Celtics Beat Spurs: NBA Finals Preview?

On February 10, 2008, the Boston Celtics knocked off the reigning champion San Antonio Spurs, 98-90 in Boston. They did it without their potential MVP winner, Kevin Garnett who was out with an abdominal strain. However, Paul Pierce's 35 points certainly helped make up for KG's absence.

But more important than the actual win was the significance of this game. This matchup between the Celtics and Spurs is a very likely NBA Finals preview. The Celtics are first and the Eastern Conference by several games, and obviously, the Spurs are the Spurs. Now if prior to the season you were asked to predict which of these teams would win between in a possible finals matchup, over 80% of you would have said the Spurs. But does this 8-point victory change your mind at all?

Granted, Tony Parker, last year's Finals MVP, was not available for this game due to his continuing injury problems. Brent Barry also was not available for personal reasons. However, neither one of those players has the effect on the game that Kevin Garnett does, and the Celtics still managed to win with out him. Nevertheless, it is safe to say that without those three players on the floor, this was far from being the matchup that we will see in the NBA Finals should both teams make it. That said, is there anything we can take away from this game?

There are two things. One, while the Spurs' Tim Duncan had decent numbers that included 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists. Those are hardly the type of numbers you would expect him to put up against a team that did not have KG in the lineup and without Tony Parker there to take off some of his offensive responsibility. Not that he wasn't efficient, because he did shoot 10-20 from the field, but when there is seemingly no one on the court that can guard you, that is when superstars have to take over the game.

So why didn't Tim Duncan take over?

Well, it had a lot to do with what Rookie Glen Davis did against him. Davis was very aggressive with Duncan. He fought him for position on the block, and quite frankly, he won more times than not by pushing Duncan just a little bit outside of his comfort zone. The result was Duncan only getting 20 shots, and having an otherwise average scoring output when entering the game most would have thought that KG's absence would leave Duncan to have a career day.

The other major thing to take away from this game is that the Spurs might not have anyone who can guard Paul Pierce. Sure, Bruce Bowen is an all-league defender, but against the Celtics on February 10^th, he just couldn't get it done. Bowen's defense usually thrives around the fact that he makes players take tougher, but easier to get off, shots because he brings a level of physicality that most finesse players aren't willing to deal with for 40 minutes. But Pierce is no finesse player, so when challenged by Bowen, Pierce took it to him, thus he got to the free throw line 12 times. The result had Duncan scoring 35 against the league's top on the ball defender, as well as the Spurs as a whole.

So do these two advantages mean that the Celtics will win in a potential Finals matchup in June? Not necessarily. The additions of Garnett and Parker could completely change the dynamic of this matchup. However, those two advantages should not go overlooked, because at the very least, they let the Celtics know that they can beat the world champs. And that is probably the toughest battle for a team without any recent playoff success.