Celtics have mastered the art of recognition and reaction

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Mike Parente, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Back when they used to win Super Bowls and practically reinvent the game of football in their tiny corner of New England, the Patriots had an uncanny ability to take your most dangerous weapon and render it completely ineffective.

This was their greatest strength, and it’s what separated them from their peers during the most important moments of their championship run, whether it was smothering Peyton Manning in the 2004 divisional playoffs or – even more impressive – shutting down Marshall Faulk in Super Bowl XXXVI.

The Boston Celtics are in a similar zone right now, dating back to their playoff win over the top-seeded Cavaliers and continuing with their surprising dominance of the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals.

LeBron James? He’s fishing off the coast of Lake Erie after being completely handcuffed in Games 5 and 6 of the conference semifinals – back-to-back losses that eliminated Cleveland from the playoffs. Dwight Howard will be joining him within the next week. His Magic now trail Boston three games to none in the conference finals following last night’s embarrassing, 94-71 loss, and his stunning ineffectiveness is the main reason why Orlando is on its way to the NBA glue factory.

Much like the Patriots during their dynasty years, the Celtics have identified a focal point in each of their last two playoff series and proceeded to shut it down with relative ease. After torching the Celtics for 38 points in a Game 3 victory at the TD Garden, James failed to hit more than eight field goals in any of the final three games, shooting a combined 18-for-53 (33 percent) as Boston swept the remainder of the series to finish Cleveland in six.

Howard’s disappearing act in the conference finals has been equally surprising. In Saturday’s Game 3 loss, he shot a woeful 3-for-10 from the field and finished with seven points and seven rebounds. Those are Pervis Ellison numbers. The real kicker is the Celtics haven’t done anything overly-complicated to stop him – just great defense by Kendrick Perkins and sheer toughness, which the Magic have lacked from the start.

The bottom line in this series is the Celtics are deeper, hungrier and far more talented than Orlando. Watch the replays on some of the loose balls from Saturday night. Watch Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, etc., dive despite being up by double digits while the Magic stand around and provide just enough effort to register a pulse (barely).

Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy put most of the burden on his shoulders, but it’s hard for him to get through to 15 players who quit long before the final buzzer. Whether they even bother to show up Monday in a potential elimination game remains to be seen.

At the same time, a part of me understands the frustration. I saw it on the faces of Faulk and Manning all those years when the Patriots could do no wrong. There’s not nearly as much game-planning in the NBA as there is in football. Basketball coaches have clipboards, not playbooks, yet there’s still an emphasis on neutralizing an opponent’s most dangerous weapon, whether it’s a wiry point guard or a seven-foot center.

The Celtics have suddenly mastered the art of recognition and reaction, and, if this keeps up, their playoff run might end the same way many of New England’s journeys to the Super Bowl ended in the mid-2000s.