Celtics An Abomination

Last night’s Boston Celtics and Miami Heat Game 6 might be the worst game I have ever watched as a fan of the Celtics. As a fan of the NBA, at first glance, you might say wow, what a great performance by LeBron James. LeBron was every bit the MVP in last night’s game, with 45 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 turnovers. He was fantastic in the first half and yet, the Celtics still were not too far behind. As in other games in this series, they came out flat but were able to stick around with their defense. Not tonight. This time, their defense after the first half was non-existent.

The Celtics didn’t lose this game because of LeBron’s performance. They lost this game because they played horrendous defense and the offense was an abomination. Both of those things LeBron had no effect on. Look at the following stats and then form your own opinion. Paul Pierce, 4-18; Kevin Garnett, 6-14; Rajon Rondo, 8-14; and Ray Allen, 3-7. The Celtics’ big four missed a combined 32 out of 53 shots. That is a worse shooting percentage than the Charlotte Bobcats had for the 2012 season, which, by the way, was 41.4 percent.

Now, let’s talk about ball movement … terrible. Rondo had 7 turnovers for the game, whereas the Heat, as a team, only had 12. Rondo is not to blame for all these turnovers. In fact, he was the only one on the team who seemed like he wanted to play basketball. He made a pass to Brandon Bass, which he fumbled away, a pass to Garnett that was Pistol Pete-like. I don’t mean Pistol Pete-like in the way that you think. Pistol Pete-like, as in when he was in high school and the kids on his team were not ready for the ball, so it would bounce off their heads. That’s exactly what happened on that play. KG completely spaced out on the play and never expected a pass from Rondo. Not counting those plays, Rondo was just forcing the ball everywhere and throwing it away.

Rondo seemed to be playing at a different pace than the rest of the team. He was trying to pick up the pace, but the Celtics just refused to run with him. This, ultimately, caused their demise in this game. Turnovers against Miami kill you. Everyone in the NBA knows that.

The Celtics’ defense was terrible; they over compensated for LeBron’s play and blew their rotations all night long. The fact that their offense was such an abomination hurt them badly on the defensive end because they could never get their defense set due to Miami running with the ball off of the missed shot.

The Celtics have no one to blame for this loss but themselves. For a team that prides themselves on defense, they played almost none. For a team that is lauded for their offensive execution, they showed none. Now, the other major media networks who tend to ball wash LeBron and Miami are going to play this loss off as it was due to LeBron’s greatness and the fact that the Celtics are just too old and injured.

That is garbage; the Celtics have shown that they still have enough in the tank to win. Never before has a great performance by a superstar been too much for them to overcome in the past. This loss had to do with the fact that this team just didn’t come in with the right attitude and will to win last night.

It is hard to believe that this team, which is all about heart, grit and balls, just didn’t show up with any of that. The Celtics just didn’t come into the game or play with the right mental attitude. The result was an abomination of a performance.

The Celtics will not play like this again. They will come back with a vengeance. So what are you going to do, Miami, when the Celtics get a hold of you? It is onto Game 7 and the Celtics will come to play because, when there is a fire, they walk into it, not away from it. They know they lost game 6 because they played badly, not because LeBron is so superior. One guy doesn’t win a game or a championship. Go ask Michael Jordan if you don’t believe me. Teams win championships.