooms, Celtics still standing | Green handles extra load in Game 4 | Bass’ defense on Melo helps C’s avoid sweep | Knicks knew it wouldn’t be easy | Felton almost makes up for lost Smith | Boost from KG on the boards | ESPN Boston: Not giving up the ship | Forgotten KG extends season | Bass made it a long night for Melo | WEEI: Pierce: I had a certain calmness about Game 4 | Garnett: It’s all out from here on out | MWDN: C’s live to play another day
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