That’s more like it ! In the Celtics huge Game 1 win over the Cavaliers in their second round matchup, KG was the man down the stretch, as in the man offensively. The player so roundly criticized for his unwillingness or inability to take over games on the offensive end came up huge when it counted against the Cleveland in what was surely a must win game.
After a poor performance in Game 6 against the Hawks, KG says he got little sleep as he obsessed about the loss and watched game film over and over. This showed since the normally hyperactive Garnett put into an extra gear tonight.
KG scored 28 points total and 8 in the 4th quarter. Despite some misses and having his shot blocked by the huge Cleveland front line of Ilgauskas and former teammate Joe Smith, KG stuck to his guns and hit 3 key buckets down the stretch: a reverse layup, a long range shot, and a spinning move into the paint and right into the hole. Imagine that, Garnett taking it to the bucket strong late in the game. Imagine Garnett using his length in the right way to take over a game offensively. That was the winning ticket for the Celtics.
Sam Cassell, KG’s ex running mate from 4 years ago, also came up huge (13 points many of them clutch jump shots in the fourth) on a night when Ray Allen was held scoreless for the first time in nearly 11 years and Paul Pierce, Boston’s best offensive player scored only 4 points on 2-14 shooting.
LeBron James, guarded by Pierce and Posey most of the night, scored only 12 points on 2-18 shooting, committed 9 turnovers and missed a critical layup with time running out that would have tied the game. Arguably the best player on the planet had one of his worst playoff performances ever of his young career. Much credit has to be given to the Boston defense.
The Celtics were just barely good enough to win this game. Even though LeBron was way off, Cleveland were right there at the end. You know LeBron will rebound from this and he will have his say. On the Celtics side, Pierce and Allen aren’t going to combine for 4 points again either. So essentially the three superstars cancelled each other out and it was left to the Big Ticket to have the final say.
After a poor performance in Game 6 against the Hawks, KG says he got little sleep as he obsessed about the loss and watched game film over and over. This showed since the normally hyperactive Garnett put into an extra gear tonight.
KG scored 28 points total and 8 in the 4th quarter. Despite some misses and having his shot blocked by the huge Cleveland front line of Ilgauskas and former teammate Joe Smith, KG stuck to his guns and hit 3 key buckets down the stretch: a reverse layup, a long range shot, and a spinning move into the paint and right into the hole. Imagine that, Garnett taking it to the bucket strong late in the game. Imagine Garnett using his length in the right way to take over a game offensively. That was the winning ticket for the Celtics.
Sam Cassell, KG’s ex running mate from 4 years ago, also came up huge (13 points many of them clutch jump shots in the fourth) on a night when Ray Allen was held scoreless for the first time in nearly 11 years and Paul Pierce, Boston’s best offensive player scored only 4 points on 2-14 shooting.
LeBron James, guarded by Pierce and Posey most of the night, scored only 12 points on 2-18 shooting, committed 9 turnovers and missed a critical layup with time running out that would have tied the game. Arguably the best player on the planet had one of his worst playoff performances ever of his young career. Much credit has to be given to the Boston defense.
The Celtics were just barely good enough to win this game. Even though LeBron was way off, Cleveland were right there at the end. You know LeBron will rebound from this and he will have his say. On the Celtics side, Pierce and Allen aren’t going to combine for 4 points again either. So essentially the three superstars cancelled each other out and it was left to the Big Ticket to have the final say.
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