The Wiz

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

The Wiz seem stronger right now, overcoming a poor first 
half to make all the intelligent plays down the stretch. 
Based on the light schedule, they could move ahead of us 
in the standings by next week despite our cushion.

The Celtics are fighting gravity. The effects of the 
Portland game are obviously still there, because it 
infused the organization with a sense that even our best 
at home might not be good enough. We had back-to-back 17-
point quarter by Walker and Pierce, 9 points by Eric 
Williams out of the gate to start the game, 50%+ shooting 
on treys with nearly every Celtic hitting at least one.

Up to that game, it seemed like we were playing below par 
in this slump. Now the seeds of doubt have to be there. 

The Celtics need to pull together now. They might not 
have answers to avoid a sweep on this Texas roadtrip, but 
they have to play a few close games and not lose too much 
confidence or poise for the stretch run to get into the 
playoffs.

Losing at home to another team lower in the standings, 
its tempting to just call it another late Christmas 
present for Ray. 

But the Celtics were 1-4 coming in, the Wiz were 4-1 with 
wins over San Antonio and Indiana. The better team 
probably won, although I wish we had defended home court 
better.

The Wiz overcame tired legs (Jordan was coming off a 53 
minute game) against a rested Celtics team, to gut it out 
on the road and finally get back to .500.

On the bright side, Battie was enormous and Pierce had 
one of his best shooting games in a month. And it was 
clear we wouldn't lose this time by 45 points again. It 
was just one of those losses where we needed some lucky 
bounces against a hungrier and more poised team, and 
didn't quite get them. And we couldn't overcome a sub-sub-
sub-par night by Antoine Walker.

I sincerely hope we get a chance to meet these guys again 
in the playoffs, although that doesn't seem likely given 
the seedings. We are a better team if Battie stays 
healthy all year, that's for sure. How good is the 
question.

The Celtics need to look at tonight less as a damaging 
setback but as a small step in the right direction, by a 
flawed team. The game was very winnable at the end, and 
our team defense was much better than against Portland 
thanks to the heroic Tony Battie, against another red hot 
team. We've got to adapt as fans. The Celtics are just as 
loveable when they suck, although I trust they will pull 
it together. In the very worst case, at least we have two 
first round draft picks and new ownership. And Chris 
Wallace is more likely to be back in his parent's 
basement doing desktop publishing.

Every year you have these rock bottom moments and they 
eventually pass. I'm sorry to be such a downer. The 
Celtics are still pretty fun to watch, compared to 
previous years.




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