Celtics Clinch Series Thanks to Clutch KG, Bad Atlanta Decisions

Boston also got a little help from the refs and typically bad Atlanta decisions to be sure. With the Celtics leading 81-79 on the Hawks' final possession, Paul Pierce did not get whistled for mauling Joe Johnson, a foul call that would have granted the Hawks two free throws from one of their better shooters. Ball out of bounds, back to Atlanta. Then, the Celtics committed a foul prior to the inbounds that was ruled as during the inbounds (a distinction that forced the Hawks to re-inbound, as opposed to getting two immediate freebies).

Despite all that, Atlanta squandered a great chance. Al Horford could have tied the game at the line with less than two seconds left. Instead, he missed the first, and doomed his timeout-less team by making the second shot. Series over. 

But let's focus on hoops heroism, as delivered by Kevin Garnett, a player who used to suffer the dreaded "choker" label back in Minnesota. Tonight, he made the go-ahead basket on a difficult turnaround. It surprised no one, as Garnett's been doing this for some years now. 

His success in big moments is a reminder that "choker" is not a predictive description. Guys can learn to get better at the end of games, or more often, they're unfairly judged, based on a small sample size of situations.