Celts fade away: Surrender to Nets again

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Celts fade away: Surrender to Nets again

by Steve Bulpett
Wednesday, March 19, 2003








The Celtics engaged in a little deja vu last night, and they didn't like what
they saw this time either.



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As was the case when they met the Nets five nights earlier, the Celts took a
detour near the end of the first half, surrendering nine points and, pretty
much, the game. Richard Jefferson went for a career high-tying 27 points as
New Jersey rolled to an 87-74 victory at the FleetCenter.

Both Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce were benchbound by the start of the last
quarter with the Celts down 20. (Pierce had twisted his left ankle at the end
of the third period but appeared to be fine.) He had 23 points to lead the
C's, with Walker adding 14, but Kenyon Martin supported Jefferson with 22 and
Jason Kidd added nine points, 13 assists and seven rebounds.

And where the Celtics were saying they were fine against the Nets on the way
in, down 2-1 in the season series, they cannot make that claim today. Jersey
has won the last three by a combined 64 points. The C's have shot 32 percent
twice and 34 percent (last night) in the defeats. They made just 1-of-21 treys
in this one.

``We're playing into their hands,'' Pierce said. ``We're not executing our
game plan. For some reason they have our number. We turn the ball over when we
play them an extreme number of times. They run the fast break; we don't get
back for some reason. We know the things that hurt us against them and we
continue to let them do it.''

Jim O'Brien drilled his lads last week after a 15-point loss in the
Meadowlands in which the Celts turned the ball over 20 times and were beaten
24-3 in fast-break points. Last night they gave the rock up 20 times again and
were outscored in transition, 23-5.

Prior to the game, O'Brien said he expected ``a war.'' But the Celts didn't
hold up their end. The break came at a familiar time.

Last Thursday the Nets had a one-point lead on the Celts when they proceeded
to score nine unanswered points in the last 2:07 of the half. Last night
Jersey was three up when it produced nine unanswered points . . . in the last
2:07 of the half.

Eerie, or what?

It had to be for the Celts, who saw themselves slip three games behind the
Nets in the Atlantic (the 76ers' win in Miami keeps them a half-game behind
New Jersey). With a four-game road trip beginning tonight in Indiana (and
winding through LA (the Lakers), Denver and Utah, this is not quite what the
Bostonians had in mind.

``It's a big loss for us, an opportunity to help ourselves out,'' Walker said.
``Disappointing loss after coming off a big win in Detroit, so we've just got
to bounce back (tonight).

``For some apparent reason, when we play this team we turn the basketball
over. We do things that are uncharacteristic of ourself. We beat them 3-1 last
year in the season, and it didn't mean anything. They went to the Finals
(beating the Celts in six in the Eastern Conference finale). So we've just got
to carry that mentality if we meet them in the playoffs. They dominated us
this season through the regular season. Give them a lot of credit. They played
well. I think a couple of their guys played over their heads when they played
against us, making shots.''

The Nets hit 48 percent of their shots through three quarters when the game
was still being contested.

After going down at the half by 12, the Celtics watched as the Nets scored
nine of the first 11 points in the third period. The C's made two of their
first 13 shots and hit 18 percent overall in that frame (4-for-22) as Jersey
pulled ahead by as many as 22.

``We're not forcing things on defense like we did a year ago,'' Pierce said.
``They're just attacking, attacking us and they're not afraid to take the ball
to the hoop. A year ago where teams were afraid to take the ball to the hoop,
now they feel like they can take it any time they want.

``Somewhere between now and when the playoffs start, it can't be that way.
We're going to have to get it together.''

Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

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