Blazers run the Celtics out of town: 106-86 (Ouch!)

[Gregory Odegaard <grodeg@kalama.com>]

What a game.  I actually do enjoy each and every Celtics game I am able to attend.  This is the worst beating I have witnessed in all my years.  I will get over it, and you all should too, save for the fact that positive things were seen, some of these problems were to be expected after Wednesday, and Paul Pierce is my new hero.

My pregame report noted what the Celtics had to do to win.  Save for Paul Pierce playing not just like a given ROY, but an all-star now, and Tony Battie blowing the doors off the Blazers radio announcers, with his Career game, the Celtics missed the boat on every other detail.

This was easily their worst performance of this short season, but in light of the Vancouver performance, they will move on.  I was most disheartened to actually witness a Celtic coached team appear to not want to win a game nearly from the start.  I have no tape to review, but watching most of the team go through the motions,  proved they are human, and the Vancouver game nearly killed them.  RP himself noted this in all media reports today.

For a brief instant I thought we had done it; Mercer hit the initial buckets and the team had a 4-0 lead.  This was the first time the Blazers had not opened the scoring all year.  Within moments the Celtics legs caught up to them.  Kenny missed both FT's and proved almost immediately he was playing to a Portland crowd and over his head.  Mr. Stoudamire took him to school tonight, and proved the brilliance of GM Whitsett's move in acquiring and signing him for the future.  Now I am not saying I would necessarily want Damon on our team, but he has got skills big time and is a true joy to watch.

In the first the Celtics appeared to want to play Pitino ball they pushed the ball, and were aggressive on both ends of the court, but somewhere mid way through the period they hit the wall.  Kenny as I noted played over his head and got embarrassed, often. When Dana and Bowen came in at about the 4:00 minute mark they showed a noticeable improvement in picking up the tempo.  Dana was the better PG tonight (though not by much), in ways that don't show up in the box score, he played more within himself and directed the flow with some intent, to be the star.  The stats do not prove this, as Kenny got more minutes and Dana missed a lot of shots late in the game.  The first quarter as was the game was the Paul Pierce and Tony Battie show.  I would appreciate someone explaining to me why Riley is starting, instead of Battie.  He has much potential, and showed this numerous times on the defensive end and making decent jump shots.  This game was his highlight real.  Paul Pierce fortunately is going to play to this level every night.  The Blazer announcers said repeatedly that the ROY voting is over, and Paul Pierce is the man.  People believe me when I say, he is the future star of this team.  Antoine better get in line, jump on his back or get out of way.  

Declerq came in late in the quarter and provided an additional spark, that was definitely missing from Antoine and Ron.  They must have left everything on the court in Vancouver, because save for the opening minutes with Ron and a couple of moments throughout the game with Antoine using his brilliant scoring ability, they were sleep walking.  The fact that they both played only about 30 minutes each, and were not in the game at the very critical points in the 2nd and 3rd quarters tells you how burned they were.  They are quality players don't get me wrong, they just didn't have it tonight.  Walker of course tried to do too much all night long, and as noted was abused on both ends of the court by Grant to a large degree and Wallace as well.  He argued some calls and maybe should have been tossed with the double foul situation.  He is a player and he wears his emotions on his sleeve.  I was truly sorry to not see the real Ron Mercer tonight.  He is still slowed with the knee.

The quarter ended on a Greg Anthony half court 3PT buzzer beater, or the Celtics would have been right there, as it was at the end of the 1st the Celts actually were in it at 34-26,  Pierce had 10 points, DQ had 4 as did Battie.  Dana finished the quarter not scoring but making three solid assists.  

The second quarter started with a an odd line up including Battie, Minor, DQ, Pierce and Barros. I truly felt at this point that RP had no intention of winning.  Though these guys surprised me.  This quarter was by far the most entertaining.  The teams traded baskets and mistakes, though they had neither had a steal between them.  Three minutes in RM and KA returned to take part in the Paul Pierce and Tony Battie Broadway review.  When TB scored with 6:27 left the Celts got within five at 40-35, and the building became quiet.  An illegal defense call followed and it was like the spell was broken.  Though PP continued to score and finished the half with 18 points, the Blazers turned up the heat and started hitting on all cylinders, within moments they had scored, blocked and defended their way back up to an 11 point margin, at 50-39 at the 3:34 mark.  The key minutes included a 10-4 run with PP scoring all 4 Celtics points.  I watched Schinsplints play another minute this quarter as he had in the first and wondered why he was not only on the floor but the team.  He has no business being on an NBA team, and after watching him shoot 3 PT's for many minutes in warm-ups I was afraid then to actually imagine him getting in the game.  Minor played a few minutes here very badly, and Popeye blew one of the easiest layups of the year, to a round of cat calls.  He is also missing in action.  

Though it is not actually true, one would believe that Brian Grant out rebounded the Celtics.  The Celts fell behind in this area, and never caught up, a key reason for the loss, and a telling sign for the future.  Our top rebounders had only 6 in the game (PP and AW) and even Battie who at times scored at will got beat many times for the defensive boards.  He did have a couple of fine blocks, but the Blazers appeared to be having a blocking clinic at times, with the team having 10 blocks from 7 different players, an amazing stat.  Though Battie had 3 the entire balance of the team amounted to one from AW.  The only bright spot here is that the Celts held there own on the offensive glass, with Battie and PP getting a few of their points off an offensive pick.  The Celtics know the offensive end of the floor well enough, I am not sure they understand the concept of defense often.

The 3rd quarter started out promising enough with Kenny and Pierce making some decent shots, which were followed by Blazers hoops.  The quarter had numerous offensive highlights from Mercer, Battie and Pierce, Walker for sure and even Kenny, but every time they got even one ounce of momentum, especially from Batties tremendous offensive effort, they let down on defense, allowed long outlet passes and basically got caught sleeping at the wheel.  At about the 4:00 minute mark Battie finished the long stretch of trading hoops to bring the Celtics within 8 at 71-63.  They were basically dead at this point, allowing the Blazers to outscore them 6-2 to finish the period at 78-66, and to outscore them 13-4 through the 4 plus minutes to start the 4th quarter, to fall behind the eventual near difference of 91-70.  The teams played out the run from there trading scrub time, and very poor play to finish the game at 106-86.  During this critical 7 or minutes over 2 quarters I still felt the Celtics had a chance (ever the optimist) but the line-up made one wonder.  To start the 4th the line-up was Barros, Popeye, Battie and Pierce (dual players of the game, if this is possible when you lose by 20) and Minor of all people.  Not putting your best foot forward, and yet the starting line-up returned to play key minutes mid way through the fourth giving the Blazer radio guys much reason to pause. Why did RP play them nearer to garbage time instead of when the game was actually decided, save for the fact that some of them could barely run up the court. During this time the Celts made some buckets, but again the Blazers scored at will, making numerous very impressive stands on defensive.  I stand corrected regarding my earlier statement regarding Brian Grant and defense.  He was the POG, and played like the all-star he has been.  The highlight of the quarter and maybe the game for the Celts was a massive dunk from the baseline by Pierce about mid way through the quarter, when the team had one last sliver of hope for a comeback.  Thi
of the game, maybe the season was a 3PT contest between Minor and Barros in the last minute that bordered on the absurd.  


Starting Line-up:  Pierce, Walker, Riley, Mercer, Anderson

Celtics:

Pierce:  He is the real deal, and everyone in the building knew it.  He was a little slow in getting started, not scoring for the first time until exactly 8 minutes into the game, but the final 4 minutes of the quarter were a human highlight film.  He made 3 Pters, driving shots, midrange jumpers being defended like a blanket and he made his free throws.  He finished with 22 points on an awesome 9 of 14 shooting. I can only remember seeing him take one bad shot all night.  He along with AW led the team in rebounds with 6, 4 of which were offensive, he had a steal and generally played within himself, which for this young stud soon will be the norm and will be saying a lot.  Welcome to the big show Mr. Pierce, you alone were worth the price admission tonight.

Battie:  What got into him tonight, did he not play Wednesday or did he just overdose on Ginko Biloba?  He blew me away and the Blazer radio guys noted that someone should send Denver a copy of the game tape, labeled as El Busto? He has some shortcomings defensively, but considering the general problem in the this area with the entire team, I think he might just be trying to make nice.  He made shots tonight and tipped in a couple shots, from who knows where.  Very impressive overall stats including his 3 blocks of the teams 4 total.  He scored 16 on 8 of 14 shooting. He didn't get to line, but neither did anyone else for that matter with team losing the FT battle 38-13 attempted and 32-7 made.  I wonder where the game was actually lost.  When did constant fouling become an effective defense.

Walker: For the most part a very mediocre game. I could be much harsher, but he did not bring his A game tonight and definitely was watching PP and TB like the rest of us at times.  He was brutalized on defense and got abused numerous times by Grant, Wallace and Sabonis.  He needed a nap in the worst way.  He finished with 15 points on 6 of 16 shooting, along with 6 boards and a single block.  Though he did not turn the ball over once, he didn't come close to a steal either, though 5 for the entire team, a tad below their average, didn't leave us with many stars in this area. Defense people.

Anderson: What can you say?  He had brief flashes of the Kenny Anderson we all know and love, but Damon took him to school many times, and had a great time doing it.  He had 9 points on a horrendous 4 of 14 shooting and it wasn't that good.  He did finish with a serviceable 7 assists and one steal, and I will give the same credit I game AW and that with no TO's for the game it could have been worse. Kenny is definitely a weak link on defense, and often is out of control leading the offensive play.  He is truly hard to watch right now, and I think RP agrees with me as he only got 30 minutes in this game, yet was in the game near the end making things worse.  I can give the guy a long leash, but he is making me very concerned for the future with him at the helm.

Mercer:  I can't really say much bad about Ron's game tonight other than to say he didn't have much of one.  He had 8 points on 4 of 10 shooting, a nice 5 assists, 5 boards and that's it.  He didn't play as badly as AW and KA, but this is only because he didn't play above himself like these two did.

Barros: Save for a few minutes late in the 1st quarter this guy was out to lunch.  He has 3 assists in that first quarter and none the rest of the game.  He scored 4 big points on 2 of 9 shooting and actually attempted 6 3 pters not coming close on most.  It was also tough to watch.  He was a spark plug at times, and as I noted earlier at least he tried to keep up with Damon, but to no avail.  I give him the benefit of the doubt considering he was also wore out.

DQ: Nice enough game with five boards and 4 points in 12 minutes, and 2 illegal picks.  RP lost it for sure.

Riley: Please don't make me go there.  I didn't see anything out of this guy because there wasn't anything, save for a foul clinic.  Hack O'rama man.  A stat line only a mother can be proud of.

Schinsplints:  Mr. Riley is an all-star next to this guy, enough said.  At least he found his way to a couple boards and didn't foul out in his 7 minutes.

Bowen:  Why only 7 minutes in light of Mercer's challenges?  He didn't have much to show for the game, but he was all over the place when he was out there.  I like him a lot as a 10th man.

Minor: Give Bowen 7 minutes and Minor 20?  I don't get it.  He ran around like a chicken with his head cut off at times.  If he never shoots another jumper again it will be too soon. Goodbye.

Popeye:  This guy definitely tries hard, but he is missing a cog somewhere.  Will the real Popeye come back to the team.  He had a couple boards and made one bucket.  I like him a lot and even the radio guys noted when he gets back to 100% he will again be a RP favorite.

Blazers of note:
Stoudamire;  Definitely a top five PG in the league.  There is a lot to like about his game.  He is a great player and influence on this team.  Kudos to Blazer management for getting and keeping him.

Grant:  Ditto.  I certainly saw a different side of him tonight.  He had a huge game on the glass.  Played like an all-star and team co-leader.  Good pick-up.

Wallace:  Grant's tough play leaves him out at times.  He played key minutes at center but was mostly ineffective.  He must be very frustrated with his role on this team.

Rider: Decent game, playing within himself.   A definite respectable start to the season for this guy, as long as he and the coach can be nice.

Sabonis: With all his challenges he is a tough performer.  Oh if only he could have come to the team late in the 80's.  The Blazers would have won a title and Duckworth wouldn't have been an all-star even once.

The rest of the Blazer team played serviceable minutes, save for that half court buzzer beater by Greg Anthony.  It hurt to see him make it, but damn it was pretty.  Jermaine O'neal, is a junior El Busto.  Go back to school kid.

I did enjoy the evening, and found the Blazer fans to be warm and welcome tonight.  I was saddened by the definite lack of Celtics fans apparently in attendance, though I of course enjoyed glad handing with the ones I did see and say hi to.  Thanks for the memories.

Where does this team go from here?  I say keep Mercer, Walker, Pierce, DQ, Battie and Bowen and seriously consider the rest for the past not the future.  Kenny has got big problems that may or may not be resolved, and Popeye I can only hope repairs completely, and of courser I too look forward to the return of Walter McCarty.  

Thanks for reading this long piece, and I look forward to going to next year's game without the challenge this project became.  I am not the reporter type, as this report probably proved, though I did enjoy the challenge, and am a better Celtic fan because of it.  If I didn't respect Mr. Cooper before, I certainly do now.  Thank you again for your efforts.

The Celtics return to the East coast to play Washington on the road Sunday.

Have a great weekend,
Greg