Oh, there was plenty of interest in the Celtics-Pistons game. Allen Iverson was making his home debut in Detroit. This was a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals. This could be a preview of this season's Eastern Conference Finals. Yes, there were plenty of reasons to watch. But I wonder how many people managed to keep their lunches down by the end. Then again, if the people of Detroit can stomach this guy, then maybe they can stomach anything.
The first quarter was an ugly dance of turnovers and missed shots. Both teams shot under 30%. The Pistons offense, as most people expected, looked disjointed as the up-tempo Iverson tried to find his way on a team that normally runs a lot of set plays. The Celtics offense looked disjointed as the C's tried to force things that weren't there. But then their MVB came into the game.
Most Valuable Bench.
There has been a noticeable trend for the Celtics this season: Sloppy first quarter play, rally when the bench comes in, pull away when the starters come back. It's what you saw against the Pistons last night. A putrid first quarter started to turn around when Eddie House entered the game. Then the starters (minus Paul Pierce) came back in, and the Celtics outscored the Pistons 30-10 in the second quarter. Game. Over.
House came into the game towards the end of the first quarter, and he immediately hit a three, set up another, and drew an early second foul on Iverson to send him to the bench. Leon Powe came into the game, grabbed an offensive rebound off a free throw, and drew fouls. When Paul Pierce went to the bench in early foul trouble, Tony Allen came into the game and simply took over. Doc Rivers said after the game:
"Our bench has been phenomenal. We've started out slow in three or four games, but the energy of the bench has been tremendous. There isn't one guy that carries them"
Think of the Celtics like that cop-thing from Terminator 2. Every time part of it goes away, the rest of it melts together to fill the gap. Paul Pierce hit the bench in the first quarter with three fouls, and Tony Allen checked in with 23 points on 11-16 shooting. The starters struggle with their jumpers, and House comes in with instant offense. Detroit was hitting the boards early, and Leon Powe comes in to keep them at bay.
There were a lot of questions before the season about how the Celtics would replace James Posey. But you won't hear those questions right now. The Champs have a swagger that runs from option #1 to option #12. When you're in the game, you are defending that banner. The Celtics are 6-1 because their MVB is backing up their MVP's. And if they keep it up, then there's not much anyone can do about it.
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The Celtics secret weapon: Their MVB
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