You had to be a Big Shot didn’t you!
Chauncey Billups’ two free throws with 0.1 seconds on the clock gave the Detroit Pistons an 87-85 victory over The C’s Wednesday night in Boston. As if this dagger isn’t enough Billups contributed a game high 28 including going 10-11 from the line.
Richard “Rip” Hamilton also had a great game for Detroit going 8-11 from the field including 3-4 from the three spot finishing with 21 points.
Now, although this jagged little pill is a difficult one to swallow there are many good things to be taken from this game.
To start, The Big Ticket played absolutely stellar finishing with 26 and 12 including hitting shot after shot down the stretch.
Ray Allen also had a phenomenal outing contributing 24 on 9-13 shooting including some absolutely brilliant shots in the final quarter to actually give the Celtics a chance to win.
Speaking of, why Doc went to Paul Pierce for ths last shot is anybody’s guess.
Obviously, I love “The Truth,” however, he was having an off night and I would think you would run a play for KG or Ray considering the way they were shooting with Pierce being the third option.
Oh well, everyone’s still learning.
Finally, Rajon Rondo is continually improving shooting 7-10 and scoring ten points in the first quarter. Not to mention, more importantly, he committed only two turnovers against what is considered to be one of the NBA’s elite defensive units.
Now for the bad news.
The Pistons have a more talented starting five than The Celtics and have more big time game experience.
Think about it. I give a slight edge to The Green Machine’s “Big Three” over Rip, Sheed and Chauncey. However, McDyess and Tayshaun Prince have a decided advantage over Rondo and Kendrick Perkins.
Although awful last night, Prince can be a big time all star caliber scorer on any given night as well as a lock down defender.
McDyess is an absolute rebounding menace having snagged 35 in his last three games and shoots almost as well from the floor as Perkins is shooting from the line.
Although, I love Rondo’s development and Perkins has shown some flashes this is a no brainer.
The other bad news is yesterday it became abundantly evident The Celtics need a back up point guard. Against Detroit pressure both Ray Allen and Eddie House looked extremely uncomfortable handling the rock.
Maybe Rivers is waiting on the development of Gabe Pruitt although he was more of a scorer at USC than a ball distributor. Unfortunately, he has yet to get any kind of minutes at all this season.
I would send him to the D League to get some game experience. Then, once he’s back with the team, start slowly integrating him in the rotation.
Either that, or release him and find and sign someone from the Developmental League that is a great ball handler, defender and keeps everyone involved.
Even though last night was a tough loss overall I think it is one of the best things that could have happened to the C’s. Not only did it expose the point guard dilemma it also showed that we still have a long way to go to be a title contender.
Which, with all this talk of 70 wins, is, in my opinion, a good thing.
Besides, no matter what Jeff Van Gundy says, the NBA season is incredibly grueling and long and having the pressure to win every single home game would have taken an emotional and physical toll.
The players can now let out a sigh of relief, quit worrying about the comparisons with the phenomenal 1986 team (Bill Walton coming off the bench are you kidding me) and primarily focus on improving overall as well as securing the number one seed in the East.
