Last night, Antoine and the trip

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

Antoine was great. Need I point out the small lineup he went against much of
the night? They were forced to double-team him in the post, which created
openings for teammates and the offense flowed like it rarely does. It also
created opportunities for Antoine, including several wide-open threes. He
took a few that had me cringing, but for the most part was very judicious.

More positives... Kenny! Although he gave up just as much to Avery Johnson.
Who had Kenny and AJ in the "leading scorers after one quarter" pool?...
Pierce certainly seemed to have shaken off his shooting slump. Incredibly
productive and efficient in limited minutes... Limited minutes! Good to see
Obie manage the roster to handle tonight's back-to-back. The notable
exception was Antoine, who logged 46 minutes that didn't seem entirely
necessary. Did they miscount the rebounds? Were they trying to get him a
quadruple double?... Eric Williams came out of hibernation (if only JJ would
follow)..... The rest of the East went down last night.

Some negatives... Rebounding! Denver should not dominate the Celts on the
glass like that. Boston shot over 50 percent from the field and played well
offensively to disguise this, but it will be a serious problem most nights.
If the Celts shoot even a good-for-them 45 percent last night, they lose.
Watch the glass tonight. The Warriors are a great rebounding team.... JJ
seemed to leave his aggressiveness in Philly... The Celts played great
offensively but couldn't shake a Nuggets team with a struggling Van Exel and
Lafrentz. The team takes its lead from Antoine, both good and bad, and as
good as he was last night, every time the Celts built a little cushion he
started his Globetrotter act. Between the legs passes and the like. The team
relaxed, the Nuggets made a run. Of course Antoine quieted every run with a
big bucket or nice pass, but that kind of carelessness will get you beat
against better opponents.

Another huge game tonight. You can't assume there are any more wins out
there on this trip. Getting this one would assure they return at least at
30-26, which would be fine.

Random thoughts... the East is so wide open. It's never going to be like
this again. As so many of the national writers have pointed out, the Celtics
aren't considered serious playoff contenders because they're so soft on the
interior and so perimeter-oriented-recipe for disaster in the postseason.
And yet Wallace only expresses interest in today's Herald notes in "easing a
luxury tax burden in the future..." Way to go for the ring Chris.

Isiah Thomas is the worst coach in the league and there isn't even a close
second. How can that team still be struggling the way it is? Talk about a
sleeping giant. Some coach is going to take over the Pacers and look like a
genius sometime soon.

Mark