What else is left? Kevin Garnett pulling a Willis Reed at the Garden tomorrow night? Maybe Larry and Michael coming out of retirement to settle the thing once and for all.
"I don't know what to say about this series," said Celtics captain Paul Pierce, who fouled out chasing down Joakim Noah after a crucial turnover near the end of the third overtime. "It's a phenomenal series. It's been great for the fans. Everybody is getting their money's worth."
Amen. If you are a fan of roundball theater, it simply cannot get any better than this. The Celtics are going to play the Bulls one more time tomorrow night, and the winner advances to the Eastern Conference semifinals against Orlando, but we should savor what has happened in front of our eyes over the last fortnight. If this was an NBA Finals, it would be in the conversation as the best series of all time.
People are making incredible plays and leaving everything on the floor. Game after game.
Look at some of the numbers from last night. Ray Allen had 51 points. He looked like a guy throwing apples into an oil drum. Rajon Rondo had 19 assists and zero turnovers.
Repeat, 19 assists and zero turnovers. Certainly this must be something like Roger Clemens striking out 20 batters without walking anyone.
Overall, the Celtics committed only 11 turnovers in 63 minutes. Boston's entire starting frontcourt fouled out of the game. The Celtics trailed by 10 in the fourth quarter but went on an 18-0 run.
Naturally, it couldn't be settled in regulation. And that is where Doc Rivers thought the game was lost. Boston led by 8 with less than three minutes to play.
"We saw that score and had a chance to close it out," said Rivers. "We stopped playing. We tried to hold on to the game the last three minutes. If we're going to win, we're going to win with our defense and we didn't do that tonight."
