Game 6 Running Notes

Well, this is it…kind of. I don’t see this Hawks team which has won a whopping total of 12 road games all season winning a game 7 in Boston, but it’s going to be pretty pathetic should this series head back to Boston (again). The Celtics need to move the ball better tonight, show some aggressiveness on defense, and step up when the Hawks punch…

6:30 1st Quarter: Celtics hit their 1st 3 shots before going 3 for 9 over the next few minutes.

6:01 1st: Mike Bibby shoots the 5th and 6th FTs for the Hawks already, Celtics haven’t been to the line, this Hawks team just plays a different style, they shoot fewer jump shots and get inside more, it’s not an officiating problem, it’s a different style of play, but it could pay big dividends for the Hawks. On a side note, must this PA guy call out “defense” when the Hawks go on D and the two beat defense music starts? Atlanta fans clearly aren’t dumb enough to not know what to say here.

1:50 1st: An episode of Everybody Loves Raymond that I haven’t seen is on over on TBS, it’s pretty distracting because I’m trying to follow both the plot line of the episode and the game. Now I find out it’s a two parter, and of course the game goes to a time out at the same time the show goes to commercial. 25-20 Celtics.

1:48 1st: very tight shot of Greg Dickerson coming out of the time out, I’m not saying he is a terrible looking guy, but you should only be so close if your third announcer isn’t Stacy Dales or Erin Andrews. Both teams have come out shooting the ball well, 60+% FG both ways. It looks like defensive stops might be at a premium and even more important for the Celtics who had trouble getting defensive stops (and defensive rebounds) and the end of game 4.

1:48 1st: Pierce hits 1 of 2 from the line, Donny Marshall points out Paul is taking longer at the line, seems odd to get out of routine now

0:47 1st: Great work by Leon Powe off a miss by Cassell, again Sam pulls the trigger very quickly, he is frustrating the hell out of me, but Powe had a big time box out on Horford who wasn’t even watching where Leon was…by the by the Celtics have evened the FT attempts at 6 each, and I am trying to bring back the saying “by the by”

0:09 1st: Powe is giving Horford all sorts of trouble, Powe is getting better position and it results in another foul on Horford to try to keep Leon from pulling down the rebound. Pierce was big through the 1st quarter, 11 points, took all good shots except for the last jumper at the top of the key which was forced just a bit. 32-20 Celtics at the end of 1 and now we get more fisticuffs. Sam Cassell had a couple words for Joe Johnson getting physical after the play and the ref banged ‘em both with T’s. Great officiating here, Sam needs to keep his mouth shut.

Post 1st Quarter: now that I think of it, I have seen this two parter of Everybody Loves Raymond and it’s not especially funny…back to the game we go…switching over to ESPN for the 2nd quarter…by the by, 11 technical fouls in this series

11:45 2nd: PJ Brown is into the game and immediately looks old, gets beat, and has to foul…Sam Cassell has a wide open look and misses in the opening seconds, why are these guys good pick-ups?

10:50 2nd: nice turnaround J for Sam on the left baseline, I’ll give credit where it’s due, 34-22 Celtics

10:05 2nd: great defensive possession for the Hawks, were active and pressuring the guards, the result a last second shot by Cassell that rims out, Atlanta turns it into a bucket by Pachulia on the other end and force Doc into a time out, cannot continue to be out-hustled by this team, getting pressure on the guards is huge for Atlanta, if they can keep the Celtics from getting inside, it’s huge advantage Hawks…34-26 Celtics

Cavs up 15 on the Wizards, LeBron on the verge of a triple double, the one 1st round series I predicted correctly, I didn’t give the Hornets enough credit and gave the Suns way too much credit, but Cavs-Wiz…alllll over it

9:15 2nd: Celtics get a hoop on a hook by Leon Powe, but again Cassell doesn’t make an extra pass when the C’s are working the perimeter, instead of swinging it to KG who dumped down to Powe, Sam took a few dribbles and then passed it, luckily the interior D for the Hawks was slow in sliding, or it might have cost the C’s a hoop

8:26 2nd: I LOVE LEON!!…takes a charge, he is the unsung hero thus far, he’s providing help defense and double teams, and making the hustle and intensity plays that are huge against a team like Atlanta..36-26 Cs

6:22 2nd: Pierce took it right at Bibby and drew a foul, good work Paul, play physical, that’s one area the Hawks can’t match up in…Atlanta getting closer, however, 38-32 C’s

4:03 2nd: Pierce draws a lot of contact inside but no foul, back down the other end Mike Bibby does a great job keeping the possession alive off a miss and puts it back up and in…getting close…41-38 Cs…Bibby just had a sweet pass to Pachulia to set up the previous hoop, great couple of plays for him

3:08 2nd: more Mike Bibby, another hoops off an offensive rebound, Pachulia pulled it down this time

2:34 2nd: time out on the floor, wow is this crowd phenomenal…OK, so the Hawks have punched, here is the situation I’ve been talking about, the Celtics needs a firm punch back, don’t let the inferior team believe it can win

Am I a horrible person for saying I really don’t give a rats’ ass what Al Horford’s mom has to say? Wait a second…she has a sports talk radio show?! Maybe I misjudged this chick, she can’t be all bad.

1:03 2nd: again some great ball movement for the C’s, Cassell feeds KG who sends it to a cutting Ray Allen, good to see the Cs go back door…48-45 good guys

Bibby and Horford were tremendous additions to this Hawks team for a lot of reasons, they aren’t going to win this series, but they’ve generated a ton of excitement in Atlanta around this team…already more season ticket sales for next year and 3 packed crowds, including an arena record crowd tonight, in this play-off series

2 free throws and a great 2nd quarter for the Hawks. So much for stepping up the same way the Cs did from 1st to 2nd quarter in game 5, the transition defense broke down in the 2nd and led to too many situations where the Celtics had to foul…Pierce is talking about it now, the Cs need to force more half court possessions…50-49 Celtics at half, 28-19 Hawks in the 2nd quarter…Pierce held to a whopping 1 2nd quarter point.

So I clearly have a short attention span, I got sucked in by that random game show on ABC with Mike Greenberg called Duel…some interesting questions and a cool game concept, it’s a combination of smarts and strategy…anyway 2nd half…

9:15 3rd: big block by Smith inside on KG, he had really get to the ball, 7 straight points for the Cs out of the shoot helps the Cs to a 59-53 lead…”DE-FENSE” said the PA announcer

Duel has a set that’s exactly the same as Who Wants to be a Millionaire?…ABC couldn’t afford a new set? This one guy is playing for half a million bucks against this chick who is trying to deny him the big bucks. The next question is which Stone was a student at the London School of Economics…it’s Mick Jagger, but the chick doesn’t seem to know it…and there’s actually some trash talking going back and forth. Mick is a thinking man, just watch him sing, he thinks on stage. The girl said the answer could be Keith Richards, you have to be kidding me, he would have been the only student at that school banging lines between classes on 3rd world economic theory. The dude wins half a million bucks, and he’s unemployed, gotta love America..so back to the Cs we go…

6:10 3rd: Joe Johnson scores inside, only his 2nd field goal but he is making his impact by taking up a ton of attention and drawing double teams…the Celtics have done well to make him stop his dribble whenever possible on the perimeter and rough him up on his way to the basket…time out on the floor…65-57 Cs

4:57 3rd: announcers ripping the invention of the thunderstick, I couldn’t disagree more, sure people are able to make their own noise, but any loud obnoxious device that can add to the overall wackiness of a crowd is a plus in my mind…not to mention they look like giant hot dogs…good point made on the Songalia foul, had it been LeBron fouling Darius, I doubt there would have been a suspension

4:08 3rd: big dunk off Horford off a nice feed from Bibby…who is dribble driving well and dishing it off…Pierce answers with a 3 back on the other end, can’t give Paul Pierce a look like that…quick 2 for Johnson back the other way…73-67 Celtics

Big throw by Brandon Moss to nail a runner at the plate in this rain delayed Sox affair, but they aren’t the story tonight…77-70 Boston with 1;51 to play in the 3rd

0:55 3rd: KG gets blocked again for about the 3rd time this half, Hawks are trying to make him shoot from mid-range…alley-oop to Josh Childress the other way makes it 79-75 Cs

0:21 3rd: sweet drive by Allen to respond to a Bibby hoop…Josh Childress has a tip in that hits every part of the iron before dropping home…82-79 Celtics after 3…we got a ball game sports fans

11:00 4th: has Doc given up?…what the hell kind of line-up is this…PJ Brown and Cassell on the floor to start the 4th quarter, this is the play-offs, not the time for keeping the same subsitution patterns…PJ Brown commits a foul as I type this…hoop and harm for Al Horford who just flat out beat him on a spin move…PJ Brown cannot play anymore, period…get him out of the game…by the by Hawks lead by 4…88-84

9:31 4th: lay-in for Leon Powe, he’s had a great game off the bench, and the C’s follow that with a good defensive stop

As we get a timeout here, I want to reemphasize my disgust for PJ Brown and Sam Cassell being in the game, Doc is treating this like a mid-March game where the C’s are running out the clock on the regular season. PJ Brown wasn’t a bad addition because he didn’t cost anything, but he just cannot play anymore.

8:25 4th: rise and fire 3 for Bibby, 89-88 Celtics…Bibby has been awesome…WHY IS SAM CASSELL STILL IN THIS F*#$ING GAME!!!!

7:52 4th: Al Horford gets away with a travel and gets fouled so he’s going to the line…again we have to see his mom, I’m really starting to not like his mom…90-89 Hawks

7:07 4th: Hawks are doing a great job defensively, Celtics just had their 3rd possession in the last 4 that ran down to the final seconds on the shot clock and resulted in a bad shot…time out Celtics…down 4…I’m not feeling good about this at all

6:49 4th: seems Marvin Williams shant be playing the rest of this game, he’s got 18 points so that’s a help for the Celtics…I’m sorry but I can’t stand this talk about how Atlanta is a better team than their record indicates…they won 12 road games all season…they are a little better than their record because they got Bibby halfway through the season and Horford improved from early on in the year…but the Hawks aren’t winning this series, the Celtics are losing it

5:55 4th: what an awful possession that was, KG is clueless with the basketball tonight…got an offensive board then threw it away

5:10 4th: action is happening too quickly to type…KG looks horrid tonight…hoop and harm the other way for Childress…Pierce fouls out and then gets a T…so his 7th personal I suppose, way to keep your cool Paul…this is as angry as this team has made me all season

3:42 4th: KG ends a 5 minute scoreless streak for Boston, he can barely get by Pechulia…this is awful, I don’t even want to type anymore…96-93 Hawks…

And the Hawks win 103-100…Ray Allen shooting a 3 at the end there couldn’t have been the shot Doc wanted, KG was terrible tonight, Pierce fouling out hurt, PJ Brown can’t play basketball anymore, and Sam Cassell shouldn’t be in the game in clutch situations, and how does Doc not have something ready to go in case of Bibby hitting 1 of 2 (which he did), that’s the shot the Celtics want? Rajon Rondo taking a contested 27 footer?…are you kidding me?…maybe this team just isn’t ready to win…