More thoughts on Game One of the Finals

So, I’m a day or so late with these thoughts, but what else is new. (I’ve been busy, I’ve been away, blah blah blah.)

Obviously, a lot of this game was about Paul Pierce, and his knee. When he emerged from the locker room, you could see the crowd lift up before the cameras actually came in. Before that, the place looked dead. (Actually, the room I was in had actually gone silent. Personally, I was trying to go through scenarios where the Celtics could win without Pierce or Perk, and coming up blank.) As soon as Pierce came back in, the crowd (and the room I was in) came back to life.

• KG – Other than Pierce, there were some other Celtics who contributed to wining that game, but none more so than KG. Nobody, but nobody, has taken more grief for his style of play than KG in recent weeks. (He’s too passive, doesn’t want to take the big shot, blah blah blah.) Not true. The truth is, Kevin Garnett is not a selfish player. He makes the smart pass, all the time. Like Lebron, sometimes he takes criticism for making these passes at the end of games, instead of trying to “assert his will,” whatever that means. Well, in the 4th quarter of Game One, KG still made the smart pass, and yet still managed to assert his will when needed. His emphatic follow up dunk was the clincher of the game, and hopefully, quieted his critics for a minute or two.
• Ray Allen – This was the Ray Allen the Celtics are going to need if they’re going to beat the Lakers, for a couple reasons. When Allen is hitting outside shots, he’s that third scorer the Celtics need. This means that Doc can sit KG and Pierce for stretches of the game, and still have some scoring on the floor. Allen’s defense has been solid, and he was often the secondary ball handler on the floor, especially when Sam Cassell was out there. I haven’t seen much about it, but this was a good game for Ray.
• Sam Cassell – Sam Cassell is not a point guard. He is a ball hog, and his awkwardly chosen shots time and time again take the Celtics out of rhythm. This is clearly not the work of a point guard. That said, he made more of those shots than he missed Thursday night, and a couple of them in particular where crucial momentum baskets.

This was a must win for the Celtics, but not for the Lakers. Tomorrow night is more of a must win for the Lakers, but really game three is the crucial one for them. I don’t expect Kobe to have that poor of a shooting night tomorrow, but I would also be surprised if the Lakers role players shot that well. (Maybe, just maybe, someone from the Celtics will guard Derek Fisher tomorrow! Maybe!) So, I think the Celtics can win this one too. Of course, only if Pierce can play effectively. If he can’t, it could get ugly.

Let’s not think about that.