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 Atlanta.
Props to the creative Hawks fan who sported this "t-shirt" at last night's game.
The answer to his question is… Rondo's back at the hotel, resting his legs, watching his teammates physically manhandle the Atlanta Hawks.
On Page 2, the Celtics make Joe Johnson uncomfortable.
And so there was Pierce outscoring the Hawks 16-10 as Boston turned a 65-54 deficit to am 81-75 lead. And there was Joe missing 7 of 10 shots after halftime, throwing the ball away twice at winning time (bailed out by a Pierce double dribble once), clanking a free throw with the Hawks down 81-77 and getting his driving shot blocked by KG.
Joe stayed away from the iso’s for the most part and made some spot-up Js but he looked pretty passive for much of the night. Now I wonder if his response to the poor finish will be to try to take over in Game 3. The Hawks should hope not because Boston’s defense is just too good for him to still get his when he plays that way.
The Celtics crowd Joe, bump him, swipe at the ball, clog the lane when he makes his move and generally don’t allow him to get comfortable. Joe just hasn’t shown he can overcome that kind of pressure to score at winning time in the playoffs.
Poor Joe Johnson. He's just not a franchise player worth $125 million. He's a #2 guy.
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