It was a bit of a strange game.
Down by two points (61-59) to the 0-6 Nets starting the fourth period, Brian Scalabrine sparked a lethargic Celtic offense with a three pointer, followed by a two pointer that was a toenail away from being another three.
After scoring just 4 points on 1 of 7 shooting to that point, Ray Allen then caught fire. He scored 8 points, mostly on quick hitting jumpers, in the final stanza, to carry the Celtics to victory. But he did it with the support of the Celtics’ bench once again, as Rasheed Wallace, Shelden Williams, and Kendrick Perkins all added 4 points each in the game changing quarter.
After the bench players helped establish a lead, the starters came in to close it out. After Nets’ center Brook Lopez‘ jump shot to get within 82-76, the Celtics held the Nets scoreless over the last 2:57 of the game as Perkins added a basket and hit 2 of 4 foul shots to ice it.
Suffice to say, it was the third straight game that the Celtics were unable to control the game, twice against inferior teams.
Rondo 4th Quarter No Show
Rajon Rondo tied with Paul Pierce in leading the Cs in scoring with 16 points, and added 5 steals. But Rondo didn’t play in the critical fourth quarter. Pierce led the Cs with 7 assists, but had no rebounds. Pierce, House and Allen all brought the ball up in the 4th.
Kevin Garnett led both teams with 13 rebounds, adding 3 steals, but shot only 3 of 13 for 9 points. Kendrick Perkins added 9 points and 8 rebounds.
Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce kept the Celtics in the game in the first half with 12 and 8 points respectively.
It was a game that could be viewed a number of ways.
- The Celtics were playing their 8th game in 12 days.
- The Nets were depleted of their star, Devin Harris, and two other starters in Courtney Lee and Yi Jianlian.
- The Celtics made a ridiculous 20 steals.
- The Nets were careless with their passes, committing 23 turnovers.
- The Celtics were tired. But they had 12 fast break points to the Nets 5.
- The Net’s Josh Boone felt that the Nets defended very well.
- As a depleted team, the Nets rose to the occasion and played even harder.
- The Celtics haven’t had a practice in a while to fix ‘slippage’ that Doc Rivers said was there.
The Difference
Ultimately, beyond the scoring outbursts from Brian and Ray, two things stand out:
1) The Nets were far better than the Celtics converting turnovers into points. They made 15 points off of just 12 Celtic turnovers. The Celtics could only convert 19 points off of 23 turnovers. That statistic kept the Nets in the game.
2) The Celtics’ bench came through in the 4th quarter and Scalabrine, Eddie House and Shelden Williams brought the Celtics up double digits while they were on the floor. Once again, the Celtics have gotten solid play from their bench.
At this point, it would be wise not to make too much out of the last three games the Celtics have played. But they have clearly struggled against two teams that you would assume to be easy wins. And they were unable to keep up with the Suns.
Of the three stars, only 34 year old Ray Allen played 40 plus minutes in this game and has played ‘40 plus’ minute games three times this year already. But he came into camp this season in even better shape than he usually does and came alive in the 4th when fatigued would normally show.
After shooting just 40% for the game, the Celtics shot 10 of 17 in the fourth quarter to finish at .449%
The Nets started Josh Boone at PF along side Brook Lopez and that turned out to be a good move. Boone had 12 rebounds (4 offensive) as the Nets grabbed 9 offensive rebounds to the Celtics’ 3. The Nets out rebounded the Celtics 40-37.
The Nets also started Rafer Alston, Trenton Hassell and Bobby Simmons. Alston’s 20 points were second to Brook Lopez’ 23.
The Celtic defense was good enough to hold the Nets to 76 points on .431%. It seemed that Rondo was a step slow in defending Alston a number of times, allowing Alston to penetrate for 7 assists, though he did have 6 turnovers. Rondo, at times, appeared to be late coming around screens and was attempting the poke away from behind, as Alston went by.
Rasheed Wallace added 9 points on 3-10 shooting (0-4 from the arc), 4 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. Brian Scalabrine joined the Celtic theft ring with 3 pocket pickings.
Shelden Williams had another solid game with 8 points on 2 of 3 shots made with 4 of 4 foul shooting and 3 rebounds while having a +15 while he was in, to lead the team.
There was a J.R. Giddens sighting early in the second quarter for almost three minutes, with zero points, a steal, and a turnover.
The Celtics will now have 3 days to rest and work out the bugs of a 7-1 start that is not as impressive as the record would suggest. The Nets drop to 0-7, their worst start in the history of the franchise, according the Nets’ announcers.
The Celtics were without Marquis Daniels, who was excused for personal reasons. The Nets Chris Douglas-Roberts is out and has been diagnosed with swine flu.
The Celtics next play the Utah Jazz at home on Wednesday night.
