Fwd: [Celtics' Stuff ] Joe Gallagher, finds a student.-Globe

[Tammo29@xxxxxxx]

Remember that clinching game six in the (new) Gahden, against the
> hated Sixuhs in the first round in 2002? That remains one of my most
> revered Celtics memories and I've been watching them since 1952.
> We were series underdogs; coming off seven or eight miserable season
> and we finally made the playoffs. We had no idea how good the team
> could be, only that we were very happy just to be playing in May.
> It was a very toughly contested series, with both teams showing signs
> of domination. There was no answer for Iverson. He could only  stop
> himself. Derrick Coleman was playing as well as he ever had in his
> career, Theo Ratliff was clogging the middle and Snow and McKie were
> driving daggers in the heart, whenever we thought we had the other
> guys bottled up. Most of the media  thought the Sixers were toying
> with us, but in that game, we got a bit of  a lead in the third
> quarter and then all hell broke lose, in the form of some unconscious
> three point shooting (led by Walker and McCarty) and we just dominated
> them Sixuh bums and ran them out of the place.
> A real thrill. Wiggles galore! We exorcised some demons that night,
> which gave the team the needed confidence to go on and rout the
> Pistons in series two.  -JB

Wow.  That's how you remember that game?  My recollection is entirely 
different.
However, knowing how personal biases can taint perceptions, and having a 
couple of hours to spare, I went back and rewatched that game.  

This is what really happened.
It was the fifth game of the five game series.
The Celtics came out the aggressor.  They were making shots and playing tough 
defense.
Despite that, the sixers were getting the whistles (the Celtics had three 
fouls in the first 2 minutes, 2 of them against guys guarding Iverson 22 feet 
from the basket).  Antoine had the Celtics first five points (one 3 pointer) and 
took 4 of their first 6 shots. The free throw line kept the Sixers in the game 
the first 10 minutes.  Then it turned into the Allen Iverson and Paul Pierce 
show.  They were matching each other shot for shot.  However when Allen cooled 
off a little Paul just kept on going.  He finished the half with 29 points on 
8 of 13 shooting and 4 of 5 from the line.  Iverson had 20 points on 6-13 
shooting and 5 of 8 from the line.  The Celtics were up by 12 points and had hit 
8 of 13 three pointers.  Antoine was 2 of four at that point.  Walter had 
zero.  Eric Williams and hit 2 of 2.  
The 3rd quarter saw both teams struggle for points.  Paul was taking it to 
the basket but not getting any calls.  As a result he was 1 of 7 from the floor. 
 However, the defense had become so keyed on him that other guys were getting 
wide open shots.  Eric Williams hit a wide open three. Kenny Anderson had a 
wide open shot from the free throw line, which he missed, however Antoine got 
in the lane untouched for the put back.  Tony Battie had a wide open shot from 
the elbow, which he missed, but once again Antoine got the put back untouched. 
 By the end of the third quarter the Celtics were still up by 10 despite 
getting to the free throw line only 6 times (making 5) to the Sixers 27 (making 
23).   The Celtics were 10 of 19 from 3.
They finished the game hitting 19 of 29 three's, but that isn't how they 
pulled away.  Six of the nine three's in the quarter came in the final six minutes 
of the game, two by Pierce, two by Walker, one by Kedrick Brown and Walters 
lone three of the game (1 of 4).  The Celtics were already up by 18 points by 
then.  Three of those, including one of Walkers, came after Larry Brown had 
already conceded the game and Pierce had already gone to the bench.
No, we won that fourth quarter by playing tough defense and hitting our open 
shots.  Rodney Rogers had two steals that lead to breakaways. Tony Delk put 
the clamps on Iverson.
 Paul had some great help defense on Iverson and also held Snow to 2 of 12 
shooting including a key blocked shot on Snow during the Celtics game clinching 
run.  We also had some big offensive rebounds.
There was only one wiggle, on Walkers next to last shot.  When he hit his 
fourth and final three of nine try's with two minutes left there was no wiggle, 
only taunting aimed at Larry Brown, which gained him a T and sent him to the 
bench as well.
Paul finished the game with 46 points, 15 in the final quarter, 16 of 25 from 
the field, never got to the line at all in the second half, and was 8 of 10 
from the arc.  

It wasn't Walter and Walker hitting from outside that brought that win home.
But thanks for giving me a reason to rewatch that game.  It was spectacular.
TAM