So...

If Rajon Rondo is to Jacoby Ellsbury, as Sam Cassell is to Coco Crisp?










Where does Ray Allen fit in?

Down 12 with 0:05 left

Yesterday on CNN Hillary Clinton said that she would stay in the Democratic race until the end. "You don't walk off the court before the buzzer sounds. You never know, you might get a three-point shot at the end."

A three-pointer? Try hitting one, stealing the inbounds, hitting another, and then a steal...

Or perhaps just try to channel UCLA's Kevin Love:


Hat-tip: BM

Never a Doubt 2

Three thousand miles away, the Lakers were also lucky to stay on serve, with a closer-than-the-score-indicated 111 to 104 win over Utah.

While the Lakers have no doubt about who their crunch-time go-to guy is (one of the major flaws with the Celtic team built by NBA Executive of the Year Danny Ainge), they survived despite no field goals from Kobe during the fourth quarter. Instead, Bryant (who rested for the first few minutes of the fourth), was content to distribute the ball to teammates and they -- led by Jordan Farmar's driving 3-point play to push the lead from +1 to +4, and Pau Gausol -- did the rest. (Bryant did ice the game with 3 of 4 FTs in the last 10 seconds, but as important he did not force any shots during the 4th. His confidence in his teammates is noticeable.)

For Utah, who has not yet won at Staples this year, it was a crushing defeat. They now return home, hoping to get one more chance at the Lakers on Sunday.

"Did I Hit Something?"

With the John Edwards and NARAL (insert your own ironic expression here) endorsements yesterday, here's what the current state of the Democratic race looks like, as imagined by Martin Scorsese in 1:55:

Never a Doubt

Despite

(a) a slow start in a 'must-win' game (the Celtics scored 18 points in the first quarter, and went the first 4 minutes of the second quarter with only 2 points, meaning that they had played -- including the fourth quarter on Monday -- 28 minutes with just 32 points);

(b) letting the 'Ace of Spades' out the box he had been for the first four games of the Series (LBJ had 23 points in the first 20 minutes last night, finishing with 35);
and

(c) a quiet crowd that was potentially watching the last home game of the season;

the Celtics responded with a kick in the second quarter and the first half of the third, and despite a brutal last 90 seconds, held on to win a tight 96-89 game.

Doc Rivers, who has become a (the?) focal point of fans' with the "Big 3", earns some credit for last night as well:

(a) playing Rajon Rondo 42 minutes -- meaning that Sam-I-Am Cassell played just five. Although Eddie House is the proverbial scoring-guard-in-a-point-guard's-body, Cassell has become such a liability at both ends of the floor that Doc has to find a way to get House back in the rotation. Failing that, leaving Rondo out there until he collapses is a good second choice.

(b) getting quality minutes out of Glen Davis (6 points). Although Davis was just +2 on the +/- rating, he brought some energy and enthusiasm to the court during his 11+ minutes. His attitude seems contagious on the bench and with the crowd.

Now, it's on to Cleveland, and (with luck) a finish to a very dangerous series.