``I think God sent an angel down and said, 'Hey you're going to be all right. You need to get back out there','' Pierce said.
This isn't the first time that Paul has noted "otherworldly" forces intervening for the Celtics. We all remember his bouncing foul shot in the last minutes of the Cleveland series, when he invoked the ghost of Red Auerbach for coaxing in a seeming miss.
There are others, in fact, who see Red still being a factor in this playoff run.
Shira Springer, returning to the Celtics beat for this series, talked to Phil Jackson, for her Globe column from June 4th.
"The ghost of Red Auerbach is present," he says. "It's very present."
Jackson stands upright again, raises his eyebrows in an all-knowing way, and looks around the Lakers' practice facility....These days, the Lakers coach takes no chances of upsetting the late Celtics patriarch,....Jackson cannot escape Auerbach. Somewhere, Auerbach is probably pleased to know he can needle an opponent from beyond the grave.
On the more mundane level, the Celtics played their game last night and Kobe played into their hands, as Lebron did in game 1 of that series, by taking the outside shots, leaving the rest of his team to stand around.
Marc Spears in his article in the Globe this AM, gives us the relevant statistics, including a quote from Kobe that is word for word Lebron's reaction to his game one frustration.
The Lakers had averaged a playoff-best 105.9 points while league MVP Kobe Bryant averaged a playoff-best 31.9 points. The Celtics, however, had allowed only 87.3 points, the best in the postseason....last night the Lakers shot 41.6 percent from the field (32 of 77) and were held to close to 18 points below their scoring average. The Lakers missed 11 of 14 3-point attempts, had only 2 fast-break points and 4 second-chance points. The Celtics out-rebounded the Lakers, 46-33, and limited the visitors to 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 1 of 9 on threes in the second half.
Bryant missed 17 of 26 shots...In the fourth quarter, he was held to 4 points on 1-of-6 shooting and two free throws, and had zero rebounds.
"I had some great looks, they just didn't stay down," Bryant said.
Marc Spears, on short notice, will try to get on with us tonight, as he juggles some other commitments.
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Topic: Celtics Stuff Live! Tonight @ 8PM, EDT. (Read 1616 times)