Celts start the season Off in Style:: Boston 103- Toronto 90

[Bill Cooper <wfcooper@tiac.net>]

	A very nice game for the C's starting 5, and they got strong
contributions off the bench from McCarty (strong is too weak a work
for Walter's effort) and Pervis.  As reported Adrian Griffin got the
start, and did the C's proud.  Dana Barros's grandmother passed away,
and he was unavailable for the game.

	The C's got the season off on the right foot early in the
game.  Pierce and Griffin were both strong out of the gate, as the
Celts got off to a 12-4 and then a 19-6 lead.  Griffin had some strong
moments on offense and defense, and Pierce was hitting pretty much
everything.  With 5:00 to go in the quarter, Anderson picked up his
2nd foul and had to go out of the game.  With Barros out, the C's had
to go to Turner.  At the same time the Raptors brought Mugsy Bogues
into the game.  Turner was definitely bothered by Mugsy's pressure.
Then McGrady came into to game as gave the Raptors a boost on Offense
as they closed the gap to 27-18 at the end of the quarter.

	McCarty came into the game and helped the Celts to stay in
control with three point shooting.  The Raptors continued to increase
the defensive pressure, though and were able to close to within 5 at
39-34.  Pierce and McCarty scored as the Celts pushed the lead back up
to 10 at 46-36.  The Celts got a fast break opportunity capped off by
a very nice Griffin drive/jam (C's 48-36).  The Raptors came back with
a bit of a flurry, but the Celts led at the end of the half 50-42.
Pierce (20), McCarty (11) and Griffin (10) combined for 41 of the C's
50.  Potapenko actually did a nice job on the defensive boards.

	The Raptors made some adjustments on defense to try to cool
down Pierce.  The Celts just switched the emphasis of the offense to
Twon, and went right on hitting on all 8 cylinders.  With 9:30 to go,
Potapenko picked up a silly 4th foul, and forced Pitino to bring
Pervis into the game for major minutes.  Pervis responded, though and
held his own against the Raptors front line.  Griffin continued his
strong play in the second half, as he hit both Pierce and Walker for
assists as the Celts stretched out their lead to 60-49.  Walker was
using which ever one of the Raptors who tried to guard him, taking
McGrady into the low post, and then driving, or shooting over Davis or
Oakley.  With about 3:00 to go in the 3rd, Anderson picked up his
third foul and went out in favor of Turner.  Turner had his problems
again and Kenny's stay on the bench was short.  Walter also got back
into the game and continued his unconscious 3 point shooting as the
Celts led at the end of the third 79-65.

	The game really ground to a halt at the start of the 4th, as
the two teams combined for just 14 points over the first half of the
period.  Fortunately 10 of those points belong to the Celts (2 more
McCarty 3's) and they pushed the lead up to 20 (89-69).  The game got
a bit sloppy at this point, but the Raptors really couldn't make any
serious headway.  The game ended in a flurry of free throws with the
Celts leading 103-90.

	Maybe the best shooting game by the Celts in years.  .521 from
the field, 10-13 on threes, and a decent 12-22 from the line.  I don't
know if they can keep that up (actually I'm pretty sure they won't).
The other nice sign was that they did a decent job of keeping the
Raptors off the boards.  They outrebounded the Raptors overall (mostly
because of the field goal percent differential), but they held the
Raptors to just 10 offensive boards.  The Celts really didn't press at
all, and had 1 more turnover than the Raptors (18-17).

Lineups:
Celts: Anderson, Pierce, Griffin, Walker, Potapenko
Raptors: Williams, Christie, Carter, Oakley, Davis

Players:

Pierce:  Did a great job in the first half, as he scored 20.  The
Raptors paid him a bit more attention in the second, but he still
finished with 30 points, 12-19 shooting, 8 boards and 5 assists in 38
minutes. He was able to consistently put the ball on the floor and
drive on the Raptors defenders.

Toine:  did not have a very good first half, but came back with a very
strong 3rd quarter.  He stayed away from those goofy low post shots of
his, and ended up shooting 9-13, for 22 points in just 33 minutes of
playing time.  Basically he let the Raptor defender determine his
offense, taking the small guys (McGrady) down low, and the big guys
off the dribble.  Also had 8 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals.  Marred
an otherwise excellent game with 4 turnovers.

Walter!: he was 6-6 on threes, missed one jumper, and ended up with 20
points, in just 17 minutes on 8 offensive opportunities.  Didn't
contribute a whole lot else, but then, who cares.  And I don't think
any of his threes even nicked the rim.

Adrian: led the team in assists with 7 (in just 28 minutes). Has a
real knack for driving through the lane, staying under control, and
then finding a teammate on the perimeter for an open jumper.  He can
post up guys three inches taller than him, and hit a jumper from 15
feet (seems to lack confidence in his shot beyond that point).  I
expect that once teams get a chance to scout him, they'll have his
defender play pretty far off him to stop the drive.  He's a strong
defender, but playing undersized we should also see some clubs test
his low post defense (that is if there is a three in the league who
can post up anymore: most of then are only good for shooting 3's).
Griffin also had 14 points, 3 boards, 2 blocks and 2 steals in his 28
minutes.  Now he just needs to slip Andy Enfield a case of beer and
see what he can do about getting some of that McCarty long range mojo
going.  By the way, he did all that and did not have a single turnover
(but he did foul out).

Anderson:  A better game than it looks statistically.  He scored just
8 points (2-8), had 3 assists and 2 turnovers.  He did provide
stability for the team when he was in there (which just means he
played well compared to Turner).

Potapenko:  Again, not much to look at statistically. Just 2 points
and 6 fouls in 23 minutes.  Impressively he did gather 6 defensive
boards in the short minutes, and was much more aggressive.  He
actually went after the defensive board, instead of being content with
just blocking out his player.  Now if he can catch the ball, and avoid
the dumb fouls. 

Pervis:  A tease like always.  With Potapenko in foul trouble, and
Battie ineffective, he stepped up and gave the C's 15 decent minutes
at the center postilion.  He scored 4 and had 2 boards.  Most
importantly he gave the C's a bit of an inside presence. I imagine
we'll see Pervis build to a 14 point, 9 boards, 3 block game (about 4
games from now).  Then he'll sprain his neck swinging those dreadlocks
around too fast, and be out for the season.

Battie: The most disappointing of the Celts tonight.  2 points and 2
boards in 10 minutes to go along with 4 fouls.  Totally ineffective.
If this is typical (I don't think it will be), Walker is going to be
playing 40 minutes a game at PF until Fortson returns.

Cheaney: the major reason that the Celts didn't win this game by 30.
missed 4 out of 4 shots and just looks lost most of the time.  Hard to
believe he was a solid NBA starter just a couple of years ago.  

Turner: was traumatized by the mere presence of Mugsy Bogues.  he was
so scared that Mugsy would strip the ball from him that he couldn't
effectively run the team.  Had 2 assists and 2 turnovers in 18
minutes.

Williams: DNP

Coaching: Pitino had the Celts well prepared to play tonight.
Especially on the boards, where the whole team aggressively went to
the defensive board.  Griffin and Pierce really took care of the
smooth functioning of the offense.  If the Celts can get away with
playing Griffin at the 3 for the whole season, they are going to be a
pretty smooth offensive team.  Of course, looking at things
realistically this was probably McCarty's career game shooting the
ball.

Opposition Players of Note:  Well, you can see that Vince Carter has
inherited the mantle of Michael Jordan.  No, not the one that means
you're the best player in the league.  I mean the one that confers
invisibility on you (at least in the eyes of the refs), when you
travel, commit offensive fouls and pretty much get away with anything.
As a player, Carter stunk up the place, basically playing like he was
trying to get a highlight on ESPN rather than trying to help his team
win the game.

Hey, hey, hey.  The Celts are now 1-0.  They host the Wizards at home
tomorrow night.  I love getting the road games this year.

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.net