Great game for Phx. They played defense. They shut down Ray Allen and Pierce completely and made Allen look worse than i have ever seen him and he is good. It was a great heated battle between Amare/Garnett. They both worked hard to get what they had. Amare has become so deadly on those 10 foot jumpers from Nash. Shaq was the difference.
The Celts could not run down and dunk every play. Shaq was a load in the paint. He rebounded good. Now they worry with Shaq and now Amare blocks the shots. A big key to beating the Celts is to stop or slow Rondo. Phx did and Rondo dominated us. I think we can do better. Grant Hill with 13 rebounds is playing amazing. I know how good he has been but he always gets hurt and bad hurt. For him to play at these levels and staying healthy is amazing in itself. He is getting all over the boards with centers and power forwards. Battling them and winning alot of times and i did not know he could do that. He has alot of toughness.
The Celts are so loaded with talent but the majority of them are not young. If teams in the nba push them, defend them and fight them like Phx did thru out this whole season, it might take alot out of them. They are very good and talented but they did have tongues hanging out running up and down, plus Phx was a bad pest on defense to them. The best thing for the Celts, would be for them to be able to cruise and not be pushed and stay healthy in the playoffs but the nba can't let them rest or take a night off. Stopping Allen hurts them badly also because he is so great on the outside and Phx took all outside game away and Shaq make it hard on the inside. It was like a playoff game.
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