CBW review: Celtics vs. Knicks

[snoopy1@xxxxxxx]

Celtics vs. Knicks Dec 14, 2002  7:30pm

The Celtics had won six straight regular season games against the Knicks, 
and there was no obvious sign that the record would be blemished 
tonight.   Tonight's game came 24 hours after the Celtics beat the 
Cleveland Cavaliers in the Fleet Center in Boston.  New York had just won a 
controversial game against the Miami Heat--which had prompted a protest 
against the officials by Pat Riley, the Heat coach. Guess he only notices 
the problems when they affect HIS team.  Hmph.

First quarter:

The Celtics won the opening tip off, and Tony Delk brought the ball to the 
top of the key, and then sent it to Paul Pierce whose three bounced off the 
Rim.  From the very start, the Celtics forced the Knicks to take outside 
shots thanks to the defense. Tony Delk nailed the three from the top of the 
arc it was quickly apparent the Celtics intended shoot from outside as long 
as the Knicks would let them open to do so.  Walker proceeded to hit 
another three with 10:35 to go, as Boston had a 6-0 lead in the first. A 20 
second timeout was called by New York.

New York came out moving the ball trying to get inside, to no avail. Walker 
and Battie tried another alley-oop pass but it missed--they really need to 
practice it.  New York got its first point of the game with nine minutes in 
57 seconds left in the first quarter, via a free throw.

The Celtics defense was causing New York to go one and done on every 
offensive trip.  It was clear from the beginning, the Celtics offense was 
going to begin from the outside tonight.  The first time Tony Delk went 
inside, he was fouled.  The Celtics scored again to make it a 10 to 1 score 
with 8:40 seconds left in the quarter.  New York had yet to score a field 
goal.  Spreewell committed an offensive foul in his attempt to score 
against Paul Pierce.

The Celtics offense was flowing very smoothly, and their defense clamped 
down in a way that it had not done in the last several games.  There was 
7:49 left in the quarter before New York scored its first basket- a 
three.  But New York still could not stop the Boston offense.  Tony Battie, 
the Bat-Man, is still making a living under the hoop.

Tony had a nice rejection of a New York basket attempt by Allan Houston.  A 
timeout was called with 6:10 to go, with the Celtics leading 14 to 6.

After the time out the Celtics stole the ball and Eric Williams went in for 
a layup.  Pierce whirled to the hoop, but was fouled.  At least this time, 
they seem to be calling the fouls.  Pierce hit both. (Yay!)
Not bad for a guy who went through nine hours of dental surgery yesterday.

Allan Houston was finding his outside shot despite good defense by 
Boston.  Pierce then went to the hoop with no opposition and scored the 
easy basket.  A couple of possessions went by when neither team could 
score.  They dry spell was broken by Spree as he went to the basket and was 
fouled.  Tony Battie sat with two fouls.  Spree missed the free throw.  Good!!

Then Baker quickly scored thanks to extra good passing by the Celtics.  The 
Celtics were working hard on the boards but the rebounds were going New 
York's way too often to suit me.  With 2:53 left in the first quarter the 
Celtics held a nine-point lead with the score 22-13.  The division 
standings put Boston 1/2 game behind New Jersey in the Eastern Conference 
Atlantic Division.  A win would tie it all up.

Paul Pierce somehow got a basket as he was fouled--it was a very nice, if 
complicated, move.  Pierce missed the free throw.  Whack!  The Celtics were 
working harder on rebounds, and it showed.  Walter McCarty played Spree 
tough on defense.  New York was getting more attempts off rebounds, which 
was bad for Boston.  The Celtics stole a pass, but then Pierce seemed to 
injure himself, something with his knee or leg.  He fell to the floor as a 
timeout was called.  He stayed down as the trainer tended to his right leg 
and play continued.  New York took the chance to finish a rally of their 
own, and bring the score closer as the end of the quarter approached.  The 
quarter ended with the Celtics lead cut to six points, 26-20 as Paul Pierce 
was still on the floor underneath the basket just out of bounds--he still 
had not been moved.



Second Quarter:

The second quarter opened with Paul Pierce now sitting at the Celtics 
bench, a good sign compared to where he was before.  Unfortunately, New 
York opened the quarter by scoring a basket.  Vin Baker saved a broken play 
with a nice shot.  A report came in that Paul Pierce "felt something going 
in his knee", in his own words, and he was sitting with the trainer to make 
sure that everything was ok before going back into the game.

New York, and particularly Mike Doleac, kept out rebounding the Celtics to 
this point.  Both teams were not playing smoothly at this time of the 
game.  Tony Delk took to his favorite corner spot to shoot a three, with 
the expected results.

After the timeout, Boston had a 10-point lead, 34-24.  Paul Pierce came 
back and seemed to be moving OK drawing the defense, and passing the ball 
out.  Walker had a shot clock three.

Charlie Ward of New York answered.  Tony Delk hit a deep two.  It began to 
look like this was going to be an offensive, not defensive, game.  New York 
was getting more out of the three-point shot than the Celtics were.  This 
was very unusual.  Play became ragged for both teams.  New York was doing 
better on rebounds, and this was costing the Celtics points.  Walker made a 
nice move to the basket and got the good roll.

Bruno took up the middle again.  He looks better and better in limited 
minutes.  There was a beautiful passed by Walker to Eric Williams, for an 
easy basket.  Even the New York fans had to appreciate that.

After the timeout, New York moved the ball well, but wasted it on a bad 
three-point shot over the backboard.  Walker continued to have his 
way.  Boston was shooting 60% at this point.  Then Baker worked hard to the 
hoop and got a rebounded basket.  On the next possession, Baker tried again 
and was fouled hard going to the basket.  Boston held the ball for the last 
shot, but missed.  Halftime arrived with Boston leading, 52-44.

HALFTIME

Cookie break!!

So far, both teams played like they had played last night, very ragged and 
tired.  While the Celtics held the lead, in order to keep it, they were 
going to have to play much better defense.  New York was disorganized, but 
all they needed was a run, and they would be right back in the middle of 
this game.  The Celtics have developed a habit of a third-quarter 
drought.  New York was too easily capable of putting together scoring run 
that would give them the game if the Celtics lost any ground on the 
offensive end.

Walker had 15 points on 7- 15 shooting.  Pierce had 10 points on 3-6 
shooting.  The Celtics had 32 paint points in the first half.


Third-quarter:

Boston had shot 56 percent in the first half.  Pierce opened up the offense 
in the third-quarter with a nice three-point shot, wide-open easily 
made.  Spree could not answer.  The Celtics took the rebound and came up 
quickly.  Pierce took another three from downtown, and made it looked like 
a layup, again.

Paul Pierce took the next took down the court and made sure his feet were 
well behind the three-point arc this time, after there was dispute over a 
previous shot.  The Celtics defense got batter, working hard for 
rebounds.  The next trip up, Pierce took it to the hoop, drawing a foul on 
the made basket.  Pierce, went to the line, and made the free throw.  Yay!

New York tried to answer with outside three-point shops, and could 
not.  Pierce was a one-man demolition crew, getting another deep two, 
prompting a New York timeout.  The Celtics led 64-46 with this timeout.

After the timeout, one of Pierce's shots was indicated as a three after 
all.  I wonder if this had something to do with the MSG replaying Tommy 
Heinsohn's tantrum during the Celtics/Suns game a few days ago.  :>)))  As 
this was decided, Pierce had his first miss in seven shots.  New York beat 
the Celtics defense on a fast-moving play, to score a basket.  New York 
then played swarming defense, to try to beat the Celtics game, but Eric 
Williams took a foul going to the basket.

Two free throws later, the Celtics had a 16 point lead, with just over 7 
1/2 minutes to go.  The defense had tightened up as hoped, and the offense 
had been his potent as it could be hoped for.  This was emphasized when 
Tony Battie threw a slam.  The game was quickly getting out of hand.  New 
York began to double-team Paul Pierce, only to succeed in fouling him.  The 
Celtics continued to play tough defense, and they reaped the benefits by 
getting the rebounds.  Boston was contesting every shot, and often ending 
up with the ball.

After Tony Battie picked up his fourth foul, he sat in favor of Vin 
Baker.  New York moved the ball on offense, trying to find a decent shot, 
to no avail.  They often ended up with a bad outside shot.  The Celtics 
begin to play a little too aggressively, leading to some fouls.  New York 
had managed to cut the Celtics lead to 12 points, despite ragged 
play.  Shammond hit a  beautiful open three.  The Celtics won a jump ball 
the following possession, leading to Eric Williams hitting a free throw 
line shot.  Walter McCarty stole the ball, and passed to Eric Williams, but 
Charlie Ward made a very good defensive effort to draw the offense of foul 
on Eric.  New York was still taking bad shots, but getting too many 
rebounds, perhaps with some help from the officials.  If you give them the 
ball often enough, sooner or later they'll score.  Some idiot football 
award interrupted the game, but not for long thank goodness.

The play was ragged again on both sides, this favoring New York, as up 
until now the Celtics had played very smoothly.  Pierce came back off the 
bench after her about a minutes rest, having scored some 13 points in eight 
minutes.  He tried to set up Walker with a nice feed, but the shot didn't 
go. The Celtics did steal the ball in the other end, and Pierce went to the 
hope, drawing the foul.

Then Baker got an uncontested basket, on a very nice pass from Eric 
Williams.  This gave Baker a season high 12 points, very nice to see.  For 
some reason Witherspoon and Walker got into an argument, and a double "T" 
was called.  The two players were very angry each other.  On a replay it 
looks like the two of them were simply going at each other and played hard, 
perhaps harder than they ought to.  At least the officials took care of 
things before they got too bad.

Clarence Witherspoon still appeared upset couple of minutes later, whereas 
Walker seemed to be more pleasantly disposed.

Play resumed as Pierce spun in toward the hoop, but had the ball locked out 
of bounds.  Walker took the inbound pass, and with Witherspoon in his face, 
neatly sank a three.

But the Celtics offensive onslaught had done its job.  The Celtics took the 
last shot of the quarter- one of the few misses-to end the quarter with the 
Celtics leading 83-60.



Fourth-quarter:

Previous games this year, not only for the Celtics, but also for many 
teams, had shown that even a 20-point lead was not safe at the beginning of 
the fourth-quarter.  The Celtics would have to work hard to make sure there 
was no last-minute comeback.  The Celtics defense was hard and tight as the 
quarter opened.  Boston had outscored New York 31-16 in the third quarter.

New York tried to play tough defense of their own, hoping to spark a 
comeback that way.  But they turned the ball over again, and the Celtics 
ended up on offense once again.  Walter hit a shot clock three, and the 
Walker Wiggle was back.  I wonder if there's been a physical action so 
despised by the League since Red was lighting up on the sideline.  Spree 
came back into the game, and promptly sank a basket.  Pierce returns the 
favor a few seconds later.  It looked like the most of the scoring New York 
was going to get would be at the free throw line.  Then Baker for once was 
on the right side of a follow call, going to the line.  To this time 
including the two free throws he just hit, he had 16 points and six rebounds.

But at this point, all New York could seem to do was trade 
baskets--mostly.  A timeout called with 8:30 remaining had the score Boston 
Celtics 90, New York 66.  This was a chance for the Celtics to have one of 
their few games with extended garbage time, providing only that they did 
not fall apart completely.  Given what I'd seen in previous games, I was 
rooting for coach Jim O'Brien to leave the starters out there for it least 
another five minutes. :>)))

The crowd in New York was very quiet, befitting a home team that was down 
by so many points with so much time to go.  The Celtics defense led to a 24 
second violation by New York, which in turn lead to a chorus of boos from 
the fans.  Eric Williams got an alley-oop pass, for an easy two.  To this 
time of the game Boston lead in paint points 46-16.  Pierce emphasized the 
situation by hitting a difficult shot.  Spree hit for a three, but 
obviously it was little help at this point of the game.  New York did try 
to make a small run with just under seven minutes to go, in an attempt to 
bring the lead under 20 points.  Kurt Thomas of New York fouled out of the 
game, probably to his great relief.

Coach Chaney officially surrendered, sending in his bench.  There was just 
under six minutes to go when this occurred.  Bruno had come into the game 
for Boston, but Walker and Pierce were still on the floor.  Bruno made some 
good rebounds.

A timeout was called, after which the Celtic bench came out.  The final 
minutes of the game would be played by the reserves on each team.  Tony 
Delk took the three, showing his range once again.  Kedrick Brown came onto 
the court, and garbage time was official.

Tony Delk took open threes, since New York left him open.  Walter McCarty 
hit an open three of his own, just because it was there.  Even Ruben got 
into this game--making it, I think, the first time that every single member 
of the Celtics roster has played this season.

The bench built the lead back up to 25 points, with almost three minutes to 
go.  When time was called, the score was 105-80.  The Celtics had won this 
game on their defense.  Even Bruno got to the Rim against New York.

The only question remaining at this point of the game was whether New York 
would score more than 90 points in the loss.  Bruno hit a three, to rub 
salt in the wound.  With 20 seconds to go, New York reached 90 points, on 
free throws.  The Celtics won the game 113-90.

Despite somewhat ragged play by both teams, the Celtics maintained control 
of this game throughout most of it.  New York made several tries to come 
back, but the Celtics were simply too much for them.  The Celtics got their 
game together mostly in the third-quarter I felt, and that was the decisive 
point of the game.  Coach O'Brien wisely protected his lead into the 
fourth-quarter, to prevent any last-minute comeback's by New York.

The Good Guys outshot the Knicks from the field, going 42-73 for 57%, while 
holding the Knicks to 38% on 29-75 shooting.  Same at the arc, where Boston 
went 10-19 for 52%, while New York was 9-21 for 42%.  New York did 
outrebound Boston, 38-37, including an 11-4 lead in offensive 
rebounds.  They also did better at the free throw line, going 23-27 for 
85%, while Boston went 19-24 at 79%.  The Celtics gave the Knicks too many 
second chances.  Fortunately, the Knicks were shooting badly.

HEROES AND ZEROS:

Heroes:

Paul Pierce: 29 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and an assist after having to 
spend yesterday at the dentist.  If I spent all day at the dentist, I'd 
still be in bed NEXT weekend.

Antoine Walker: 23 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals.

Vin Baker:  Now THIS is more like it.  16 points, 6 rebounds, an assist and 
a steal.

Tony Delk: 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal.

Eric Williams: 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists.

J.R Bremer:  4 points, 2 assistsin 4 minutes.


Zeros:

Shammond Williams:  Just didn't get a whole lot done out there.

Tony Battie:  had a couple of nice plays, but nowhere near as effective as 
he usually is.

NBA officials:  for the third night in a row, they screwed up.  This time, 
the fans in Utah expressed their displeasure with an airborne assault after 
the game against Sacramento.  I'm not really in favor of them getting 
physically hurt, but I can see where the situation is getting really 
bad.  When was the last time that Pat Riley and Tom Heinsohn agreed on 
ANYTHING???

And that's the view from the doghouse.

Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
Please visit the Celtics Beagle Website at
http://users.mfi.net/fluteaphrael/celticsbeagle/celtics.html