Dallas loss

[Richard Davies <davies@theshop.net>]

Well, I spent roughly 7 hours on the road tonight to see Chris Antsey
drop 26 pts. on us. At least I got to see Kenny Anderson, which is 1 out
of the 2 things I hoped to see. I guess I should have hoped to see a 3rd
thing: a win. (The 2nd being a team fighting for the playoffs.)

Observations:

Chris Antsey. He made ME antsy. It seemed like every time he touched the
ball, it was points. The Celts defense could not seem to rotate fast
enough to get him. He repeatedly caught the ball and was wide open. His
shooting was incredible. I didn’t really know who he was - now I do.

Khalid Reeves (sp?). Another Maverick the Celts seemed to have trouble
with. He was consisently driving and causing things to happen. Seemed to
have faded a bit as the game wore on, but still provided much
contribution to the Mavs’ win.

The double technical on DeClerq and Bradley. I didn’t see the whole
thing develop, and I don’t know what you guys saw on TV. When I realized
something was happening, I saw Bradley trying to throw Andrew to the
floor. It seemed to energize the Mavs a little bit. It certainly
energized the crowd. >:(

Speaking of the crowd; I would guess that between 25 - 40% were Celtics
fans. I was pleasantly surprised to hear sizable applause during the
opening lineups, and it continued throughout the game - at least until
the end.

I don’t know that ‘I love Walter.’ He had several points in the first
half. But it seemed to just set up second half disappointment. And I
have to ask: why was Ron Mercer taking a 2-pt. shot at the end of the
game, when the Celts needed 3? As he missed the shot anyway, I suppose
it’s a moot point. In general, the Celtics did not handle things very
well in the last two and a half minutes (IMHO).

I can’t tell you how disappointed I was with this loss; especially the
third qtr. I had a lot of trouble swallowing the fact that Dallas reeled
off 13 unanswered points to start the second half. If the Celts hadn’t
gone so cold, or played a little bit tougher defense, we could’ve had
this game. Is it just me, or was the Celts defense not what it was
earlier in the season?

Anyway, I just got home and it’s 1:55 AM and the time is heightening my
annoyance with the outcome of this game. I am glad I got to see them -
and very glad I got to see Kenny play. Please, please, please Pitino:
GET US A BIG MAN!

Rich
(tired and grumpy in Oklahoma)

PS: I saw an awful lot of gimmicks tonight: silly little contests,
scantily-clad dancers, stupid mascot tricks, etc. It really smacked of
small-market, minor-league attempts to keep the crowd’s attention, and
to keep them coming back (I’ve seen enough of this stuff being in the
advertising industry in tiny-market Oklahoma City.) Is there that much
of this stuff at the FleetCenter?