Luck usually has a lot to do with it, and the Boston Celtics were lucky this season.
“Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker played 163 of 164 (regular-season) games,” noted Celtics general manager Chris Wallace. “That’s almost unheard of these days for star players. Most miss games. And our competitors were not necessarily healthy.”
But the Celtics also were smart, at least in the way of the Eastern Conference these days. Which is one reason they’re in the second round of the playoffs for the first time in a decade with a real chance to return to the NBA Finals.
They traded Joe Johnson–the best of their first-round draftees from last year–and this June’s top pick to the Suns for veterans Rodney Rogers and Tony Delk, more shooters.
“I always felt–and it’s been our strategic plan since I had anything to do with it–that the more three-point shooters you can put on the court, the more difficult it is to guard,” Celtics coach Jim O’Brien said. “The ideal for us was that we could put out a [power forward and center] that could shoot the three and we wouldn’t need to trap.”
Walker and Rogers filled those roles, respectively, giving the Celtics “a concept that we have coveted and we will continue to covet, because it gives you so many options,” O’Brien said. “And against bigger teams, we can attempt to bring their [center] away from the basket.”
With a lack of centers and the changing of the game with zone defenses, they’ve gone with speed and shooting. And trying to win now, which seems easier than ever before.
“It was more crucial for the Celtics to make the playoffs than any team,” Wallace said. “We needed to establish credibility. We’ve been beaten up for so long and the history of the franchise is so illustrious. We had a four-year plan. We just re-edited it to a four-month plan. We said, `Let’s just go for it.’ We owe the franchise, the fans a chance to take a whack at it.”
Wallace, one of the most underrated league executives, candidly admited there were luxury-tax issues in the trade, that they couldn’t afford to pay another first-round pick. But with three first-round picks last June, the Celtics opted for veteran experience and skills to carry them.
“Maybe we’ll miss out on the opportunity to grab a significant young player,” Wallace said. “But we were at the point we had to deliver. You can’t keep selling the future all the time. You need some short-term dividends.”
And Boston basketball hasn’t been as alive since Larry Bird played. There just wasn’t the same excitement when they had a series of lottery picks under Rick Pitino and a chance to get more.
STATS & STUFF
BURYING BIRD
151
Boston’s Paul Pierce set a franchise record with 151 points in a five-game series in the opening-round victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, surpassing Larry Bird’s 122 against the Knicks in 1990 (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). Pierce had a league-high 552 points in the fourth quarter in the regular season.
TEAM T
27
Rasheed Wallace’s league-leading technical foul total, down from 38 last season. The Trail Blazers were easily the league leaders with 88, including 19 from Bonzi Wells and 14 from Scottie Pippen.
EXPERIENCE COUNTS
With Portland eliminated, the Lakers now own the most experienced playoff roster in the league, with 664 combined games. In 108 career playoff games, Shaquille O’Neal is averaging 28.1 points, the fourth-highest average in league history behind Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson and Jerry West.
TURNAROUND
Dallas, the loser of Game 1 in Sacramento on Saturday, took three of four from Sacramento during the regular season and was the only team in the NBA to win twice at ARCO Arena. The Mavericks averaged 110.5 points against the Kings in the regular season.
UP TO NO. 10
Scottie Pippen passed Wilt Chamberlain to move into 10th on the all-time playoff scoring list.
%%
PLAYER G PPG PTS
Michael Jordan 179 33.4 5,987
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 237 24.3 5,762
Jerry West 153 29.1 4,457
Karl Malone 166 26.6 4,407
Larry Bird 164 23.8 3,897
John Havlicek 172 22.0 3,776
Hakeem Olajuwon 143 26.2 3,743
Magic Johnson 190 19.5 3,701
Elgin Baylor 134 27.0 3,623
Scottie Pippen 204 17.7 3,619
%%
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Mavericks at Kings
Monday, 8 p.m., TNT
If there were jitters and rust from the long layoff for Dallas after sweeping Minnesota, it should end here. Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash shot poorly, which isn’t expected, and the high-scoring Mavericks couldn’t hit 100. Dallas came back from 0-2 in the opening-round series last season against Utah. It will be harder against the team with the league’s best record.
Spurs at Lakers
Tuesday, 9:30 p.m. TNT
The Lakers have now won 20 of their last 21 playoff games. But this series may not be quite the walkover that last season’s conference finals were. The Lakers escaped with a win in Game 1 because of a poor shooting game from Tim Duncan and David Robinson’s absence. There is concern about Kobe Bryant’s knee after he was hurt late in the game and returned limping.
— Sam Smith
