The not-so-big four

By Gary Dzen

June 9, 2008

1 minute to read

The names don’t exactly boost the Nielsen ratings. But the Celtics bench of Leon Powe, James Posey, Sam Cassell, and P.J. Brown had a huge impact tonight in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

The Celtics bench quartet combined for 35 points and 8 rebounds in 63 minutes of play tonight. For the second straight game, a group that was supposed to be inferior outplayed their Laker counterparts (23 points, 4 rebounds).

“Well, [the Celtics bench players] heard how bad they were,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “They have pride, too. You know, I just think overall they’re aggressive and that’s what we’ve stressed. But to me they’re just playing within themselves, they’re keeping the game simple. I thought in some ways our bench played better in stretches because they just kept the game simple. They didn’t try to do anything fancy.”

This minimalist style of play is epitomized by Powe. The second-year forward out of Cal does two things: rebound and dunk. He added a third asset, getting to the free throw line, and finished with 21 points.

“Our bench has been pretty much overlooked all year,” said Celtics captain Paul Pierce. “We know what the Laker bench can bring, but we feel like we have the best bench in this series, and Leon went out there and proved it tonight…He had a mismatch, they tried to put a small guy on him. We feel like we can go to the guy. He’s proven throughout the course of the year once he posts up, get him the ball. And we’ve developed confidence that he can get the job done.”