BOSTONAndre Iguodala says Saturday nights effort in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals at the TD Garden was some of the best basketball the Sixers have played in a while. And for a majority of the game, Iguodala was right.
We played better than we have all season, Iguodala said after Game 1. I think it carried over from the series with Chicago. Mentally, that was a tough series to get through against a tough-minded defensive team. I think it helped us a little bit.
It helped, but not quite enough as the Sixers kicked away a very winnable game, 92-91, Saturday night (see Lynam's Instant Replay). They gave away a game in which their youth and speed were just too much for the Celtics to stop, but in spots it was also the Sixers youth and speed that hurt them, too.
In the first half the Sixers shot the ball well, they rebounded and they got to the foul line. During one stretch, the Sixers pushed their lead to 13 points during the first half and held onto a 10-point advantage that made it seem as if they were about to run the Celtics out of the gym.
Certainly that made the Sixers feel pretty good about the way they played in Game 1. Problem is, there are no moral victories in the NBA. Thats especially the case during the playoffs.
Experience showed a little bit, Iguodala said. Especially with the plays they made. They knew exactly what they were going to get into and execute it. When we had two minutes we really didnt get anything good at the basket.
The Celtics playoff savvy and experience was the trump card in Game 1. Where the Sixers youth and inexperience bite them was when it came time to close out the first half and the fourth quarter. After spending much of the game throwing the extra pass and looking for shots in the paint from Spencer Hawes or Lavoy Allen or simply when Iguodala or Evan Turner used their quickness to go to the basket, Game 1 disappeared in a hail of bad-timed long shots and turnovers.
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It was those plays late in the second and fourth quarter that have the Sixers kicking themselves for letting it get away.
We had four really bad offensive possessions that really hurt us, coach Doug Collins said. Thats sort of the sign of a team thats trying to grow and figure out what it is to play championship basketball in the NBA playoffs.
The plays Collins pointed out came with 3:02 left in the game when Turner stole a pass by Rajon Rondo and passed it up court to Lou Williams for a layup. But just as he was about to kiss the ball off the glass, Avery Bradley swatted the shot and the Celtics got a layup from Kevin Garnett. Instead of a three-point lead, the Sixers lost the lead and never got it back.
They had a chance on their next possession, but Williams committed a turnover, which led to a Celtics basket. The Sixers had a chance to cut the deficit to two points only two open shots. The worst of the bunch was by Williams with 1:30 to go when a blocked shot by Hawes put the Sixers in transition. Instead of going to the basket where he could get a layup, a foul or a dish, Williams fired up a deep shot that only chipped paint off the rim.
Asked about that particular shot after the game, Williams said he, had a shot.
"I think we played well, but a couple of guys, including myself, didnt play up to our abilities, Williams said. I think we played them well enough to win the basketball game and they made bigger shots and we had turnovers right when it was crunch time.
Chalk that up to youth and inexperience?
Williams went 4 for 11 for nine points, but he wasnt the only player with costly misses. Jrue Holiday went 3 for 13, including 0 for 4 from three-point range for eight points. Elton Brand took just five shots in 15 minutes for four points and was clearly frustrated by Garnett and Brandon Bass.
But at no time were the misses more maddening than the 13 straight bricks the Sixers tossed up there at the end of the second quarter and into the third. After Turner hit a 15-footer to give the Sixers a 13-point lead with 3:44 left in the opening half, shots suddenly stopped falling. As the Sixers missed their final six shots of the half, the Celtics turned a 13-point deficit into just five points.
When the Sixers missed their first seven shots to open the second half, the Celtics turned that five-point deficit into a four-point lead. What makes it even more maddening for the Sixers is that they quickly erased that deficit, which ended up being the Celtics largest of the game.
Its frustrating, said Iguodala, who led the Sixers with 19 points and six assists. They hit us with a run at the end of the half and it hurt us. Then in the fourth quarter we had a two-minute spell that was just a disaster. We didnt get good lookswe were trying to make the home-run plays instead of just grinding it out and little by little finishing the game.
That where the Celtics pulled the trump card by putting the ball in the hands of Rondo and Garnett. Though Rondo couldnt buy a shot in the first half, he finished the game with his eighth career playoff triple-double, going for 13 points, 12 rebounds and 17 assists.
Garnett, fresh off his 28-point, 14-rebound performance in the Game 6 clincher on Thursday, went for 29 points and 11 rebounds in Game 1. At the end, the Sixers couldnt stop either of the Celtics veterans.
He is playing great, Collins said about Garnett. Hes hitting all these shots. Hes fading shots off the glass and hes playing as well as Ive ever seen him play. I dont think we did anything poorly with him. I just think sometimes you get trumped.
But did the Sixers get trumped or did they punt it away? Whatever the culprit is for the Game 1 loss is, the Sixers cant wait to lace them up again. Theyll get their next chance on Monday night.
Im chomping at the bit, Hawes said.
E-mail John R. Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com