Gutsy Call Allows 76ers to Hold On

Rarely in crucial situations with the game on the line and time running out does an official make a call that can change all of that.  In last nights game two meeting between the 76ers and Celtics that exact scenario played out with ten seconds left to play. 

The moving screen Kevin Garnett set on Sixers guard Andre Iguodala for teammate Ray Allen in the final seconds of game two served as early buzz following a Sixers win and one that evened the series 1-1.  Everyone has seen the replay and it is clear that the official (Michael Smith) made the correct call.  A call that clearly allowed the Sixers to hold their lead late after they first let it slip away yet again in the fourth quarter.

This is indeed a rarity in pro sports.  Officials tend stay away from making a call that could change the outcome of a game, much less one in the playoffs.  With it being the correct call the attention should not be on the official, but on Sixers players and Head Coach Doug Collins.  Throughout games one and two it appeared that Collins had been doing a good job working the refs.  He is a veteran head coach who knows when to grind on the officials.  After the moving screen was called on Garnett,  Chris Webber who was calling the game for TNT shedded light on some of Collins' interactions with the referees.  Webber let it be known that Collins had been arguing that Garnett had been setting illegal screens throughout both meetings.  It seems that Collins' persistence paid off and gave the official confidence to make the right call in crunch time. 

In a way the Sixers and Coach Collins earned this call.  Their hard play on the road garnered the respect they needed to get an obvious offensive foul call.  Yeah, we want the players to decide the outcome of games and in this case it seems that Philadelphia's players did. 

Now the real question lies in how Garnett will bounce back from his giant mishap.

The answer is simple.  Kevin Garnett is a perennial All-Star and future Hall-of-Famer.  He will shake this and respond like the veteran leader he is in game three.  As a team the Celtics can overcome this.  They have overcome plenty of obstacles already this season, (injuries, suspensions, age).  They will surely move forward and win the series....(in six).