Celtics Jazz game notes

I went to the Boston vs. Utah game the other night and although the game was moderately close the whole night, the Celtics were clearly on a different level than the Jazz. Rondo and Perkins played excellent games and it was obvious that Rondo was quicker than anyone else on the floor. I'm not sure if it was his ankle or not, but Williams looked like he was standing still when he was trying to guard Rondo. He could get into the lane anytime that he wanted and didn't have to take a jump shot all night. You have to play off of Rondo and make him a jump shooter to take him out of his game but that is easier said that done. Rondo has all the tools to be a Devin Harris type point guard with better defense if he learned to hit the jumper. He is still young but NBA players stop developing after a while and this is already his 4th year so I wonder if he will ever learn to shoot well.

Looking at the box score, it looks like the big 3 had decent nights but the game told a different story. Ray Allen's shot was definitely off and he was passing up open jumpers most of the night. Paul Pierce struggled but he takes enough shots that he scores double figures. I liked how the Jazz put AK on him in the 4th which frustrated him. The hidden story was Garnett. He was 8-13 for 19pts, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks - a very efficient line but he looked unstoppable. He did whatever he wanted and virtually scored whenever he wanted. He never forced a shot, always looked to pass out of double teams and if he shot more, he could have easily scored 30. His game was effortless yet intense and you can tell that he lets his teammates shine when its possible. He is averaging only 13 shots a game and only 16pts, 9.6 boards - all career lows since his rookie year but his impact on the team might be at its peak. I watch a lot of Celtic games since I live in Boston and he is a player where the numbers do not tell the whole story. He could easily get 25, 12 and 5 if he forced his game. The Celtics win because he doesn't.

Paul Milsap
Milsap had a career night the other night. Most of his points came on cuts to the basket, I bet that he was assisted on half his points but he hit some jumpers that I didn't know that he had in his arsenal. He hit a fade away 20 footer that had the fans in Boston thinking that Karl Malone came out of retirement. He has a great touch around the basket and he is efficient, only taking shots that come to him in the offense. Other than some silly fouls, he plays tough defense and gets steals and blocks that Boozer doesn't even try for. When Boozer comes back, I don't know who you take off the floor between Boozer, Okur and Milsap at the end of games. Okur is money at the end of the game but he makes a bettert matador the way he plays defense. Boozer never comes up with big plays on defense and Milsap plays hard but is undersized. You have to have 2 way players at the end of games to make stops in close games and Milsap is the only one of the three that can do that.