Big Shot Big Baby

By Brendan Hall
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Robert Horry, step aside please.

In case you were pre-occupied with Bruins and Red Sox television coverage, here's what happened in a nutshell in tonight's Celtics-Magic game four:

Baby. Went. Off.

More specifically, Mr. Glen Davis had 21 points tonight, including five of the Celtics' last six points, in a 95-94 thriller to even the series at 2-2. That includes one heck of a game-winner.

The play was perfectly executed, and Davis made it look surprisingly easy. One of those plays that makes the defense think "in hindsight, how did we not see this coming?" Understandable that, with Paul Pierce taking the inbound, they'd sag to Pierce's side for a double-team, leaving Davis wide open on the left wing -- I'd rather have the ball in Baby's hands than Pierce if I'm Orlando. But Davis made them pay, swishing an 18-footer to send Doc Rivers into a happy-fit.

It's clear after this series, win or lose, that the C's can defend as good as anyone in the league (why isn't Tom Thibodeau fielding more interest from teams with coaching vacancies? Kings anybody?) But from herein, don't expect the Magic to take Baby lightly. He is giving Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard a hard time, despite what their stats show; look for them to make some adjustments on him next time out.

Not going to make any Hall-of-Famer comparisons here (because I might be crazy, but I ain't stupid), but does Baby remind anyone else of Dave Cowens? Before you start laughing consider both players' makeup: undersized, goofy, throws in a flashy post move every now and then, out-hustles and frustrates the crap out of his opponents. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar always says that Cowens and Wilt were the only two players in his career that were a huge pain.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Cowens and I share the same nickname: "Big Red")

Not saying, but just saying...

A few other notes (please pardon the light-hearted tone, my mind is in fifth gear):

-- Came across this tremendous article yesterday in the New Yorker speculating about why more underdogs don't full-court press. Well-written, well-researched, and the only sports article I've come across that manages to intertwine mathematics, Rick Pitino, Lawrence of Arabia and a 12-year-old girls' basketball team so seamlessly. Required reading for any serious hoops fan.

On that note -- and I'm crossing my fingers here -- but I want to believe Doc Rivers is coming around to this whole concept of running. With Garnett out of the lineup, they're going to HAVE to run on at least 60 percent of their possessions to make up for the frontcourt mismatch. They did a tremendous job with this in Game 3, and were adequate in Game 4.

Hate to say it, but I think their problems in the run game come down to who's carrying the ball. When Rondo is manning things, it is -- in a word -- Poetry In Motion.

Marbury? Not exactly a dud, but there's a reason why Mike D'Antoni wanted him out of Phoenix and New York. Just because you went to Lincoln High doesn't mean you're the next Bo Kimble. Just ask Sebastian Telfair.

Boston's subs are going to have to learn to push better from herein.

-- We've already been entertained many times by "Gino" and that dancing kid, and we love getting "Rondo'd", but I would like to suggest another item to add to this generation's Celtics folklore. Ladies and gents, I bring you the Eddie House Face.

Just study that bio photo for a few minutes. What a great scowl for such a deadly shooter, no? Half smirk, half smile, all business. If this were a James Brown track, it'd most definitely be "Paid the cost to be the boss."

I can totally see this catching on with the college crowd. How it hasn't yet, and the Jon Scheyer Face has, troubles me.

-- The non-call on Antoine Wright last night was just garbage. Pure garbage. In French, "le garbage."

The easy, and instinctive, conclusion for how this happened is that the league hates the Mavericks, and especially Mark Cuban. But an even easier conclusion to make is that these referees have just lost their minds. I know it's arguably the toughest sport to officiate in this country, but I'll say it again: David Stern needs to sit down and take a hard look this offseason at how playoff officiating crews are merited.

-- Rockets in 7. There, I said it.

The 2009 Bruins are back!

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

It's the 2nd intermission now, but I wanted to jump on and say it's nice to see the Bruins playing like they did during the regular season. They're playing a physical style of hockey with good defense, good goaltending and are finally crashing the net. I've been texting Matt and Chad all night saying the Bruins will win this series. It might be a tad premature, but if the Bruins play this style of hockey, I have no doubt they'll win the series. 

More to come tomorrow!

Should Sox Fans Be Alarmed?

Saturday brought yet another lackluster performance from Jon Lester, in a game Boston ultimately lost to Tampa, 14-5. The Sox lefty starter is now 2-3 on the year, with a 6.31 ERA and 1.57 WHIP. Not great numbers from a guy who was a top-five pitcher in the American League in 2008. Yesterday against the Rays, he gave up eight earned runs on ten hits in just 4.1 innings pitched. Evan Longoria continued his incredible season, going 2-for-4 with five RBI and three runs scored. He now has 44 RBI on the year, to pace the Major Leagues.

Lester closed out last season looking like one of the best pitchers in baseball. This year, he has been anything but. He has allowed the long ball to derail his starts, giving up eight in just 41.1 innings this season. He still has an impressive K:BB ratio of almost 4:1 (49:13), so there is certainly hope of Lester turning around his 2009 campaign. The Red Sox need the young southpaw to start producing at the top of a rotation that has already lost Daisuke Matsuzaka to injury, in an unforgiving division that likely won't allow teams to recover if they fall behind in the standings. It's looking more and more like the Blue Jays aren't going away, the Rays obviously have Boston's number, and the Yankees always have something to say about it.

Josh Beckett (3-2, 6.75 ERA) takes the mound tonight against Boston nemesis Matt Garza (3-2, 3.51 ERA). Beckett hasn't exactly been lights out himself lately. The Sox could really use eight strong innings out of the big right hander in the rubber game of a three-game weekend series. First pitch is at 8:05 from Fenway.