The Good – KG played what could be considered his best and most clutch game as a Celtic. Without KG playing the way he did, the Celtics would be playing Game 7 in Atlanta instead of Game 1 against the Sixers on Saturday. KG had a ridiculous stat line that somehow still doesn’t come close to how important he was for the Celtics tonight. He had 28 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks and 3 steals in over 39 minutes of play, and was repeatedly clutch down the stretch. He credited his performance to the Hawks owner, who earlier yesterday said KG was the dirtiest player in the league. Hopefully the Sixers owner thinks and acts the same way for this next series.
The Bad – The execution in the 4th quarter by the Celtics when KG wasn’t playing was horrible. Doc had to take KG out with a little more than 5 minutes left and the Celtics having a 7 point lead. But after the Hawks cut the lead to 1 in only 2 minutes, Doc had to go back to KG to stop the bleeding. Doc took most of his frustration out on Bass who looked at one point to yell back at Doc before being quieted down by other teammates on the bench. Not surprisingly Bass didn’t come back into the game.
The Unexpected – Ray Allen missed 2 free throws, 1 with only a few seconds left in the game, that would have put the Celtics up by 3 and put more pressure on the Hawks. Overall Ray had a forgettable game with 7 points on 1-7 shooting. Hopefully he bounces back against the Sixers on Saturday.
The Celtics took care of business at home, and with the Sixers beating the Bulls, the Celtics are now rewarded with home-court in the second round. Game 1 is on Saturday, and Game 2 is on Monday. Both times for those games have not been released.
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