BOSTON -- It was kind of like the Sixers chose to pick their poison. Do they let veteran Kevin Garnett shoot the ball from the perimeter, or do they run out at him and force him to pass the ball to Ray Allen or Paul Pierce and let them shoot it.
The Sixers chose to let Garnett shoot it in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the TD Garden and they paid for it.
Garnett scored 29 points on 12-for-20 shooting. He also went 5 for 5 from the line and had 11 rebounds with three blocks. That came on the heels of a 28-point, 14-rebound outing in his team's Game 6 clincher against Atlanta, finishing a series in which Garnett averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds per game.
If Garnett wants to keep shooting those long two-pointers, the Sixers are going to let him.
Hes making those jump shots, Sixers coach Doug Collins said after Sundays practice at the TD Garden. He has one foot on the three-point line and hes making jump shots. My hat is off to him.
The Sixers defensive philosophy is simple: they will give up shots in the yard, the area between the paint and the three-point line more readily. At the end of the day, Collins reasons, teams get beat in the paint and on three-pointers. The odds are in their favor that they wont get beat on long two-pointers.
So if the Celtics want to chuck up those long twos, theyre going to get them.
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Meanwhile, Garnett presents an interesting dilemma for Collins and the Sixers, because the Celtics are going to keep throwing him the ball. If the Sixers overextend to Garnett, maybe that opens things up for Pierce or Allen. In Game 1, the Celtics duo was a combined 7 for 21 with Pierce going 3 for 11.
Kevin has been aggressive and they think they have a matchup there where we dont have a really big guy and so he has great extension on his shot and hes playing great, Collins said. If we run out on him then maybe Paul Pierce maybe isnt 3 for 11.
Certainly the Sixers have picked their poison, but that doesnt mean they didnt get lucky, too. Pierce went 0 for 2 from three-point range, while Allen was 2 for 7. In a handful of situations, both players had open shots and they just didnt go down.
Collins says he doesnt expect Pierce and Allen to miss too many more open shots as the series continues.
I counted four or five instances where they got the loose ball and missed the three, Collins said. Either Ray Allen or Paul Pierce are going to make those threes.
E-mail John Finger at jrfinger@comcastsportsnet.com