The Big Three isn’t adding up for the Celtics
Reporting from Boston -- Boston’s Big Three has become the Occasionally Big Three.
Only one of them plays really well per night, while the other two play average, subpar, sometimes terrible. They seem to rotate roles game to game — and perhaps Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen planned it that way so none of them hogs the spotlight.
But intentional or not, this erratic cavalcade of up-down performances has worked for the Celtics thus far, getting them to the NBA Finals. But in a 91-84 loss in Game 3 to the Lakers, they needed more.
Garnett’s 25-point effort was only his second 20-point game of the playoffs, and just his third since March 24.
Pierce, meanwhile, has struggled all series, a trend he extended Tuesday, scoring 15 points on five-for-12 shooting. In this Finals series, Pierce has 13 field goals and 13 fouls.
Allen, on the other hand, was absent from play Tuesday after a brilliant Game 2.
He missed all 13 of his shots from the floor and scored only two points, this a game after he hit seven straight three-pointers in the first half and eight overall to set an NBA Finals record.
“I tip my hat off to them, they took a lot of the easier looks that I had last time,” Allen said, adding that “every shot that I took, I felt like it was just a little short.”
“It’s a hell of a swing, I’ll tell you that,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said of Allen.
As the Lakers carry significant star power, it seems more is needed from the Celtics than the usual solid Rajon Rondo outing along with whichever of the Big Three decides to show up. That being the case, do they think they can get Garnett, Pierce and Allen in rhythm in the same game?
“We just focus on moving the ball,” Allen said, “just moving the ball and getting some easy shots and making sure we make the right plays down the stretch.”
Said Pierce: “Regardless if we all play well or not, we know that we can win the series when we all don’t play well. We just need to put out the effort and have a couple guys step up night in and night out because at the end of the day, we’re a defensive team.”
Part of the blame, of course, can be given to foul trouble. Each team has struggled with it, but especially the Big Three, who have a combined 36 fouls this series. (Conversely, the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum have a combined 30 fouls.)
“Every game so far we’ve had one of our top players in foul trouble,” Celtics Coach Doc Rivers said. “Maybe I should start complaining about fouls. Maybe I can get a turnaround like it was turned around tonight.”
Rivers seemed to be speaking of the Lakers’ 20 team fouls in Game 3 compared to 29 in Game 2, which was a point he raised before the game. Fouls or not, if the Big Three becomes the Big One on a nightly basis, it seems the team’s 18th banner might have to wait.
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