Game 2

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

Don't know if the igtc list is up yet, but here goes anyway...

1.	Once again, it was no surprise that the team came out much more
focused and played well defensively. They respond that way. The real mystery
is why they threw Game 1 away.

2.	Pierce obviously had a nightmare shooting game. It's a little scary,
because the free throw thing can become mental, and if it does, it can keep
a player from aggressively driving to the basket. Remember what happened to
Nick Anderson? I'm not suggesting anything that drastic for Pierce, but he
needs to hit some shots, hit some free throws (hopefully the four at the end
helped) and get his confidence back. It's not something you want to fester
for long.

3.	Antoine, typically, was a mixed bag, but he carried the team in the
third quarter and kept the Nets at bay.

4.	Kenny had a tremendous first half. Delk was solid in reserve. 

5.	Battie was outstanding. He saved the day.

6.	Kidd scares the hell out of me. He's so good, and I love the way he
plays. He's one of those guys who will go through his career playing in
places like Dallas and Phoenix and New Jersey, all the while with "would be
a great celtic" running through my mind.

7.	The last four minutes obviously were a near nightmare for the Celts
(sometimes you wonder if there's an ounce of basketball sense in these
guys), but how about the first four possessions of the fourth quarter? They
missed two quick threes and two long jumpers and just like that it was a
ballgame again. They still get sloppy. It's exasperating to watch. CNNSI's
Marty Burns wrote this today, and I think he pretty much nailed it:

Still, there is something about the Celtics that is very shaky, and we're
not talking about Walker's shimmy dance after a basket. 
They seem to have a compulsion to be their own worst enemy: Game 1
sleepwalks; blown leads; wild 3-pointers; missed free throws. 
They aren't your father's Celtics, that's for sure. But in an Eastern
Conference finals in which Battie can become the star, they might be good
enough.