Originally this post was going to be about Ben Gordon as a basketball version of Charles Bukowski and I was going to raise all sorts of amazing points/questions like 'Is there a literary equivalent to being clutch?' and how Charles Bukowski would have gone for a big ol' sack grab after coming through in the clutch just as BG did:
Ultimately, though, because I've been busy and wasn't able to realize these thoughts at the apex of Gordon's relevance in Game 4, I feel a more pressing matter is the series itself. Namely, THIS SHIT NEEDS TO STOP! LET THEM BOTH ADVANCE, DAVID STERN! SOMEBODY IS GOING TO GET HURT, AND I'M NOT TALKING PHYSICALLY!
The series has been characterized by so many absurd plays and unlikely confluence of cause and effect that I don't think the triple overtime thriller game 6 was even all that surprising, but at the same time I couldn't pull myself away and at many points felt like I would vomit from anxiety. The most agonizing part about the series is that for every huge shot from Shuttlesworth, Gordon, Dr. Salmons, or Paul Pierce (I've found that Paul Pierce is one of those names you have to say in full), it seems there's been an equal amount of missed opportunities; and that as much as there series has been defined by big shots, it's also been defined, in my head, by faulty basketball. I'm talking about missed free throws, turnovers, injuries, missed lay-ups (Kirk!) poor officiating (in my opinion)...
It's as if members of both teams signed competing contracts with the devil so that each moment of brilliance is appropriately rectified by moments of humiliating failure. There was Brad Miller's blown free throws in game 5 atoned for by his late game performance in 6; Ben Gordon, and his astounding games 2 and 4, now rendered ineffectual by the hamstring injury; Paul Pierce's missed free throw in game 1 made up for by his 4th quarter take over of game 5; Rose's Kareem-esque game 1 (I really hate that comparison) and block on Rondo balanced by more than his fair share of frustrating key turnovers throughout the series; Joakim's inability to box out Kendrick Perkins followed by the most bizarre looking play of all time...
This series isn't even basketball anymore, it's something else. Like when Lebron single handedly took down Detroit in game 5 two years ago and we all witnessed His coming, there's something beyond 10 guys and a leather pumpkin here. As easy as it is to pin down the significance of Lebron's achievement, this basketball crossroads continually seems to defy my vocabulary and I often find myself thinking about how to describe the thing to a non-basketball fan or how I'm going to be describing it in 5 years. Everything that's happened with the Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics this year - the acquisition of Brad Miller and Dr. Salmons, the injury to KG, even the signing of Starbury - has somehow led us to this point in time in which we have a basketball perfect storm, for the lack of a better term. It's terrifying. The series has already been so mythologized in my head, I don't even know how to approach game 7. I'm almost expecting a blowout, because that would be the most unexpected occurrence in a series of exceedingly unexpected occurrences (does anyone even remember game 3?! I don't!), although irony's no longer cool anymore, so it'll probably be mindblowingly excruciating, go down to the wire again, and turn my brain into mush.
I'm also concerned that, like Lebron's take down of the Pistons, these playoffs are cresting too soon because whoever finally wins this series, even if they make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, will not beat Cleveland, and, believe me, a Cleveland/LA finals would not be as exciting as the hype it would generate.
