Celts Survive Bulls: Boston 105- Chicago 91

[Bill Cooper <wfcooper@tiac.net>]

    This had to be one of the worst NBA contests I've seen in the last
few years.  The Celts didn't play especially well, and they still
dominated the Bulls (a really bad team, with nothing to play for, and
on teh second night of the dreaded back to back).  The saving factor
in the game was the play of the Boston bench, who brought some energy
to the desultory performance.

	For quite a while it looked as though we might see the first
quarter in league history (Okay, since the invention of the shot
clock), where neither team got into double digits.  With 4:30 gone in
the period, the scored stood at 5-4 (Celts).  With 3:01 to go the
score was tied at 12.  Pitino went to the bench and the press, and it
had an immediately positive effect.  The Celts went on a 14-0 run (3
Bulls turnovers).  Battie continued his hot shooting from Wednesday
night and hit his first couple of shots.  The Celts led 27-15 at the
end of the period.

	The Celts seemed to lose a bit of that steam at the start of
the second period.  Then, midway through the period, they got a 9-0
run to push the lead up to 19, threatening to blow out the bulls.
Chicago came back with a 7-0 run to stave off the inevitable.  By the
end of the period, the actually had worked the Celts lead down to
single digits at 51-42.

	The Celts starters, who had played lackadaisically in the
first half, finally got it going at the start of the second half.
Pierce hit for a quick 8 points, and the Celts pushed the lead up to
18 at 62-44.  Later in the period, Danny Fortson, who continued his
hot play, drove the Celts on a 9-2 run to take the lead over the 20
mark for the first time at 77-56.  The Bulls responded with an 11-0
run of their own, but the C's still closed out the period leading by
19 at 86-67.

	Early in the 4th period, the Celts to the lead up to 28 at
97-69.  Both coaches went garbage for the rest of the period (except
that Pitino kept Anderson in for most of the quarter).  With about
3:00 to go, Kenny decided that he had sprained his ankle, and left the
game (but didn't get any attention from the trainer: maybe he just
wanted out).  The final was a misleadingly close 105-91.

	The Celts had a nice edge in field goal percentage, and they
took 19 more shots, thanks mostly to better offensive rebounding and
15 steals.  They were also helped out, in that regard,  by the refs
who got chicago to the line 12 more times. The Celts had 23 assists to
the Bulls 14 (of course they also scored 12 more hoops).

Lineups:
Boston: Anderson, Cheaney, Pierce, Walker, Potapenko
Bulls: Armstrong, Hawkins, Hoiberg, Brand, Ruffin

Players:
Fortson: Danny again.  Had 21 points (6-8, 9-10 on fts), 10 boards and
5 fouls in 23 minutes.  Couple of observations about Danny offense:
he's useless driving the ball- he got blocked three times tonight
taking it to the hoop: his mid range jump shot is pretty legit,
thought he takes a bit of time to get it off: if he's not taking the
jumper, he will always seek out contact- if the other team is in the
penalty, Danny should always be in the game.  Just play him for the
last 5 minutes of each quarter, and he'll get to the free throw line
10 times a game (at least).

Pierce: had some shooting touch tonight (which has been MIAfor the
most since December ).  Hit on 7-11, and got to the free throw line 6
times).  20 points in 32 minutes.

Walker: shot just 6-15 tonight.  Actually the Celts centers guarded
Brand, and Walker  took on Ruffin for most of the night.  Toine scored
14, and had 7 assists balanced off by 5 turnovers.  3 steals

Anderson: the NBA's first or second shortest shooting guard (I suppose
Iverson is shorter?) had 5 points on 2-7 shooting and 1 (?) assist in
32 minutes.

Williams: shot was off a bit tonight at 3-8.  8 points and 2 assists
in 19 minutes.

Battie: hit his first couple of shots then cooled off.  Dana hit him
for a really nice alley oop Jam in the third quarter.  Had 11 points
and 4 boards in in 9 minutes.

Barros: shot well in the first half and poorly in the second.  Had 10
points (4-10) and 5 assists in 18 minutes.

Potapenko:  0-5 tonight.  Tommy says that his shot is much flatter
than when he was hitting so well at mid season.  Of course that
doesn't explain why his shot is flatter.  

Overton: Griffin didn't play (box score lists personal reasons: not
sure if he was with the club or not - anyone know?).  Doug got 17 rare
minutes and had 9 points and 2 assists.

Cheaney: 6 points and 3 assists in 25 minutes.

McCarty: 2 points and 1 assists in 3 minutes.

Celts are now 33-46.  They host the Hornets on Sunday at 12:30. 

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.net