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Peter May: Team Quits On Erstwhile Messiah Pitino
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
TIMBERWOLVES 87, CELTICS 68
Celtics go from bad to worse
Walker (1 for 14) bottoms out in another
Boston stink bomb
By Peter May, Globe Staff, 03/25/99
Oh my. What now? If Sunday's loss
to the Bulls was bad - and it was
- and Tuesday's debacle in Cleveland was
worse - and it was - what do we call this
hoop Hindenburg?
It didn't seem possible the Celtics could
devolve any further, but they did last
night, dropping a hideous 87-68 decision
to the Timberwolves. They've lost 10 of
their last 11 games and are free-falling
at an alarming rate with no end in sight.
If there was negativity in the air Sunday,
it was downright radioactive in the
FleetCenter last night. One fan bellowed
for the return of M.L. Carr. Another told
Rick Pitino that if his team was a horse,
the animal would be put out of its misery.
Thousands stood and cheered when
Timberwolves executive Kevin McHale made
his way through the stands.
Fans hooted Antoine Walker with each
ensuing brick, and there were plenty (he
was an unfathomable 1 for 14). At this
rate, he's going to enjoy seeing the
FleetCenter about as much as a fire
hydrant enjoys seeing a dog.
''I don't know what's with the crowd,''
said Walker, who matched his season low
with 6 points and is 3 for 29 in his last
two games at the FleetCenter. ''We need
support. And the booing. On every shot? Is
that necessary? Is that going to make it
better?''
The fans also hooted Pitino. The bloom is
off the rose and he knows it. The
erstwhile messiah last night saw his team
quit on him. That was the universal
feeling on the Minnesota bench. The
Timberwolves were shorthanded and
expecting a battle. They got a gift
instead.
''You can't blame the fans,'' Pitino said
when asked about the boos. ''Put yourself
in their shoes. With that type of
performance, we should get booed. I didn't
think it could get worse, but it did.
Unfortunately, when it rains, it pours,
and right now, it's pouring on us.''
The Celtics shot 30.5 percent, a season
low. The 68 points were a season low as
well. They forced only six turnovers and
had a single steal, not good signs for a
team that likes to harass. Those also were
season lows. The Timberwolves actually set
a franchise record for fewest points
allowed.
The Celtics watched the Timberwolves open
the third quarter with a 7-0 run and the
fourth with a 10-0 run to usher in garbage
time. Paul Pierce was 3 of 15 from the
field while Ron Mercer was 6 of 20. It was
ugly.
''It's embarrassing,'' Mercer said. ''But
the season is not over. It's one bad game.
We have to move on.''
The pregame atmosphere was charged after
Pitino promised to make changes following
the Cleveland game. But he said he
discovered he couldn't because everyone
was equally horrid and it would be unfair
to single anyone out. He's going to make
the same discoveries after this one.
The Timberwolves shot 40 percent, missed
12 of 27 free throws, were outrebounded,
and still won going away. They got Dennis
Scott (22 points) going early, then rode
Kevin Garnett (22 points, 14 rebounds) the
rest of the way.
The Celtics' night could be crystallized
into one play: a three-on-one break at the
end of the first half. Tony Battie bobbled
the pass, Bobby Jackson picked up the
ball, and tossed in a runner off the glass
as the horn sounded.
Minnesota, which lost at home Sunday to
the Clippers and is without two of its top
players (Anthony Peeler, Malik Sealy),
never led by fewer than 10 points after
opening the third quarter with a baseline
jumper by Terrell Brandon. Following the
7-0 run to open the quarter, Pitino called
time, only to see his team come out of the
huddle and commit a 24-second violation.
The Timberwolves blew the lead out to 27
in the fourth, enabling officials Dee
Kantner, David Jones, and Joe Forte to
mercifully steer the game in under two
hours.
The Celtics moved the ball around, got
decent looks, but could get nothing to
drop. You live by the sword, you die by
the sword. They were threatening franchise
records for fewest points and field goal
percentage down to the wire until they got
7 points in the final 93 seconds. Kenny
Anderson led Boston with 16 points while
Mercer had 13.
Pitino talked at length afterward about
how these trying times will, in the long
run, benefit his team. He's a big believer
in adversity building character and
actually said this whole unseemly mess
will ''pay huge dividends'' once his
players get with the program. That seemed
like a hollow promise after what everyone
has witnessed in the last four days.
This story ran on page C01 of the Boston
Globe on 03/25/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.