C's streak gets Knicked: Domination of NY ends at 8 straight

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

C's streak gets Knicked: Domination of NY ends at 8 straight
By Steve Bulpett
Tuesday, November 18, 2003

NEW YORK - It is a truth of life on the streets of Manhattan that things
aren't always what they seem. Midway through last night's game at Madison
Square Garden, the Celtics were rolling, the Knicks fans were booing their own
and no one thought a ninth straight Boston win over the Knicks could be
prevented.

     But hey, everything can change in a New York minute.

     The Knicks rebounded - literally - for an 89-86 victory, leaving the
Celtics back at .500 and searching for answers. Key question: How do you let a
team that came into the game with the fewest offensive rebounds in the NBA get
19 - 15 in the second half alone?

     The Celts were ahead by 16 at the half, and Paul Pierce [news] said he
warned his teammates that the Knicks, just 2-7 on the way in with some tight
losses, wouldn't go quietly. But it took New York less than eight minutes in
the third quarter to get back within a single point. Though the Celtics still
had their chances in the final moments - Pierce missed a trey in the waning
seconds - this was headed for no good.

     ``That's a tough loss to swallow,'' said Pierce, who had just six of his
17 points in the second half. ``We let them jump over us, get offensive
rebounds, get second and third opportunities, and it cost us the game. We
didn't come out with the same hunger like we did in the first half.''

     After the break, the Knicks took a few pages from the Celtics' script of
the last few years and began launching treys in an attempt to get back into
the game. It worked, with Keith Van Horn (21 points) hitting three from beyond
the arc, and Howard Eisley and Allan Houston (26) also connecting. New York
hit five of its first six from downtown and posted 25 points in less than
eight minutes.

     ``That was pretty much a result of us not containing dribble
penetration,'' said Celts coach Jim O'Brien. ``They found open guys with
unselfish passes. They really came back in a very quick fashion.''

     The Celts stretched the lead back to nine, but the Knicks were within six
entering the fourth period - a session in which the Bostonians buckled from
the floor. The C's hit just 3-of-16 shots (19 percent) in the quarter.
Overall, they missed all nine of their 3-pointers after making 2-of-5 in the
first quarter.

     Still, the Celtics had an 86-85 lead after two Pierce free throws with
3:30 left, but following four failed possessions, Michael Doleac replied with
a jumper to give the Knicks the lead entering the final minute. Mike James
[news] missed a jumper and tracked down his own rebound, and Pierce missed on
a drive. But Houston couldn't get an 11-footer to go down at the other end.
Eric Williams got the carom and called time with 10.6 seconds left on the
clock.

     Pierce's 3-pointer went in and out, and Doleac hit two freebies at the
other end with 5.4 seconds left. The Celts, without a timeout, pushed the ball
up the floor through Baker to Pierce, but his last chance wasn't really close,
leaving the C's with an uneasy loss.

     ``I don't know what happened to our lead,'' said Baker, who finished with
20 points and eight rebounds. ``It's obviously very disappointing for us to
have such a huge lead, and we just had a letdown in the third and fourth
quarter. They came back and scrapped. It's especially frustrating because we
had the lead, and as a man, I don't think any of us expected the game to get
that far.''

     Said Williams (17 points off the bench) of the Knicks: ``That team played
like they were desperate for a win. They came out there and proved it. We've
still got to get that killer instinct. I mean, I think right now we're still
looking for our team identity.''

     Right now, the identity is that of a bad defensive rebounding team.
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx