“Big Al for the game… got it!” You gotta love those Mike Gorman’s calls, huh? It has been a while since we’ve been able to hear calls like that, so it’s even sweeter. People from the outside looking in will look at this game and say “It meant nothing, Miami had their 3rd string in and the game was meaningless.” That’s not the case with this team. A win is a win. We’ve lost the last 7, we need to end this season on a high note and get a win or two to close out the year. Like Donny Marshall said in the post game show: “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who was on the floor in crunch time, it’s all about the W or the L next to our name.” The kids came up big (especially Big Al, Delonte, and Rondo) and it was great to see this team get another victory.

One complaint: Why did Doc keep Telfair out on the court for so long in that 4th quarter? It was to the point where he missed about 3 three’s in a row and he obviously wasn’t gonna help us defensively, why was he in there for extended minutes at the end of the game? Telfair did an ok job before the 4th started, but Doc played him too much there. There is no reason why we should ever have Delonte, Rondo, and Telfair on the court at the same time, especially in crunch time.

Big Al Jefferson was an absolute monster, once again. He was great in the post offensively, he was controlling the boards as usual, he made some huge/key blocks, and he ended up nailing the game winning hook shot with 0.1 seconds left. The enthusiasm he showed after he hit that shot was awesome to see, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that pumped up/animated on the court. He does get pumped, but never like that. It was great to see, and once again, I’m incredibly grateful that we have Al.

Delonte West started off very poorly. In fact, 2 of his first 5 shots attempted were airballs. That didn’t do anything to his confidence, because he kept shooting. He eventually got into a groove and he was dynamite in the 2nd half. He hit a ton of big shots that cut into Miami’s lead and eventually added to our lead. Excellent night for D-West.

Rajon Rondo had a nice night as well. He got caught behind a couple screens and J-Will nailed some three’s, but hey… can you blame Rondo for getting caught behind a screen by Shaq? Speaking of Shaq, Rondo must have hit the deck about 5 times by running into Shaq alone. The kid is fearless, he didn’t stop going at Shaq at all. I’m sure he needed a hot bath when he got home, but he didn’t stop being aggressive at any point in the game. He made some great passes, especially in transition, and he was getting to the hoop nicely. He got to the line, made some “tweener shots,” and it was nice to see him take a couple jumpers again. Nice night for Rondo.

Ryan Gomes’ shot was off again, like it was in Orlando, but he was still effective. He helped out on the glass, he hit a big 3 and got a big offensive rebound, and he still played solid all-around fundamental basketball. That’s why he’s so valuable, he doesn’t need to hit his jumpers to be considered effective for that particular game. Not his best night offensively, but he played solid basketball and he helped the team out.

Perk handled the assignment of Shaq fairly well tonight. He didn’t get frustrated and lose his confidence, he didn’t get into foul trouble, he put his body on Shaq every possession and didn’t allow him to dominate when he was out there (although Shaq did have a very solid night), and he still rebounded the ball. Solid job from Perk, he did better than I thought he would.

The bench, as a whole, was pretty bad tonight. Powe was alright, he was aggressive, but Gerald was completely off for the second straight night in a row, Bassy couldn’t hit his open shots, and Ray barely played. Gerald needs to stop going for 20-30 for 2-3 straight games, then playing like this for 2 in a row. That’s just horrible. Also, Bassy did make a few nice kickouts, I’ll give him that (2 to Delonte, 1 to Gomes in the corner, I believe), but he needs to knock down those open opportunities! And once again, Bassy didn’t attack at all. All 5 of his shots were three’s, he didn’t take it to the basket once. That’s terrible.

• Al Jefferson: 20 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 blocks, the GW hook on 9-13 FG, 2-2 FT

• Delonte West: 28 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block on 10-19 FG, 3-8 3FG, 5-5 FT

• Rajon Rondo: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists on 5-10 FG, 7-8 FT

• Ryan Gomes: 11 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists on 2-9 FG, 1-3 3FG, 6-8 FT

• Kendrick Perkins: 2 points, 9 rebounds on 1-2 FG

• Leon Powe: 7 points, 1 rebound on 2-3 FG, 3-3 FT

• Sebastian Telfair: 3 points, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block on 1-5 FG (all 3’s)

• Gerald Green: 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal on 1-9 FG, 1-7 3FG

• Allan Ray: 4 minutes

Next Game: Wednesday night (4/18/07) at home vs. Detroit. This is the last one, folks. It’s sad, but true. The Celtics’ season is officially over tomorrow night.

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