Game 1

Great start to the season for the Celts. 'Toine was awesome. Everything you always wanted in a 'Toine, and more. 33 points, 12-19 from the floor, 6-6 from the line, 12 boards, 4 assists (4 to's, but 3 blocks!). Pierce was big, too, with 28/5/5, but looked like he was forcing a lot of shots, to me (9-24 and 9-14). If these guys play like this, this team will win. A lot. Battie had one of his good nights. As aggressive as I've seen him. Stith came in, played great D when it was needed and got to the line 10 times (made them all). Kenny was very un-Kenny. He didn't dominate the ball and his stats aren't great, but that's probably better for the team. He had 4 steals. Griffin's stats also don't look like much, but I thought he made things click while he was in there. Eric Williams started and did very little. He only played 14 minutes, and did not score. I can't see him starting much longer. Moiso looked completely lost in his 5 minutes. Vitaly did not look good. He was out there working hard though. Blount barely played. He came in at the end of the half to save Battie from picking up his third foul. He'll probably be used like that a lot, and it's a useful role.

Overall, I was very pleased with the game. They moved the ball well on offense, ran honest-to-god fast breaks when they were available and played some pretty credible defense. They did press, but not all game long like you might expect considering the Pistons were playing their second consecutive road game and the Celts were rested. When they did press, they didn't give up any of those totally uncontested breakaway's that we've seen so much of. At the end of the game, Mike Gorman said, "one down and eighty one to go". That puts it in perspective. A fine start to the season, but so was last year's win against Toronto.