01:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, June 1, 2012
The ammunition for Celtics fans is almost too much to bear.
Like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson before him, LeBron James gets all the calls. It’s how the league does business, right? Protect the stars. Rajon Rondo can get slapped across the face driving to the rim late in an overtime game and not get a call. Tickle LeBron in the back and he’s ushered to the line.
After two games of the Eastern Conference finals, the numbers have the Celts talking to themselves and their fans ready to lynch anyone in a zebra jersey. As coach Doc Rivers said after a 115-111 overtime loss in Game Two, “Listen, it is what it is. LeBron James took 24 free throws tonight and our team took 29.â€
James has hoisted 33 free throws in the Heat’s two wins. Boston’s three best players â€" Rondo, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett â€" have combined for 30. A physical beast at 6-foot-8 and 250 pounds, James apparently doesn’t foul much, either. In 47 minutes Wednesday, he picked up two fouls. He was whistled for an average of 1.5 fouls this season and just 1.9 for his career. As a comparison, Pierce gets called for 2.8 fouls per game over his career.
Heck, the NBA’s own website currently bears a banner headline screaming “Congratulations MVP LeBron James,†next to a link to buy “exclusive MVP T-Shirts.â€
So the fix is in, right? The NBA wants James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat to play in its marquee Finals round. The Celtics have had their moment and are yesterday’s news.
Is there truth to any of this? Yes and no, but Miami coach Erik Spoelstra has heard it all before. He has two of the elite, aggressive scorers in the world in James and Wade. They are good jump shooters but do their best work flying to the rim, where fouls are generated. Miami was eighth in the NBA this season in free throws attempted at 24.2 per game. The Celtics, who love to settle for jump shots, were 27th at 19.8 a game.
“We don’t buy any of that. That’s normal playoff talk,†Spoelstra said Thursday. “That’s who we’ve been all year long, and what we’ve been trying to hammer and hold each other accountable to is that’s our identity. We’re going to attack. Everybody knows how we want to play.â€
That’s where Rivers gets more than a bit annoyed, however. When James and Wade attack, they get to the line. Pierce is Boston’s top attack player. He simply played very poorly in a Game One spanking, but, like his team, he was very aggressive in Game Two and still shot only 5 of 6 from the line. Rondo dominated the ball for Boston and went off for 44 points, 10 of which came at the foul line on 12 attempts.
“They are going to shoot a lot of free throws,†Rivers said on a conference call Thursday, “but we have to as well. I thought Rondo was extremely aggressive last night, and I thought Paul was aggressive last night, even more so when you watch the film. Paul is a powerful guy, and there’s a lot of contact as well when he drives. So we just want them to continue to be aggressive. You know LeBron and Wade will be and there’s nothing wrong with it. That’s who they are. So you know going into it they are going to get to the free-throw line. But we have to get there as well and we have to do it by being just as aggressive.â€
It will be interesting if the Heat continue to reap the bulk of the personal-foul disparity (52-39) when the series moves to TD Garden. Celtics fans will boo (or worse) every call that James gets and whoever the NBA assigns as officials in Game Three will be closely watched.
Rivers, to his credit, will not harp on officials’ decisions. He doesn’t want to get fined and it’s counter-productive to the task at hand. The Celtics lost two games on the road and now it’s their turn to even the series.
“I think we’ll be fine,†he said. “Listen, we have two games at home and we have to take one at a time. And if we win those two games at home, then it’s a tie series. That’s how we have to look at it.â€
After losing, 93-79, in Game One, the Celtics needed the much stronger effort than they showed in Game Two, for confidence more than anything. Asked whether his team came away from Miami more encouraged than discouraged, Rivers agreed.
“That’s very accurate,†he said. “We still know we have to play better, but I think our guys know now that we can play. I don’t know if they did know it or not, but after Game One I think we needed to have that type of game last night. Obviously winning it is far more important, but I think our guys are very confident going into Game Three.â€
| Star treatment | |||
| As these playoffs have illustrated, LeBron James is rarely called for a personal foul, and he gets to the line a lot. | |||
| Round and opponent | G | PF | FTA |
| 1. New York | 5 | 14 | 57 |
| 2. Indiana | 6 | 5 | 51 |
| 3. Boston | 2 | 4 | 33 |
| Playoffs | 13 | 23 | 141 |
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