Celtics Use Defense to Even the Score with the Suns

The Celtics got a convincing 117-97 win over the Suns to even their series at 1 apiece. They played the first half even with the Celtics getting out to a big lead in the first and the Suns fighting back to tie the game at the half. But, in the third, the Celtics came out with swarming defense and put the game away.

There were two amazing plays in the game. One, was Leon Powe grabbing a rebound and then shooting from his knees as he drew the contact. Powe finished with 3 points, 1 rebound and 1 steal in 12 minutes. The other play was Rondo just freezing Nash in the lane as he faked one way and then the other and then just went around Nash to take it in for a layup. The ESPN announcers were just gushing over that play. Rondo had a very strong all around game and proved once again that he is equal to any task. He finished with 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal.

The Celtics shot 52% while the Suns shot 56% but it was rebounding that made the difference. The Celtics out rebounded the Suns 41-27. Also, the Suns had 21 turnovers to only 14 for the Celtics. The Suns only had 2 fast break points while the Celtics had 10. The Celtics scored 54 points in the paint to 44 for the Suns. I was very much puzzled by the fact that with the Celtics up 20, Ray Allen was still in the game at the end. He played 45 minutes. If it was a close game, I could see playing him, but with a big lead, Doc should have had him on the bench.

I hate ESPN games when they give you "Bonus Coverage." Tonight they cut away to the Hornets/Cavs game for about 5 minutes. If I wanted to watch that game, I would have tuned into that game. I wanted to watch the Celtics. I mean, it was an exciting finish, but I wanted to see what the Celtics were doing. Now, there is only one team that the Celtics haven't beaten and they are coming to the Garden on Friday. If the Celtics play defense like they did tonight, they will win that one too.