Celts Pull Away II: Boston121- Golden State 104

[Bill Cooper <wfcooper@tiac.net>]

Ummm, you may have gotten an earlier (totally unedited version) of
this report.  Pay no attention to it, unless you want a chuckle at how
poor my spelling/typing is before I run the spellchecker and edit.
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	After a very, very lackluster first half, the Celts took
control of this contest with a 41 point 3rd quarter.  Once again,
antoine walker was the team's lodestone, as he carried the C's through
the rough spots and ignited the burst that carried them to victory.

	Early on, though, it didn't look so good.  The two clubs
traded baskets early in the game, the efforts of Pierce and walker
being balanced by Larry Hughes.  The Celts led much of the period, but
with about 3:00 to go Hughes hit a jumper to put the Warriors up
21-20.  By the end of the period, the Warriors were leading 27-25.
There were 57 possessions, and a whole lot of free throws in the
period.

	The Celts continued to limp along at the start of the second.
the feel behind 35-27 early in the period.  They slowly began to turn
the game around, with offense from Walker and board presence from
Fortson (the Celts had a very hard time controlling their defensive
board, before Fortson got into the game).  The Warriors were still up
49-45, with 1:20 to go, when the Celts scored the last 6 points of the
period (2 assists by Toine), to take the lead 51-49 going into the
half.  My thought  was that they were very lucky to have the lead.

	The Celts came out in a much disciplined fashion to start the
3rd.  They outscored the Warriors 11-2 to take a 62-52 lead.  They got
assist on their first 7 baskets of the period.   Quite a few of those
assists belonged to Kenny Anderson, who apparently decided that an
assist would be better than yet another missed FGA.  Meanwhile,
Calbert Cheaney, who had been handling (more or less) Larry Hughes,
picked up his 4th foul.  In an unusual move, Pitino went to Overton to
guard Hughes and Doug actually had pretty good success.The Celts
continued to put  on the pressure, and built the lead up to
76-61.  Overton not only played solid defense but also had one of his
better nights shooting the ball, as the Celts outscored Golden State
41-24 in the period, on their way to a 92-73 lead.  

	The Cetls continued to play solid ball for the first half of
the 4th, as they pushed the lead up as high as 24 (112-88).  The rest
of the game was garbage time (hey, Pervis got to play the last 3:00).
The Celts came away with the 121-104 victory.

     For once the Celts had an edge in FG% .488-.411.  They combined
that with a big edge in shot taken 82-68.  AFter committing quite a
few turnovers in the first half, they had just a couple in the second,
and had a 21-11 edge in that department.  There were 102 free throws
attempted in the game, with the Warriors getting the lion's hare with
58.  

Lineups:
Celts: Anderson, Pierce, Cheaney, Walker, Potapenko
Warriors: Blaylock, Hughes, Owens, Marshall, Dampier

Players:
Walker: Another triumph for Antoine.  He had 25 points on 10-15
shooting, 6 assists, 5 boards, 2 steals and 4 turnovers in 30 minutes.
He kept the team in the game in the first half, and pushed them over
the top at the start of the third.  It's hard to describe the
difference in Toine's shots these days.  If you remember the frail,
rickety shots he put up when he first joined the team, that looked
like they could be knocked away from the basket by an errant breeze,
you would be astonished to see his ball go up at the basket like it
has a purpose (to go through the hoop).  He no longer puts up
knucklers and hopes they drop in.  I've thought for a long time, that
44-45% would be the best FG percentage he would ever manage, but I'm
beginning to think/hope that he could do better than that.

Anderson: his shooting miseries continue.  He shot 2-5 tonight, and
hit a couple of jumpers.  But he is beginning to pass on shots he
would have taken without hesitation a couple of weeks ago.  Maybe
there is a silver lining in that he seems to be looking to pass the
ball a bit more.  He had 7 assists, (and 7 boards) in 28 minutes, and
several of the passes were dazzling.

Fortson:  The Celts were getting trashed on the boards early in the
game.  After Pots and Bats went through their allotment of first half
fouls, Fortson got into the game and immediately took charge.  For the
rest of the game, the C's controlled the boards, and came back to
outrebound the Warriors (slightly).  Danny had 12 points and 13 boards
in 25 minutes, and actually made a couple good plays on defense,
getting pretty good positions and picking up charges.  He still had 4
personals though.

Pierce: Jump shot was there early, but went away again.  I do think
he's beginning to get the arc back in his shot, which has been missing
for quite a while.  Once again he made his living at the free throw
line, where he was 10-10.  The Celts have also done a good job of
running a play were they lob the ball over the top of the defense for
him.  Paul either gets a jam or a foul out of the play 3 or 4 times a
game.  He had 19 points and 4 assists in 31 minutes (shot just 4-14).

Cheaney: Calbert's new found rep as a defensive stopper took a bit of
a hit tonight.  Hughes ate him alive, as Calbert picked up 4 fouls in
12 minutes.  He did have 5 points.  Cheaney is at a bit of a
disadvantage compared to the other C's, as he seems to be the only
player who has a definite assignment, so he's either a hero or a goat.

Battie: 12 points and 6 boards in 19 minutes.  I detect a decline in
the Battie cycle.  I think that Tony's problems begin when he thinks
of himself as a scorer and not as a rebounder/shotblocker.  So when
his cycle is on the upswing, he's concentrating on boarding and his
energy is going up.  Then, as a result of the energy, he begins to hit
some shots, and score some points.  Then he begins to drift to the
perimeter, and stops roaring in for the big offensive boards.  And the
energy level begins to drop again.

Potapenko: just 8 minutes tonight.  He couldn't get anything done on
the boards early, and with Fortson's strong play just never got back
into the game.  Really in a miserable slump.

Williams: shot the ball 5-9 tonight.  After a 2 game hiatus, had the
jumper going.  15 points in 26 minutes.

Overton: 11 points on 4-6 shooting in 17 minutes.  Actually played
most of the second half at the 2 guard position.  I think the scoring
was mostly luck, but his "D" on hughes was pretty good.

Griffin: had 8 points, but continues to search for his game.

Barros: 2-5 and 5 points in 20 minutes.  2 assists.

Pervis: got a nice ovation from the crowd when he came in.

Opposition Players of Note: Larry Hughes.  the first time I've seen
him get extended minutes.  He's been averaging over 20 a game since
the trade to G.S., and tonight did nothing to hurt that stat.  He had
32 points on 11-18 shooting, with 13 trips to the free throw line.  He
shoots from the outside, and can drive in either direction.  He also
managed 4 assists.  He didn't attempt any three's, but clearly should
develop that kind of range over the next couple of years.  Impressive
performance.

The Celts are now 28 and 36.  They're in Atlanta Friday night.

Bill Cooper
wfcooper@tiac.net