The Charlotte Bocats beat the Celtics in every major statistic except one – the one that counts -the final score.
Ray Allen, 3-14 shooting on the night until he put in his game winner, got the team another W after Eddie House got his hand on the Bobcats inbounds pass by Jason Richardson, on the Celtics’ offensive end of the court. Pierce caught the errant ball and flipped it to Ray Allen who was standing at the 3 point line, who then drilled it to stun the sold out arena and the Bobcats. Game over. See ya.
It was Ray’s only 3 point make (after 5 misses) all night.
Ray Allen hit 2 big threes in the closing moments of the loss to the Magic, after not shooting well for most of that game. Ray showed the same clutch composure tonight with a much different outcome. Even as his team mates were mobbing him and lifting him over them, he seemed to be saying to them … “Stay calm!”
I have a feeling that won’t be the last clutch shot Ray Allen hits for this team this year.
Think of a baseball team getting outhit 8-5 but winning 4-3 on a homer after a walk, or a football team getting outgained in both running and passing, yet pulling out a 24-21 win after an on-side kick recovery.
The Celtics were:
1) outshot from the floor .486 to .436.
2) outshot from downtown .727 to .333
3) out rebounded 41-34
4) outblocked 7-4
Yet, the Celtics won the game by one. And that counts as much as a 20 point win in the W column. I looked it up.
The Bobcats went up by as much as 9 in the 2nd quarter, but the Celtics stormed back on a 15-5 run to go up 46-45. Charlotte responded with an 8-2 run of their own to end the first half up 53-48.
The 2nd half was tightly contested as the biggest lead was 5 points (by Charlotte – twice) and the Celtics biggest lead was 2 points over the rest of the contest. But the rules say you only need one more point than your opponent by the end, to be called the winner.
Kevin Garnett garnered yet another dub/dub, leading the Cs with 23 points and 11 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Paul Pierce also scored 23 points and added 7 assists, 4 boards and a steal.
Pierce did miss 2 big shots near the end and almost threw the ball away before lightning struck for the Cs.
James Posey tied Ray Allen for 3rd in scoring with 14 points on 5-10 shooting while playing but 28 minutes.
Playing the 2nd game of a back-to-back in the Bobcats first sell out of the year, the Celtics did not seem to have the same energy as they did last light at the Garden against the Lakers. Yet, they pulled out the win and are showing that they are a team other teams’ fans want to see play.
Tony Allen was injured in the 2nd quarter (bruised right thigh) and did not return.
The Celtics are now 11-1 and have added a dramatic finish to the growing story.
