Wally Szczerbiak provided the spark off the bench for the Celtics tonight and helped them beat the Kings with newly acquired Ron Artest, 84-74. Wally had 10 points off the bench on 4-7 shooting including 2-3 from the 3point line. The big story tonight though was Kendrick Perkins who started at Center and put up 13/11 and also added 5 blocks. The Celtics defense held the high scoring Kings to just 30.7% from the field.
Not a pretty game But it worked. Love to see the win with a new team. And without Pierce doing a whole hell of a lot. The Celts were helped by Mike Bibby submitting a stinking 2-14 shooting performance, and Ron Artest missing nine straight at the end of the game. WallyWorld did play well. Kendrick was off the hook while he played, but got pulled midway through the second half and we never saw him again. Al played well in his absence. As for the "High Scoring Kings", that may be a bit of an exaggeration. The motion offense will take at least a couple months to make a reappearance, and this team is not going to be that fast anymore, nor will they spread the floor well. They're not a bad team, but not like the Sacto teams that we remember. Irrelevant I suppose. A good win for the Celts. Makes me hopeful about those young'uns.
I have to say I was impressed with the Celtics in the limited minutes that Wally got. He adds another outside threat to the backcourt next to Delonte West which allows Pierce to do the thing that he loves to do and that is drive and get to the line 15+ times a game. They beat a very impressive Kings team and I have to say if they keep this up then they might be the favorite to take the Atlantic crown in the second half.
Good to see him play so soon...I thought he wouldnt play...hopefully this trade rejuvenates the Celtics defensively, but I still think Rivers is the wrong coach for this team...
