Game 5 Loose Balls

A few quick-hit thoughts from last night:

• Kevin Garnett can not miss those free throws
• Kobe Bryant fouled Pierce
• Pierce played like he wanted the series to end
• Kendrick Perkins' shoulder injury scares me
• the Celtics can not win if Rondo is held to 15 minutes
• the same goes for Leon Powe and five minutes
• the series ends tomorrow night

Knowing his history as a player, I can't say I'm shocked that Kevin Garnett missed those two free throws. KG is an animal and he is the reason why the C's transformed from irrelevant team to championship contender but if for some reason the C's choke away Games 6 and 7 -- which will not happen, by the way -- then I will be haunted by those two misses for a very long time...

That said, I still love watching KG play and will always remember him for making the C's a real live NBA team again. Those two free throws won't cost us this series and I fully expect him to go off for 33 points, 22 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 blocks tomorrow night in a Celtic rout...

For those of you who have ever read at least one of my football picks columns in the fall, you know I'm one or two bad picks away from becoming the second coming of Eddie Mush.

With that on the table, I am proud to say that the Celtics are making me some money on their way to the Larry O'Brien trophy. They have covered the spread in each game of the Finals, making them the perfect fit for the Boston gambler who only bets the home team...

Pierce has outplayed Kobe for five games. It is a trend that must continue...

This bit of bad news about Ray Allen comes from the basketball website TrueHoop:

TrueHoop reports: Celtics Coach Doc Rivers later issued a statement: "Ray Allen was forced to leave Staples Center tonight right at the conclusion of tonight's game due to a health issue with one of his children. We ask that you please respect Ray's privacy at this time, and we'll keep you up to date as best we can moving forward."

My best wishes go out to Ray and his family...

If I'm working in public relations for the Celtics, I am booking tickets for Russell, Havlicek, Sanders, Jones, Cowens, Parish, Cousy, White, McHale, Cheney, Silas, Jones, Fitch, Bird and any other living legend to be at the Direct Deposit Garden tomorrow night.

We need that building to be rocking...

C's in 6...