Just got in from an exciting, yet exhausting night at the Garden. Myself and the other fans in that building had no idea what we were in for.
It really looked like the Celts were going to run away with this thing early on. But then the Bulls came roaring back, led by Joakim Noah. The Garden crowd has lost no love at all for Mr. Noah. I heard him called a "poodle" and of course the obligatory "you suck" comments. But with his Dad and his young son in the front row under the basket, Noah just kept hitting shot after shot, and the crowd kept getting more and more angry.
The 2 other significant things I noticed about this Bull's squad are: 1) Taj Gibson is a baller. This kid can flat-out score. 2) Derrick Rose is fast. Super-human, blur, Flash, fast. Would love to see he and Rondo in a 50 yard dash.
So far during this young season, Rondo has gotten all the hype and most of the attention. But tonight, it was Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Marquis Daniels that were the reasons why I was able to leave the Garden a happy man.
Quis was absolutely on fire at one point in this game. Hitting layups, short jumpers and floaters in the paint. Ray Allen hit some absolutely clutch baskets, including a 4-point play in the 3rd, and a wraparound dunk in OT. And of course Ticket was Ticket-The emotional leader. Coming out of timeouts in the 4th and OT and signalling the crowd to get up and bring the noise. There was definitely playoff-like intensity in that building during the latter moments of tonight's game.
Just a fantastic night at the Garden. It was capped off by having two of the beautiful Celtic Dancers (see above pic) pose for a pic while I snapped away (pun intended) and by seeing my boy Marlon from the Boston Sports Company outside and getting hooked-up with a great t-shirt. Another fantastic night at the TD Garden.