Celtics look shot at home

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Celtics look shot at home
By Shira Springer, Globe Staff, 11/13/2003

Frustrating. That was the word most often used to describe the Celtics' 89-82
loss to the Bulls last night at the FleetCenter. Plenty of other adjectives
applied, though none would have been appropriate for polite company or family
newspapers. It was without question Boston's worst defeat of the young season,
following right on the heels of its biggest victory. The Celtics (4-4) showed
up for their second of back-to-back games, their third contest in four nights,
then they just stood around on offense.

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To understand what was so frustrating -- what left Paul Pierce staring angrily
into space, hands on hips at the end of the fourth quarter, and what prompted
coach Jim O'Brien to toss his clipboard and pen -- consider the Celtics' bleak
offensive statistics. The team that is determined to run scored no points on
the break last night. They shot 33 percent, which included a woeful 5 for 21
in the third quarter. They missed nine free throws, almost all at inopportune
times in the second half.

Boston depended on Mike James for big baskets, but not even his career-high
six 3-pointers and team-high 18 points were enough. While the Bulls shot 50
percent from 3-point range, the Celtics took a season-high 27 3-pointers and
made just 8 (30 percent). Double-teamed and triple-teamed and, well,
frustrated all night, Pierce did not reach double figures until the fourth.

"We didn't really play with any tempo to our offensive game," said O'Brien.
"We didn't push ourselves. We didn't endure on back-to-back games from the
standpoint of getting out and pushing ourselves. We got down to the other end
and we chose to stand instead of move without the basketball. And I think in
the NBA that I know of over the last three years and the way it's going, you
stand, you lose on offense.

"I'm sure everyone that's with our franchise is frustrated right now because
we let an opportunity get away. But I think it's potential growth. That's how
I look at it. You learn from your mistakes. We made mistakes that are very,
very correctable and we will correct them. We didn't stand around for the
first seven games of the season. We moved. And as a result, our passing game
numbers were terrific."

The Celtics were at a loss for why they did not execute an offense they had
practiced since the start of training camp. Fatigue? Lack of focus? Before the
Bulls took the FleetCenter floor before a crowd of 13,852, coach Bill
Cartwright emphasized the importance of focus. Regardless of what happened
during the course of the game, Cartwright told his team, "We are going to play
harder than the Celtics. Forget the X's and O's, let's just play harder than
them." If Chicago (4-5) did that, Cartwright believed his team would be right
there at the end of the contest. He was right.