Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“I thought we took our eyes off of the process at the start of the game,” said Rivers. “I felt like we came in the game thinking let’s throw some haymakers at them - quick shots and 3’s and bad shots and no ball movement. We were thinking ending the series instead of thinking about playing basketball first and then the results happen.”
Herald: No plans to visit again
Sticking with the boxing analogy... when you come out throwing big wild punches (like taking those 3's and quick shots) you run the risk of missing big and leaving yourself open to counter punches (like all those points off turnovers). Next thing you know, you've not only lost a round or two, your ribs are sore and nose is a little bloodied.
The Celtics probably thought the same thing I did on the last 2 Man Game when I said if the Celtics won Game 3, Chuck and I could start in Game 4 and the Celtics would win. And if some of those haymakers had landed and the C's got up early, maybe the Heat would have given up. Funny thing is, the best way to get up early is to play that kind of team basketball that go the Celtics here... and not the individual basketball that caused so many problems this season.
On Page 2, the rarity of what we saw from Ray at the line
* Allen hasn't missed three free throws in a game since Feb. 10, 2007, when, as a member of the Seattle Supersonics, he connected on 10 of 13 attempts while scoring 29 points in 114-93 loss to the Kings.* Of the 81 playoff games he's appeared in, Allen has missed three free throws in just one other game: May 17, 2005, when the Sonics met the Spurs. It was also the last time he missed three consecutive free throws in a game.
...."It's the most pressure-filled situation any of us can be in," says Celtics guard Ray Allen, one of the league's rare sharpshooters whose career free throw percentage is actually higher in the playoffs (90.4 percent) than the regular season (89.4 percent). "It's something we've done over and over, but there's no duplicate experience in the gym. Making 100 in a row in practice, which most guys have done, isn't the same as making two in a playoff game."
Chris Forsberg: Nothing free about it
When Forsberg tweeted out the last time Ray missed 3 free throws in a row, I said "there was a last time?"
Of course, I made the comment after the game that fundamentals like free throws win games... and that's true. BUT... that is such an aberration that it's hard to be critical of it. For the C's to miss 5 straight freebies like that is so out of the ordinary, you almost have to chalk it up to bad luck.
I mean, what can we say? "GO PRACTICE YOUR FREE THROWS!!" These guys shoot thousands of them. Ray shoots them obsessively. It just happened.
By the way, that quote from Ray was not postgame, It was given for an ESPN the magazine article.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Ray Allen off the mark from the line | Dwyane Wade shoots his way out of a break | No series sweep for the Celtics | Globe: Sweep derailed | Heat not set to be put on ice | Too much giving | ESPN Boston: Sloppy start, finish did in the C's | No answer for Wade | First impressions | WEEI: Ray's historic misses | Celtics Blog: Oddly encouraged | Celtics Hub: A strange Sunday game, by the numbers | Gino's Jungle: So far, series going as scripted