After playing just five days prior to their rematch with the Toronto Raptors, the Celtics extracted revenge on a brutal loss in Toronto. This time, the C's came out on the hunt for some dinosaur, taking them down with an amazing display of alley-oops. It marked the return of Rajon Rondo as well as some more extra-hyper-active Kevin Garnett defense.
Shaquille O'Neal also had another solid game, but once again the Celtics played a little to casual in the fourth, allowing the Raptors to slowly creep back into the game, led by Peja Stojakovic's corpse. Unfortunately for the Raptors they lost the heart and soul of their team when Reggie Evans went down with a broken foot (initially thought to be a sprained knee). Sit back and enjoy the alley-oop show with the clips below.
Q1: The first quarter gets started with Mike Gorman announcing the return of Rondo who is walking into the building with his headphones on. Other highlights include:
- Ray Allen stealing the attempted back door pass from Evans to DeMar DeRozan
- Everybody getting a touch on the first offensive set, evetually KG takes Andrea Bargnani baseline for the lay-in
- Rono bothering Jose Calderon's jumper, allowing him to miss... Shaq and KG combine for the rebound
- Rondo then finds KG on the break who spins on Bargnani for two... KG is extra wired for that one
- Paul Pierce finding Ray for the left-baseline three
- Rondo stripping DeRozan's attempted drive, then Shaq throws a no-look outlet to Rondo who lays it in
- Rondo blows by Calderon, pulls the "Rondo" on Evans, then fires it to Shaq for two, ninja style... Tommy prefers to call it the "Houdini," but I'll reserve that for Bob Cousy
- Rondo comes from out of bounds after missing a runner, then passes it to Ray for another three
- Rondo lobs it to KG who touch-passes it to Shaq who gets fouled
- Rondo grabbing the rebound off the Calderon missed jumper, then tossing it to Shaq for the alley-oop
- Rondo with the beautiful left-handed baseline bounce pass to a cutting Pierce for the lay-up
- Rondo with the near half-court alley-oop to KG
- Rondo finding a cutting Pierce underneath for two... Gorman enjoys it
- Shaq sitting on the bench with ice-towels on his shoulders while Greg Dickerson tells us how Shaq said this is the best team he's played on as far as players, as far as guys being close
- Semih with the turn-around left-handed jump hook in the post over Bargnani
Q2: The second quarter begins with a nice shot of Quincy Market, followed by nice post defense by Semih on Amir Johnson. Other highlights include:
- Semih with a nice feed to Big baby who lays it in
- Nate, Semih and Big baby working the "4-5" play, Nate drilling the left-elbow jumper
- Marquis Daniels with some great post defense on Linas Kleiza
- That leads to Nate finding Semih underneath for two
- Nate, Quis, Big Baby and Semih showing how to beat a full court press, capitalized by a Semih slam
- Nate taking out Kleiza, getting the flagrant 1 foul
- Rondo to KG for another alley-oop
- Shaq knocking away the entry pass, creating a turnover
- Pierce with the lay-up off the inbound play
- Yet another Rondo to KG alley-oop
- KG sealing off Bargnani for the rebound, then Rondo leading Shaq for the potential lay-up, but Shaq gets fouled... Shaq makes both free throws, much to his mom's delight
- Shaq with the spin move on Bargnani for two
- Solid defensive set
- Shaq scoring on the and 1 on Calderon
- Pierce blocking Sonny Weems down low, eventually leading to Rondo feeding KG for the lay-in
- Shaq taking a charge from Bargnani
- KG pinning thw Weems lay-up attempt on the glass
- KG getting fouled just before the half, then draining both free throws
Q3: The second half begins with Shaq driving on Evans from the foul line, for two and the foul. Other highlights include:
- Pierce getting in the passing lane with the steal to start a fast break that concludes with a Ray to KG mini-alley-oop
- Pierce with the great block on Weems who drives baseline attempting a dunk/lay-up... A jumpball is eventually whistled
- Ray driving baseline with a nice bounce pass to KG for the loud one-handed jam
- With the shot clock winding down, Pierce drives on Calderon and knocks down the pull-up jumper over him
- Ray picking off a dangerous cross court pass by Calderon, then Ray finishes off the one man break
- Ray drives to the hoop then tosses an around the back pass to KG for two
- Shaq with the monster rejection on Kleiza, serving up a Spalding burger
- Ray with the block from behind on DeRozan
- KG battling for his eighth rebound
- Rondo with the behind the back pass to Big Baby off the pick-and-pop as Davis knocks down the right wing jumper
- Pierce blocking a Peja jumpshot
- Ray Ray tipping in his own missed runner
- Rondo with the left-handed baseline bullet to Big Baby for the lay-in
- Pierce finding Big Baby wide open underneath for two
Q4: The final and lazy quarter begins with a nice shot of the State House at night followed by Semih bothering Barbosa's attemped lay-up, eventually leading to a Ray and Big Baby pick-and-pop for two. Other highlights include:
- Big Baby on the offensive boards putting it back in for two
- Quis to Big Baby who bounces it to Semih for the slam
- Nate with the fastball to Big Baby for two and a foul
- Ray with the short jumper
- Big Baby with the short jumper
- KG knocking away the Peja pass
- KG tipping in the Pierce missed turnaround jumper, then Johnson goaltends the ball, prompting KG to fire it high in the sky, earning a delay of game much to the dismay of Pierce
- A solid defensive stand highlighted by KG punching away a Barbosa pass, then getting the rebound off of the missed Kleiza three
- Rondo finding Pierce for the baseline three
- Excellent defense by Big Baby, blocking Barbosa's attempted lay-up, then giving the extra effort by diving for the loose ball
- Not even great defense by the C's, but Bargnani just tosses the ball out of bounds
- Pierce knocking the ball away from behind on Calderon's drive creating the turnover
- Pierce to Rondo for the lay-up alley-oop
- KG high-fiving a young fan as the C's seal the win
