Heat Celtics Summary

BEST PLAYER IN THE SERIES: RAJON RONDO. Ever since the Perkins trade, it felt like everyone acknowledged that the team was different without him, and maybe not title-worthy. The truth for the last 2-3 years, even though his teammates seemed to try to deny it: Rondo was the key to the Celtics title runs. Their amazing playoff run last year was directly tied to his play. And as opposed to other guys on the team, he proved a level of toughness in this series that his teammates have not, and likely will not ever, match. I do have to say this, though... Rondo's a great player, but his jump shot wasn't that much worse than Derrick Rose's a few years ago. And look what changed. Heal up that elbow, and come back after the lockout with a jumper.

WORST PLAYER IN THE SERIES: LEBRON JAMES. I don't doubt that Lebron's personal 10-0 run to ice Game 5 was a big deal for him and his team. But compare his regular season numbers to his numbers in this series:

Regular Season: 26.7 ppg (0.98 PPS), 7.5 rpg, 7.0 apg vs. 3.4 topg
Against Boston: 28.0 ppg (0.93 PPS), 8.2 rpg, 3.6 apg vs. 3.4 topg

Watched a lot less of Lebron getting easy buckets for less talented teammates (everyone's generic measure of greatness), and a lot more of Lebron taking contested step back 2's and 3's (the goal of any defense against Lebron), which he hit less efficiently than he did in the regular season (Game 5 being a notable exception). Without the 16-0 run to close out game 5, Lebron would have had an overall negative plus/minus for both Game 5 and the overall series. If anything, this series confirmed to me that beating the Celtics, particularly for Lebron, was more about the help he got from his team than his individual efforts.

JEROME JAMES AWARD: PAUL PIERCE. Everything that Rondo was in this series, Pierce was not. Rondo played 2+ games with a dislocated elbow. Paul Pierce was once carried off the court and put in a wheelchair, only to jog back out 5 minutes later (does that have anything to with this series? No, but if I can't mention it in an NBA blog, why am I blogging at all). If he's the heart and soul of the team, why is it that in Games 3-5, the Celtics did better without him on the floor by the numbers? Plus, from flipping the ball back to a one-armed Rondo who needed help, to openly pouting at teammates for botching the last play of regulation in Game 4, he didn't seem to exude the spirit of a leader. Incidentally, wonder why no one pouted at him for giving up 2 threes and 2 turnovers in the last 2 minutes of Game 5, with the Celtics' season on the line? Hopefully, this is the last time I'm forced to pay attention to the diva antics of 2008's self-proclaimed (and confirmed by no one) best player in the world.