Holding Serve

I go to teach our high school youth here in Ceres tonight in my Braves hat and a green button down shirt, supporting both my causes tonight. We talk about listening, and being aware of both their attention span and my pressing television engagements...well, we don't make them listen very long.

I get home and turn on the TV to find the Braves up 8-0 (in a game they would hold on to win 8-6 to even their series with Philly, after falling to 1-11 in one run games last night). And I figure it's too much of a good thing, because when I turn it over to the Celtics and Cavs in the second quarter, LeBron James has come to life and the Cavs are padding a seven point lead.

The crowd is quiet and the lead keeps building. I'm cooking dinner and watching in between with the volume turned up so I can hear it in the kitchen, but at one point Cleveland goes up 14, and all of a sudden it's getting very real, and Boston fans are feeling all sorts of combinations of angry, dismayed, and that tangible sense of impending doom. I get mad and retreat to the kitchen for what I think will be the remainder of the first half.

Then, while cooking, I hear "Rajon Rondo, for THREE!" And then a few moments later, I hear it again. The second time, it startles me so much that I'm pretty sure I gave myself a third degree burn from the skillet on my index finger. But I step into the living room in time to see the proof in replay: Rondo hit two threes, the Celtics close the first half on a 14-3 run, and we've got some fight in us yet.

Boston spends the second half responding to LBJ's 23 first half points by finally employing the "no layups" rule - I'm convinced that PJ Brown is on the team specifically to enforce it - and took out Delonte West, Anderson Varejao and LeBron on multiple occasions, making them earn it at the line and ensuring that there will be no posters on sale after Game 5 (LBJ did, to his credit, put in a couple of great layups despite the heavy contact in the first half).

Cleveland got to the line 41 times, but only shot 68% - a percentage that dips to 60% if you take away LeBron's 11 for 13 - and it was instead Kevin Garnett who put in the thunderous dunk(s) in the 4th quarter to keep Boston at a safe and healthy distance. Add to that some other inspired moments, including an uplifiting performance from Big Baby Davis. It wasn't perfect, but the Celtics get it done 96-89, and move to a 3-2 lead in this series going to Cleveland on Friday night.

LeBron finally woke up, true - 35 points in 45 minutes - and this was the worst defensive performance in the Garden (edit: I know it's not the real Garden, but I keep thinking if I keep calling it that some of the magic will seep through) by the Celtics thus far in the playoffs. But on the other end, performances were encouraging.

Kevin Garnett assumed more command of things, with a very healthy line of 26 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks and no turnovers. Paul Pierce wasn't what I'd call hot, but he did what he needs to do - 29 points and got to the rim and the free throw line (11 of 13, equaling LeBron). This is the Pierce we need and remember from the '02 Playoffs and from the '08 regular season. Ray Allen went 4 of 11 and that might count for his best performance of the series, if only because he made a key offensive rebound in the game's final minute.

And as Bill Simmons I'm sure was thrilled to watch, Sam Cassell played only 5 minutes and Rajon Rondo stole the show, getting 42 minutes and responding with 20 points, 13 assists and one turnover. If there's one player who defines Boston's playoff run thus far, it's Rondo - in Boston's seven home playoff games and seven home playoff wins, Rondo averages 13 points on 51% shooting, with 8 assists per game. In Boston's five road playoff games and five road playoff losses, Rondo averages only 10 points on 39% shooting and 5 assists per game. On the road he can look lost. At home, he's been a critical element in inducing runs with his passing and his shots in surprising fashion, and tonight Boston doesn't win without him.

So for Cleveland, while LeBron's performance has to be encouraging and Delonte West has played inspired basketball all series against his former team...the worry shifts back over to their side. The Cavs had the Celtics right where they wanted them for about twenty minutes tonight, that this would be the game they would steal in Boston and then wrap it up Friday night at home. But then they let it get away, lost it in the third quarter and couldn't get it back. Even if Boston can't win Friday night in Cleveland, the Celtics know they're coming home Sunday. Hopefully, Boston plays loose in a good way on Friday, not conceding because they don't believe they can win on the road and taking a Game 7 win for granted, but not with a real road complex either. Cleveland will feel the elimination game pressure Friday, then the "can we win in Boston?" pressure Sunday if they pass the first test. So while I'm not overly excited about championship potential, especially while Detroit and Chauncey Billups just keep resting, I do feel better about Boston's odds in the immediate present.

(And by the way, and Avery Johnson - who hopefully finds a coaching role, but if not I'd listen to him over most as an analyst, if only for that voice - made part of this point at halftime, but if you're Cleveland when do you pull the plug on Ben Wallace? He's just there...but it's like he's not even there at all. Tonight: 27 minutes, 4 points, 4 rebounds, 1 block. He hasn't pulled in double figure rebounds in any game this series and is averaging 3 points per game against Boston. He was supposed to be the centerpiece of that trade, and before that the final piece for the Baby Bulls, and he's just disappeared. And maybe it's poor taste to make fun of him for being listed on the injury report before Game 3 as "Questionable: Allergies" after his dizzy spell in Game 2. But I'm doing it anyway. This is the Playoffs. You don't help the other team's guy up off the floor, and I make fun of your "injury".)

Here's what I know: Boston needs to win Friday. Detroit just made the Eastern Conference Finals for the sixth straight year with a roster full of guys who've been to the Finals twice and have a ring from 2004. Whoever comes out of the West will be deadly in four different ways depending on who it is. The last place Boston needs to be trying to figure it out is in the NBA's Final Four. You absolutely do not want to carry this "can't win on the road" business into Detroit, who's certainly good enough to win in Boston and will present an even bigger challenge than the pretend one in Atlanta and the real one in Cleveland. If you win Friday, we move on to the conference finals and don't have to answer eight billion questions about why we can't win on the road. If you lose on Friday, you roll the dice again with Game 7, and then even if you win, the all important confidence will be smaller against a Detroit team that's full of it right now. Don't wait. Carpe diem. Win on Friday.

And I'm not going to lie - right now I'm watching the Lakers take on the Jazz, who've stolen the Titans' powder blues and look just as ridiculous in them. No professional sports team should ever wear that color. Do you think it's coincidence that the Kansas City Royals never win anything these days? You might as well just wear pink like a big boy. Crikey.

Anyway...I'm watching the Lakers, and despite all of Boston's problems...in the same way I'm glad it's Detroit up next, I want the Lakers. New Orleans might be the most fun team to watch in the NBA in my opinion and Chris Paul would destroy the Celtics. San Antonio is the dynasty that I'd love to knock off. And Utah, even wearing those unis, is very very good too. But I want the Lakers. Both teams are in dogfihts right now. But here's hoping both teams hold up their end of the bargain. That way the NBA can stop sweating that Detroit-Utah Finals, and we can all get what we really want.

First thing's first - win Friday.