Celts WIN!: Boston 107-Toronto 103

[wfcooper@tiac.com (Bill Cooper)]

	The Celtics avoided setting a new franchise mark for
consecutive losse, this afternoon in Toronto.  The Celts handled the
Raptors pretty easily in the first half, but the 4 starters seemed to
be running out of gas in the second half.  After scoring 61 points in
the first, the C's could manage only 16 (with Conlon scoring 8) in the
3rd quarter and 30 (Day 14 plus 6 as the Raptors fouled intentionally
in the final moments) in the 4th.
	Walt Williams was hitting from outside early as the Raptors
jumped out to an 8-2 lead.  The Celts were running and spreading the
floor in half court and came back with a 12-4 run to take the lead at
14-12.  The teams traded baskets through the 3:00 minutes mark in the
quarter, when Walker hit a jumper to give the Celts a lead at 28-26.
The Celts led the entire game form that point on.  They finished the
quarter with a 8-2 run to take a 34-28 lead heading into the second
quarter.
	The Raptors had Shawn Respert in to guard Todd Day at the
outset of the 2nd period, and Day took advantage to score the first 2
hoops of the period.    The Celts started out the quarter with a 12-4
run to jump out to a 14 point lead (46-32).  Walker went to a very
large lineup (Popeye Jones, Oliver Miller and Marcus Camby all in at
once), and the Celts were forced to some mismatches along the front
line.  Miller backed Eric Williams down into the paint for a couple of
easy baskets.  The Raptors couldn't stop the Celts on the other end as
the C's were executing their offense superbly.    Neither team was
able to score for the last 2 minutes of the half, but the Celts led
61-48.
	Szabo was unable to start the 2nd half, due to a sudden
illness.  Conlon started the 2nd half in his place.  Both offenses
started very slowly in the third quarter, but the Raptors came out of
the fog first and cut the Celts lead to 67-60.  The Celts got a little
bit of energy and scored 6 straight to push the lead back out to 13
(73-60).   The Raptors outscored the C's 8-2 over the last 1:30 of the
quarter to cut the lead to 5, at 77-72.  As mentioned above the Celts
could only score 16 in the period. =20
	Although the Celts struggled in the 4th period, they
benefitted from some strong play form Todd Day, who scored 11 of the
Celts first 15 and helped the Celts to a 12 point lead with 3:35 to go
in the game (96-84).   Camby fell over  Walker, sprained his ankle,
and had to leave the game.  The Raptors score 10 unanswered points
(including 4 ponts on one play as the C's failed to block out after a
missed free throw), to cut the lead to 2, with 1:15 left.  Day came
through again with a 6 foot jumper along the baseline, over two of the
Raptors.  After Stoudamire missed a three pointer, the Raptors fouled
Day who hit a free throw, to put the Celts up by 5 (99-94) with 39
second left.  Although the Raptors hit a couple of threes, they
couldn't get close enough as the Celts hit their free throws down the
stretch.  C's win 107-103.
	For the first time in a long while, the Celts shot better than
their opponents, .539 to .506.  They also got to the free throw line
28 times to the Raptors 12 (a lot of  that was in the minute or so).
The Celts had an edge in turnovers 18-13, but the Raptors got more
offensive boards 11-8 (not bad considering that  the Raptors had the 2
tallest players on the court fo rthe whole game, and some time the 3
tallest).  The C's got assists on 33 of their 41 baskets.

Lineups- Celts-Wesley, Fox, Williams, Walker, Szabo
                 Raptors- Stoudamire, Christie, Williams, Jones,Miller
=20
Players- Wesley- David continues to look very fatigued, as he played
the entire game.  He was hitting some shots in the first half, but
everything was falling short in the second.  He kept Stoudamire from
going to the basket, but with the aid of a lot of trapping from his
teammates.  Stoudamire took advantage by hitting his guys for 17
assists.  Wesley had 14 points, 3 boards, 7 assists and a steal in
(gulp) 48 minutes.

Walker-Pretty under control game for Antoine.  Shot 9-16 from the
field, for 21 points, 10 boards, 6 assists and 3 steals.    He got a
big steal late in the game, and then held the ball so that the Raptors
would have to foul him.  Carr called him over and chided him for not
passing to Wesley.  Then Antoine stepped up to the line and hit both
throws without catching  rim on either one.  Some nice passing in the
game also.  He continues the trend of hanging out by the three point
line more and more.

Williams-  Bounced back after his problems against Cleveland.   Scored
20 points on 7-13 shooting, had 7 boards and 3 assists.  He had some
problems with Walt Williams form the outside early in the game, and
also got abused a little by the Toronto big guys.

=46ox- Didn't shoot the ball much (5-9).  He scored 13,  had 4 boards
and ten assists (the assist numbers from this game are more a
reflection of the Celts motion offense than any especially good
passing).  Played all but one minute in the game.

Day- scored 27 points in 28 minutes.  Surprisingly he didn't have it
going from three point range (1-7).  He moved in and got some good
shots closer to the basket.  Hit 10-20, and also had 5 boards, 3
assists and 4 steals.

Conlon- After Szabo went out of the game, Marty started the second
half, and played the entire third quarter (and none of the 4th).
Scored 12 points (5-7),  5 boards, 4 assists and 2 steals in 24
minutes.  Probably did the best job of taking advantage of the Raptors
oversized front line with some drives to the basket.

Szabo- played just 4 minutes, and went out of the game.

Coaching- M.L reportedly gave the Celts the day off yesterday, after
the debacle in Cleveland.   They responded with a solid first half,
but it wasn't nearly enough as the signs of fatigue were all over in
the second half.  As tired as the Celtics looked, it's hard to believe
that they'll win too many more games this year.
	The Celtics did look vastly better in the first half, when
they pretty much forgot about posting up, spread the floor and went
with the passing game.  It's certainly the most effective way for them
to play, and it's hard to understand why they don't play that way all
the time.

The Celts record is now 12 (!)-45.  They play again tomorrow night in
Indiana.

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.com=20