Rabid Hawks Exposing Boston Defense
By: Jason Devaney
If the last two games are any indication of what is to come, the Celtics are in trouble.
When it looked like the game was out of our grasp in the fourth quarter, I sent a text message to a fellow Bostonian: “We lose tonight and this series is in jeopardy,” I wrote.
I really think it is. 
Until we start playing some $!#&*% defense, the Hawks are gonna keep driving the lane and laying in easy baskets. As long we continue to not play defense, Atlanta will keep coming around on those backside screens in the paint to score gimme points. I might be the world’s worst basketball player but hell, I could have scored on a few occasions tonight against that less-than-stellar defense.
They say defense wins ballgames. That’s pretty much true in every sport - even curling. And it is most definitely the case in basketball, in the playoffs, in a series against a lousy team from Atlanta that two thirds of the country forgot was even a team anymore.
The C’s came out fired up tonight and jumped out to that huge lead, but that didn’t go so well, did it? What scares me is that the Hawks have those idiodic wannabee fans behind them now. It’s a damn good thing we’re going back to Boston for Game 5, although I don’t see us winning in Atlanta for Game 6. No, not with the energy flowing through this team via the bandwagoners in Atlanta.
And speaking of Atlanta, what was up with airhorn guy? I could not hear Dick Clark, er, Stockton, discussing this during the TNT telecast. I would love to be that guy though. What’s to stop him from blowing it just a fraction of a second early when the other team has the ball? Yeah, I’d like to be that guy.
The problem tonight were those two early fouls that Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo each picked up. After that hot start, we had three top guys on the bench and the Hawks crawled back, the momentum building on that side of the court. After that, the crowd got into it and we were done.
Game 3 was another ****show. The Celtics did not play particularly well, especially on defense (shocker). But they played well enough to win, had it not been for that complete waste of time Violet Palmer who was on the officiating crew. Listen, I’m all for women officials in the NBA IF THEY ARE COMPETENT. This woman has a lousy track record, and that was clearly on display in Game 3. I hate to blame a loss on referees, but that was ridiculous. Atlanta got ALL the calls and the Celtics got screwed at least 15 times between calls and non-calls. I was watching the game while playing nine-ball at my local pool joint and I was close to going postal on the TV screen near our table.
She was that bad. If there was a referee who knew what the hell he was doing in that game instead of dear old Violet, the Celtics probably would have won - and they might have even ended the series tonight, having gained some momentum by going up 3-0.
Something has to be done about that awful woman.
I must admit, I do feel a little better after getting all that off my chest. Jeez. But I still want to know how the Celtics could not stop Joe Johnson (why can’t we get players like that?) or Josh Smith this evening. And I want to know how Mike Bibby has averaged 14 points the last three games after depositing just five in the series opener.
But I really want to know is how in the world the Atlanta Hawks came back to tie this series at two games apiece. Like everyone else, I wrote off this series before it began. Celtics in four or five. Nope. How about MAYBE the Celtics win in six or seven. How does that sound?
I tell you what, the Celtics need to make some major adjustments if they want to reach the second round.