Celts Upend Magic:Boston 98-Orlando 88

[bcooper@tiac.net (Bill Cooper)]

	Both of these teams had played and lost on the road last
night.  Either the Celts recovered quicker because they're younger, or
because they didn't really play at all on Tuesday night, or, in the
words of Hubie Brown, they received 3 toungue-lashings from R. Pitino,
in the space of 24 hours.  Whatever reason, by the 4th quarter there
was a clear difference in the energy level that the 2 teams displayed
(in the C's favor).  Pitino shook up the starting lineup, starting
Minor and Knight, in place of Mercer and McCarty.

	Early on, though, the 2 clubs seemed very even.  Walker, as
has been his custom recently, got off to a fast start, hitting a
couple of jumpers.  Midway through the period, the game was tied at
15-15.  The score was tied at 26-26 as the period was ending, when
Greg minor hit the first of the C's 3 buzzer beaters in the game to
put the Celts up 28-26.

	After the decent offensive start in the first quarter, the
pace slowed noticeably in the 2nd quarter.  The Celts were having real
trouble holding on to the ball (they had 11 turnovers, halfway through
the 2nd period).  The Heat had taken a 39-36 lead with 3:20 togo in
the game, when Dana Barros led the C's on a 7-0 run to take a 5 point
lead.  With the score at 43-40, the Celts had the ball at midcourt
with less than 2.0 seconds to go.  Dana faked like he would go into
the backcourt to receive the pass, and then reversed direction and
headed for the C's basket.  Jan Tabak threw a hook pass about 30 feet,
that passes over the heads of 2 Magic players, and then hit Dana in
stride as he headed toward the basket for a difficult but makeable
driving lay-up.  Dana made the shot  to make the score 45-40 heading
into the half.

	Pitino's revised starting lineup really paid dividends at the
start of the second, as Travis Knight contributed 6 points as the C's
went on an 12-7 run to take the first double-digit game of the
quarter.    Chuck Daley called a timeout and reminded his club, that
they were the ones fighting for a playoff spot and the Celts were
supposed to be playing out the string.  The Heat came out with an 9-0
run to pull to within a point at 59-58 with about 3:00 to go in the
third period.    The Magic really upped their defensive pressure, and
choked off the Celtics offensive flow.  The Celts benefited from a
last second shot again, ad Dana drove the lane, and hit Edney for an
18 foot jumper in the corner.  Tyus scored the last 2 Celtic baskets
to put the Celts up 65-60 going into the last quarter.

	The Celts started the 4th with the lineup of Edney, Minor,
Hanson, McCarty and Tabak.  Pitino put on the press, and for the first
time in quite a while it clearly upset an opponent.  The Magic turned
over the ball on their first 4 possessions of the quarter, as the
Celts scored 7 unanswered points to take a 12 point lead 72-60.  The
Celts pushed the lead up to 76-71, and assumed control of the game.
the score oscillated back and forth in the 13-15 point range for most
of the period.   The Magic never really threatened (they got the score
down to 96-88 with a couple of seconds to go) as the final score was
98-88.

	A pretty even game in most respects.  The Celts shot a little
better than the Magic, hitting at a .481 clip, compared to the Magic's
mark of .459.  The Heat had a big edge in free throws taken, but
really didn't take advantage as they hit only 68%.  The Celts had 15
turnovers 9only 2 in the second half) while the Heat had 18.  The Heat
compensated with offensive rebounds 13-9. 

Lineups 
Celts: Barros, Minor, Walker, Knight, DeClercq
Magic: Harper, Anderson, Outlaw, Grant, Schayes

Players:
Walker: Once again Walker got off to a fast start, but seemed to lose
his way as the game went on.  Toine had 12 points in the first
quarter, but ended the game with just 18.  He shot 7-17 and had 15
boards, 3 steals and 4 turnovers.  Toine was 3-6 on threes.

Barros: Nice game for Dana.  He scored 17 (4-10, 8-8 from the ft
line).  He had 10 assists, 5 boards and 2 assists in the game.  The
C's pint guards had a huge edge in this game, with 26 points and 13
assists compared to the Magic's duo (Harper and Price) who scored 3
points (1-11) and had 6 assists and 7 turnovers.  I don't think it
would be much of an exaggeration to say that Dana and Tyus really
turned the game for the C's

Knight: Travis has been playing better recently, with more aggression
and it showed tonight.  He only played for 16 minutes, as he picked up
5 fouls, but he hit on 5-10 shots, scored 10 points and had 6 boards.

DeClercq: Also had limited minutes with just 19.  He had 2 points, 7
boards and 2 blocks.

Minor: got rewarded for his recent strong play with 33 minutes.  he
shot 5-10, had 10 points, 4 boards and 4 assists.  Played a big role
in the C'e run that won the game for them at the start of the 4th.

Mercer: seemed to have a hard time getting the focus of the offense
coming off the bench.  He shot 5-12, and scored 10 points in 27
minutes.

McCarty: Shot 5-12, including 1-5 on threes.  He got the ball at the
arc a lot with the clock running down and had to take the shots.

Edney: only played for 12 minutes, but had a big impact on the game.
He scored 9, on 3-4 shooting, and had 3 assists.  He hit a couple of
jumpers, and played a role in harassing the Magic into those 4
turnovers at the start of the 4th.  He continues to display his
improved jump shot, but missed a pull-up jump shot from the foul line
(which, if you think about it, is the shot he really needs).  Still
Tyus has made a convincing case for a job next year.

Tabak: Another strong game for Jan.  He played 25 minutes, and scored
9 points, had 8 boards and 4 assists.  He is much stronger and bulkier
than Knight or DeClercq, and can stand up to opposing bit men.  It was
a nice sign that the Cel;ts were able to press with him on the floor.

Hanson: Toine's caddy.  I don't think that he has played a minute
other than in relief of the Walker since he came to the team.  

Coaching: Despite the revised starting lineup, the Celts three centers
still only played for 60 minutes in total (which means that 2 of them
were on the court together for just 12 minutes).  Since The Magic
really play 2 power forwards in their starting lineup, it's hard to
say if this will be a long term change or not.  DeClercq and Knight
have demonstrated that they can play well together, and it certainly
won't hurt Walker to play some at the small forward.

The C's are now 32-41.  They play Friday in Detroit.

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.com