Washington 102, Boston 101

[D Parker <danp@town.ipswich.ma.us>]

Another go around with the Wizards tonight, a mere 24 hours off the
heels of their last contest.  Eric Washington was let go, and I'm sure
it will break the hearts of all Celtics List readers to learn Master P
was cut from Toronto today.

Pitino couldn't stop tinkering and came up with a starting lineup of
Anderson, Griffin, Pierce, Walker, and Potapenko.  The C's got off to
a slow start as Washington had lively legs and none of the Celtics
could find the basket.  Antoine missed two buckets early and Kenny
made a retarded no-look pass on the break for a turnover.  It was
retarded because it was a two-on-one break and making a no-look pass
when there's only one person to pass to isn't very useful.  The
Washington defender scooped up the pass and ran to the other end of the
court.

Things picked up with 6:00 to go in the first as Pervis was fouled and
hit the free throws, Pierce hit a three and 'Toine had a beautiful
crossover move on which he got fouled and hit both free throws.
Pierce also followed up a missed shot with a monster dunk.  The
Celtics then got the dreaded three-point disease as Barros and Cheaney
both chucked 'em up with nothing to show for it.

Washington took control in the second quarter dashing off to a 28-20
lead as Cheaney bricked another three-pointer.  The C's started the
quarter 0-7 but managed to keep the game within reach.  A steal led to
a Cheaney basket, Turner got a steal and a hoop, and Walter was fouled
and hit both free throws.  Cheaney picked up his fourth foul, the C's
started missing free throws and the half ended 49-40 in favor of
Washington.

Got a chance to see "Lucky", the Celtics mascot during halftime.  For
everyone planning on going to the FleetCenter this year: stock up on
batteries.

The third quarter just sorta slid by.  Washington was showing no
effects of having played the night before and was streaking up the
court.  It helped that the Celtics were missing plenty of shots that
led to fast break opportunities but to run effectively players have to
want to do it and Washington sure looked like it wanted to run.  The
Celtics, despite being down by double-digits, opted for the
spectacular rather than the fundamental and didn't chip away at the
lead as a result.  Pierce held the offense together so the game didn't
get totally out of hand and Walter came in and was a much-needed spark
plug on defense.  Still, the quarter ended with the C's down 80-69.

In the fourth Pitino finally found the combination that clicked and it
had little to do with the starters.  Walter was a madman and started
driving to the hoop and threw down some vicious dunks.  He was also
scrambling on defense and made some great plays.  Pitino was wise
enough to let the second unit bring the C's back -- notably both
Walker and Pierce were on the bench during the big push that got them
back in the game.

Someone forgot to tell Dana he was allowed to shoot inside the three
point line and he was killing the Celtics by throwing up at least
three three-pointers, none of which connected.  Two of them absolutely
crippled the momentum the Celtics got going to tie the game.  He also
hurt the cause by losing the dribble out of bounds, turning the ball
over.  The C's didn't give up though and Battie came back with a
strong dunk where he got fouled.  Walter also made a strong drive and
was flagarantly fouled.  He knocked down both free throws, and soon
after Cheaney hit a jumper to tie the game.  Cheaney then fouled out
and was replaced by Pierce.

Pierce helped out with two free throws and then a big three-pointer,
but after that the Celtics drifted away from the great movement of the
second unit and just relied on Pierce to generate offense.  He
couldn't do it all himself as he missed a shot and then on the next
possession lost the ball driving to the basket.

Michael Smith was fouled and hit both free throws to make it 99-98
Washington.  Barros missed on a drive, Pierce fouled out, Walker came
in, and Smith missed two free throws, leaving the score at 99-98.
Anderson came in, drove to the hoop, scored, was fouled, and hit the
free throw making it 101-99, Boston.  Richmond drive to the hoop for
Washington, had absolutely nothing going and was bailed out with a
foul call.  He hit the first but missed the second.  The ball wound up
in Hamilton's hands and he hit the jumper that won the game.  There
were still 4.4 seconds left but the C's couldn't get a shot off.

If there's a silver lining it's that the Celtics scored 61 points in
the second half after managing just 40 in the first.

Players
=======

Walker: Cybertwan might not be Year 2000 compliant, 'cause as soon as
Joe started mentioning Y2K All-Star numbers Antoine delivered this
egg.  Couldn't hit anything from the field in the first half (including a
blown reverse layup) though he did knock down his free throws.

Pierce: The 28 points were impressive and Paul kept the Celtics in the
game during the third quarter.  I thought the team looked for him too
much at the end of the game, rather than moving the ball around and
having guys cut to the basket the way they did when they stormed back
to tie the game.

Potapenko: Only one of the starters who was really hustling during the
first half.  Typical solid job.  Took a shot under his left eye that
required five stiches, but he's expected to play in the opener next
week.

Griffin: Heinson was raving about Griffin's smarts and while Tommy tends
to go overboard with his praise he's right about Griffin.  It's so
nice to watch a player play so efficiently and intelligently.  If you
gave Griffin's basketball brain to 'Toine I'd be reserving my Hall of
Fame Introduction Dinner seats right now.

Anderson: Uh, oh.  Looks like Kenny's completely content to walk the
ball up the floor.  While the Washington players look like they have
"Run!" imprinted in their thoughts, Kenny isn't getting up the floor
unless Rick starts yelling at him.  Had a good scoring night though,
racking up 21 points.

Williams: Those first two pre-season games are starting to look like a
fluke.  Eric just isn't producing anymore.  Can he adjust to being a
force off the bench, or does he have to start to produce?  Has the
body to be a defensive stopper but hasn't shown the aptitude yet.
When he's not scoring he's not doing much else.

Battie: Helped lead the charge in the fourth quarter.  "Bat Man" went
to the hoop strong and helped out on the boards.  Needs to get his
turnaround jumper untracked -- that was quite a weapon for him last
year.

McCarty: Was *the* driving force behind the Celtics comeback in the
fourth quarter.  Walter was ultra-aggressive but in a good way, and he
was blocking shots, switching on defense, throwing down some nasty
dunks and generally terrorizing the Wizards.  Finished with 16 points.

Turner:  Didn't get many minutes which was a bit of a surprise given
Kenny's reluctance to push the ball.

Barros: Couldn't get the three untracked and really killed the Celtics
momentum with some poorly timed shots.

Damn.  The Celtics were two points away from ending the pre-season
4-4.  Here's hoping they turn it up a notch for the regular season.

Dan