Jazz OutSmart Celts: Utah 96- boston 86

[Bill Cooper <wfcooper@tiac.net>]

	Not a bad effort for the Celts.  Toine played his best game in
a very long time (maybe since his second year in the league).
Unfortunately he chose to have it against the grand old team of the
NBA.  The Jazz were always well in control of the game, and got a big
lift from their bench at the start of the 4th quarter.  The Celts did
perform some of their finest ball movement of the season, but didn't
display the shooting skills to take advantage of it.

	Slow start to a slow paced game.  Both teams coming off games
last evening, and neither club seemed inclined to push the tempo.
Toine was concentrating on keeping his offense down low and in
fronting Malone on defense.  The Celts supported him with good ball
pressure and some help on the weak side.  Toine scored 11 in the first
quarter, while Malone was held to just 2 free throws, as the Celts
took a 21-17 lead into the second quarter.

	Both teams went with their benches at the outset of the second
period.  The Jazz bench (Eisley and Vaughn mostly) out dueled the C's
as they were able to take a 27-25 lead 4:00 into the quarter.  The 2
clubs traded hoops, until Stockton, and Hornacek who had spent a large
amount of time on the bench got back in.  Stockton quickly picked
apart the C's fronting defense against Malone, and also managed to
ignite a couple of fast breaks, as the Jazz took a 40-35 lead at the
end of the half.  

	Walker was supplying the bulk of the C's offense as the second
half started.  But behind superb play by Stockton the Jazz slowly
extended their lead, going to double digits for the first time at
53-43 (7:00).  The Celts managed to keep the lead in the ten point
range, and then ran off 6 straight points to closeout the quarter.
The final play of the period, which had the Celts pulling down the
rebound with about 3 seconds to go, and then rushing the ball down the
court, ending with a fine pass from Barros to Griffin for an easy
score.  That made the score 67-63 heading to the 4th.

	The Celts started the quarter with most of their bench (plus
Griffin).  They were overwhelmed by the the Jazz bench (plus Russell),
as Utah broke the game open with a 19-6 run (86-69).  That was pretty
much the game (Sloan never even put Hornacek back into the game).  The
Celts did work the lead down to ten over the last couple of moments,
but were never within shouting distance.  The final was 96-86.

	The Celts got clobbered on field goal differential, shooting
.403 to the Jazz .500.  The Celts fought hard on the boards, though
they had a hard time converting, and had 18 offensive boards to the
Jazz 12.  the Celts shot just 3-12 from the 3 point line.

Lineups:
Celts: Anderson, Griffin, Williams, Walker, Battie
Utah: Stockton, Hornacek, Russell, Malone, Polynice

Players:
Walker: This was the best game I've ever seen Toine have in the low
post.  I think that I posted a few days ago, that I didn't think that
Walker was a very good player with his back to the basket, but tonight
he seemed like a different player.  He took good shots, under control
and didn't seem to be rushing his low post opportunities.  The shots
actually looked like they should go in, instead of going in by
accident like they usually do.  He ended up with 36 points (13-23), 12
boards and 4 assists in 44 minutes.  He got to the line 12 times, and
hit 9.  A qualitatively different game, not just great stats.

Griffin: Gorman (I think) reported, that Pitino had said that he
thought that Griffin should shoot the ball more.  I think that Pitino
(and everybody else) should leave Adrian alone.  He did score 12
points but just shot 6-15, and was clearly rushing his shots.  Still
managed  8 boards and 3 steals, but did not have a single assists.

Anderson: much better shooting night than in Cleveland.  Had 14 points
on 6-11 shooting, but had just 3 assists in 35 minutes.

Battie: inconsistent play continues.  got in a bit of foul trouble
early, which limited his minutes, but he wasn't going to have a good
night if he played all 48.  4 points and 6 boards in 23 minutes.
Mysteriously, continues to stay away from the offensive board (2
tonight).

Williams: poor shooting from the floor continues as he went 2-9
tonight.  Played well other than that, but not what you really expect.
though a 5-6 at the free through line helped a bit.

Cheaney: was shooting the ball with his new found confidence, but
seems to have misplaced the accuracy that caused it.  he shot just
1-5.  One thing about Calbert, he seems to get down on himself pretty
quickly.  After his first couple jumpers missed, he began to pass up
shots.  Definitely not one of those guy who shoot themselves out of
slumps.  

Ellison: was very active tonight.  had 3 points and 6 boards in 25
minutes.  Also had a real strong block against Malone.

Barros: Every time Dana makes a shot, or even comes close I think that
the draught must be almost over.  But it just doesn't seem to be
happening.  He was 1-6 tonight, and I don't see much improvement.
Instead of Dana's tradition of fluctuating from being a 40% shooter
one night and then a 60% the next, it seems as though his whole level
has dropped.  I've always thought that a players shot was the last
thing to go, But Dana certainly seems to have misplaced his.  

Coaching: The Celts started out fronting Malone, and got some decent
results from it early.  After the first quarter though, Malone scored
24 points in about 27 minutes.  You just can't keep doing the same
thing the whole game against Malone and the Jazz.  They've seen it
all, and eventually they'll adjust.  

Opposition Teams of Note:  The Jazz are the NBA poster children for
continuity.  Unlike a lot of teams (not to mention fans) who seem to
prefer change for the sake of change, the Utah franchise functions on
the theory that you don't fix what ain't broke.  It's resulted in
(generally) the highest consistent level of basketball in the league
in the 90's.  And 0 championships, of course.  I still think that the
theory has a lot to recommend it, and wish that the Celtics would
adopt it themselves (perhaps not too such a great degree).

The Celts are now 10-11.  They travel out to Texas for a quick 2 step
this weekend.

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.net