It looked like a killer moment for the Celtics. Paul Pierce had committed his 6th foul with 4:16 left in a 3 point game. The tide appeared to be turning. This was truly a game changing moment.
Except…
It changed the game in the Celtics favor…. because Rajon Rondo went absolutely effing nuts. He scored 11 of the Celtics next 12 points, including a long jumper to beat one shot clock buzzer, and a long 3 to beat another. He was in full-on takeover mode, pulling Paul Pierce plays for the Truth while he cheered on from the bench.
The final tally for Rondo? An 18 point, 10 rebound, 10 assist triple double. Etch his name in Game 7 history. He didn't dominate for a lot of the game, but he did when it mattered.
Ray Allen was terrible.. until he hit two massive 3's in the fourth quarter to keep Philly at bay. The Celtics had been 0-14 from that 3 until then.
Kevin Garnett had a monster game that his 18 points and 13 rebounds can't quite capture. He's not only THE reason the Celtics won this game (really, without KG, Rondo's heroics don't exist), he's THE reason they won the series.
Brandon Bass stepped up and hit some big shots too. The Celtics starters scored all but 7 of the team's points in this game.
I will give the Sixers all the credit in the world… they fought their f'ing asses off. They made mistakes, yes, but mostly because they're young and they got anxious. They didn't make mistakes because they're bad. Okay, Spencer Hawes is bad. He was terrible. I mean… yeesh. But the rest of the team… props to them. They will learn valuable lessons from this one. I don't know if they collapse next year like they did this year.
The Celtics now move on to face the Miami Heat. Game 1 is Monday at 8:30. This is going to be a tough one. Let's enjoy this series win and relish the fact that in the 5th year of a 3-year window, the old, slow, Celtics… a team that will have at least SIX guys who started training camp with this team undergo surgery by the end of June… are one of four teams still standing in the NBA.
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