Nice win

[opi@unesco.org]

IMO, this was a watershed-type win for a couple of reasons:

1) Paul's 12-16 FGs, 10-10 FTs and aggressive drives to the basket could
jumpstart him out of his 11-game shooting slump. 34 points in 32
minutes, guys! He must have thought Michael Jordan was watching in the
audience.

2) The Celts completed their first two-game win streak on the road and
their first winning road trip (2-1). This was hardly a foregone
conclusion given how hot New Jersey was. If the Celts can maintain even
par on the road at around 10 games under .500 (4-14 presently) for the
rest of the year (hence say 15-14 the rest of the way), then they have a
chance to get into the playoffs on the strength of a solid home record.

3) Our Celts beat two close division rivals at their homes to reassert
that they aren't worrying about what's in the rear view mirror.

4) They've won three straight games against teams with inferior or equal
records, which smashes a season long trend and suggests they've learned
something from getting gored and mauled in the Bulls/Grizzlies weekend
massacre. Also, they haven't blown fourth quarter leads lately. Their
fourth quarter clutch play has been rock solid.

5) Antoine's four double-doubles in the past five games. So far in the
new year, he's also racked up promising games of 9 assists, 7 assists
and 6 assists twice and is making some plays on defense. But his overall
Y2K turnovers (3.1) and shooting (.399) are poor compared to the earlier
hot streak in December, plus he's attempted almost 60 shots in the past
two games (over 20 per game this month) so he might need to calm down a
bit against certain upcoming opponents.

6) It gives them confidence going into the much tougher bellweather
games this week and next against Eastern playoff rivals Charlotte,
Toronto, Orlando and Miami. The Wiz did shoot over 50% (which reverses a
one-game positive trend) but the Celts again racked up a solid 24
assists despite just three from the bench. They also outrebounded one of
the best rebounding teams in the conference.

If the Celts can win three of the next six (including tough Seattle and
Phoenix at home), the Celts will have finished above .500 for the month
(3 games under overall). I think getting all the way back to .500 by the
end of January (a fairly realistic goal when the month began) is pretty
much hopeless even if Griffin rushes back. February is another
relatively tough .500-type month (a tougher schedule than this month),
but March and April are shaping up to be a breeze (especially if we have
a healthy Fortson, Griffin and Anderson).

Go Celts!

Joe