C's flounder once again: Blow another lead, fall to Knicks, 94-88

["Stephen Beauregard" <sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

C's flounder once again: Blow another lead, fall to Knicks, 94-88
By Steve Bulpett
Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Seven days after blowing a 17-point lead and losing by three in New York, the
Celtics had the Knicks in their cross hairs last night.

     Payback, however, is an itch for the Celts - one they weren't able to
scratch.

     They fell apart in the second half yet again, absorbing a hideous 94-88
loss to the Knicks that had the home fans howling.

     Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein was in the crowd trying to woo free
agent closer Keith Foulke, but Danny Ainge should have been making his own
pitch. The inability to close games has saddled the Celts with four straight
losses and a 5-8 record.

     According to Paul Pierce [news], the problem lies within. The captain
called the club out in no uncertain terms.

     ``We just don't understand what it's going to take for us to win,''
Pierce said after shooting 4-of-15 from the floor (16 points) with 10 rebounds
and four assists. ``It just seems like when the tough get going, we just start
running. When teams start to push us, we don't push back. We've got to build
up some toughness.

     ``Right now I think we're probably one of the more soft teams in the
league. I mean, we get leads at the half and we settle in on it and don't
compete for the rest of the game. It just comes down to toughness. You've got
to come out there and be mentally prepared for all four quarters, and we're
just not doing that.

     ``There's nothing you can say or teach,'' the All-Star forward added.
``You've just got to be prepared to play 48 minutes.''

     This was the same Pierce who, before tipoff, said: ``This is one of those
911 games. That's the way we've got to look at it. It's one of those emergency
games we've got to have. We've just got to look at this like somebody just
broke into our house and we've got to do something about it right now. I don't
know if we have to bring the shotguns . . . but we've got to get these people
out of our house.''

     The beat-up Knicks were ripe for the taking. With Keith Van Horn
(sprained right ankle) and Allan Houston (sore lower back) on the bench in
street clothes and Antonio McDyess still not back from knee surgery, this
wasn't exactly the original Broadway cast. These same understudies did take
down the 76ers a night after the Celts fell in Philadelphia.

     Charlie Ward kept the Celts in the game by making just 1-of-12 shots from
the floor, but the hosts couldn't take advantage. They made Shandon Anderson
(28 points) look like Elgin Baylor.

     The third quarter was some eerie stuff for the Celts. Last Monday they
went into halftime with a 16-point lead and watched the Knicks open the third
with a 14-4 run. Last night, the Celts' margin at the break was 10, and this
time the Knicks stepped off with a 19-5 run. The C's still had a six-point
lead entering the last quarter of the first meeting, but this time their 25
percent shooting and 12 points in the third frame had them down, 75-63, going
into the fourth.

     Things went from bad to worse in the final session. Pierce was called for
his fourth foul at 8:29, sending Dikembe Mutombo to the line as the Knicks'
run went to 11-3.

     Pierce came back and the C's scored the first seven points of the last
period, but the Knicks caught their fall. They got their lead back to a dozen
with a little more than four minutes left, before Vin Baker hit a jumper and
Pierce and Baker each canned two free throws to cut the deficit to 88-82.

     Marcus Banks [news] tried to tighten it further, but the rookie made the
mistake of driving on Mutombo, who easily executed the last of his four
blocks. A couple of late Eric Williams 3-pointers made the final margin look
closer than the game truly was.
Thanks,

Steve
sb@xxxxxxxxxxxx