To put it bluntly, the Celtics played awful. What happened in the third quarter? How did this even end as a one point game? The Sixers should have murdered the sloppy Celtics tonight who had 15 turnovers. That is outrageous considering the great ball handlers on that team. However, the Sixers could not capitalize on a shoddy Boston effort. From those 15 turnovers, they only scored six points. That has to be something head coach Doug Collins cannot be happy with. This Boston team is normally much sharper than this game so to not take advantage of their opportunities is not any better. They also let a double digit lead get down to a one point lead in the fourth. In their defense, the Celtics did pick it back up in the forth thanks in part to Kevin Garnett. Jrue Holiday led the Sixers with 18 points while Andre Iguodala added 17 points and 8 rebounds. The Celtics’ starters put up equally good numbers: Ray Allen had 17 points, coming off the bench while Kevin Garnett who has been playing like the Garnett of old had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Celtics will be fine…just look at the boxscore. Pierce single digit scoring, the team getting out rebounded by double digits, and the Sixers shooting 12 more free-throws on the night. Boston needs to be more aggressive, but these guys have been there before, they know what they’re doing and I think they got Game 3 to win back home-court advantage.
I happen to agree. The Sixers will not be this veteran team. Especially not with the way Garnett has stepped up. Celtics in six.
That’s what I predicted before this series started and I’m sticking to it. I figured they’d lose this one anyway, now its just more motivation for Wednesday night.