Game 2

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

Didn't we all expect exactly the kind of game that happened last night? It
says a lot about this team and this coaching staff that they can play as
poorly as they did Sunday and yet the team's most dedicated fans remain
almost unanimous in their utter lack of panic. We all knew they'd play well
last night, and they did.

Defensively, it was back to the intense, harassing, collapsing group we've
come to expect. When this team focuses on defense, it is really strong.

Offensively, they made the adjustment of recognizing the perimeter pressure
applied by the Pistons and attacking it either by posting up, or driving to
the basket off the dribble. When was the last time Pierce got so many
layups? He also was great at passing out of double teams, even though Kenny
and Delk missed several open jumpers off of those passes. Kenny was
effective again driving to the basket, and if he could have hit an open jump
shot, he would have had a monster game. Eric Williams was great, although I
think the Celtics overrate his post-up game. If he isn't bailed out by a
foul, he has trouble finishing, even against Jon Barry. But Williams hit
some threes and collected several garbage baskets. Battie was active. Rodney
Rogers was great, especially on the boards.

Antoine... I don't know what to make of Antoine right now. I don't think
I've ever seen him have as little impact on games as he has for much of
these playoffs. Offensively, he has become a spot-up shooter for the most
part. He's not passing especially well, or looking to pass, and his assists
are down. He's not even rebounding like we expect. Antoine is a lot of
things, and I'm especially tough on him, but he rarely is a non-factor. For
three quarters last night, he was a non-factor. He was for long stretches
against Philly as well. Granted, he sometimes is a negative factor (he had a
few of those moments last night), but rarely is he on the floor so long
without really being noticed. I don't know what to make of it. Just kind of
strange. I'm expecting one of his monster triple-double type games soon.

As confident as I was heading into last night's game, I'm now worried about
Friday. The Pistons will make adjustments. They will come out with
tremendous intensity trying to get this game back. The Celts tend to relax
when they feel they have the upper hand. I'm just nervous. Teams, especially
young teams, tend to think in the playoffs of "getting the home court
advantage" and that being the end of it. The home court advantage itself
doesn't guarantee anything. I hope the Celts realize that. I hope they take
Detroit more seriously than many fans have (including myself).

As for Detroit, I'm more impressed with them after watching them the last
couple of games. They are very solid. I'm sure they feel like the Celtics
did Sunday-that their usual stars underperformed, the team didn't play well,
and they still managed to hang around.

I still think the Celts win this series, but the Pistons aren't pushovers. I
wouldn't be shocked if the Celtics needed to win another game in Detroit
before it is over.

Mark