Blazer's 121, C's 96

["Cecil Wright" <cecil@hfx.andara.com>]

We basically got blown out by a team which seemed to play with a real purpose last night.  I don't know if they wanted to make a statement to this rest of the league by thrashing the team which beat Seattle at home, or to their former compadre, Kenny Anderson.  Either way, the Blazers were the hunters and the Celtics were the prey.

 

Portland started the game by featuring the passing skills of Arvydas Sabonis who assisted on 4 easy Blazer buckets.  In fact, with the exception of a Stoudamire jumper which made the score 12-7 Portland, the Blazers didn't have to hit a jump shot.  They feasted on the C's lethargic play and burned them inside for 9 easy layups and 2 dunks en route to a 30-25 lead at the end of the first quarter.  Conversely, Boston had 5 layups and no dunks.  But the story of the quarter was Sabonis, whose layup gave them their largest lead at 28-20 with 2:35 remaining. 

If you consider how easy the Portland offense flowed, it was surprising that we were only down 5 at the end, and it could have been less than that if the officials didn't go blind on one key play.  With 55 seconds left in the quarter Stoudamire was doubled by Mercer and Walter.  His pass to Jermaine O'Neal was tipped away by Kenny.  He and the 6"11 O'Neal hustled for the loose ball before O'Neal just plain shouldered Anderson out of bounds.  Not only did they swallow the whistles, but O'Neal slammed it home as a result of regaining the possession.  The Blazers shot a sizzling 59% in the quarter, led by Brian Grant's 8, while the C's were right there at 56%, led by Kenny's 7, and Mercer and DQ with 6 each.

 

Mercer got hot in the 2nd qtr hitting 6 of the first Celtic 8 pts on 2 jumpers and a gorgeous up and under layup which gave us the last lead of the evening at 33-32.  We upped the defensive pressure when former Salem High star Rick Brunson subbed in but the Blazers shrewdly continued moving the ball for easy looks.  They tore off 11 straight pts with Walt Willams netting 7, taking a 10 pt lead at 43-33 midway through.  The C's hit that wall which Dorine has mentioned in this qtr as they fired up awkward shot attempts with Walter and Knight the biggest culprits.  Sabonis, who had been resting thus far, re-entered with 4:10 remaining and immediately made his presence felt with a rolling hook shot.  To our credit, we didn't give in and cut the lead to 8 on a Toine bucket with 1:40 left at 49-41.  On the next possession, we played solid defence, however, with the shot clock about to expire, Rasheed Wallace fired in desperation from the corner, and BANKED IT OFF THE GLASS extending the lead to 11, when we should have had a chance to cut it to 6. (SIGH)  One particularly telling play, Antoine led a 3 on 2 with Anderson and Mercer.  He elected to force it right at Sabonis instead of passing to either man, and Kenny was wide open BTW, blowing the layup attempt in the process.  Not a good example of team leadership especially since he had been playing so poorly to this point, and Ron and Kenny had kept us in it.  The half ended with Portland firmly in control, 54-41.  They only scored 24 pts in the 2nd, but we responded with a mere 16.

 

At halftime, UPN-38 ran a very moving piece on "Bucky" Lew, a black player from Lowell, who faced despicable treatment in Massachusetts during the early part of the century.  A team from Natick refused to play against his team choosing to stand motionless on the floor instead.  Good bit of journalism for which the station should be congratulated.  There is a movement to have Buckey's name included in the basketball Hall of Fame for being acknowledged as the first black player.

 

The Blazers so far had killed us inside, scoring 36 pts in the paint to our 16, and having shot 54% from the field to our 45%.  They also held a rebounding advantage, 21-10.

 

The 3rd qtr began with Toine being intimidated into a missed layup by the very presence of Sabonis.  Portand went on a 26-10 run led by Stacey Augmon and Rasheed Wallace making it 70-51 before long.  Even when the Blazer offense made bad decisions, the loose ball would end up in their hands and they cashed in someone's mistake.  They traded hoops until the qtr ended at 85-66.  As good as the Blazers had shot in the 1st half, they were better in the 3rd shooting 64% to our 40%.

 

Mercer continued to have the hot hand in the 4th but were not gaining any ground matching basket for basket.  We scored 28 pts, they had 34.  Portland scored 67 second half points to our 55.  Final score 121-96.

 

Starters:     C's - Anderson, Mercer, Minor, Walker and DeClercq

                  B's - Stoudamire, Augmon, Wallace, Grant and Sabonis

 

Mercer: Best game of his career.  Consistently knocked down the jumper and dazzled with a couple of baseline drives too.  The thing that is impressing me lately is his willingness to dig in defensively.  He may not yet have the defensive savvy of a Bowen, but he's apparently taking note of how hard Bruce works at it.  Scored 28 pts on 11/19 shooting, was a perfect 6/6 from the line in 40 minutes.  If they are hitting the wall, Ron broke through like Superman.

 

Walker: I think Toine is in trouble for some reason.  His overall game is going toward Antarctica real fast.  His decisions are poor.  I'm wondering if there is something personal which is having this effect on his recent play?  He just seems to be preoccupied or something.  He's going to need to turn things around in order to justify the large contract which Falk will no doubt demand.  He tried to force his game tonight and was totally uneffective.  He scored 17 pts on 7/19 shooting including 1/2 from way out, was 2/6 from the line and had only 5 boards.  Had 4 blocked shots and 3 turnovers in 32 minutes.  His critics will line him up for the shooting gallery.

 

Anderson: Did a good job of controlling the flow, especially early in the game and did a fine job on Stoudamire defensively.  Still not in game shape yet as he called for a sub a few times, seemingly after not a real extended length of time.  Every Celtic was looking for him to receive the outlet pass after each rebound save for Toine, maybe.  Scored 14 pts on 5/9 shooting, hit his only 3, was 3/3 from the line, had 8 assists and only 1 turnover in 28 minutes.  

 

DQ: The normal Andrew game.  Scored 10 pts as he shot 5/8 from inside, with 4 boards, a steal and a turnover in 21 minutes.  There's absolutely no way we can afford to lose him.  He is essentially the only big man we have on the current roster who is willing to pay the price for success.  

 

Minor: Got to start again and scored 6 pts on 3/9 shooting with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 turnover in 28 minutes.  Changed his mind in mid-air and was again compared to Billups by guess who.

 

McCarty: Should have stayed home tonight cuz he just plain couldn't do anything on the offensive end.  He threw up 2 airballs in 5 attempts and scored his only points on 2 free throws.  He had 3 assists and 3 steals as well as 2 boards, 2 turnovers and 1 block in 22 minutes.                   

 

Edney: Good performance by Tyus in relief of Anderson as he scored 11 pts on 4/5 shooting including his only 3 and his 2 free throws.  Had an assist, 2 boards, 1 steal and a turnover in 14 minutes.

 

Knight: Travis has got to step up soon or else regardless of his sporadic good efforts, the C's faithful will demand that something be done for future hope.  He couldn't throw it in the ocean last night if he was aboard the Titanic.  Seems to be rushing the shot, afraid that it might be blocked, I think.  Had 2 pts as he shot 1/5 with 3 boards, 2 blocks and a turnover in 13 minutes.

 

Jones: Dontae got 10 minutes and had 2 pts on 1/3 shooting with an assist and a turnover.  Oh yeah, and a TECHNICAL for arguing a phantom foul supposedly.  Not a way to endear yourself after just coming off of I.R.  They keep talking about his good release and smooth stroke.  I hope we get to see it soon.

 

Ellison: Pervis is not quite ready for service.  3 pts, 2 boards, both offensive, 1 steal and a block in 9 minutes.  Please get in shape fast Perv.

 

Opposing players of note:

 

Sabonis: It's a real shame that we didn't get to see him play at the peak of his career because what we are able to see at this stage is enough to say WOW!  He can pass like very few men his size. (Jabbar, Walton)  But he can score as well.  He uses his bulk inside which offsets his lack of mobility, and I was impressed with how the other Blazers looked for him in their half-cout sets.  Scored 23 pts on 9/15 shooting, hit 5/6 from the line, had 11 boards, 8 assists, 2 blocks and 3 turnovers in 33 minutes.  Rested for most of the 2nd qtr after an incredible 1st.

 

Stoudamire: Had a decent game vs Kenny but not anything special.  Seemed to enjoy the fact that he doesn't have to score so much in order to win.  Did score 17 pts on 5/16 shooting, was 7/7 from the line with 9 assists, 7 boards, 3 steals and 3 turnovers in 31 minutes.

 

Augmon: For someone who is widely viewed as a defensive specialist, he put his offense at the forefront in this game.  Scored 16 on an assortment of dunks and layups on 8/16 from the field with 4 boards, a steal, an assist and a turnover in 39 minutes.

 

Wallace: Didn't do a damn thing for almost the entire 1st half, until the desperation heave which resulted in a 3.  Really looked for his shot in the 2nd half totalling 14 pts on 6/9 shooting to go along with 10 boards, 6 assists, 2 turnovers and a block in 31 minutes.  A good young talent.

 

Grant: Thanks mainly to Sabonis' passing, Grant scored 14 pts on 7/10 shooting all on the inside.

 

Williams:  10 pts in 21 minutes.  Shot 4/6 including 2/4 from 3 pt land.  A quality role player who gets his production.  Also had 4 assists beside his 4 turnovers.

 

O'Neal: Shot 5/6 for 10 pts and 6 boards and a steal in 18 minutes.

 

Brunson: The pride of Salem High played 21 minutes, scoring 9 pts on 3/8 shooting including 1/2 from downtown, 2/3 from the line and 2 assists.

 

Coaching: Pitino must be pulling hair out of that well-coiffed skull of his whenhe see Toine playing so poorly.  When Anderson is on the floor and still Toine doesn't give it to him on the break, well, IMO, that's cause for real concern.  They got Anderson to be the floor general, but he's got to have the rock in his hands to do that job.  Rick needs to deliver this message to his young forward because if he's mentioned it already, Walker forgot about it last night.

 

Mike Dunleavy's only worry last night was that there was sufficient rest available for big Arvydas.   Had to be pleased at the scoring balance as 7 Blazers had double figures and Brunson had 9.  This is a team that could knock off some teams in the west.

 

C's next game is Wednesday evening when they host the Sacramento Kings.

 

Cecil