Key to Game 3

Posted by Mike Giardi May 24, 2008 at 7:00 pm

I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but the Celtics have yet to earn a postseason road victory. We in the media obsessed about it during the Atlanta series, then even more so during Round 2 against Cleveland. But it didn’t matter. Seriously. As long as the C’s took care of business at home, they could still win an NBA title. Now, that premise has changed. The Celts no longer have the aura of a invincibility at home, losing Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night. That means - in order to win this series and get to the NBA Finals - Pierce, Garnett, Allen and company must win at the Palace in Auburn Hills. Is it possible? Without question.

If you’re a C’s fan, you gotta remember January 5th of this year. And I’m not talking about just looking at the box score. That was the night the Green team had a score to settle, and that’s exactly what they did. A 7-point win, which is probably best remembered as the coming out party for Glen “Big Baby” Davis.

But here’s the key. It could have been anyone. Leon Powe. P.J. Brown. Even Kendrick Perkins, who once got 10 and 20 against Detroit this season. That was sorely lacking Thursday night. The bench scored just 8 points total in 57 minutes. I mean, I realize the C’s are built around the ”Big 2″ and Ray Allen, but 8 points?! Just 11 shots?!? That crew has to be more aggressive. Heck, put Sam Cassell out there. At least he won’t be shy about hoisting it up. I’m not kidding, despite my earlier critiques of that noted gunslinger. Someone from the second “5″ has to be willing to step up, or the Celts will find themselves stepping out, a round earlier than they should.