25 assists. Lets keep it up.

[JB <JBMetzEA@yahoo.com>]

    This has to be one of the strangest games this season. The Clippers
played pretty well, even without Brand and Odum, for three quarters plus and
then just imploded in a flurry of heaves and turnovers, as the game got down
to the end. As has been the pattern this season, we took a huge break, when
Elton Brand removed himself from the game with a hip injury, after the
shootaround. 
   It has to be said that the Celtics domination of the last five minutes or
so, was accompanied by the ref's, finally putting away the whistles that
were keeping L.A. in the game. They out shot us, from the line, 34-19.  At
home! The first indication, to me, that the ref's would control this game,
was when Olowakandi bumped Vitaly, not once, but twice, on his way to
bulling into the lane for a jump hook. As usual, Vitaly didn't budge, but
nonetheless, Olo got to the line for a three point play.
   Vitaly played his worst game ever. He couldn't hold a rebound or a pass.
It really was embarrassing. With Battie in foul trouble in the second
quarter, Blount came in and scored 7 quick points. He was active defensively
also, not a bad showing, although, of course, he didn't get a single
rebound. I was surprised he didn't play in the second half, with Vitaly
being so ineffective.
   Walter, also was given more minutes than usual, and produced points,
rebounds and defense.
   Eric Strickland has to be retained over the summer. He held the team
together and in the game, while Walker and Pierce both sat, with foul
trouble, for large portions of the second and third quarters respectively.
Anderson was largely an afterthought. His back wrap looks like a
sarcophagus.
   Pierce started out on fire. He had his shot back and for three quarters
he was tormenting all who came at him. As the fourth quarter started, he
completely lost it again. From that point on, Walker took over. He did it
all and with his head up, looking for teammates. This is what we need from
Antoine. If we are going to carry a power forward who won't play down low,
he has to rack up assists and use those passing skills, that can compensate.
There was a stretch in the early going, when Walker took a couple of feeds,
so far down on the block, that he didn't need more than one dribble, to put
a fake and a spin move, on his defender and score. I hope we see more of
this. Antoine gets in trouble when he tries to dribble through the defense
and has little steam left, when/if he reaches the hoop, with the ball still
in hand.
   As the lead quickly grew, finally reaching sixteen, there were two
timeouts, called by L.A., for no apparent reason, as  the game was long
over. At this point, I felt that O'Brien should remove his walking wounded,
but he didn't. Even if; Forte, Johnson and Blount couldn't  have benefited
from a few possessions, the chance of Walker, Pierce, or Anderson
aggravating their injuries, seemed like reason enough.
   
   
        JB



                  Unchain My Heart !