The Celtics Revised part II

Game 1 of the Boston Celtics vs. Atlanta Hawks series last night was not a pretty one.  The Hawks came out with a high level of energy, and took a huge lead in the first half.  The Celtics were indeed without Ray Allen’s services, which was a well-known possibility, and just as I had predicted it hurt them big time.  The Celtics went 0-11 from 3 point range without Ray’s sharp shooting, and even when Allen is not hitting shots he is such a threat that the defense has to account for him at all times which makes things easier on the rest of the Celtics playmakers, most notably Pierce and Garnett, who both struggled to say the least in last night’s game.

Although the Celtics battled back in the 2^nd half to overcome a huge first half deficit, the play that decided the game late in the 4^th quarter is one that is controversial and might lead to the Celtics star point guard, who is so essential to what they do, to be suspended.  I of course am referring to Rajon Rondo.  The critical play I speak of was a loose ball that occurred with under a minute left, with the Celtics down by 4 points.  As the ball was loose on the floor for anyone to claim possession of, Kevin Garnett laid out into an all-out dive that resembled a head-first slide on a Baseball field, except this was hard wood.  After KG fails to recover the ball, several more players were flopping around on the floor scrambling to recover possession.  As the ball bounced around, Brandon Bass of the Celtics reached over Josh Smith of the Hawks, both of whom were laid out on the floor, and momentarily the ball was grabbed by Smith, while Bass also got a hand on it, but then Smith lost control and a whistle was blown.  Most viewers undoubtedly were expecting a jump ball to be called, as there is not really any other fair call to be made in that type of intense loose-ball situation in a playoff game.  To my and all other Celtic’s fans dismay, the call was a foul on Brandon Bass.  This was especially crucial because the Hawks had not but 2 seconds left on the shot clock, so if the correct jump-ball call had been made, even if the Hawks won the jump they would most likely have not had time to put up a shot, so the Celtics would have regained possession only down 4 points with 45+ seconds left, PLENTY of time to tie the game up and potentially win it.

Nevertheless, the frustration over this bad call at a crucial point in the game boiled over for Rondo.  He has now been suspended for game 2 for what happened next.  He was visibly furious, some have speculated was a combined effect from a previous play in which a foul was not called by the same referee, and he approached the ref and while talking some shit he appears to trip momentarily, and then chest bump the referee.  Anyone who watched the modern NBA know how sensitive the league is to an incident like this, however minor it might be.  Some argued that the bump was completely accidental; I’m not convinced of that but regardless the amount of contact amounted to a love tap.  Still, the letter of the law in the NBA is any player-initiated contact should result in at least a suspension of one game, and that is what happened.  Rondo will be sorely missed in Tuesday night’s game 2 match up, and is Ray Allen misses his 2^nd consecutive game, which is likely; the Celtics are going to be underdogs and will require some big performances by Pierce, Garnett, and their bench.  Hopefully they are up to the task.

EDIT: I apologize for addressing the same topic that my colleague Thundergun had already posted about.  He's got video of the incident so if my long-winded description didn't quite do it for you, check out his post.