If there was one thing that bothered me tonight it was the fact that people did not praise James Posey enough, despite Jeff Van Gundy's best efforts, following the Celtics victory. Even Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and KG did give the man enough credit. To review:

- Posey took a short term, less than market deal to play for a team that he thought had a shot.

- He showed up with championship ring and helped set the tone. Hint it's on his left hand:

via assets.espn.go.com

- He quickly established himself as a versatile defender, a heads up basketball player, a limited, yet effective offensive player, a clutch rebounder, and a guy who did not seem the slightest bit concerned about his individual stats.

- Posey also worked in all sorts of hugs, which were uncomfortable but strangely important.

- He made me dream of a Posey/Eddie House talk show. It would be fantastic and definitely on delay. House is like KG in that regard.

- And in the playoffs Posey showed up.

Shortly after the Celtics added Posey I got all fired up after researching him a bit. I even said, "Teams win games with guys like Posey." A prominent blogger, who will go nameless but whose identity should be easy to figure out because I included his team said, "Except when the Bulls beat the Heat's ass last year." Well turns out Posey helps team win games and championships. And he's the classic guy you love to play with/hate to play against. Think about all of the annoying things he does:

1. He picked up on the KG never let a shot fall after the whistle. He even did it on a Laker free throw in Game 4 after it was whistled dead just before the release.

2. As Jeff Van Gundy pointed out, Posey always stops players from making it to the hoop after the whistle. Translation - he hits them. Reminiscent of FSU football playing to the echo of the whistle.

3. He takes charges. I'm convinced he'll step in front of anyone.

4. He has incredibly quick feet that help keep him in great defensive position, while he pokes at the ball. Seriously name another guy in the league that you would have guard Kobe and Lamar Odom.

5. At one point in Game 6 Jordan Farmar tried to box out Posey by literally throwing himself at the former Xavier stand out. Posey moved and watched Farmar tumble into the crowd. Few players have a better body awareness than Posey. I wouldn't say he's Bruce Bowen dirty. But he's clever and definitely walks that line.

6. Posey is not afraid to get in an opponent's face. He's the definition of an agitator. And he usually does it in a calm, collected way, with a smile.

7. It's always nice to have a guy that will hit back breaking 3s coming off the bench. Enter Posey.

So congrats to Posey and the rest of the Celtics. Tomorrow I'll talk about Pierce's assists, Rondo's fantastic game, P.J. Brown pulling the chair out on Pau Gasol, Ray Allen raining down 3s, Glen Davis' dunk, Tony Allen's reverse ally oop throw down, and everything else that was great about this team. But right now I need some sleep. Just don't forget about Posey.

As I was watching Game 5 it hit me how annoyed I would be if I were a Lakers fan. The announcers, Jeff Van Gundy in particular, praised James Posey, Boston's defense and the Celtics in general. It was the story line that played throughout the game, while the Lakers still maintained control. And even when LA wrapped it up Mark Jackson and Van Gundy were all over them.

Speaking of story lines, the "Pau Gasol is soft" one lurked despite his 19 points, 12 rebounds, and his strong work throughout. Granted it is easier for him with Kendrick Perkins inactive. But that looks like a reality Boston is going to have to live with this series. Lamar Odom performed as well with an incredibly efficient 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Paul Pierce, much to the chagrin of Doc Rivers, called a timeout at towards the end of Game 3 because he was exhausted. He then was spent at the end of Game 4. And yet he went 48 minutes tonight. It was in the back of my mind when he made a few turnovers in the 4th.

I'd like to see the baseline camera view of Kobe Bryant on the floor towards the very end of the game. I'm just saying.

Ultimately I feel good because Boston went to LA and came away with a victory. And the Celtics did enough all year to make me like the odds of them heading home up 3-2, in need of one win.  Still given the confusion at point guard, injury concerns, and the fact that they could have won either game 3 or game 5, I don't expect it to be easy.

I wonder what people are going to say about Kevin Garnett tomorrow. Oh right. He did not look good from the line. In fact he looked psyched out enough that I assumed he would miss at leas one. He missed 3. Clearly the foul trouble robbed KG of his aggressiveness and allowed Gasol to go right at him. And even with his 14 rebounds KG did not bring enough to the table tonight.

I'm not defending Kobe Bryant. Lakers fans do enough of that. And I don't want to take away from Paul Pierce's monster night - 38 points (10-22 from the field, 16-19 from the line), 6 rebounds, and 8 assists. Yet Pierce can have that monstrous evening and people won't analyze whether he took too many shots. Of course Pierce's efficiency and assist totals help him in that regard. I guess I'm saying I don't like story lines that people love to bandwagon.

During the regular season I was consistently impressed by the how hard it was to beat the Celtics. They rarely if ever got blown out and always seemed to keep games close at the end unless they were administering a beating. I definitely felt that way during all three games in LA. That's a good feeling.

Boston's bigs rotation is an issue right now especially when KG is in foul trouble. Leon Powe played 5 quiet minutes, P.J. Brown played just under 25 minutes, and after that the Celtics were small. That worked down the stretch in game 4, but how long can the Celtics afford to play small?

As a fan and blogger following the Celtics I've been struck by how draining the playoffs are. Mentally and physically these guys have to be exhausted. Throw in a travel day tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how Game 6 starts. I would not be surprised if it were ugly at the beginning.

Tony Allen makes me nervous.

As you can probably tell by this random, rambling post I'm a little overwhelmed by everything that went down. Time to call it a night.

Ray Allen's reverse lay up was ridiculous. To review. He blew by a rotating Kobe Bryant, jumped, avoided Pau Gasol's block attempt, which was a lot more of an attempt than his game 2 wave at Leon Powe and his later wave at Allen in game 4, started falling, and somehow threw squeezed a shot off between an outstretched Lamar Odom and the basket. I've referenced this play about 5 times already on the blog. Although this time I actually watched it. To be fair Kobe was probably concerned about the 3, as he should have been. But he still got burned. It was crazy:

Ray Allen Drives Baseline and Makes a Tough Reverse Lay-Up (via NBA)

I know Sasha Vujacic and Ray Allen got tied up and if you watch closely (no video available right now) you can see Allen pull Vujacic to the floor. However, that is nowhere near the same as what Vujacic did next - he put a scissor hold (hat tip Mark Jackson) on Allen and kicked the Celtics star to the floor. It's always dangerous to mess around with a NBA player's legs, especially a jump shooter. There's a reason Allen hates Bruce Bowen. Meanwhile, now Boston can feel even better about despising Vujacic. 

If the "Beat LA" chant were an 8 on a scale of 1-10, the "Boston Sucks" chant would be a 3. And it should probably be lower than that but I tried to adjust for my biased ways.

Speaking of chants. The Justin Timberlake led, "Let's go Lakers" was beyond pathetic.

I'm pretty cynical when it comes to marketing. Still even I was blown away by the following ad. Saw it for the first time towards the end of game 4. It's awesome.

There Can Only Be One: Compilation (via NBA)

I can't believe I didn't recognize this earlier. Ray Allen played the whole game. That's amazing. On top of that he grabbed 9 boards, had three steals, was perfect from the line (5-5), and shot well from the field (6-11). He came to play.

Some assorted notes before looking at each player

atthehive from At The Hive sent me the following note after the game:

LA’s first half swag was phenomenal.

I don’t like P.J. Brown and Kendrick Perkins on the court together. Nor do I like Leon Powe and KG on the court together. In the end though Doc Rivers made the right call with KG and James Posey.

Speaking of lineups. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Eddie House, and James Posey play well together.

Go to the boxscore and see how close some of the stats – rebounds, foul shots, field goals, blocks, turnovers – ended up being. Intense game.

One of the lasting images for me is definitely LA’s bench whooping it up in the first half. I don’t begrudge them. That was some great basketball. Still it was refreshing to see the Lakers come off as frontrunners, as the Celtics have been painted as such at times this season.

It’s not over. I can’t stress this strongly enough. Let’s not let this go down as the defining moment of a losing series. Think Carlton Fisk waving a homerun fair and Pierce celebrating on the scorer’s table after the come back victory against the Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Lakers

Trevor Ariza

If the Lakers had won I would have given Ariza his own post. His first half was that good. It would have gone something like this. In the midst of possibly the greatest in season trading period ever Ariza was sent to LA for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans. Few people cared, especially when Ariza broke his foot and barely saw the court in the playoffs. It’s similar to the Celtics acquiring the 49th pick in the 2006 NBA draft from the Denver Nuggets only to see him blow up in Game 2. And in Game 4 Ariza made a tremendous impact. Without watching the first half again or even looking at the box score I distinctly remember him doing the following things:

- He blocked one of Ray Allen’s shots to start a fast break.

- He made a great read and stole a pass when Ray Allen jumped in the air and tried to throw it the wing. As a side note I hate it when Allen does that. Yeah I linked to myself. What now?

- He grabbed an offensive rebound over James Posey and dunked it.

- He hit an uncontested three-pointer.

- He deflected another lazy pass out bounds, which even though it was not a steal sent a message.

- He grabbed an offensive rebound and then hit Luke Walton in the corner for a three pointer.

Kobe Bryant

Kobe Bryant acts like a child. There I said it. I understand he is the greatest player on the globe/planet. That’s the new thing. But he’s downright petulant. A few times tonight I was begging for Marlon Brando to rise from the dead and give him the old, “You can act like a man!” His ten assists and four steals were excellent. Give credit where credit is due. But let’s not forget two very important things:

1. P.J. Brown dunked on him.
2. Ray Allen blew by him baseline. More on that later. However, never, ever, ever give up baseline. Ever! 

Jordan Farmar/Derek Fisher

Both LA point guards wooed momentum back when it was thinking about switching sides and joining the Celtics. Fisher had a three-point play the old school way and a couple of other free throws. Of course Farmar hit that runner at the buzzer. Here’s my question. Have the Lakers gotten to the point that they don’t know when to go with Farmar or Fisher? I’m not exactly sure what I’m trying to say here but LA’s point guard situation is a mess too. And they don’t have an injury and a really old dude.

Pau Gasol

He put up 17 and 10, had a huge three point play towards the end of the first half and showed flashes of what he can bring to the table. I’m not sure if the Lakers just go away from him or if he just isn't assertive enough. But if I rooted for the Lakers I’d want the offense to run through him at times, especially if the other team is on a 36-15 run. He’s such a great passer. And he’s crafty around the rim.

Coby Karl

I saw him during one of the timeouts and thought - he's a Laker and a cancer survivor. I bet he does okay for himself.


Lamar Odom

I don’t think he should be praised for showing up in the first ¾ of game 5. First of all he is one of the most physically gifted players in the NBA. Second of all where was he down the stretch? Meanwhile, I don’t have much of a problem with his showboating. Hell Eddie House and Paul Pierce taunted everyone at the end. But it was weak when Odom showed up Kendrick Perkins after the hard foul where Perk injured his shoulder. Yes Perk fouled him hard. But that’s what a player has to do when an opponents is driving with great success to the hoop. Ray Allen didn’t bat an eyelash when Derek Fisher got him hard on the break. And if being down 3-1 was not enough Odom has now unleashed the Beast. Best of luck with that.

Vladimir Radmanovic

Lakers fans probably feel better if Radmanovic has a second half.

Ronny Turiaf/Luke Walton

Not much to say. Although I was impressed with how physical Turiaf was with KG.

Sasha Vujacic

I should probably save this for the praise James Posey section that is coming up. But I’ll tell it now. I watched the media session the NBA scheduled for Monday. And at one point a reporter asked Posey if he was worried about Vujacic’s lethal shooting. Something along those lines. Posey calmly remarked that Vujacic wasn’t hitting anything in Boston and he was not too concerned. Well tonight the Machine was 1-9 from the field. And he overplayed Ray Allen on several occasions. Of course Allen’s final field goal was the most glaring example. Granted it’s not Vujacic’s fault that the C’s had shooters out there to spread the floor. And it’s also not his fault that Gasol was not there to even challenge Allen. But Vujacic’s in your face defense was not that effective.

The Celtics

Ray Allen

All Celtics fans that follow the team closely had that moment this season when the light bulb went off and they said, “Ray Allen is not just a jump shooter.” Some of those same fans later considered if Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West were a better fit on this team. Morons. And yes I’m looking at me. Regardless, how about the Ray Allen resurrection? It will be a long time before I get over him blowing by Kobe Bryant baseline and then going with an MJesque reverse lay up. He also pulled down 9 rebounds, which is his new high for the season. And one of those boards was in crunch time in the paint. He absolutely skied for it. He was cold blooded.

P.J. Brown

I loved when he dunked on Kobe. That was a top 5 moment for me from a comeback stacked with great moments. And it was great to see Doc Rivers know when to pull him.

Kevin Garnett

His final numbers were modest – 16 points (7-14 from the floor) and 10 rebounds for what he is capable of doing. But on numerous occasions he went to work in the post. It’s odd because he has 2, maybe 3 moves. Still he made a big bucket down the stretch and made the right pass to Eddie House at one point for another huge basket. Prepare yourself or a rant. People always talk about how important leadership, defense, and attitude are. Garnett excels in all three of those areas. Yet when it comes down to it most people just focus on scoring. It reminds me of people paying lip service to special teams and ultimately ignoring them, even though we all know how important special teams are to a football team. Well KG brings so much to the table. Granted if he were a scoring assassin in the 4th quarter he’d be even higher on the list of all time greats. Still he was +17 tonight and has nothing to be ashamed of, that’s for sure.

Eddie “freaking” House

Boston fans tend to give him more credit than what he deserves at times because of his hustle. But I refuse to downplay his 11 points, 4 rebounds, and team leading +/- (+20) for tonight’s game.  This is his 8th team in 8 years. Can the Celtics just sign him and give him a home? Several more Eddie House thoughts:

- Turns out he just needed real minutes (24 tonight) to make things happen. He got off to a slow start but could not get the quick hook and started feeling it.

- In hindsight are we sure he didn’t deserve some burn in Phoenix during the playoffs? I know this is crazy, biased fan talk. And Steve Nash ran that offense better than anyone, getting great looks for his guys. But remember how tired Nash used to get? I’m just saying.

- The Celtics organization and its fans owe House an apology. He helped Boston get off to a great start but we focused on his weaknesses. The organization brought in Sam Cassell and slowly worked House out of the rotation. Yet he still jumped up and down on the sideline, stayed ready, and eventually made an impact. Well done.

Kendrick Perkins

Perk has a history of both shoulder injuries and being a beast. He’s a tough man. But even with that and the 3-1 I’m concerned. That looked painful. And there’s always a chance he plays exactly long enough to close line Odom with his good shoulder. I never thought the C’s could win with Perk giving them so little. And that’s not an insult.

Paul Pierce

First a question. Did Pierce recently find God? First it was the angel after the ultimate shooter’s role on the free throw late in game 7 against Cleveland. Then there was the Game 1 knee situation. And once again tonight. Whatever the answer Pierce came alive when his team needed him most. Strangely he only scored 5 in the 4th. It seemed like more. But he busted on both ends of the court. Kobe can attest to that. There’s a reason Shaq nicknamed Pierce The Truth. We saw it tonight.

James Posey

As Posey was walking off the court Danny Ainge grabbed him. I can only assume Ainge said something like, “Hey we’ll get an extension worked out quick and easy this summer, okay. Hell of a game.” And Posey said, “Cool, don’t forget about House.” And somewhere a critic remembered that he hates when a blogger make up quotes, even if said blogger does not pretend the quotes are real.

Leon Powe

He got after it in his 9 minutes. I know his game is not what I make it out to be. But the guy is all effort. And I’ll take 5 rebounds in limited time.

Rajon Rondo

He just didn’t have it tonight.

That's it for now. I need some sleep. I'll get back at it tomorrow. In the meantime vote in the poll.

Since getting knocked off line at the worst time possible I had a tough stretch here. But I'm back. Still head over to ROOMOFZEN for numerous takes on Game 3.

My quick reactions:

- Ray Allen was stellar.

- Eddie House did okay but looked rusty, which is to be expected. Still he is bringing something to the table. I hope he's the back up 1 from here on out.

- KG and Paul Pierce were awful from the field. In Garnett's case the Lakers doubled him well. But when he drove to the hoop good things happened. And I loved the way he rebounded and ran the court. The Truth looked lost.

- Kobe Bryant is an excellent player. And he played out of his mind while Sasha Vujacic stepped up big. Yet the Celtics still had a shot.

- I still believe in Leon Powe. I know he got the quick hook. But he was down low banging. If a whistle or 2 went his way, maybe he goes to the line and gets in a rhythm.

- In the end I thought the officiating was more or less fine, even if 2/3 of the crew terrified me.

- Defense, Ray Allen, and missed LA free throws kept this one close.

- Kendrick Perkins made a good point. If a team holds the Lakers to 87 points in LA, said team has a good shot at winning.

- Jeff Van Gundy - I'm disappointed in you. They got to you. Scared of David Stern are you? You had to believe something if you would speak in a manner that would cost you $100,000. Now? Not so much.

Since I've been calling for him to get more time since the Atlanta series I feel vindicated by Leon Powe's performance. 21 points (6-7 from the field, 9-13 from the line), 2 rebounds, and 4 fouls in close to 15 minutes of time. I'm not sure if he got more time because Kendrick Perkins was hurt or if Powe simply caught lightning in a bottle and Doc Rivers let it happen. Either way Powe got after the Lakers in Game 2. He was Boston's second leading scorer.

Over the next couple of days a lot will be made about the Lakers impressive comeback. And it was impressive. I definitely noticed that it was a lot easier for the Lakers in general (think Ronny Turiaf on lobs) and Kobe Bryant in particular to get to the rim when Perkins is on the bench. As much as I like Powe, Perkins' health is important to Boston's defensive efforts.

Anyone who reads even a couple of NBA blogs, Green Bandwagon included, eventually comes across people complaining about the referees. So it's odd to be on the other side of it. I'm sure Lakers fans are not happy. And it's hard to argue with them when Powe shoots more free throws than all of LA's roster. In fact Boston's free throw advantage was staggering - 38-10. In a way it is reminiscent of Boston in earlier rounds when the Celtics simply shot jumpers and didn't get to the line. That definitely happened a bit for the Lakers tonight. But I thought Boston benefited from some weak calls, while simultaneously bumping Lakers all over the defensive end of the court. Of course Vladimir Radmanovic benefited from a loose translation of the traveling rules, which is a NBA tradition.

I'm not going to call Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom soft. However, I can understand the argument that you can punch those guys in the mouth and they'll disappear. They both came out strong in the first quarter. Yet later on I thought, "What are those guys doing?" And yet Gasol finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

I was impressed by how unflappable LA was in the second half of the 4th quarter. Great comeback. Still let's not overlook the fact that they fell into a hole that was too deep to escape. Sure they hit some clutch shots, made some impressive defensive plays, refused to back down, and ultimately made it downright frightening. Yet Powe's dunk show, in particular when he dribbled right through Gasol and Sasha Vujacic, should not be forgotten.

Paul Pierce. Still the Truth.

Kevin Garnett is one of those players that scores 17 points and grabs 14 rebounds and he had an off game.

I'm watching Kobe Bryant face the media right now. He looks furious. It just occurred to me. He has a great "mean face". He also just pulled off a great sarcastic, "I didn't notice" when asked about the foul shot discrepancy.

Heading into the series I was incredibly concerned about the how the benches would match up. Right now Boston's subs are taking it to LA's. And Powe was definitely a big part of that in Game 2.

If you're looking for a new catch phrase "play the score", courtesy of Jeff Van Gundy, might be it.

That's if for now. Plenty more tomorrow.

Great win for the Celtics. The most encouraging aspect was the fact that everyone chipped in and contributed. And outside of leaving Sam "ball stopper" Cassell in too long during the second half, I thought Doc Rivers substituted well.

Mike Breen made an excellent point at the end of the broadcast. It will be interesting to see how Paul Pierce's knee is tomorrow. That could be key. It's also one of those times where 2 days off help. Speaking of Pierce. His 22 points were the definition of efficient.

Rajon Rondo still struggled a bit from the floor (4-10), but Celtics fans have to be happy with the overall results - 15 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 turnovers.

That was one of the best all around games that Ray Allen has played in quite some time. He had 8 rebounds one other time all season - March 5th against Detroit.

I was impressed with the pace the Lakers' subs created the first time they were in the game. But it never really materialized after that.

The Celtics were definitely allowed to play physical against Kobe Bryant in the 4th quarter. I can't imagine that will be the case throughout the series.

Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom were excellent initially and quiet down the stretch.

As Jeff Van Gundy rightly pointed out, Boston's pick and roll defense was downright bad in the first happen. That can't continue to happen. 

Kevin Garnett. It's too bad he went cold toward the end because otherwise he played phenomenally well. And that put back dunk in crunch time was epic.

Given their play in the playoffs to this point, the negativity of Boston, the 2-3-2 format and the 2 off days this was a huge game for Boston. Yet in the grand scheme of things it is just one game. This could be a special Finals.

At some point over the next couple of days I will sit down and start looking ahead to Celtics/Lakers. But even in the euphoria of the Celtics making it back to the NBA Finals I have to mention that Game 6 was a disappointment. I was elated to see Boston claw back from 10 down. And James Posey's steal late in the game from an unsuspecting Tayshaun Prince was epic. I'm happy enough to ignore KG and Paul Pierce trying to force a Game 7 from the line in the final minute. But when I think of Game 6 I'll always think of Bennett Salvatore. The 4th foul on KG was weak. And so were Rasheed Wallace's 4th and 5th. But beyond that it was a whistle fest for long stretches of the game. Eventually Doc Rivers, Flip Saunders and the players seemed to spend as much time complaining as they did coaching and playing. Hey the Celtics won 18 games last season. I'm ecstatic and to be honest not entirely able to comprehend the fact that they're now in the Finals. I just felt this one was bad for the NBA. I will celebrate in typical Green Bandwagon Fashion - Teddy Grahams and cake frosting. It's like a never ending supply of Dunkaroos. Awesome.

via multimedia.heraldinteractive.com

In the midst the best game of Kendrick Perkins’s young career the cameras showed him on the bench with Clifford Ray talking in his ear. I was immediately struck by the fact that it was just over two years ago that Ray put in his first day of work with the Boston Celtics. He was brought into mentor youngsters Al Jefferson and Perkins who were 21 and 22, respectively, at the time. Well two years later and it’s safe to say that Ray was a worthwhile addition. Jefferson morphed into one of the most talented low post players in the league and was the key to the deal that brought Kevin Garnett to Boston. Meanwhile, Perkins trimmed down considerably and developed into a dependable big man. And while he was huge in Game 5 in tangible ways, 18 points and 16 rebounds to be precise, Celtics fans know that Perk has been an instrumental part of Boston’s defense all season. Even more important is the fact that Perk has continued to improve. Earlier in the year he fell into a habit of winding up for dunks. That did not end well for him. Since then he has added reverse lay ups to his game and been quicker around the basket in general. And we definitely saw more of Perk’s offensive repertoire tonight. Did I mention his outlet passes?

Six points in closing:

Continue reading this post »

After game 5 there are lot of different ways I could go with this recap. First the bad:

1. Rajon Rondo continues to struggle from the floor. It’s one thing that he misses jump shots. I can live with that. However, Detroit’s shot blockers have definitely altered his shot and as a result Rondo is struggling with his bread and butter – lay ups.
2. More on Rondo. I don’t remember him making as many foolish, flashy passes in the regular season. He’s had some Jason Williams style turnovers.
3. The over passing continues to be an issue and Kevin Garnett is the biggest culprit.
4. It was another one of those games were it was unclear whether or not anyone wanted to step up down the stretch.
5. Boston’s bench scored 3 points. The bigger issue of course is that Celtics fans have very little faith in the second unit at this point.

However, despite all that Boston did enough to win. That can’t be overlooked. It’s easy to criticize guys for the shots they missed or did not take. But what about the ones they hit? Ray Allen’s corner jumper that made it 102-99 was absolutely huge. Or how about Kevin Garnett? I’d love it if he were more aggressive down the stretch. And one of his turnovers was particularly frustrating as he was in the paint and threw it directly to a Piston. And the Celtic he was passing to (Pierce?) was in a much worse position. But even with the 5 turnovers KG's final stat line - 33 points (11-17 from the field, 10-12 from the line), 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal – was awesome. And the degree of difficulty on some of those shots was through the roof. Yet I would be remiss if I did not talk about Kendrick Perkins and his 18 points and 16 rebounds. In fact Perk deserves his own post. And that’s what he is going to get.

One more thing. The Celtics starters played a lot of minutes. And I’m okay with that. They rested over the final month of the season and even before that Doc Rives had lowered their minutes. Given the age of Allen, KG and Pierce there might not be a next season. Leave everything out there on the court.