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

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

I'll do it.  I doubt there will be anything we don't
all know, however.

--- Bill Cooper <wfcooper@tiac.net> wrote:
> 	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 
=== message truncated ===

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