The Boston Celtics finally look human again. They are now 28-5…if you want to call that human.
Greg Oden was a big factor in this game. So was fatigue. So was the Portland defense generally.
A Rematch of the Infamous Bench Tirade Game
This was the team that drew Garnett’s anger at the Celtic bench, with an upset Glen Davis removing himself to the end of the bench with a towel over his head, the last time these two teams played. Did it help?
Tonight the Portland Bench outscored the Cs by 29 to 9. Keep in mind that Portland’s bench is one of the best benches in the league and normally average 35 points a game. That is something I thought should have been considered the last time. The Celtics’ bench usually averages 28 points.
Second Half Portland Victory
Portland outscored the Celtics 51-41 and out rebounded them 23 to 11 in the second half, gaining the lead on a Greg Oden lay-up 63-62 with :57 left in the third quarter. It was their first lead since they lead 9 to 8 in the first. Though the Celtics would challenge, they would never lead again.
The Blazers scored the first 6 points of the 4th quarter, four by LaMarcus Aldridge while the Celtics were held to two points for the first 4 minutes of the 4th quarter. Normally this is when the Green Machine would take over.
But two things happened: TrailBlazer height and Celtic fatigue. Portland has three bonafide big men and they all contributed to this Celtic loss.
Portland used the tandem of 7′ 1″ Joel Pryzbilla and 7′ Greg Oden together for the first time this year according to the Blazers’ announcers. It was then, at the end of the third quarter that the Blazers took the lead.
Then 6′ 11″ LaMarcus and Greg played solid defense, with LaMarcus scoring ten of his twenty points in the big fourth quarter while making two huge blocks to keep the Celtics at bay. Steve Blake made some big shots as well, finishing with 21 points (5 of 7 from the arc) on the evening.
Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 28 points, but the team made just 12 of 33 (36%) second half shots, as thoughts of a plane trip home danced through their heads. Clearly, the Portland defense rose to the occasion as you could see that especially Greg Oden’s presence in the paint affected the Celtic offense.
More Numbers
Ray Allen had but 12 points, on 2 of 11 shooting, only 2 rebounds and zero assists.
Rajon Rondo had 13 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 4 turnovers.
Kevin Garnett had 17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a block.
The Celtic bench scored 9 points.
Possibly a still hurting Kendrick Perkins (shoulder) had zero rebounds in twelve second half minutes, and only 6 for the game, with only 7 points in over 36 minutes. But he was needed to defend Oden and Aldridge, as they proved to be too much for Powe and Davis.
After starting the year with the league’s fastest start at an almost perfect 27-2, the Celtics dropped 3 of 4 on this west coast holiday swing to end 2008 decidely more earthly.
This should give all the fans and media types fodder to write articles about. I’ll be no different.
Slow Collapse
The Celtics started very strong and slowly got stuck in the mud as the game went on. By the 4th quarter, it was all they could do to keep competitive.
Bear in mind, this was against a team that was missing its leader and leading scorer, Brandon Roy.
Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett got things rolling with 8 and 6 first quarter points, winning the opening stanza big: 23-13.
By half time the lead was whittled down to 45-40, as Steve Blake stepped up with 13 first half points including 3 of 4 from the arc, and Travis Outlaw added 7 points off the bench. Greg Oden was making his presence felt with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
The Celtics were led by Ray Allen and Paul Pierce with 12 points each at the half.
Learning Their Lesson
After being manhandled by the Celtics in Boston earlier this year, the Blazers came out and immediately established that they were finally going to be the aggressor physically. At one point, Oden pushed Ray Allen into the photographers on a baseline drive. Ray got up a bit upset and the Portland players were energized, enthused and amused by the mild mannered center’s show of physicality.
After coughing up the ball for 6 first quarter turnovers the Blazers had just one more TO by half time and only 8 more in the game, as they made a concerted effort to not make things easy for the Cs this time.
Their overall defense made the Celtics take a number of shots with the clock running down. While Rajon Rondo had 7 assists, the Celtics made only 27 shots, 13 assisted, all night.
Bench Challenged Again
Eddie House could not get untracked (1 for 5), and while Glen Davis played solid defense at times, drawing a few charges as well, he reacted a bit slow to Greg Oden, allowing him to get the ball too low for him to stop him.
Oden finished with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting and 11 rebounds. The Blazers outplayed the Celtics by twelve points while he was on the floor in what was said to be one of his best efforts this year.
Unusual Stat of the Night
Leon Powe played 8:34 minutes without a rebound, block or point scored.
With Antonio McDyess returning to Detroit, and Dikembe Mutombo returning to Houston, it might be time for the Celtic players to call PJ Brown to talk him out of retirement. If he is staying retired, Danny might want to make a full court press for Joe Smith, before he tries to go back to Cleveland. The options are getting slim for veteran big men with talent.
Just thinking out loud.
Next up: Washington on January 2nd
