Celtics avoid choking by playing smart

I'm tired, so here's one thought about tonight's Pistons/Celtics game:

The Celtics were in great position to pull off a major choke job tonight. They were up 16 at one point in the third quarter, then slowly squandered that lead until they were clinging to a tenuous three-point lead with under a minute to go.

When you're facing a team that has Chauncey Billups and Rasheed Wallace, and they've been on a major run for the past twelve or so minutes, this is not a good place to be.

After a two missed shots by Billups (Mr. Big Shot, my foot) and a missed jumper by Garnett, Rodney Stuckey was racing up the court with 16 seconds left and Detroit in decent position to force overtime with a 3-pointer.

Instead, Rajon Rondo fouls Stuckey. Genius! Stuckey hits both free throws, and now the Celtics need to only hit their free throws and the game is theirs.

Allen goes two for two, Rondo again fouls Stuckey, who hits one of two. Then Garnett hits two with three seconds left.

Game over.

Simple math.

More teams need to stop letting the opposing team's hero bury a 3-point dagger in their hearts and instead force them to go to the free throw line restricted to only getting two points.