C's Come Up Short: Philadelphia 77 - Boston 74

[Bill Cooper <wfcooper@tiac.net>]

	I really enjoyed this game, despite the Celtic loss.  You
really had the feeling that every single bucket would count in the
end, and you hung on every possession.  I don't know if it was playing
the second game in 2 days, or the intense prep for the Miami game, but
the Celts did not start tonight's game prepared to play.  They let an
offensively inept Philly team put up 40 points over the first 18
minutes of the game, falling behind 40-22.  They finally started to
play defense and held the Sixers to just 37 points over the last 30
minutes.  But Philly can play some "D" also, and the Celts fell just
short in their comeback attempt.

	The Sixers came to start the game, and really ran their
offense well (to perfection, as Tommy would say).  The Celts were big
contributors to that effort, as they suffered several defensive
breakdowns, and generally appeared uninterested in playing "D" for 24
seconds at a stretch.  The Celts kept up on the offensive end for a
few moments (they trailed 10-8 3:00 in).  But they began to miss some
jumpers, and the Sixers pushed out to a 18-10 lead.  Despite a nice
offensive contribution from Tony Battie, the second unit did no better
at stopping the 6ers offensive juggernaut.  The period ended with
Philly leading 28-16 (Battie had 6 of those). You might not think that
28 was a lot, but they pace of the period was extremely slow,  (that's
probably equivalent to a 35-20 quarter in a more normally paced game).

	Larry Hughes continued to power the Philly offense at the
start of the 2nd.  behind Hughes, the Sixers doubled the Celts at
36-18.  Pitino put got the starters back in, and the Celts finally
began to play some defense.  They held the Sixers to just 5 points
over the last 7:30 of the half.  Unfortunately, the Celts didn't do
too mush better themselves.  Walker had a Jekyl-Hyde quarter
interspersing several horrible turnovers, and just plain stupid plays,
with 5 key baskets.  The Celts were able to creep to within 11 at
45-34 at the end of the half.

	If it weren't for Matt Geiger the Celts may well have taken
control of the game at the start of the 3rd.  Geiger scored 8 of the
Sixers 12 points in the quarter (most the result of inattention by
Battie, who was otherwise brilliant).  Nonetheless the Celts were able
to creep back into the game, pulling to within 3 on 2 Williams free
throws late in the quarter (57-54).

	The pace of the game slowed to a crawl at the start of the
4th, with both teams committing 24 second violations, under the
pressure of the defense.  There were just 16 possessions over the
first 6 minutes (barely seems possible with a 24 second clock).  The
Celts finally tied the game after Battie blocked a shot by Snow, and
then recovered the block himself.  Anderson got the ball on the break
to Pierce, who laid the ball in to tie the game at 66-66.   The Celts
took their first lead of the game, when Griffin hit Pierce for a 3
with 2:35 left (72-71).  Lynch tied the game a moment later with a
free throw.  With 1:40 to go, Anderson gave the C's the lead again
with a nice jumper off the dribble.  Hill tied the game moments later,
after Battie fouled him off the ball (the Celts were in the penalty).
On the next possession Pierce drove the ball but missed, and Hill
responded again with a jumper to put Philly up 76-74 (1:03 left).
Walker tried to drive but basically dropped the ball on his way to the
basket.  On the next play Battie stole the ball, and the Celts called
timeout to set up for the last shot.  Walker produced a pretty decent
shot for Kenny, but Anderson missed the 3.  Griffin fouled McKie
intentionally, and McKie cooperated by missing a free throw.  With the
Sixers up 3 with 8.3 left, the Celts really couldn't get a good shot.
Walker put up an off balance 3, but it was pretty far from going in.

    Despite the lethargic play at the start of the game, the Celts
actually came out  on top in the hustle categories (might be the first
time this year).  They outrebounded the Sixers 16-10 on the offensive
boards (Thanks to Battie: overall tied 37-37).  They had fewer
turnovers 16-20, and a couple more steals (9-7).  That got them 7 more
field goal attempts which they squandered by going 2-13 on threes.
The C's also shot miserably from the line at 8-15. One huge
statistical anomaly in the game: both clubs scored 32 hoops, but the
C's had 14 assists, while the Sixers had 27!
	 
Lineups:
Celts: Anderson, Pierce, Griffin, Walker, Potapenko
Sixers: Snow, Mckie, Lynch, Hill, Geiger

Players:
Battie: This had to be the most impressive game of Tony's short
career.  He didn't get into the game until the 5:00 mark in the first,
and was the first Celtic to have any kind of positive impact on the
game.  He hit a couple of jumpers, and then went to work on the
offensive boards with a vengeance.  He had 9 offensive rebounds in 31
minutes (all the other players on both sides in the game had 17).  He
also played a major role on defense with 3 blocks and some
intimidations.  Ended up with 16 points and 15 boards in 31 minutes.
With out Tony's contribution the Sixers would have won by 20.  If he
just hadn't let Geiger get off those open jumpers in the third (sigh).

Pierce:  I really didn't think he was playing very well as the night
went on, and I was really surprised when Mike Gorman said he had 19
points midway through the 4th.  Paul added a big three after that and
ended up with 22 points on 9-18 shooting.  he did have 4 turnovers and
shot 2-5 form the free throw line.  It's worth remarking that Pierce
is suffering through a dreadful slump at the free throw line, on the
first of the 2 shots he takes (I think DeClercq used to have the same
problem).  Pierce probably shots 30% on his first free throw and 80%
on his second.

Anderson: After the great shooting night against the Heat, Anderson
cooled off and then some.  He was 4-13, despite a couple of big
baskets down the stretch.  The problem with Kenny's new "off guard"
role, is that on the nights where he's off shooting the ball, he's not
giving you very much.  Had 10 points, 4 assists and 2 steals in 36
minutes.

Walker: got out of control in the 2nd quarter.  The Celts were having
a terrible time on offense, and Toine really tried to take the team on
his shoulders.  he had a couple of very nice baskets on his patented
spin to the baseline off the postup.  Then he tried to alley oop the
ball to Battie, but instead, threw the pass completely over the
backboard!.  A couple of time he tried to drive against 3 defenders at
once.  Still, as desperate as the Celts were for offense, it was
better than nothing, and the Celts did cut into the Sixer's lead.  He
scored 14 on 7-19, was 0-4 on threes (again several of which were
forced by the clock), had 5 boards and 6 (ouch) turnovers.

Griffin: continues to be dogged by foul trouble.  He picked up 5 fouls
in just 21 minutes.  Had 4 points, 3 boards and 2 assists.  I'd like
to see the Celts try spreading the floor occasionally and letting him
drive.  Teams know he'll pass the ball if they give him a chance so
they're staying at home when he drives or posts.

Potapenko: Very quiet game for Vitaly: 0 points (0-1), 3 boards, 2
assists and 2 blocks in 19 minutes.  Pitino started Battie in his
place at the start of the third.

Williams: Played well, but didn't get many touches.  Scored 6, and had
4 boards in 27 minutes.

Overton: got some playing time tonight.  Hit a nice jumper and found
Williams streaking up the floor for an easy opportunity.  On the other
hand, he got stripped by a player running up from behind him (Doug
just had no idea he was there), and got caught in traps a couple of
times.  Has decent skills, but doesn't seem to have the knack for
knowing where everyone is on the court, like a quality point guard.

Dana: I think that Ricks confidence in him is beginning to erode.  At
the very end of the game, when the Celts needed a three, Pitino left
him on the bench.  did have 3 assist in his 5 minutes.

Waltuh: with Griffin's foul trouble, he got 7 minutes.  Had to leave
the game, when he got tripped, and landed on his chin.

Cheany:  I was just looking at Cal's career stats.  Over his first 4
season in the league eh shot close to 48%, including a .505 in his 4th
season in the league (.499 on 2's over those 4 years).  Since the he's
been heading steadily down hill, with a .457, a .414, and so far this
season has hit on .378 on 2's (0-1 on threes).  He looks healthy but
you can't rule out a degenerative disease.  

Ellison: who can understand the ways of Pitino.  A couple of games ago
he was starting: tonight he gets 2 minutes.

Coaching:  Really too bad about the start to the game. Over the last
30 minutes or so, the Celts played plenty well enough to win the game,
but they just couldn't fight there way out of the hole.  And to their
credit, the Sixers didn't play for a moment like they thought the game
was in the bag, even when they got up by 18.  It seems to be a
characteristic of this team, that they are always looking for a night,
or a half, or a quarter off.  They make the other club prove to them
they're going to have to play their best to win.

The Celts are back to .500 at 8-8.  They have Denver in  this
Wednesday.  On the positive side, this makes the Sixers 5-2 since
Iverson went down I believe.  Unless the sixers win the title after
Iverson leaves town, the Sixer's press and fans are pretty sure to
drive Alan out of town.

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.net

P.S.  I was thinking, while I was typing this report, that I would
love to see someone (or ones) prepare a little preview of the coming
games.  Something on injuries, who's playing well, or the first time
round the league, who's new to the team, what some of the interesting
matchups might be.  Any volunteers?