In February, when the Celtics coaxed P.J. Brown out of domestic life in
Louisiana, where he was being a dutiful dad, shuttling his kids to school
and sporting events and helping them with homework, they knew he'd provide
rebounding, defense, leadership, and veteran savvy. But hitting crucial
crunch-time shots in the playoffs? That's wasn't part of the deal
- until yesterday.
With the Cavaliers having closed within a point of the Celtics late in
the fourth quarter and the TD Banknorth Garden crowd holding its breath,
Brown stepped up and drilled a 20-foot jumper with 1:21 left that
gave Boston some breathing room (91-88) en route to a 97-92 victory
in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The 15-year veteran forward came off the bench and provided an unexpected
boost in 20 minutes, shooting 4 for 4 and finishing with 10 points
(all in the second half), 6 rebounds, and five difference-making plays
in the fourth quarter
He's been huge for us all year," said Kevin Garnett. "He's what we need
in certain situations. He's been in every facet of it and I feel like
his shot was probably one of, if not the biggest, shot of the game."
"When I signed I thought I could help the team. I thought I could contribute
, defensively, offensively. More defense and rebounding. That's what my
career has been built on," said Brown,
"That's my bread and butter, and I try to do a good job of that when
the coach puts me out there," said Brown. "As far as the shot, I definitely
was not brought here to shoot last-second shots. That was just a nature
thing. I felt good, man, the ball came to me. Eddie [House] threw me a nice
little pass. I felt in rhythm and I just took the shot."
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The shot was the most notable of Brown's fourth-quarter plays, but his best
came with less than 30 seconds to play, when James (45 points) drove to
the basket looking to trim the lead to a point again and Brown, who had five
fouls, stepped up and forced James into an airball.
"I'm just trying to slide my feet, man. Move them slow feet because LeBron
was coming hard," said Brown. "He's a powerful player and he explodes to the
goal when he drives, and I was just making sure that I didn't get a
ticky-tack foul. I didn't want to send him to the line, and it turned out
to be a good play."-------看到P.J這波防守，令人拍手叫好
"Paul had a big game, obviously, but the guy that came off the bench and
really contributed for them was P.J. Brown," said Cleveland coach Mike Brown.
"P.J. got a big offensive rebound and putback late and his jump shot late
in the game was a big shot."
"Talking to Paul and Ray. Them saying, 'We think you can help us. We think
you can make our bench stronger.' That means a lot coming from two great
players like that on a great team," said Brown. "That made a difference
for me. [Assistant coach] Clifford Ray also. Me and Cliff go way back.
He had been in my ear the whole year about coming here. It all felt right.
It seemed like this was the right place for me and this is where I decided
to come."
The Celtics wouldn't have gotten past the Cavaliers if he hadn't.
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