Last second shot sinks Sixers

I have to get this out of the way.

I secretly have man-love for the Boston Celtics.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I hate the green. But I can't help but admire some of their players. Kevin Garnett has been a long time favorite of mine, and I didn't all of a sudden lose that when he became a Celtic. Likewise, I have nothing but respect for the talent and dedication Ray Allen takes to perfect his craft. If you have a fifth grader, you have your kid emulate Ray Allen. The jumpshot, the midrange game, the controlled drives to the hoop. Fluid, calculated, consistent. There isn't much in sports more beautiful than Ray Allen's jumpshot.

All that being said, this one hurt. This one was a kick in the nuts.

This team just can't win a close game lately. The Nets. San Antonio. Dallas. A very disturbing trend that's becoming increasingly frustrating with each loss.

Overall, when you look past the final seconds of this one, it's hard to be upset with the comeback they mounted. The run to end the second quarter, and the sprint at the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th are some of the best basketball this team has played, and that was without real contributions from Thaddeus Young or Elton Brand.

The house was rocking down at the Wachovia Center, with standing ovations, chants of "Reggie! Reggie!", and fans on the edge of their seat.

In the end, the only play that's going to be remembered is that final 3 by Ray Allen. That's why the Celtics are defending world champions, and the Sixers are a team consistently around .500. As George Karl said a little over a month ago when the Nuggets inexplicably stole a game from the Sixers:

"Bad teams lose games they are supposed to win and good teams win games they are supposed to lose."

The Sixers have had more than their share of troubles defending the 3 this year. Sometimes I think they're overaggressive on their traps and double teams, probably to try to generate turnovers to ignite their fast break.

That being said, there's no excuse for that last play. Up two, with Andre Iguodala defending Paul Pierce well, there's absolutely no way you rotate off of Ray Allen to help. I'm not sure if Thaddeus thought there wasn't enough time to make a pass, whether Dalembert was supposed to rotate over, or whether it was shear youthfulness and inexperience, but that was a crucial mistake. One of the main complaints I have with his defense (which I generally think is above average) is he tends to lose his man when he is playing off the ball, usually because he's over-committing to help defense. I think that's very correctable, but one of the growing pains of trying to make a playoff run with a 20 year old playing 35+ minutes (as well as Williams and Speights).

I was thinking to myself earlier in the game how well Young was playing Allen. During that second quarter run, Young was matched up on Allen for a good amount of time, and he did an exceptional job running with him, fighting through screens, and getting a hand in his face.

Flat out frustrating.

Being at the game, the sheer ecstasy after Iguodala's made basket to put the Sixers up 2, to the absolute disappointment when Allen's jumper found nothing but twine, was simply unbearable.

In the coming days and weeks, the reason why Elton Brand played less than 9 minutes is going to be a bigger topic of conversation. That being said, right now, that last sequence, and the head-scratching decision to double off of one of the best shooters in NBA history, is a series of events that can't be shaken from my head.