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CBW review: Playoff game one vs. the Pacers
As this year's playoff run began, there were a lot of people who
were ready to write off the Celtics, including, it seemed, the entirety of
the professional sports writers,
columnists, analysts, and commentators. Indiana is too deep, they
said. Isiah has playoff experience to
call upon, they said. The Celtics rely too much on Walker and Pierce and
WAY too much on the "three",
they said. The Indiana offense is too powerful and the C's defense too
weak, they said. Pacers in four,
they said.
Nyahh, nyahh, nyahh.
Coach O'Brien is a classy guy, so we know he didn't get back to his hotel
room, call his wife and say,
"Tell your daddy he's WRONG AGAIN!!!" Walker and Pierce have a modicum of
decorum, so I suppose
they'll hold off on draping Isiah's car with TP. The Celtics as a group
don't want to give the Pacers
ammunition whilst there are games left to be played. That leaves people
like me. If the Pacers are
reading this, well...
Like I said, "Nyahh, nyahh, nyahh." :>)
First Quarter:
Both teams came out playing hard, no doubt haunted by what the Nets had
just done to Milwaukee in the
New Jersey woodshed. Nobody's giving up 20-point leads HERE, nope. The
Pacers won the tip and I
was pleased to see the C's working hard on the offensive boards, even
though the PAcers eventually got
the ball to Tinsely for three. Pierce was short on his shots as the game
started, but I saw his teammates
under the hoop for potential rebounds.
The Pacers built an early 4-0 lead in less than a minute, despite the C's
paying attention to things like
rebounds. I was particularly heartened to see Tony Delk make sure he was
properly set before shooting
a three off a Battie rebound. Eric Williams and Tony Battie looked to be
the early ones out the gate as
the C's built a lead of their own. The Celtics hadn't quite got the hang
of the fast break yet, but they
were playing better than they had in ages, as far as effort and smart
basketball. The only unexpected
problems came from, of all people, Pierce. He was getting open looks early
on, and not hitting well. The
Pacers, on the other paw, were shooting well, even on contested shots.
Eric Williams made what became an important contribution early on, as he
kept drawing Pacers players
into fouls. This put Brad Miller on the bench for a good part of the game,
and set the tone for early
fouls on other Pacer players. He also hit his free throws, a fact that
would be largely unnoticed in the
face of what was to happen later. Through the first 6 minutes of the
quarter, the Celtics played even
with the Pacers. When timeout was called with 6:25 left, the score was
18-17, Boston leading.
It looked like this would be a close game all the way, if this was any
indication.
Tony Battie was extremely active off the boards at both ends, making
himself nearly indispensible to the
C's hopes of beating the Pacers. Walker made a VERY smart play, as the
ball was going out of bounds,
slamming it off O'Neal's leg. Antoine made a number of smart plays at both
ends as the game
progressed. The refs initially seemed to be calling things Boston's way,
always a danger sign. :>))
But Pierce kept seeming out of synch, somehow, I wasn't sure why. I was
worried about his ability to
contribute just when we really needed him. Then he started going to the
free throw line, and I knew he
was going to be ok. He calmly sank his free throws, with a sure and easy
stroke. He hasn't looked that
comfy at the line since last year. I knew it was just a matter of
patience--perhaps lots of it, they do
like to keep things exciting--before Pierce got going.
But I was really glad to see three and sometimes four Celtics going up for
rebounds. The only problem
was, they sometimes left other Pacer players open, as Artest and O'Neal,
among others, looked for their
shots.
As the clock wound down, the Celtics closed the gap, as Pierce went to the
line again on a made basket.
His field goal attempts often looked bad, but his free throws were so
smooth, I knew he was going to be
ok, sooner or later. But the last shot of te quarter for both teams
missed, as the Pacers led at the end
of one, 29-26.
Second Quarter:
The second quarter needed Rod Serling to call the plays, it was that
weird. Someone, please--tell Tom
Tolbert we don't care what he thinks about Antoine Walker's butt. Of
course, I don't care about 99%
of what Tolbert says, but that's another matter.
The game played close, though Indiana kept the lead throughout. Then
things got really weird, as Ron
Artest and Tony Battie apparently were indistinguishable to the refs. With
9:48 left in the second,
Tony Battie took down another rebound, directly under the basket, and was
looking to pass the ball
upcourt. Artest was behind him, just inside the lane. Battie chased
everyone else away, and saw Artest
come from Battie's left. So Tony swiveled left to protect the ball. He
faked to the baseline behind him,
and Artest took the bait, leaving him out of position and balancing on his
right leg as Battie went the
other way. Artest then lifted his left leg and tagged Battie in the face
as Tony started up the court.
Battie saw it coming and tried to duck under it, but there was no time. I
replayed it in slow motion and
there is absolutely no question that Artest lifted his leg up to block
Battie, with no attempt--or frankly
possibility--at the ball. Battie held one hand to his aching head, and
passed the ball with the other, while
wondering where the call was.
At this point, as the C's moved upcourt, someone on the C's probably should
have called a 20-second
timeout. The play was broken, and people were distracted by the assault
and battery once again going
uncalled for Boston. I swear, the C's need to borrow the helmets from the
Bruins players. But the
Pacers stopped the C's at the other end, and had a three on one lead by
Artest against the somewhat
groggy--and now annoyed--Battie. Artest took the ball up from the side of
the lane, and Battie saw it
coming, moving up to meet Artest in midair.
Again, in slow-motion, Battie clearly put up his left hand to swat at the
ball. But Artest was slow, and
Battie's hand slid over the top of the ball, and the ball clearly rolled
down Battie's outstretched arm.
Battie's right arm had come across to ease the brunt of impact, and that
arm was held inside, straight,
with no elbow jutting out. It was clearly not an offensive move of any
kind. The ball finally rolled out
from between Battie's arm and Artest's hand, which left nothing to brace
Battie's left arm, except
Artest's upper shoulder and head. Battie was obviously looking straight at
the ball, and not at Artest.
As Artest fell toward the baseline, he nearly pulled Battie down with
him. Jermaine O'Neal came up
from behind Battie and shoved him forward, as Battie reached out and helped
Artest up. The ref came
in and quickly got between Battie and Artest. Artest then took a shot at
the ESPN camera that caught
all this.
And who was called for the only foul in these two plays?
Tony Battie, a "Flagrant 2", and gone for the game. I hope, when the
League reviews this, that they
realize that 1) Artest kicked Battie in the face, and 2) Battie was clearly
going for the ball on the next
play. Did Battie foul Artest? Yes, he did. But no way was it a flagrant
and no chance it was a 2. Not
after what Artest did. With any common sense, Artest will end up suspended
for the next game and the
League will apologize and correct Battie's foul.
Ok, back to the game.
The score was now 33-28 with 9:27 left in the second quarter. Mark Blount
worked his way inside
after free throws to rebound a Walker miss. The C's defense was spreading
half the floor well, but the
Pacers kept finding the open man on the weak side. Antoine was working in
much closer than he normally
does, with good results. The C's were trying to keep it close, and work
around the Battie ejection.
But Jermaine O'Neal was getting some dynamite passes en route to the hoop,
asn the C's were not really
stopping the Pacer offense like they should have. Not that they didn't
try--Indiana was just executing
VERY well. The C's offense was bogging down a bit, largely by way of
Pierce's off night shooting to
this point. Later, we learned he'd been feeling sick most of the game. To
his credit, Pierce looked for
other ways to contribute until he could get his legs back under him.
But as the second quarter progressed, the Pacer lead kept growing a bit at
a time. This, despite the C's
rebounding well, and looking for the uptempo pass. Timeout was called with
5:28 ans the Pacers leading,
40-36. Following the timeout, the C's tried to close the gap, but couldn't
quite catch the Pacers. The
C's--and Pierce in particular--got good looks and didn't convert. The
Pacers were converting, and taking
advantage of the situation. The C's got the last shot of the first half,
with 8.7 seconds left, and sent the
pumpkin to Eric Williams, who nailed a shot clock three that was ruled good
on review. That made the
score 58-52, Pacers leading.
HALFTIME!!
Cookie Break!!
The C's had played well with the Pacers, despite the double problem of off
shooting from Pierce and he
loss of Battie. I felt they needed to do more of what they had done in the
first half, keep involving
other players, and move faster at both ends. They also needed to ratchet
up the defense. I was betting
the Pacers would choke in a close game, as they often did. Isiah wasn't
good at strategizing last minute
plays, and his team, except Reggie Lewis, wasn't good at executing them anyway.
Statswise, The pacers shot 57% to the C's 44%. Indiana held a slim 21-20
rebounding edge--impressive
without Battie. Indiana's 18-9 edge in fast break points was nullified by
theior 12-6 edge in turnovers.
The threes were about even, with Boston going 3-10, and the Pacers 3-8.
Cookie Break!!
Third Quarter:
The C's opened the quarter with good ball movement, trying to get to Eric
Williams, but by this time, the
Pacers were wise and stuffed him. The Pacers were getting lots of
offensive rebounds, despite a
newfound awareness on the part of the Celtics of how important rebounds
could be. The free throws, as
the Pacers went to the line again, favored Indiana, which shot 14-19,
whilst the Good Guys were 9-11.
How little they knew...
The Pacers defense kept up with every move the Celtics made, forcing
contested outside jumpers.
Jermaine O'Neal was getting inside pretty easily, and only the fact that
some of the shots were errant
kept him from a monster game. Reggie Miller made his offensive
contributions as well, helping the
Pacers build the lead back into double digits. Walker was limping a bit
after defending Ron Artest as
Pierce went back to the line for two more. Antoine kept at it, though,
playing tough defense.
Mark Blount showed he can still get up on the boards, and has potential to
become a significant defensive
factor with time. But Reggie Miller continued to make things difficult for
the C's. Even though the C's
shooting was bad, I was glad to see them making a greater effort as a team
on the boards. It was
obvious they needed to work on the concept, unfamiliar as it occasionally
seemed. With 6:42 left in the
quarter, the Pacers led 67-58.
Waltah made himself more lovable by hitting a deep three, only to watch
Reggie get inside for two and
the free throw. The Celtics weren't running the ball up like they had in
the first half, and that gave the
Pacers defense plenty of time to get ready for them. By contrast, the
Pacers were steaming upcourt on
nearly every possession. Onca again, Jermaine O'Neal was getting inside
way too often.
J.R. Bremer got a taste of the playoffs as Ron Artest stripped him en route
to an easy two. Pierce, by
this time, was 3-18 from the floor, and the Pacers ran up the score as a
timeout was called with 3:28 left
and the score now 79-63.
The rest of the quarter was no better for Boston as the Good Guys struggled
for points and the Pacers
were getting points with sometimes ridiculous ease. Rather startlingly,
the Celtics had only taken 12
three point shots the entire game to this stage, making 4 of
them. Williams got stuffed again, making it
clear the Pacers had figured this one out. The C's needed other scoring
options, soon. The quarter
ended with Indiana holding it's 79-69 lead, and looking like they were in
command.
Even though the C's scored a paltry 17 points in the third quarter, they
had also lowered the Pcaers
scoring to 21 points after they had managed 29 points in the first and
second quarters. Had the C's
offensive game been more on track, the fourth quarter might not have needed
heroics from the Celtics to
get the win.
Fourth Quarter:
This is where the game would be decided. Would the Pacers choke and allow
the C's to stage another
dramatic playoff comeback, or would Indiana be able to assert a 1-0 lead
over the Celtics?
Things opened up with Waltah rebounding a Harrington miss. Then Walker
nailed a deep three. Indiana
had a basket waved off on a foul before the shot. When they got the ball
back inbounds, several shot
attempts ended in a missed dunk as a foul was called on the C's. Bender
went to the line, going 1-2. Then
there was a weird turnover, as Walker tried to save the ball from out of
bounds, but the ball hit the ref
and bounced out. I'm just amazed they didn't bounce Walker, after the way
they tossed Battie.
Indiana continued to go to the line, which was good, as they weren't
getting anything from the field.
Walker then hit a deep, deep, two--his toe was on the line. A Pacer miss
led to a Celtics break, that
ended over the backboard. Ron Artest hit a basket, one of the few scores
by the Pacers. A steal led to
a Pacer fast break, ending in a Walker foul. Timeout was called with 8:26
left, and the score 84-75,
Indiana leading.
After the timeout, during which Coach O'Brien exhorted the tem to increase
the defensive tempo and
Walker got on his teammates to work harder in general, the C's did just
that. Indiana was only able to
score at the line, as their field goals stopped going in. Pierce went to
the hoop, drained the shot, and
drew the foul along the way. He made his eleventh straight free throw, and
play continued.
Tony Delk ran his butt off trying to chase down a rebound,and managed to
draw a foul on Artest,
retaining possession of the ball. Then Artest got called for a defensive
foul, his fifth, at the other end.
Tony Delk celebrated with another three, as the Pacers called timeout with
6:38 left and the score now
88-81. The Celtics were closing the gap.
When time went back in, the Pacers still couldn't score from the field, and
the Celtics were picking up
every ball--loose or not--they got their paws on. Walker blew by the
defense and got two more. At the
other end, Pierce tore down a rebound and only an inexplicable foul call
stopped him as the Pacers
tripped him up on the way to the hoop.
The C's stumbled a bit, with Pierce missing a shot, adn Williams being
called for a foul at the other end.
The Pacers were glad to get to the line, as it kept them from an NBA record
low for points in a quarter.
Boston didn't allow any easy hoope, as Pierce picked up his fifth foul with
4:41 left by wrapping up Ron
Artest.
Indiana got stuffed on an attempted dunk, then finally connected when Brad
Miller hit for two, one of
only two field goals in the final quarter to this point as timeout was
called with 3:26 left and the score
93-85. At this time, Indiana had 3 timeouts left.
Pierce ignored the Pacer defense, and drew the foul on the way to the
hoop. He hit both, keeping his
record at the line as perfect as his field goal percentage was
bad. Harrington then got called for an
offensive foul for slamming Pierce to the floor. Then Pierce drew a foul
against O'Neal on the way to
the hoop, making another trip to the line for two. With 2:42 left, the
score was now 93-89.
Pierce then stole the ball and went to the floor to keep it, getting a
timeout. Walker then tipped in a
Delk miss with 2:00 left, maing it a 93-91 game. Then Williams got called
for a foul, as Brad Miller
replaced Reggie Miller. Pierce nailed another three, and the score was
95-94 with 1:25 left, as the
Pacers held the lead and the ball. The Pacers couldn't get a basket, but
kept the ball with them as the
clock was down to 66 seconds left.
After the timeout, O'Neal was stripped, and the ball went out of bounds off
Boston. Indiana called
timeout with 44.4 seconds left, and three seconds on the shot
clock. Jermaine O'Neals shot was short,
and as Pierce took the rebound, he was fouled by Ron Artest, who finally
left the game he should have
been ejected from two quarters previously, with six fouls.
Pierce went to the line with the chance to give Boston it's first lead
since early in the game with 40.8
seconds left. He calmly sank both free throws, and the score was now 96-95
Boston. Indiana took
possession, and Brad Miller went to the line for two, making both, with
32.0 seconds left as Indiana took
the lead again as Reggie Miller left the game again.
When time came back in, the Celtics took the ball in, and Pierce was left
alone at the arc for a three.
Harrington's three bounced in and out, and Pierce was fouled with 7.5
seconds left as the C's now had a
99-97 lead. Two free throws later, it was 101-97. The Pacers took the
ball up quickly, having run out
of timeouts, and got a three courtesy of Tinsley. With 2.6 seconds left,
Pierce was fouled again, as Brad
Miller got his sixth. Pierce made free throws 20 and 21 to ice the game at
103-100, which is how the
game ended after the Pacers tried a last desperation shot from Bender at
halfcourt.
This was a great Celtics win, and took the homecourt advantage away from
Indiana. Later, it was made
known that the reason for Pierce's poor shooting--not just tonight, but
over the last couple of
weeks--was a bad cold. Walker played smart and hard all the
way. Williams, Delk, Waltah--all made
sound contributions. And it happened without tony Battie for over half the
game. Now all they had to to
was repeat their win on Monday.
And that's the view from the doghouse.
Snoopy the Celtics Beagle
Please visit the <http://www.celticsbeagle.net/>Celtics Beagle Website