2010 NBA Finals: Celtics Ride Bench To Game 4 Win Over Lakers
The Boston Celtics knew that their season was at stake in Game Four. Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen had yet to find the chemistry they had in the previous rounds.
To make matters worse Boston had not been able to get solid play from its bench throughout the playoffs.
Questions abound about the sanity of the collection of misfits the Celtics have on the bench.
The only solid contributors had been Glen Davis and Tony Allen. As the playoffs wore on T.A. was hampered by a sprained ankle and Davis had yet to be a model of consistency.
Nate Robinson had also been a permanent fixture on the DNP-CD list and Rondo suffered.
The wear and tear of too many minutes had taken away some of his trade-mark speed. He has been able to give an occasional burst but not like what we had seen before.
Nate Robinson with his little man complex backs down from no one; he even tried to take it to Dwight Howard in the Eastern Conference Finals. That was his breakout game. He had not done much since, but last night he introduced the Lakers' to his alter ego "Donkey.”
Ray Allen played decoy and made several key passes to Tony Allen and Glen Davis diving through the paint.
Tony Allen mirrored Kobe's every offensive moves. His defensive technique should be shown as an instructional video. He is that good. Kobe will always get his points but Tony made sure it did not come easy.
Rasheed Wallace did a solid defensive job on the Laker big men as well as hit a timely three.
Andrew Bynum's knee injury had slowed him down considerably and was relegated to the sideline. Pau Gasol ended up being out muscled and out-hustled on the boards by Davis.
Lamar Odom was thrust in the starting line-up and Phil Jackson was without a dependable big man off the bench.
The man who spearheaded the whole resurgence, Glen Davis showed what leverage can really do for you. He used his wide girth coupled with some nimble footwork to bully his way to the rim. He was a man possessed. It seemed like he gobbled-up every loose ball and neither Gasol nor Odom could contain him.
Davis was so jacked up that he didn't feel Robinson jumping on his back from excitement.
It was appropriate that the bench saved the Celtic season, because it was their inability to play solidly in the critical moments of Game Three that gave L.A. the lead for good.
The Celtic starters were happy to be cheerleaders for once instead of having to carry the load. Doc Rivers rode his bench in a vote of confidence and they imposed their will on a tired Laker team.
