Re: Clips OutShoot Celts: LaLaLand 103- Boston 100

[Josh Ozersky <josh_ozersky@yahoo.com>]

another excellent post, Bill, but I wonder if we
watched the same game.  Odom was absolutely dominant,
and looked like one of the elite players in the game. 
His defense was immense too -- you neglect to mention
that he had something like four blocks and five
steals.  Taylor was hitting everything in sight, and
guys like Ty Nesby were playing out of their minds as
well.  I think the Clippers lost this one, as opposed
to the Celtics losing.  I saw it on the LA feed,
however.  What did Tommy say?  I am really curious.

Josh

--- Bill Cooper <wfcooper@tiac.net> wrote:
> 	I thought this was a rather disappointing
> performance by the
> C's. The Clippers seem to a poorly organized team
> that puts forth a
> minimal amount of effort, and they were shorthanded
> to boot.  All the
> Celts had to do to win was to play hard, straight up
> basketball, and
> these clowns would have played their way out of the
> game.  After a
> slow start (the Celts looked like they were
> recovering from a case of
> Turkey O.D.), it seemed as though the C's were doing
> exactly that.
> They outscored the Clips 38-15 over the last 10
> minutes of the 2nd
> period, and the first 8 of the 3rd.  As we well
> know, the Celts can't
> stand prosperity, and they soon let the lead slip
> away.  They got down
> by as much as 8 in the 4th quarter, before they
> nearly rallied to tie
> the game in the final seconds.  As advertised, Paul
> Pierce and Danny
> Fortson both played (McCarty and Thomas are off the
> roster).
> 
> 	The Celts looked horrible at the start of the game.
>  They were
> sluggish, and it looked as though they were the ones
> being forced to
> play a 1:00 start, as opposed to L.A., who came out
> of the gate firing
> and hitting (these guys are firing coming out of the
> shower in the
> morning:  there's no one on the team with a
> conscience).  The Celts
> stayed close for a little while, but at the end of
> the first quarter,
> the Clippers put on a 13-4 run to take the 31-18
> lead.  Fortson came
> into his first regular season game as a Celtic, and
> picked up 2 fouls
> in about 10 possessions, and was right back on the
> bench.
> 
> 	Pierce also got into the game, and seemed to spark
> the Celts a
> bit, by driving to the basket and trying to pass off
> for an easy shot.
> I say try, because he (and Walker) both made several
> nice passes to
> Battie, who then fumbled the away or missed an easy
> shot.  meanwhile,
> Eric Murdock (the Clips back up point) got hurt, and
> was forced to
> leave the game.  Maybe because of that, or just
> because they got tired
> of running the Clippers really slowed down the pace
> of the game.
> Since they have no half court offense (besides
> shooting jumpers) this
> is self defeating behavior.  Over the last 10
> minutes of the second
> quarter, the Clippers only scored 5 baskets, most of
> those fast breaks
> off Celtics miscues on the offensive end.  By the
> half, the C's had
> cut the lead to6 at 48-42.
> 
> 	The Celts, and Walker came out on fire at the start
> of the
> second half.  Toine had been getting into his usual
> jawing contest
> with Odom from the opening moments of the game, and
> early in the third
> he seemed to be channeling that energy in a positive
> direction.  Of
> course he also got called for a T, about 2:00 into
> the quarter.  But
> the Celts opened with a 19-4 run to take a 61-52
> lead with 5:30 to go.
> Once gain, though, they lost focus.  Keith (Kevin?)
> Closs (who should
> definitely join Pervis on the All Great Haircut!
> Team) made the Celts
> think twice about bringing the ball into the paint. 
> Meanwhile, the
> Clippers  started feeding Maurice Taylor, who was
> shooting extremely
> effectively from the outside.  The Celts still led
> at the end of the
> quarter 76-68, but they really lost a chance to blow
> the Clippers out
> over the last 5:00 of the quarter.
> 
> 	The Celts went a bit to the outside game
> themselves, at the
> start of the fourth.  But their jumpers weren't
> going in, and the
> Clippers (Taylor) continued to hit.  L.A. opened
> with a 15-2 run to
> take control of the game back with a 83-78 lead).  
> The Celts
> refocused and began to go inside again, but they
> continued to have
> trouble keeping a hand in the face of the Clipper
> outside shooters.
> With 1:04 to go, they were down 101-95.  Battie hit
> a pair of free
> throw, then Taylor finally missed a jumper.  Walker
> go an easy jam to
> pull the Celts to within just 2 with 23 seconds to
> go.  The Clippers
> tried to pass the ball over the Celts defense for
> the knockout blow,
> but Taylor muffed the catch (it was none to good a
> pass), and the
> Celts had the ball with .20 to go.  Walker missed a
> hook, but Battie
> got the board and was fouled with 6 seconds left. 
> Battie hit the
> first, but seemed rattled as he took the second.  It
> rattled off the
> rim, and the Celts fouled.  Hudson hit 2 free
> throws, and the C's
> tried a 3 with 4.7 to go.  Barros got a pretty good
> look from 25 feet,
> but the shot was well short of the mark.  Clippers
> win 103-100.
> 
> 	The big deal in this game was turnovers, miscues,
> and the
> conversion thereof.  The Celts committed 17
> turnovers which the Clipps
> turned into 19 points.  Plus they made any Celtic
> long rebound into an
> easy basket, and they even scored twice off of their
> own missed free
> throws.  Meanwhile, the Clippers had just 11
> turnovers (9 points).
> Despite that the Celts managed to outshoot them
> .494-.466.  But L.A.
> got 7 more offensive opportunities and shot 8-22 on
> threes, while the
> Celts were 2-11.
> 
> Players:
> Celts: Anderson, Griffin, Williams, Walker,
> Potapenko
> Clippers: Hudson, Piatkowski, Odom, Nesby, Taylor
> 
> Players:
> Walker: shot 12-20 for another pretty solid night
> (especially
> considering the 1-4 on threes).  He seems to be
> favoring the hook more
> and more as this hot streak goes on.  Maybe that's
> going to turn into
> his go to shot.  Had just 5 boards, 2 assists and 4
> turnovers in 42
> minutes.  He should have had more assists, but
> several nice passes got
> dropped or mishandled by teammates.  He played very
> well up until the
> middle of the third quarter, but seemed to go quiet
> after that.
> 
> Pierce: came back with a roar.  Probably overdid
> things his first game
> back with 17 shots, 12 free throws and 7 assists in
> 34 minutes.  He
> did help the team get off the offensive mark with
> penetrating and
> passing in the first half.  He actually seemed
> reluctant to shoot the
> ball for the first 10 minutes he was in the game. 
> Pitino started him
> in the second half, though, and all inhibitions were
> cast aside.  He
> definitely went with the outside shot too much at
> the start of the 4th
> quarter. 
> 
> Anderson: 18 points, 5 boards, 5 assists in 40
> minutes.  Probably too
> much time for him to be playing.   didn't really
> have the jumper going
> tonight, and got most of his baskets going hard to
> the hoop.
> 
> Griffin: another typical A.G. game.  8 points, 9
> boards, 2 assists and
> 3 steals in 35 minutes.  I would have liked to see
> him penetrate more,
> as he was guarded by the Lementable Piatkowski for
> most of the game.
> 
> Potapenko: played well with 10 points and 4 boards
> in 19 minutes.  I
> think Pitino limited his playing time because Taylor
> was 
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