Clets Handle Wizards: Boston 108-Washington 87

[wfcooper@tiac.net (Bill Cooper)]

	Wasn't this the way the whole season was supposed to go?  The
Celts took on a more experienced (older) team, and pressed, ran and
hustled them right out of the building.  The Celts got balanced
scoring, a lot of steals and turnovers, and a lot of nice crisp
offense.

	The Wizards got off to a quick start in the game, and took an
8-3 lead.  The Celts got a nice contribution from Kenny Anderson and
came back to take the lead with a 6-0 run.  Except for some poor shot
selection by Ron Mercer the C's offense was pretty solid, as they were
able to trade baskets with the Wiz pretty effectively.  The Wiz were
leading 23-22 with 2 minutes to go, when Barros hit a couple of nice
shots including a 3 off the dribble to give the C's a 28-26 lead.

	The Celts press looked to be getting some traction against the
Wiz bench as they took a 34-28 lead.  The C's lost some intensity for
a few trips down the court (maybe they were trying to listen in on
Russ: he was siting in with Tommy and Mike), as the Wizards came back
to tie the game at 34-34.  Walker came back into the game and helped
the Celts go up 7, 43-41.  The 2 clubs traded baskets through the end
of the half.  Mercer got very hot with the J as the half closed (he
scored 6 straight on some very tough shots), as the Celts took a 58-52
lead into the half.

	The Wizards made a last stand in the opening moments of the
3rd as they scored a quick 7 points.  Pitino called a quick timeout to
rally the troops and the Celts responded.  From that point in the
game, through the 2:30 mark in the 4th (when the game really
degenerated into garbage time), the C's outscored the Wiz 50-22.  The
Celts started out with a 9-0 run to take back the lead.  The press
began to take advantage of the rapidly tiring Wizards, who were unable
to make any kind of shot for most of the 3rd period.  The Celts got
some more strong play from Barros, as they ended the period with a
10-3 run to push the lead up to a game high 12, 82-70.

	More good stuff to start the 4th.  The Wizard's jump shots
were all falling short and the Celts started off the quarter with a
6-0 run (88-70).  The Celts cruised for the rest of the half, as the
Wizards threw in the towel.   The Celts peaked off a Greg Minor jumper
as the Celts took a 108-81 lead with 2:30 to go.  The Wizards padded
the score with some meaningless late baskets, leading to a 108-87
final.

	The Celts caused 22 Wiz turnovers (they committed 14
themselves)  Very nice to see, a negative turnover differential was a
big problem during the Celt's slump.  They also has a 19-14 advantage
in offensive rebounds which led to a big advantage in shots taken:
96-79.  If you combine that with a .490-.405 advantage in field goal
percentage you get a very easy win. 

Lineups:
Celts: Anderson, Mercer, Pierce, Walker, Potapenko
Wizards: Strickland, Richmond, Howard, Thorpe, Davis

Players:
Pierce: Very nice game for Pierce as he continues too demonstrate a
diversifying offensive game.  He took 4 three's (made 2), but also
went 7-9 inside the arc, as he drove and cut to the basket.  He also
had 8 boards and 3 assists.  He was matched up against Howard for much
of the game, and did a pretty solid job.  Howard was 6-16 in the game.

Barros: Dana came out of his shooting slump in a nice way.  He shot
6-9 for 14 points and 5 assists in 22 minutes.  Definitely had the old
confidence in his shot (how did he lose it?).

Walker: I was a little disappointed that Toine didn't face up and
drive to the basket a little more as he was guarded for much of the
game by Thorpe and Howard, whom you would think he could take off the
dribble easily.  But he did all the other things that the Celts need
from him.  Had 15 points on 6-15 shooting, and 10 boards in 34
minutes.

Mercer:  I thought Ron pressed a little and took some unnecessarily
difficult shots.  He did a great job in the press with 5 steals, and
ended up with 17 points and 5 boards in 36 minutes.  He shot just 8-22
though.  He seemed to be moving latterly on most of his jump shots.

Anderson: showed no ill effects from the hiatus.  Had 14 points, but
just 2 assists.  I thought he did a better job of running the team
than the assist number would indicate.  Again I though he did a decent
job in the press.

Battie: after a number of off games, Tony came back and played solidly
tonight.  Had 8 points (4-8), 7 boards and 2 steals in 27 minutes.
Very active, especially on the offensive boards.

Potapenko:  I thought that we saw the down side of V.P.'s game
tonight.  Nothing wrong with his stats, as he scored 4, had 6 boards
and 3 assists in just 17 minutes.  Potapenko just didn't fit in this
game.  The rest of his teammates were playing aggressive defense, and
he was sitting back in the paint blocking out his man when the shot
went up.  Sure, his man didn't get any offensive rebounds, but Otis
Thorpe was cleaning up whenever Potapenko was in the game.  And what
good does Vitaly's low post D do against a player like Davis?

Minor:  Another solid game from Greg.  7 points, 4 boards and 3
assists in 24 minutes.  And he hit another 3.

McCarty:  I don't think he's really playing well (0-1, 2 boards and 4
fouls in 10 minutes).  But he does seem to give the Celts the extra
player that Pitino needs too feel comfortable playing the press (I
don't know why Bowen couldn't fill that role).  And the Celts play
better when they press.

Garnett, Riley, Schintzius: Got garbage time and used it that way.

Coaching: Pitino gave a nice tribute to Bill Russell, who stopped by
the locker room before the game and gave the players a bit off a pep
talk.  And apparently said just the right things.  Also very nice to
see the high man on the team (Mercer) play just 36 minutes (Walker was
the only other player over 30).  Of course that's a lot easier when
you win by 21.

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.net

P.S.  Friday at 6:30, Fox Sports will be showing an interview that
Heinsohn did with Russell.  I'd expect that it'll be short on content,
but it should be fun.