OLD MEN? Rivers says no
Celtics veterans, with big boost from Rondo, proving coach right
MIAMI — The window is always closing on this incarnation of the Boston Celtics.
Since the Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2008 NBA title, the Celtics have been too old, too injured, too far past their prime.
That’s what Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen always hear, having hit their mid-30s, basketball purgatory, when the skills decline noticeably and rapidly.
“I don’t see it,” Doc Rivers, their venerable and quotable coach, said Monday of any last hurrah.
“I just think they’re playing hard and great because they believe they can win. It’s nothing we talk about. We talk about winning this series and moving on. I don’t ever use it; I don’t think I’ve used it this year one
time. Guys like that drive themselves. They don’t need that.”
They are in the mold of the coach, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told USA TODAY Sports on Monday.
“Doc was and is such a fierce competitor and leader that a lot of the guys, even if they wanted to quit, aren’t allowed to,” Ainge said. “But thankfully, KG and Rajon (Rondo) and Paul and Ray, those guys have a similar type of fight in them.”
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra shunned the “too-old” theory even before the Celtics defeated the Heat 93-91 Sunday in overtime of Game 4 to tie the best-of-seven series at 2-2. Game 5 is today in Miami (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
“C’mon, I keep on hearing about this, about their age. It’s not like they’re geriatrics,” Spoelstra said. “Who cares about age? Kevin Garnett is probably top-10 in this league, and those guys have been able to keep themselves in enough shape that they’ve also discovered the fountain of youth. I don’t buy into any of that. I see them as young veterans.”
He should know. The Heat are playing the Celtics in a third consecutive postseason, losing to them in 2010 when Boston returned to the NBA Finals and beating them a year ago in Miami’s first season with Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade playing together.
And in the last month of this regular season, Boston defeated Miami three times.
It’s no surprise the teams are deadlocked in an intense, draining series. Outstanding defenses are adjusting on the fly to creative offenses built around prospective Hall of Famers.
“These are the top four teams,” James said, including the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder in the West. “Story lines change every day.”
But one story line persists: Is this the end to Boston’s Big Three era? Adapting for schedule
Rivers, 50, maintains an undying faith in his team, in his eighth season with the Celtics.
Once the 149-day lockout ended and the abbreviated and compressed season began, Rivers thought Boston was in position to compete for a title.
“I did, before I saw anyone walk in the door,” Rivers told USA TODAY Sports in January.
Then the evidence suggested otherwise, when he saw the Celtics arrive for training camp. The Celtics, even training aficionados Pierce, 34, and Garnett, 36, were not in game shape. Boston started 5-9, and the end was nigh. Except in Rivers’ mind.
“They kept saying, ‘We’re too old,’ but I kept saying, ‘No, we’re out of shape. Let’s wait until later to find out how good we are,’ ” Rivers said Monday.
One key call Rivers made turned out great in the long term but required patience from everyone at the start. In the 66game, 124-day schedule filled with back-to-backs and backto-back-to-backs and five games in seven days, Rivers sacrificed practice time for fresher bodies down the stretch. Slowly, it came together. Sitting at 15-17 at the All-Star break, Boston went on to have the second-best winning percentage in the East in the second half (.706 to the Chicago Bulls’ .742). Rondo continued developing and pressing to make it the Big Four, and unexpected defensive help came from second-year guard Avery Bradley, who also proved a capable scorer.
But since the second-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks, Boston hasn’t had a real practice, instead relying on video sessions and walkthroughs to improve and implement game plans.
“We’re tired and old and banged up,” Rivers said. “Honestly, I just look at it, if I have a choice between the legs and the brains, I’m going to take the legs every single time.
“Listen, the way the schedule is, the playoffs are hard, the games are hard. There’s nothing I’m going to gain by bringing them in the next day right now. I think the rest is far more important, and that’s basically the tack we’ve taken right now.”
‘Rondo is the leader’
The video sessions and rest have worked. Boston has found a scheme that limits Miami’s attack in the lane.
The Celtics have used Garnett in his most comfortable roles: pick-and-roll defender and rim protector. The physical defense of Pierce, Mickael Pietrus and Marquis Daniels has made it more difficult for James and Wade to drive inside.
The veterans’ approach made it easier for Rivers, as did Rondo’s progression. Rondo almost always knows exactly what Boston needs, whether it’s a shot for Pierce, Allen, Garnett or himself.
“I look at this team and last year’s team, and last year we would’ve been out of the playoffs. I think they understand Rondo is the leader of this team, and everyone follows Rondo,” Rivers said.
Rondo has been magnificent in less obvious ways, too. In four games against Miami he has played 187 minutes, with 42 assists and 12 turnovers. There have been 23 double-digit assist performances in the playoffs. Rondo has 13.
“Rajon has been as good as I’ve ever seen him in this series,” Ainge said. “He’s maturing and he’s becoming more consistent, and I thought this year was by far the best year of his career. . . . Against the type of competition, it’s been amazing and very impressive.”
Allen shows spring
Allen is a microcosm of the Celtics’ season.
Just days ago, the sad decline of a talented player’s career played out on a national stage. Allen — 37 next month and, like Garnett, a free agent after the season — had no lift in his beautiful jump shot. He wasn’t making shots, which was not only an offensive liability but a defensive one, too.
Rivers considered sitting Allen for a game. Allen balked.
Counted out, Allen and the Celtics are back in. He totaled six three-pointers in his last two games and played 46 minutes in Game 4.
Nothing surprises Ainge anymore. He was surprised two years ago as Boston limped into the playoffs as the No. 4 seed after a 27-27 end to the schedule, then reached the Finals.
“They really impressed then,” Ainge said. “I knew it, but they really, really surprised me then, when I really didn’t believe that they had much left.
“It’s always hard when you’re not with them every day, like Doc, to have the same sort of faith. But I have faith in who they are as people, and if they’ve got it, they’ll give it.”