First, let me say this: PJ Brown is the "Big One" in Boston. Forget the Big Three or whatever you want to call them.
The Celtics have PJ Brown to thank for being in the East Finals. Down the stretch, he got 2 huge offensive rebounds and put them both back in. Then he hits a clutch jumper (after KG missed his), and finally, he forced LeBron to take a really tough shot and miss on Cleveland's real chance to get back in it.
I've seen a ton of articles about KG and Pierce and their greatness. However, PJ deserves some props for his play down the stretch, and so far I've seen nothing about him. So here you go PJ, you deserve it.
HOWEVER...
By the celebration of the players and fans yesterday in Beantown, you would have thought the Celtics had just won an NBA Championship. Or at least won the Easter Conference to go to the Finals. No, they actually had just won the Eastern Semi-Finals against Cleveland, for the right to play Detroit in the East Finals.
This show of emotion might have helped push them to win, but it also can backfire on a team. I've seen time and time again in the NBA that the teams that celebrate like this are "happy to be there." It's like they really don't think they can win, so they celebrate like crazy when things go right.
The great NBA teams, the Spurs now, the Pistons, the Lakers of a few years ago, and the Bulls acted like winning was business as usual. They act like they have won before and expect to win.
The two teams left that show a lot of emotion, the Hornets and the Celtics, have not learned to win yet. Once you learn to win, you realize that it is foolish to celebrate winning a series or when you're up by 5 in the third quarter.
The team recently that was too quick to celebrate were the Kings when they had their rivalry going with the Lakers. They were so happy just to be there. But in the end, it was their attitude that led them to collapsing down the stretch or choking in big games.
I see too many similarities between NO and Boston and those Kings.
My call is the Spurs win tonight in NO, and Detroit beats Boston in 6 in the East Finals. By the way, if Detroit wins Game 1 in Boston, it could be a sweep.
