C's swept out in 2 OTs: Nets capture series with 110-101 victory

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

C's swept out in 2 OTs: Nets capture series with 110-101 victory

by Steve Bulpett
Tuesday, May 13, 2003







The Celtics season officially came to an end at 11:09 last night, but by any
true measure it was over long before.




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There was a valiant final verse - a 110-101, double-overtime loss to the New
Jersey Nets - that culminated a four-game sweep in the Eastern Conference
semifinal series. But the Celts had to know this was an ill-fated voyage some
time in early November when Vin Baker was still struggling and it was clear he
wouldn't be ``getting it'' anytime soon.

Having lost major pieces Kenny Anderson, Rodney Rogers and Erick Strickland
from the previous season, it was critical that Baker give them something. When
he could not, for various reasons, the Celtics scratched for optimism, but
they were painfully aware they weren't as good as the team that couldn't get
by the Nets last year.

There were still games to be played and chances to be taken, but the
outside-shooting Shamrocks had an outside shot at best of getting back to the
Eastern Conference finals.

``We lost to a better team tonight,'' said Paul Pierce after recording 27
points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

That's something the C's knew in their heads long ago.

``We didn't have the same team, and we didn't have the players that came and
were supposed to help,'' Eric Williams said of the lost C's and those who
replaced them on the roster. ``But we still had guys. We can't talk about last
year. We just had to roll with it this year.

``Oh, yeah, it would have been great to keep the team that we had last year,
but that wasn't the case and we came up short in the second round of the
playoffs.''

There was some bitter irony last night at the FleetCenter as Rogers came off
the Nets bench to hit four treys. Jason Kidd had 29 points, 10 rebounds and
eight assists, and Kenyon Martin 22 points and 10 boards.

Antoine Walker had his best game of the series with 20 points, nine boards,
seven assists and five steals, but he fouled out with 2:51 left in the first
overtime. Tony Delk kept the Celts afloat most of the night with playoff
career-highs of 23 points, nine rebounds and five steals, but it was all for
naught.

Richard Jefferson and Eric Williams traded hoops to start the second OT, but
New Jersey scored the next six points. Kerry Kittles started the run with a
trey. The Celtics simply had nothing left in the tank, with Walker on the
bench with fouls and Tony Battie in the dressing room from the middle of the
fourth quarter with a reoccurrence of his right knee problems.

The Celts went 1-for-6 from the floor and 2-for-4 from the line in the frame
as the Nets pulled away.

Movement essentially stopped in the last seconds as New Jersey was running the
clock out, but Kidd added a final dagger with a buzzer-beating trey - perhaps
striking back at the derisive chants he heard in the two games here.

The Celts missed on their best chance to send the series back to New Jersey
when Pierce's jumper at the first OT buzzer caught only iron.

The C's never really got the opportunity they wanted at the end of regulation.
Williams went to the line with 17.2 seconds left, made the first shot and
front-rimmed the second, leaving things tied at 90.

The Nets wanted the last shot, but Delk stripped a driving Kidd. Walter
McCarty got the ball with about two seconds left, but instead of calling a
timeout he launched a three-quarter court shot that wasn't close.

Forty-eight minutes would not be enough to decide this one.

Ten minutes later, the Celtics began their summer. But their last game was the
hardest they played in the series. The Nets had 15 second-chance points to
their eight and 19 fast-break points to their eight, but the C's made it a
game.

Walker looked at the matchup and said Rogers was the biggest addition the Nets
made this year. The same Rodney Rogers whom the Celts were unable to sign
because the previous owner wouldn't allow him to be offered more than the
veteran minimum. That was last summer . . . when the 2002-03 Celtics season
began its end.

Thanks,

Steve
sb@maine.rr.com

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