C's answer an early conference call

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

C's answer an early conference call
By Steve Bulpett
Wednesday, November 12, 2003

INDIANAPOLIS - Earlier yesterday, Jim O'Brien said of the Pacers, ``Right now
they're the cream of the crop in the East.''

     By that measure, the Celtics sprinkled a little Miracle-Gro on their
season and poked their heads over Farmer Obie's fence last night.

     Vin Baker hit a big jumper with 20.8 seconds left, and Mark Blount
defended Jermaine O'Neal into a crucial miss as the Celts plowed through for a
78-76 victory. The Pacers opened the season with six wins in seven games, but
the opportunistic Bostonians picked off a plum out here in the heartland.

     ``Wins on the road against quality basketball teams certainly help grow a
basketball team,'' said O'Brien.

     Eric Williams, the last of whose six fourth-quarter rebounds sealed the
deal, put it another way: ``Crazy. Crazy big for our team.''

     ``Crazy'' was the perfect way to describe anyone who thought the Celtics
actually had a shot at this one as the third quarter got warm. But the break
they desperately needed came when O'Neal - a monster up to then with 21 points
and nine rebounds - picked up his fourth foul with 7:22 left in the frame.
O'Neal had busted the Celts for 12 points and eight boards (two more than the
C's) in 11 first-quarter minutes, and even though the visitors were doing a
better job on him in the new half, it still seemed the Pacers, then upby 12,
could break things open whenever they wanted to post him up. But with the big
man on the bench, the path to the hoop didn't seem like such scary territory
for the Celts anymore.

     ``I mean, he was on pace for like 50 points and 30 rebounds, so it made
it a lot easier,'' said Paul Pierce [news], who finished with 19 points and
nine assists. ``With him out of the game we were able to get to the basket and
our defense became easier. We were able to get back in the game.''

     O'Neal cried foul, saying, ``The (expletive) offensive fouls that they
called on me were just unbelievable. You know, you've got guys that's afraid
to guard me, and they're flopping and I'm telling (the refs to) watch the
flopping. Any other player - who knows? - would probably get that, but for
some reason they're not giving it to me. Who knows? Maybe this market ain't
big enough. Maybe they just don't like me. Those guys (Celtics) aren't
stopping me. I had 21 in the first half for a reason. But don't take me out of
the game because you feel sorry for them.''

     The C's made seven of their last 10 shots in the quarter to go into the
last period down just 62-59. O'Neal came back, but by then the Celts had grown
to enjoy this shot-making thing after hitting just 33 percent in the first
half. A 9-0 quarter-opening run gave them a 68-62 lead, and defense kept them
close. After letting Indy shoot 50 percent in the first half, the C's held
them to 32 percent in the second.

     Tied into the final minute, Pierce hit 1-of-2 free throws with 54 seconds
left, and the Pacers went straight to O'Neal, who was initially blocked by
Blount but squeezed in the follow. Pierce got the ball out of the timeout, but
the Pacers sent help.

     ``I knew Paul was going to get doubled and most likely he was going to
swing it back to me,'' Baker said. ``Once I got to the middle I had about
three or four options. I took the option of shooting it, and it turned out
OK.''

     Said Pierce, ``The ball is going to go to me at the end of the game. It's
my job just to make the right choice, make the right plays. They switched off
the pick and roll so I swung it to Vin and he made a play.''

     O'Neal got the rock again, but Blount kept him to a jumper, which kicked
twice off the rim before falling out. Williams took down the big rebound, and
Mike James [news] (11 second-half points) hit a free throw with seven-tenths
of a second left to add punctuation.
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx