Antoine Walker played one of his finest games as a Celtic tonight. He
scored an effortless 38 points and had at least 9 rebounds, with, I'd guess,
about 6 assists. He forced very few shots and was always looking to find
someone for a better one. He really had the feel for the ball tonight. He
started the game with, I believe,15 points in the first quarter. He passed
and rebounded for the middle two periods and took over the game in the
fourth and O.T.. All of his skills were on display. He scored from outside
and inside. He dove for loose balls, ran the floor and fought for defensive
position. I had to recall some of Larry's better games, to find any forward
who could duplicate this effort.
What gratified me most, after questioning the wisdom of letting Antoine
initiate the offense, was the chemistry between him and Anderson. Instead of
Walker hogging the ball and making the predictable play, the two of them
passed it back and forth on the perimeter until a good pass was found, or
Walker would immediately go down low to post up or look for a rebound, while
he let Kenny make the play. I don't remember ever seeing these two play so
well together. If the ref's gave him a break, on a late charge called
against him, on a made basket, in the last minute or so, we win the game.
For most of the game, the ref's swallowed their whistles, except for Ray
Allen. Pierce was hacked and whacked relentlessly. I guess, the ref's will
not get him to the line like last season. Paul forced a lot of shots, but
hit some clutch ones and looked to pass a few times, late in the game.
Tonight, Antoine passed first. Paul generally, only passed in desperation.
Walker and Ray Allen traded big hoops down the stretch. Antoine sank a
three, his second in successive possessions, to give us the lead with 9
seconds on the clock. Ray Allen shot over Pierce, (his second on successive
possessions), who was in his face, for the game winner with 6 seconds left.
Tony Battie started at center and dominated the glass, when he was on the
floor. He might have had a double double. He played very aggressively.
Millwaukee was without Ervin Johnson, Glen Robinson and Darvin Ham. Their
inside tandem of Foster, Przbilla and Pope did not make you think of Wilt
Chamberlain, Luke Jackson and Chet Walker.
Joe Johnson got some extended minutes. He hit a few shots and wowed the
home crowd with some open court moves that left me wanting to see more of
Joe. Forte played briefly and Brown did not play.
Eric Williams rebounded better than usual, he seemed fired up. Late in
the game, he banged knees with Tim Thomas and both were helped/carried off
the floor.
Kenny did nothing special. Cassell tormented him a bit, but the
previously mentioned chemistry with Antoine, kept all of the players
involved in the offense. We did run in the first quarter, scoring 35 points,
but as has become the norm, never returned to that aspect of the game. It's
a pity. I'd like to see a consistent aggressive move, up the court.
Palacio worked hard defending Cassell, but was not a factor offensively.
As far as I remember, he never played without Antoine on the floor. The only
pass he seems comfortable making is the handoff to Walker. He absolutely
missed Potapenko on the pick and pop again and was reluctant to even bounce
it inside, to a posting player. He preferred to dribble left and look for
Antoine.
That's about it. A fairly typical shootout with a depleted Milwaukee team
that didn't play a lot of defense and counted on Ray Allen and cooperative
referees to pull the game out down the stretch.
JB
Unchain My Heart!