Empty the Bench

Give the early nod to Kevin Garnett in his matchup with Rasheed Wallace. The Celtics’ MVP continued his strong playoff run by putting the Celtics on his back and once again being their rock on both ends of the floor, chipping in 26 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks to Boston’s 88-79 win over Detroit. He also altered a few shots and of course his unbridled enthusiasm was infectious on the rest of the team, as it always is.

When the man is locked in–again, as he seems to always be–he’s still just as effective now as he was in his early days with the Minnesota Timberwolves. (That era sure seems like a long time ago all of a sudden, doesn’t it?)

Rasheed Wallace has his fair share of flaws on the court: not taking advantage of his post-up talents on the block as much as he should, falling head over heels with the triple tries, moping like a sad Basset Hound for extended periods of time, etc. He’s also one of my personal all-time favorites and usually one of the most entertaining players to watch in the league.

There he was faking like he was going to blow his top after being whistled for a foul, only to quickly relent and give Joey Crawford an emphatic lovetap on his butt. (Athletes love the butt slap, don’t they?). And I couldn’t help but smile along with him when he grinned from ear to ear after KG was whistled for a phantom foul, clearly enjoying the moment and well aware it was a weak call in his favor. Of course, Pistons fans would have traded those feel-good moments for more than the 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals he had in Game 1…

And just to make it official: ‘Sheed’s first patented “Ball Don’t Lie!” call came at the 4:21 mark of the 2nd quarter; the second came shortly after when Kevin Garnett missed his second free throw of the game with 3:46 left.

As tough a competitors they are, Wallace and Garnett clearly have a ton of mutual respect for each other. As the final buzzer sounded and the players headed towards the locker room, these two elite power forwards met at half court and quickly acknowledged each other’s effort. Moments later, KG sounded visibly embarassed when ESPN’s Michele Tafoya asked him how he managed to “get the upper hand on Wallace and dominate the matchup.” He was bashful in his response, wanting no part of saying he dominated ‘Sheed and twice making references to “looking in the mirror” when facing ‘Sheed and the Pistons team in general.

Kevin Garnett Photo Credit: Icon SMI

Some might say these two shouldn’t be getting friendly after an Eastern Conference Finals game, even if just for a quick moment. That they can show their respect for each other’s game after the series is over. Well, that’s bullshit. From the jump ball to the final buzzer, ‘Sheed and KG competed like longtime rivals, not old-school friends. As long as there’s no buddy-buddy stuff going on during the actual game, I think it’s a great thing to see and is more indicative of how the NBA really is than the bad headlines and press it still inexplicably gets attention for (while meanwhile NFL players get free pass after free pass for acting a fool).

More notes on Game 1 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals after the jump…

- Ray Allen still can’t throw a brick in the ocean, starting the game 1-5 from the field and finishing 3-10 FG, 9 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 turnovers. And keep in mind that all of his makes were bunnies, not jumpers. Give him credit for being aggressive and trying to take the ball to the hole instead of settling for a jump shot that just isn’t there, but it’s a bad sign that he started passing up open shots in the 2nd quarter.

And sheesh, his repeated comments about how he prefers “being in a rhythm” (i.e. playing two straight seven-game series is a good thing) as opposed to getting an extended rest are starting to sound like he’s simply trying to convince himself that he’s not tired. He unequivocally said so following the Celtics’ Game 7 win on Sunday over the Cavaliers, then basically repeated himself again yesterday after the game: “You have to figure, doing this every other day, you just get used to the same routine of coming out, being out this late, playing basketball,” Celtics guard Ray Allen said. “I think when you get that break in between, you have to build yourself back up into it.”

Hey, he might have a point: like I said, something was clearly off for the Pistons in Game 1. Maybe it was rust, maybe it was the Celtics, maybe it was just a bad game. But let’s be honest: Allen is not in a rhythm, has not been in any kind of (good) rhythm for a few weeks now, and shouldn’t really be talking about the advantages of being in a rhythm. No matter how many times he tells himself it’s not true, Allen needs rest.

- Based on one game, it looks like this has the potential to be even more of a grind on offense than what we saw last week between the Celtics and Cavaliers. When both the Celtics and Pistons walk the ball up the court and run their offenses in a half-court set, more often than not we’re going to see contested jumpers and/or a lot of fouls. That’s no big surprise—these teams finished 1 and 2, respectively, in team defense during the regular season with Detroit barely edging out Boston in points allowed 90.1 to 90.3/per.

I think the Pistons can hurt the Celtics by pushing the ball up the court, fastbreaking whenever the opportunity presents itself, and making the Celtics scramble. For some reason Boston just doesn’t seem as adept as Detroit is at recovering and matching up in such situations, and it’s something Flip Saunders would be wise to pound into his teams’collective head as they prepare for Game 2 on Thursday… especially given the fact that they looked so out of sync in their half-court offense in Game 1.

- His modest boxscore (5 points, 10 rebounds) doesn’t jump out at you, but Celtics starting center Kendrick Perkins made a significant impact for his team last night in the post. He was especially active early on, pulling down 5 or 6 boards in the first quarter that helped limit the cold Pistons to one shot and twice giving the Celtics a shot-clock reset on offense. His 31:54 minutes was the third most he’s played in a single game so far during these playoffs, but it was the fourth straight game in which he finished with at least 4 fouls. If he can avoid picking up a few early whistles and stay in the game, Perkins could be huge for Boston. Remember, he averaged 11.7 rebounds/per against Detroit during the regular season—3 more than against any other team in the league.

Possessions will clearly be a precious commodity throughout this series, so it’s essential for both teams to focus on hitting the glass and outrebounding their opponent. The Celtics and Pistons each finished with 37 team rebounds, but Boston got the edge on the offensive glass 8-5.

- Chauncey Billups isn’t right yet… at least I hope he’s not after being mostly a mostly non-factor in Game 1. In just over ineffectual 31 minutes, the Pistons captain had just 9 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Is the hamstring still sore? Was he being tentative in fear of reinjuring it or making it worse? Or was this simply a byproduct of having not played a game in over 2 weeks?

Time will tell, but the Pistons probably cannot win this series if Billups has too many more games like that. And even though his “Mr. Big Shot” moniker is well-earned, don’t forget that Billups is coming off a poor showing in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals against the Cavaliers and has to prove he can still come up big in these pressure-packed situations. And he needs to start doing it tomorrow lest young Rajon Rondo gain more and more confidence that he can stand tall against him.

Related: Eastern Conference Notes, Chauncey Billups, Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, Rip Hamilton, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Tayshaun Prince, Antonio McDyess, Glen Davis, Paul Pierce, Flip Saunders, Rodney Stuckey

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