Cody's Blog

Being a bench player can be a difficult job in the NBA. Many times you don’t get into games, and if you do, you are merely giving the starters a rest and end up back on the bench in just a few minutes. That was not the story for the Celtics bench in game 4 of the NBA Finals. The C’s bench scored 21 of Boston’s 36 points, with Glen “Big Baby” Davis putting up 9 of his 18 total points in the final stanza. Another major contributor was back up point guard Nate Robinson, who scored 6 of his 12 points in the final quarter. After battling back to cut the game two  three points at 45-42 in favor of the Lakers at the half, Boston came out in the second half with a new found energy, with most of it being provided by backups Rasheed Wallace (3 points), Glen Davis (18 points), Tony Allen (3 points, and Nate Robinson (12 points), even to the point where Rasheed Wallace picked up a technical for overzealous celebration, and Robinson grabbed one for taunting the much taller LaMar Odom and getting in his grill. The defense by the Celtics was extremely sound, as they held the Lakers to just 89 points, and only allowed three Lakers to barely get in double figures, as Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol held their end of the bargain, but Odom barely eked out  10 points. The bench was the reason that the Celtics won the game, and the C’s now move to 14-2 this postseason when holding an opponent under 100 total points. (Photos: Glen Davis and Nate Robinson react after stifling the Lakers in the fourth quarter. Photos courtesy of Jim Rogash and Ronald Martinez, both of Getty Images)