Bench Brings Home the Win: Boston 95- Indiana 85

[Bill Cooper <wfcooper@tiac.net>]

	The Celts were down 65-61 going into the 4th quarter.  The 
Celts bench, lead by Dana Barros (finally getting the offense into
gear) took over the game, and administered a 34-20 spanking of the
Pacers 2nd and first teams.  Pitino kept the bench in to finish the
game, and they brought it home successfully with good defense and
hustle.  Pitino shook up the starting lineup a bit, by starting Pervis
Ellison.

	Nice pace to the start of the game, as both teams were playing
well.  Pervis was fronting Smits, and providing pretty good defense.
The rest of the C's concentrated on preventing the open 3.  Walker and
Griffin provided most of the offense as the Celts took a 20-16 lead
with 4:23 to go in the period.  Both teams went to their benches, with
a rather negative effect on the pace of the game.  The Celtics were
only able to score 1 basket over the last 4:00 of the quarter, and the
Pacers took a 23-22 lead into the 2nd quarter.

	Both benches continued to struggle offensively, although the
Celts did get a bit of a lift from the seldom seen Calbert Cheaney who
hit a couple of nice shots.  Finally, the first teams started to
filter back into the game, and the offenses began to revive.  The C's
used some nice passing to spark a 9-2 run, to take a 41-33 lead with a
minutes to go in the period.  The Celts made one of their few mistakes
on the perimeter, and let Mullin hit a three.  The C's led at the half
43-40.

	The sluggish offensive play continued in the third.  Paul
Pierce was able to convert some nice drives heading to the basket, but
it was largely wasted with little support from his teammates.  The 2
clubs traded baskets for most of the third.  After Pierce left the
game at the 2:00 mark, thought , the C's offense went completely flat,
and the Pacers were able to score the last 7 points of the quarter to
take the 65-61 lead.

	Behind some nice play from Adrian Griffin, the Celts were able
to tie up the game (69-69).  Then, in what may have been the most
important play of the game, McCarty found Dana for an open 3.  Dana
hit, and all of a sudden was energized.  He began to play at full
speed for the first time all season.  Barros hit 2 more threes, and
McCarty threw in a bomb for good measure, as the Celts went on a 17-4
run, building an 86-73 lead with 3:30 to go.  Pitino left the bench
(Dana, Cheaney, McCarty and Battie played nearly the entire 4th) to
finish the job. The Pacers did get to within 7 at 92-85 (40 seconds
left), but the Celts ended the game solidly in control 95-85.

	Simply unbelievable defense, holding a fine offensive team to
.382 shooting.  The Pacers were 6-18 from three points range, and took
just 15 free throws.  Meanwhile the Celts shot .451, and hit 9-16 from
behind the 3 point arc.  The Celts committed just 14 turnovers
(although the Pacers just had 12).  The Celts also had a big 51-41
advantage on the boards.

Lineups:
Celts: Anderson, Pierce, Griffin, Walker, Ellison
Pacers: Jackson, Miller, Rose, Davis, Smits

Players:
Barros: About time.  I thought Dana was still sluggish in the first
half.  But as soon as he hit that three at the start of the 4th, his
game just snapped into place.  He started running all over the court,
grabbing rebounds, and driving to the basket and making some smart
passes.  He scored 15 points (5-11), hit 2-5 on threes, had 4 boards,
4 assists and 2 turnovers in 20 minutes.  He dumped the cornrow hair
style.  Probably the key to his turnaround.

Pierce: Really wasn't a big presence in the 4th quarter.  Up until
then he played outstanding basketball.  Scored 17 points, had 12
boards and 4 assists in 36 minutes.  He got most of his points on a
variety of drives to the basket rather than depending on the jump
shot.

Griffin: Another rock solid game with 12 points, 8 boards, 3 assists
and 2 steals in 31 minutes.  I did think that he let Rose get loose a
couple more times than he should have.  

Walker: did not play in the 4th quarter.  Shot 5-14, and had 5 boards
in 29 minutes.  I don't think he faced up and drove to the basket once
tonight, in part because Dale Davis was playing off him by 5 feet.
One thing he keeps doing is catching the ball a foot or so in front of
the three point line, looking down, then stepping behind the line
before he shoots the ball.  When he does that he never makes the shot.

Anderson: Had a very tough game shooting the ball.  He was 4-12 from
the field and 3-6 from the free throw line.  Had 13 points and 4
assists in 28 minutes.  Not that his shots were bad, they just weren't
dropping.

Battie: had some nice moments on offense, putting down a nice
offensive rebound, then an alley oop from Waltuh, and driving around
Smits for a late 3 point play.  Had 11 points and 3 boards in 24
minutes.

McCarty: best game in quite a while.  Had 6 points and 3 assists.
Also seemed much more focused on defense.  I don't think he left a
Pacer open for a 3 all night.  Still shot just 1-6.

Pervis: 4 points and 5 boards in 15 minutes.  More importantly, he
kept Smits under control, without forcing the C's to double, so they
could maintain their coverage of the Pacer's outside shooters.

Potapenko: Odd man out with just 12 minutes.  He had 2 points and 3
boards.

Cheaney: I thought he played a nice game, especially defensively.  Had
4 points, 3 boards and 2 steals in 24 minutes.  The 2nd unit seemed
much better balanced with him on the floor instead of Williams.

Williams: just got 5 minutes tonight.  Didn't take a shot!

Overton: DNP

Coaching: Obviously a nice breakthrough for the 2nd unit.  Pitino
seems to be acutely aware of the necessity of having a productive
bench, and certainly has stuck with Barros through some rough times
(and let's face it: Dana is going to have some more poor games this
year).  It really impressed me that Pitino kept the 2nd team in for
the end of the game.  It has to tell them what an important part of
the team they are.  I was a little surprised that he decided to start
Pervis over Vitaly, especially since I remember Vitaly having some
decent game against the Pacers and Smits.  You can't argue with the
results though.

The Celts are now 7-4.  Bring on the Spurs (Wednesday night).

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.net