Blood, Sweat & Tears

The Celtics went to Atlanta and got their asses kicked twice in Philips Arena. Sure, the shot clocks don't work and they use an air horn when the shot clock runs out but that didn't deter the Hawks one bit. The Celtics were outplayed, outhustled and they just went stagnant for quarters at a time. As it would be expected, the games got out of hand and players continued to jaw at one another. The catalyst behind most of these dust ups is Al Horford.

Al Horford was taunting Paul Pierce when he was on the ground and he was standing over him. Paul then got up and walked over to the Hawks bench and threw up what looked like a gang sign. All of us at home here in Boston knew what he did and why. The rest of the country? Not so much.

In Boston, much like other cities, we have our own culture. Things that we do in Boston include wearing Adidas, driving like assholes, thinking that we're the center of the universe and we should win everything and throwing threes. As far back as I can remember, people have been throwing threes in Boston.Sometimes it's up or down but it's always with your right hand and your top three fingers while your thumb and pinky are together (like Headband P is doing above in this two year old picture).

The three fingers represent whatever three things you want them to individually but the sign itself represents the city of Boston. There are places you go in the city where if you don't dap with three fingers they don't let you through there. My boy BX Representer from AllHipHop.com once told me that he couldn't even buy a bag of chip from a local store because he didn't know the three finger dap.

Free used to throw threes up during commercial breaks on "106 & Park". Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce have been throwing it up since 1999! One time back when Patrick Ewing was injured on the bench near the tail end of his career he was being interviewed and at the end he said "I'd like to say "Hi" to all my family back home in Boston!" "Hi Ma!" He threw the three in the camera. I guess I'm the only one who remembers that, huh?

Quick! Is she a Bostonian or a Blood? Quick! (Rest of the country, say "Hi" to Gurlfite, truly one of Boston's finest)

Dave Stern says that it's a "menacing gesture" and he doesn't believe that the sign that the entire Celtics team as well the majority of the inner city dwellers of the Metro Boston area threw up has existed since the late 70's. Whatever, onto the game:

The TD Banknorth Garden has become "The Jungle" once again. "The Jungle" was created during the surprise first-ever playoff run of the Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce back in 2002. Ever since, the place has been rockin' during big games. This game qualified, it had it all: drama, hostility, tension, and a must-win situation for both teams. The ball went up and the Celtics and Hawks settled into Game 5.

The game started out close and Perk chucked his mask less than two minutes in (neither he or Marvin Williams were suspended for leaving the bench during the incident in the previous contest). He ended up getting two early fouls and had to grab some pine. Leon Powe (10 pts 7 rebs) stepped on an started producing immediately. He took two key charges, grabbed some offensive boards and scored. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo all got out the hot starts but the C's didn't start to pull away until the 1st quarter was about to end.

When the Big Three had to sit, Sam Cassell (13 pts on 6-8 shooting), James Posey (6 pts 5 rebs) and Glen "Big Baby" Davis all stepped up and made big plays. Tony Allen was noticeably rusty from being out of the rotation. The Celtics stayed ahead for the entire first half and were just cruising along until some shit jumped off with 57 seconds left in the half.

Al Horford horsecollared Kevin Garnett from behind as he went to the hoop and got called for a flagrant foul. At the time the lead was 10 but the pissed off Celtics pushed the lead to 58-43 at the half.

The Atlanta Hawks went on a run to start the second half but it was soon squelched by the Celtics as they clamped down on D. Kevin Garnett anchored the defense and Rajon Rondo initiated the offense. When it was all said and done, the Celtics end up blowing out the Atlanta Hawks 110-85.

Paul Pierce led the the team (22 pts, 7 rebs, 6 ast) along with Kevin Garnett (20 pts, 5 rebs, 7 ast & 3 blk) while Ray Allen mopped up (19 pts 5-8 3pt). Rajon Rondo (12 pts, 7 ast, 4 rebs) dominated at both ends of the court. Game 6 is in Atlanta @ 8:00 pm and the Celtics take a 3-2 lead in the series hoping to put them away for good.

*Throws threes at my readers in a "menacing fashion"*



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