Boston Bench Giving Teams a Major Playoff Headache
The secret is finally out: Boston is really good.
Yes, anytime that a team has three high scoring All-Stars, the best defensive strategist in the world of NBA assistant coaches, and the most exciting, red-hot young point guard in the league, guess what happens? They're probably going to beat you.
But don't forget one other lesson many teams doomed to an early playoff exit have learned over the past few weeks. To go deep into the playoffs, you need solid contributions on both ends of the floor from the guys that don't get to surround mid-court every night for the opening tip.
Just ask Phoenix. The Suns' bench play from Jared Dudley, Channing Frye, Goran Dragic, and Leandro Barbosa has been crucial in the teams rise to Western Conference prominence in these playoffs. Unfortunately, you could also ask them how to beat the Lakers and all you would get for a response is Alvin Gentry scratching his head, exhuding an aura of hopeless confusion and mumbling "black mamba, black mamba" like someone who should be in Ward C of Shutter Island prison.
The only squad that can contend with a Boston team thats clicking this well lives in posh Beverly Hills mansions. If you haven't figured that out by now, you haven't been watching the Playoffs. The Lakers are the only team with enough star power in their starting lineup and a good enough bench to beat the Celtics in a 48-minute game. I start shaking when I lapse into a daydream of sitting on the couch in a week and watching the greatest playoff rivalry in basketball tip off Game One of the Finals for the 12th time.
Part of Boston's playoff success is attributed to the play of the Big Bench 3; that is, Tony Allen, Glen Davis, and Rasheed Wallace. You can look at their numbers this postseason and say they are just okay for the most part. If you want to get a feel for how vital their minutes have been for the Celtics this postseason you have to actually watch every game. Doc Rivers feels completely comfortable with any of these guys in the lineup, and frequently has all three in at the same time. This flexibility and confidence in his bench has allowed Rivers the luxury of resting the legs of Pierce, Allen, and Garnett even in the big moments of a game.
Take a look at each series so far for Boston. Their bench didn't outperform Miami's in Round One, but luckily it didn't have to. The Celtics starting five was far superior to the Heat starting five and didn't need all that much from Allen, Davis, and Wallace to secure a series victory in five games.
Sure, Mario Chalmers had 20 in Game One. And in Game Three, Chalmers had 15, Udonis Haslem had 10, and Dorell Wright had 10....and the Heat lost because they gave up 32 to Paul Pierce, 25 to Ray Allen, 17 to Rajon Rondo and 16 to Kevin Garnett.
Enter LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the toast of the Eastern Conference and the pick of your friendly neighborhood average Joe to play the Lakers in the Finals. The Cavs actually had two more players than Boston did in this series that could come off the bench, put up numbers, and not be a liability. If you watched the series you knew right away that the Boston starters were going to outplay Clevelands. Yeah, in a pick-up game, Lebron would go first. But after that the next four chose would be Garnett, Pierce, Allen, and Rondo. Cleveland need consistent numbers from its bench in every game and just didn't get it. They were weak defensively and were the main reason (besides LeChoke) the Celtics were able to open up blowouts in Games Two and Five.
Additionally, they allowed too many big-scoring performances from the Boston bench. Rasheed Wallace finished with 13 and Tony Allen with 10 in Game One despite losing. In a Game Two blowout victory for Boston, Wallace made seven of eight shots from the field including three three-pointers, finishing with 17. Allen put in 15 in Game Four and Glen Davis did the same in Game Five. Boston clinched the series in Game Six, with Allen dropping 10 and Wallace putting in another 13.
If you think Boston's bench was impressive in the Cavs series, what they've done against Orlando thus far in the Eastern Conference finals is like comparing Harry Potter (Cavs series performance) with Lord of the Rings (Magic series performance). Yeah, Harry Potter was good, and it was fun to watch kids run around with wands and magic spells. But Lord of the Rings is the superior epic fantasy series, I mean, come on, real weapons, real battle scenes, and gritty characters that would break a quidditch broom into a million pieces. And the Dark Lord Sauron is way more badass than Voldemort.
Translation: Although they out-did the Cavs' bench in the second-round series, they've been an even more crucial, deciding factor in dismantling the Magic in the conference finals. They come in and score. They come in and rebound. Wallace and Davis have been like mosquitoes buzzing around the ear of Dwight Howard, committing hard fouls and forcing fouls on Howard by being aggressive on offense. Despite dropping 30 in Game Two, its easy to see that Howard is letting them get in his head at times. Nobody is better at that than Rasheed Wallace, who would rather nearly tackle Dwight Howard then let him get an easy bucket.
Oh yeah, Glen Davis and Tony Allen also combined for 27 in Game Two. The entire Magic bench had 28. The Celtics won by four.
The Magic can't expect to beat a team when they are losing the starters battle and the bench battle. Same goes for the Phoenix Suns, whose supposedly-superior bench is being outplayed by Lamar Odom himself.
There are a few ingredients a team has to have to win a championship. The Lakers and Celtics have them all, and with the superior play of their benches in the playoffs aiding a super-talented starting five, great team chemistry, and coaches who know how to win a championship, we'll see them clash at the Staples Center for Game One soon enough.
