nice article from Worcester telegram

["Ozersky, Joshua A" <OzerskyJA@corning.com>]

nice quote from Kenny -- see below

Celts impress in home opener 
Thursday, November 4, 1999 
By Bill Doyle
Telegram & Gazette Staff 
Celtics 112 Wizards 101
BOSTON -- Come on, you didn't really expect the Celtics to lose on the night they honored Red Auerbach, did you?
If they did, Red probably would have had the hot water turned off during their post-game showers.
The Celtics opened their home season by running past the Washington Wizards, 112-101, last night at the FleetCenter. At halftime, the Celts honored Auerbach by raising a banner with his silhouette likeness to commemorate his 50th year of service to the team.
The Celtics followed up their impressive road win Tuesday night in Toronto by improving their record to 37-17 in home openers. More importantly, they have started a season 2-0 for the first time since the 1990-91 team won its first three. That was Chris Ford's first year as coach and the Celtics finished 56-26. Pitino would gladly take a record anywhere near that this season, especially after last year's 19-31 debacle.
No matter what kind of record the Celtics achieve, they've shown this could be a fun year because they've stopped being selfish. They're finally following Rick Pitino's philosophy of looking to pass first instead of shoot.
"You watch tape from last year and you want to throw up," said Celtics point guard Kenny Anderson, who contributed 19 points and 10 assists. "You think, 'That's us?' People who don't even understand the game, and family and friends were like, 'Why are you guys so selfish?' Last year wasn't good."
Eric Williams typified the Celts' new attitude. He didn't play in Toronto because Paul Pierce and Walter McCarty played so well, but not only didn't he complain, he was the team's biggest cheerleader.
"I was looking tonight for any way to get him in early just to reward that attitude," Pitino said.
Williams came off the bench with 17 seconds left in the first quarter and scored a put-back at the horn. Williams did his best to ensure he'll never sit out another game by pumping in eight more points in the first five minutes of the second quarter to help the Celtics stretch their lead to 40-27. He finished with 18 points.
"For me to be moping around after a win would be very selfish on my part," Williams said. "I knew it was the first game and we had 81 more to go. No need for me to panic." 
Shot selection may have been the Celtics' biggest weakness last year, but they've topped 100 points in both victories, shooting 52 and 51 percent.
"I'm having so much fun watching passing," Pitino said. "When people are that unselfish, even the three-second violation was a great play for us because of all the passing going on."
Antoine Walker scored 19 points and performed his first wiggle of the season after draining a three-pointer from the corner to boost the Boston lead to 74-53 midway through the third quarter. Walker scored 12 points in the decisive third quarter when Boston outscored Washington, 36-20.
Pierce had a quiet night with only 11 points, but he scored a couple of big baskets. His fast-break layup made it 76-53 and capped a 23-6 run to open the second half. The Celtics seized their largest lead, 81-56, on Pierce's 3-pointer with five minutes left in the third period. 
The fourth quarter began 89-67, and for the first time in a while, fans left the FleetCenter early because the Celtics were winning by so much. The Wizards never got any closer than the final score.
Walker and Pierce are the constants and the rest of the team takes turns helping out. Tuesday, it was McCarty draining all six of his 3-pointers. Last night, Williams and Vitaly Potapenko stepped up. Potapenko scored 20 points, 18 more than he had in Toronto.
Adrian Griffin continued his productive play with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and only 1 turnover.
Washington's Mitch Richmond needed five points to pass Julius Erving and become the NBA's 40th all-time leading scorer. He pumped in 20. Chris Whitney came off the Wizards' bench to score 15. Juwan Howard managed only 12 points.
The Celtics added green fireworks to their pregame presentation, filling the arena with a haze. By the time the smoke cleared, the Celtics had the lead.
The Celts, who never trailed in Toronto, fell behind, 4-0, last night but scored the last eight points of the first quarter to grab a 28-21 advantage.
Co-captain Dana Barros missed his second consecutive game due to the death of his grandmother.