Celts get Gift from Whiz: Boston 114- Washington 81

[Bill Cooper <wfcooper@tiac.net>]

	This was a total mail-in job by the Wizards: they were content
to run down the court, launch a jumper, and then run back the other
way (hit or miss).  The Celtics just played along with the gag (on the
Washington fans who paid money to attend the game), and came away with
an absurdly easy win.  His Airness must have had to be restrained from
coming down to courtside and ripping the jerseys off his players.

	It was all Celts from the opening moments of the game.  The
C's jumped out to a 12-4 lead off hot outside shooting by Kenny
Anderson.  Momentarily, the Whiz put up a fight, coming back to within
3 at 17-14, as Chris Whitney hit some outside shots, and Juwan Howard
took advantage of Eric Williams on the boards.  The quarter ended with
the Celts solidly in control with a 28-19 lead.

	The Celts got some solid defense from the bench, along with
some offense from Fortson and Battie, as they extended the lead to 13
at 36-23.  Chris Whitney continued to be the only Wizard who had any
interest in the outcome of the game.  The Wizards briefly got the lead
under ten, with about 2:00 to go in the period, but the Celts ended
the game half with an 8-2 to run, and took a 55-40 lead at the half.

	Anderson started the half for the Celts but after just 2
plays, Pitino took him out in favor of Barros (no idea why).  It
didn't make much difference as the Celts pushed the lead over the 20
point mark on a Danny Fortson jumper with 7:58 to go.  The Wizards
continued to put up little resistance.  Paul Pierce livened up the
quarter with a couple of drives that ended in stuffs.  The Celts led
83-61 at the end of the period.

	The Celts went a little showtime at the start of the 4th.
Walker and Battie took turns throwing each other alley oop passes over
the top of the hapless Washington defense.  Walker made a really sharp
behind the back-no look pass to McCarty,  and Kenny Anderson continued
to launch and hit treys.  The Celts scored their hundredth point, and
assumed the thirty point lead for the first time with 6:46 to go.  The
final (finally) was 114-81.

	The Celts had a huge advantage in field goal percentage in
this one (.536-.368).  And that despite attempting 22 treys (hitting
8).  The Celts also had a very healthy 53-34 edge on the boards.
Neither team hit their free throws, but the Celts were particularly
bad at 16-27 (gee, they could have won by 40).

Lineups:
Celts: Anderson, Pierce, Williams, Walker, Potapenko
Wizards: Whitney, Richmond, Howard, King, White

Players:
The Centers(?): Fort, Pots and Bat combined for 40 points (17-28) and
28 boards in 63 total minutes.  Fortson led the team in scoring for
the third time in the last 2 weeks with 17 points and added 12 boards
in 26 minutes.  Probably the most amazing stat was that he had just 2
fouls (I guess the refs were mailing it in too).  I've been making a
big deal about Danny's mid range jump shot (which is surprisingly
good), but it does take away from his offensive rebounding (just 2
tonight).   Vitaly was back to hitting the jumper and shot 5-6.
Battie was running all over the place, and really enjoying himself.
He hit Toine for a couple of alley oops, and had 12 points and 11
boards in 22 minutes.

Walker: good thing the Celts weren't really challenged tonight, as the
team captain wasn't exactly giving it his all either.  Toine put up a
couple of ill advised threes in the early part of the game, and that
seemed to set the tone for his game.  He scored 13 points (5-13), and
had 8 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals and 5 turnovers.  Of course, this
was as good a night as any to take off.

Pierce: Solid game, as he mostly drove the ball, jammed, and got to
the free throw line.  16 points, 5 boards, and 3 assists.

Anderson: continues to be hot on the trey (3-6) and had 16 points on
6-10 shooting.  Also had 3 assists in 24 minutes (high by his recent
standards).  Chris Whitney played all 48 minutes in the game, and had
25 points, and 9 assists (nothing to do with Kenny really, I just
thought it was interesting).

Williams: got taken out of the game early in the first and then just
played a couple minutes at the start of the second half.  In 9 minutes
had 4 points and 4 fouls.

Griffin: picked up most of that playing time.  Actually one of
Adrian's more lively games in the last couple of months.  Scored just
3 points, but had 7 boards, and 3 assists in 21 minutes.

Barros: jacking up the ball from the minutes he got into the game.
4-9 for 10 points, and 2 assists in 19 minutes.

Overton: 8 points on 304 shooting in 14 minutes.

Cheaney: mostly played in the 4th. Had just 2 points on 1-3 shooting.

McCarty: also played the entire 4th.  2 points in 14 minutes.

The Celts are now 34-47.  They're hosting the Knicks for their final
game of the season tomorrow night.

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.net