Boston Celtics believe they still have some fight left, after going into a 3-1 hole: NBA Playoffs
Miami Heat outplayed the Boston Celtics 14-4 in the overtime to clinch their third victory in game-4 of the second-round series, and with this win they put the Celtics in a 3-1 hole.
Now the Celtics are eyeing game-5 in order to extend the series back to Boston after this one road game. They are determined to come up with a better effort than they displayed in the disheartening loss against the Heat on Wednesday.
The Celtics are in their biggest postseason debt since getting the Big Three together. Pierce-Garnett-Allen Empire crumbled in the second half of game-4, but they are still left with one more chance to redeem their status.
The Celtics don’t want to go down like the Los Angeles Lakers, who totally warped in their series loss to the Dallas Mavericks; Los Angeles’ cheap shots were the major cause of their decline.
However, the C’s need to realize that they still have an opportunity to upset the fragile Heat, all they need is to cover up their mistakes and stretch it to game-6. The C’s did well in game-1 and 4, as these two games remained very close.
Despite a severe injury, Rajon Rondo participated in the game and Kevin Garnett hit just 1 of 10 from the field for his seven points. Boston also had two major chances in the fourth quarter to seal game-4 in their favour.
Maybe a young side would not have let it happen to themselves, as one drawback of an ageing team is that they don’t do things the easy way. The best example in this regard is Lakers, who won the 1998 Championship title on fumes in just seven games, including
conference semifinal, conference finals and lastly, the National Basketball Association Finals.
Besides this aging issue, the C’s are more rebellious towards each other. Rondo publicly expressed his rebellion against Celtics coach Doc Rivers, Ray Allen wants to run the game one-man-show style. Pierce is not happy with the lack of accuracy in the offense.
While Garnett broods because he knows that he is not that effective as he was four years ago.
Still an optimistic Garnett said, “If we can get this one game down in Miami, we’ll see what happens. We never lack confidence, and when our backs are against the wall is when we show great resilience. We’ll see what we’re made of.’’
If the C’s play like a team, they can pull it off, but winning straight three against the second seed of the Eastern Conference is a daunting task. Still one believes that they are too proud and will not go down on their knees without giving the Heat a tough
time.
The Heat on the other hand are not over confident with their current position and they are getting ready for perhaps more than the C’s can offer.
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