Morning Mix

NBAI: National Basketball Association of Intensity

The effort Saturday night might have been enough to win game 4...if game 4 had been preceded by a Celtic win in game 3. Now to win game 4, the Celtics will need to put on their NBA Finals game-face, the one they bring out for big games. Doc told the media that the Celtics weren't playing great basketball in games 1 and 2, but the media wasn't buying. One more game like Saturday night, and the media won't need any more persuasion. Neither will the rest of us.

Box Score

The Celtics only turned the ball over 10 times. They tallied 24 assists on 32 baskets, and shot 92% from the stripe. KG scored 32 points on 11-19 shooting, to go along with 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block. Sounds pretty good to me. Yes, the Hawks shot 47% from the field, but even that number isn't earth-shattering. However, Atlanta did shoot 56% from three, going 10-18. The Celtics lost by nine. The Celts got out-rebounded by 8, and gave up 12 offensive rebounds. Bad, but not necessarily difference makers. Bottom line? The game was winnable, but the Hawks wanted it more.

Paul Pierce

Pierce was only 5-13 in game 3. He clearly needs to be more productive on Monday. What we need out of him is a performance like he turned in for Celtics-Lakers II, or, better yet, Celtics-Spurs I. It's time for Pierce to dust off his bad-self, and get down to business. Maybe this idiocy by Horford will help.

Ray Allen

Ray Allen was 5-14 in game 3, including 1-6 from 3. Like Pierce, we need to see the big-game, playoff version of Jesus. Is there such a thing? It's time to find out. If there is one, we'll need to see a lot more of him the deeper we go into the playoffs. At the very least, Air Allen may want to start backing out of the gate and taxiing down the runway, cuz we may need to see full liftoff by round 2.

Great Teams Win Big Games

On the count of three, everyone yell "human highlight film" if you want to go back to Atlanta for a game 6. If you restrained yourself, then you know what needs to happen tonight. Great teams aren't made during the regular season. Great teams win big playoff games. Tonight is a big playoff game. Let's see how this team rises to the challenge.