To be fair, a lot of credit goes to Rondo and Pierce for assisting him on those buckets. But Bass hit jumper after jumper and he slammed home every basket in the paint, taking no chances with the Sixers' defenders. He also defended well and pulled down 6 rebounds.
Bass played 37 minutes tonight after averaging less than 25 in these playoffs. This helped the Celtics in so many ways, even beyond the added offense. For one thing, it limited Ryan Hollins' minutes; he played only 8 after 10, 14, 16, and 15 in Games 1-4. Hollins has been lukewarm to terrible throughout this series and there is no reason he should be playing 15 with Bass playing less than 25.
In any case, big win for the C's. Credit also to Stiemsma (10 points in 14 minutes), Rondo (13 pts / 14 asts), Truth (39 solid minutes on both sides of the ball) and KG (20 pts and a +17).
The problem now becomes the 2-guard spot with Bradley recuperating. Bradley is arguably the second most important Celtic after Garnett (his adjusted plus-minus, for the entire season but especially these playoffs, is second only to Garnett and no one else is close) and they badly miss his defense on the perimeter. Ray Allen has looked simply awful -- clearly hindered by injury -- and looked by far the weakest member of the starting lineup tonight. That shoulder injury to Bradley could spell trouble for the C's, if not in this series than the next one.
A close-out on Wednesday would be huge, but I have learned not to expect much when the Celtics have a series lead. Hopefully they can get it done this time in Philly.
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