12.13.2008

Pride (in the name of ugliness)

It was a struggle. It was not a pretty game aesthetically. A lot of frustration in the first half, but I just thought we mentally grinded it out. It was a game of spurts and we had the longer spurts in the second half.

--Doc Rivers

Celtics fans don't appreciate these games enough. Rising above ugliness to win adds character to this team. It not only enables the Celtics to win a bunch of games where they don't play like champions. It prepares them for those dog fights against the league's best, which are ugly from the outset. It allows the Celtics to fight like Rocky Marciano or Sugar Ray Leonard.

Put another way, the Celtics know how to play like Rottweilers when the circumstances dictate, while the Lakers only know how to play like French Poodles.

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