NBA Playoffs 2012: Celtics Lead Series Because Team Steps Up in Big Moments

No one saw this coming. If you did, you’re either a Celtics player or you’re just lying.

Let’s go back to the beginning of the series. The Celtics were coming off a hard-fought seven-game series with the young and feisty Philadelphia 76ers, an eighth seed who only got past the first round because of an injury to Bulls star Derrick Rose.

After battling for seven games with an athletic team like the 76ers, almost all experts predicted that the Celtics had no chance to quickly bounce back and defeat the Big Two of the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.

After the Celtics lost the first two games of the series, the question wasn’t could the Celtics come back and win the series, it was would they win a game or get swept.

The Celtics' Game 2 overtime loss came in devastating fashion. Rajon Rondo scored a career-high 44 points while playing the entire game, Kevin Garnett played the most minutes he’s ever played in a Celtics jersey and the still-banged-up Ray Allen was forced to play over 40 minutes.

The team had seemingly expended every ounce of energy it had left and still came up short. There was no way that it could rebound from such a catastrophic defeat.

Well, that’s what we thought.

The Celtics have now taken the last three games of the Eastern Conference finals. They’ve done so due in large part to their resilience and resistance to ever giving up.

This team thrives when it is doubted. When asked by ESPN reporter Doris Burke about what drives him at this stage of his career, Kevin Garnett responded, “Competition, the naysayers, the owners who talk too much, the people who don’t think a 36, 35 year-old-man could do what I do.”

This Celtics team is simply that, a team. That’s the main difference between it and the Miami Heat.

The Celtics have more than two players who will step up when their number is called.

The team had five players score in double figures during last night’s Game 5 victory, compared to just two for the Heat.

Mickael Pietrus, who had been struggling mightily with his shot, came up big for the team last night. As well as playing tenacious defense on Heat star LeBron James, Pietrus also scored 13 big points. These points included a timely three-pointer midway through the fourth quarter on a broken play in which Rajon Rondo miraculously tipped the ball his way and the shot swung momentum back into the Celtics' favor.

The Celtics also have guys who, even if they’re having a rough night, will step up in the most crucial moments of a game.

Rondo had a tough night from the field, converting just three of his 15 attempts. However, the Celtics star contributed 13 big assists and made a number of crucial plays including the tip to Pietrus and an offensive rebound putback after he followed his own missed layup.

Like Rondo, Paul Pierce struggled shooting last night. With under a minute left, Pierce was shooting five for 18 from the field, but still sank the game’s biggest shot.

With the Celtics clinging to a one-point fourth-quarter lead, Pierce ran out the shot clock and drilled a lethal three-pointer right in LeBron James’ grill.

Ray Allen came up big for the team as well. Despite shooting just 60 percent from the free-throw line this postseason, the Celtics showed confidence in Allen by setting up a play to get him to the line.  

The play worked and Allen stepped to the line with 13 seconds remaining and calmly swished both shots.

After another Miami basket, Kevin Garnett hit two more free throws with nine seconds left, which secured a Celtics victory.

The Heat’s best player, LeBron James, has one gripe against him. His play weakens when the game is on the line.

The Celtics are the exact opposite. The team is at its best when a crucial point of the game is reached and someone needs to make a play. The Celtics have a bevy of guys who want the ball when it matters most and that is why they are one win away from the NBA finals.