All the Small Things

Much to the chagrin of Carmelo Anthony, Rajon Rondo and the ultra-experienced Celtics now hold a commanding 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals heading into Game Three Friday night in New York.  

After two thrilling Celtics victories over the upstart Knicks, this much we know about the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals: teamwork and experience far outweigh youth and individual talent.

Opening the best-of-seven series in epic fashion, Boston trailed for much of the contest Sunday night but hung around long enough to finish off New York when it mattered most.

Down a point with just 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Ray Allen drained a monumentally clutch three-pointer to give the Celtics an eventual 87-85 victory. Before Allen's pivotal trey, Boston had held a lead for just sixty seconds in the second-half.

Talk about having been there before.

"Down the stretch we found a way to win," said Paul Pierce, who pitched in 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in Game One. "And that was because of our experience."

While Boston's core of Allen, Pierce, Kevin Garnett and head coach Doc Rivers have been to two of the past three NBA Finals and played together in a plethora of big games and big series, the Knicks are the polar opposite in terms of both regular season and playoff experience. In fact, New York hasn't won a single postseason game since 2001.

However, Game one was never in Boston's control until the final buzzer. In fact, it wasn't until Carmelo Anthony was called for an offensive foul on Pierce with just 21 seconds left and the Knicks leading 85-84 that the Celtics even had a shot to win it in the end. Drawing up yet another spectacular play with the game on the line, Rivers had Allen inbound the ball off a timeout to Pierce, who allowed Allen time to curl around a screen and then sink the game-winning three.

"We've run that play many times," admitted Allen, who scored a game-high 24 points. "It's a play that has so many options and tonight I was just the option."

Unlike the Knicks, who are paced by two superstars in Anthony and Stoudemire, the Celtics have several stars that unselfishly buy into their head coach's anti-hero system.

"Ray's the hero with the shot," admitted Rivers. "Paul's the hero with the pass. That's a great example of not playing hero basketball, just trusting what we drew up. And he made the shot."

The Celtics pushed their series lead to 2-0 with another close victory Tuesday night when they edged the Knicks on the parquet floor yet again, 96-93. This time, the driving force was none other than Rajon Rondo.

Dictating the play by pushing the ball relentlessly up court and directly to the rim, Rondo took advantage of Chauncey Billups injury (he did not play in Game Two) and finished with a playoff career-high 30 points.

"I think I tried to attack Game 1, just my layups were getting blocked and I didn't make a couple," admitted the former Kentucky star. "But [Tuesday night] I made them. I stayed aggressive, I tried to expose them because I don't think they did a great job getting back in transition."

The game quickly became a one-on-one matchup between Rondo and Anthony. After Stoudemire exited the game in the first half due to back spasms, the Knicks leaned on Anthony almost exclusively and the former Nugget delivered.

In one of the truly epic postseason performances in recent memory, Anthony put New York on his back (42 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists), but came up just short.

A Garnett turn-around hook shot in the post with just 14 seconds left proved to be the game-winning basket. The Big Ticket sealed the victory on the other end of the court when he stole the ball from Jared Jeffries down low then dove on the ground to gain possession.

"We were lucky to win," admitted Rivers after the game.

The series now shifts to New York with Game Three set to tip-off Friday night at what will undoubtedly be an electric Madison Square Garden.

"The Celtics didn't do anything special," said Anthony, despite being down 0-2 in the series. "They won two games on their home court. Now it's our turn to go to our home court and try to do the same thing."

Good luck, 'Melo. You can have your boundless talent and vibrant youth.

I'll take the Boston Celtics and their unparalleled experience.