Raise your hand if you had Brandon Bass in the Game 5 clutch performer pool. Anyone? Anyone?
The soft-spoken big man scored 18 of his game high 27 points in the 3rd quarter as the Celtics dominated the 2nd half and beat Philly 101-85.
The Celtics were sleep-walking through the first half. They were making lazy passes, getting killed on the boards and playing lackluster defense. That all changed with 7 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter when an official made a horrible offensive foul call on Kevin Garnett. The call woke up the slumbering Garden crowd and the Celtics. John called it the punch that lands on Hulk Hogan before he "hulks up." The Celtics outscored the Sixers 22-9 the rest of the quarter.
Rajon Rondo (13 points, 14 assists) deserves a lot of credit for Bass' success. Rondo was very aggressive with his shot early (6 points in 1st) and late (7 points in 4th).
Greg Steimsma (10 points, 5-5 FG in 14 minutes) had his best game in a while. Here's hoping Doc Rivers sticks with Steamer over Ryan Hollins.
Paul Pierce made three times as many free throws (9-9) as field goals (3-7). He finished with a relatively quiet 16 points.
It looks like Ray Allen is rushing his shot. I'll speculate and say Allen's ankle is not allowing him enough separation from the defender and Ray is compensating by rushing.
Old man Elton Brand dusted off his mid-range game and torched the Celtics for 19 points (8-13 FG).
Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
