Sports Redux: C's Shall Overcome

Complaining about the refereeing after a loss is a little ungentlemanly. Complaining about the refs after a win, however, is allowed and in fact encouraged after a game like last night, when the Celtics were legitimately going 5-on-8 down the stretch, but still managed to outdefend and outhustle Cleveland for a 105-94 win that helped throw the top of the Eastern Conference standings into a tizzy.

If you go by the numbers, it's bad enough: Cleveland shot 38 free throws to Boston's 12 (LeBron James alone shot 12 for the Cavs). But the shot chart tells you more, that the Celtics dominated inside and still didn't get to the line, and no charts or graphs can tell you the ticki-tackiness of some of the Celtic fouls or the confusion surrounding Bib Baby's ejection. Sigh.

Enough complaining. We're now prepared to see an Eastern Conference Finals refereeing trio of Brad Daugherty, Drew Carey and LeBron's mom, if it comes to that. Let's focus on the good stuff: Pierce was fantastic, leading the team with 29 points. Leon Powe dominated inside, getting a season-high 20 and 11 rebounds. Rondo shook off a scary early foot injury to come back and dish out 10 assists. Meanwhile, the defense was great, stuffing Cleveland down the stretch and keeping LeBron to a very pedestrian 21 points. Though the defense can't take credit for the crowd-pleaser of the night, a LeBron dunk that didn't quite get over the rim and ricocheted into the upper deck.

The Bruins host the Black Hawks today, trying to keep their ship from taking on even more water. The Red Sox let everyone keep the panic button (you do have Sox-specific and B's-specific panic buttons, right?) in the closet with a 5-3 win over the Marlins that saw J.D. Drew come back from his curious back woes.