Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett will bounce back in game-7: Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers – NBA Playoffs Update
The Boston Celtics suffered a disappointing loss at home against the Miami Heat on Thursday, blowing their chance of closing out the series early and advancing to the NBA Finals. Now they will have to play the deciding game in Miami, at the American Airlines
Arena.
A disappointing aspect of Boston’s play at the TD Garden was the poor showing by veteran stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who have often carried the team on their back. Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, though disappointed with the result in game-6, said
he was convinced his stalwarts would bounce back in the all important game-7.
Paul Pierce was just 4-of-18 from the field while Garnett, who has turned back the clock during the post season with vintage 20-10(points-rebounds) games, contributed a lowly 12 points and 5 rebounds. Both though are proven big-game players and future Hall
of Famers, and that tells Doc that they will perform next game.
"Paul is a big-game player," said Rivers. "Game 7s are the biggest game you can possibly have. What I saw tonight, I thought he was ready for the game. He just didn't have a great game tonight.”
"He was down. Kevin [Garnett] was down. But also you could see their resolve in the locker room. They're not just going to pack for Sunday. They're going to bring suits for Tuesday, and they're going to bring suits for Thursday.”
The star of the night was without a doubt Heat super star LeBron James. The NBA’s Most Valuable Player had come under criticism for his performance in the previous game and responded with a terrific 45 points and 15 rebounds as the Heat romped to a win.
Rivers touched on LeBron’s performance and asked of the press to stop questioning his pedigree as he keeps proving them wrong.
"I hope now you guys can stop talking about LeBron and that he doesn't play in big games. He played pretty well tonight. I hope that's to bed. Now we can go ahead and play Game 7."
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