The Celtics finished this West Coast trip by sending an emphatic message.
Hard elbows and rough play is not going to stop them. It will only make them madder.
They swept 4 straight including beating Utah and the Lakers, 2 very tough home teams (combined 21-6 until they played the Cs) and play-off contenders.
Lakers come up short.
The Celtics got out to an early 17 point lead with some fine play by Tony Allen at the point. He was replacing Rajon Rondo, who was out with a tight hamstring. Then he and Ray Allen got into foul trouble, and the Lakers defense tightened up and got some home cooking from the refs.
At the half, the Cs led 53-45. They were shooting .462 on 18-39 from the field with 2-7 from 3 pt land. The Lakers had a slight rebounding advantage 23-22. The Laker were being held to a suffocating .318 on 14-44 shooting and 3-12 from 3 pointland. Though the fouls seemed to be going in LA’s favor, the Celtics had more attempts and were 15-20 vs 14-18 for the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant was only 5-15 for 16 points and the only Laker in double figures. Pierce led the Cs with 16 on 4-8 with 7-8 FTs. Tony Allen followed with 13 points on 4-5, 1-1 from downtown and 4-4 FT. Tony looked good, loose, and aggressive most of the time.
Boston increased their lead to as much as 12 in the 3rd quarter before the Lakers cut it to 6. After getting clocked by a Bynum elbow, opening a blood dripping gash and not getting a foul call in the first half, Kevin Garnett came out inspired.
Kevin Garnett took over early in the quarter and scored 10 tough points, including an emphatic dunk with defenders right around him and a leaping spectacular one handed float-in with three defenders around him. Just amazing stuff for a 7 footer. Then he passed the baton to Pierce. Paul scored Boston’s last 10 points of the quarter and played game changing defense with 3 late steals to extend the lead to 12 and beyond the Lakers’ grasp.
The Celtics outscored the Lakers 29-21 in the third for a 16 point lead 82-66 while getting more rebounds (+8) and foul shots (+10) in the quarter
In the 4th quarter, Paul passed the baton to Ray Allen and he decimated what was left of Laker hopes with 2 tough jump shots, and a 3 pointer to give Boston a 21 point lead 89-68. From there on it got testier and Garnett and Ray Allen continued to respond with baskets and foul shots.
At the 2:57 mark of the game, Garnett rejected an Odom offering and Ray got the rebound near the sideline. Odom intentionally threw his body into him football style and they both went down out of bounds. Odom got up and glared down at Ray, while Kobe came over and pulled Lamar away. It was surprising that Allen didn’t respond back in a physical way. Odom received a flagrant 1, and they somehow gave Ray a technical. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was for not responding.
Anyway, this game was in the control of the Celtics most of the way and LA looked frustrated to be handled so easily even while pounding on the Celtics. It’s not the first time that’s happened. People can’t believe that this team is that good. They are proving they are that good indeed.
Each of the three stars took turns putting difficult points on the board. But the biggest surprise was the play of Tony Allen who had his finest offensive game of the year. Tony finished with 16 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal before fouling out.
Pierce finished with 33 and 8 rebounds in a third straight lead performance. Kevin Garnett finished 2nd in scoring with 22 points on 9-13 shooting, 12 rebounds, 6 assist, 3 blocks and 2 steals in an inspired performance of his own. Ray Allen was not to be overlooked with 19 points and 6 rebounds of his own.
The Beantown Ballers demolish another opponent and raise their record to 26-3 as they return home to face the Houston Rockets on Wednesday January 2.
T, it seems like this team is as good as we all hoped but never quite believed. Wow! 4 out of 4 on the west coast swing. You thought they could, I didn’t really think so. They are playing TEAM basketball without depending on any one all the time, although PP has been awesome. The PGA package certainly has jelled with each one of them stepping up at the right time. Rajon has been so consistent, and his A to TO ratio is better than 3 to 1, among the league leaders. If TA continues to play as well as he has recently, the bench looks really solid with Posey and House making huge contributions. Should be an interesting week keeping focused on Houston and Memphis b4 the Saturday match in Detroit.
R
Comment by R — January 2nd, 2008 @ 12:04 am
R,
Amazing, isn’t it?
I even forgot about Memphis, as I was looking forward to the Saturday game against Detroit.
If TA comes back close to his old self, and he is getting better as he goes, this team will be even more trouble. The last thing opponents need is another Celtic to watch out for.
The Boston Steamrollers roll on.
Good insight about Rondo. Think about how far he has come since the start of the year when all they trusted him to do was get the ball over half court.
He is growing by leaps and bounds. Hey maybe we will soon be calling him Super-Rondo.
Thank for the comments, as always.
T
Comment by Tom Halzack — January 3rd, 2008 @ 12:04 pm