Well, For the C's offense the game started off very slow. They looked like they didn't know what they were doing, and they weren't knocking down shots. For most of the first quarter they seemed to be getting the ball in Pierce's hands and he was trying to do too much. This is something that Paul does much too often. The C's starters need to start focusing on running Doc River's offensive strategies much more often. Too often they seem to be relying on Pierce to take his man one on one. Too much of that makes it too simple for opposing defenses too turn their focus on Pierce and before long he's double and triple teamed. It also didn't help that Al Jefferson was forced out of the game after a couple of rookie ghost calls. We need this guys playing more minutes than he has been. Haven't I said this before? Meanwhile, The Cavs were making it look easy early on. Drew Gooden kept finding himself in the right place at the right time and making ridiculous shots. Big Z was using his size to his advantage, getting to the basket at will, and the C's had no answer for what the Cavs were doing. In the 2nd, we saw the bench do a pretty good job trying to close the gap. We saw Delonte West for the first time and he really showed us something in his short first apperance. He showed the vets how easy it can be if you keep your head up. He made some great passes to get guys open shots going to the basket. The bench also seemed to clamp down on the Cavs much better than the starters were doing. These young guys that we have sure know how to play aggresive D. Tony Allen is earning himself more minutes with his D, as well as his work on the boards. You can't say enough about how this guy goes in there and bangs around with the big guys. He's what? 6'4? He doesn't play like it. Once Z came back in, he started to take control down low again and worked the C's interior making it look simple. The Celts lost alittle ground for a little while, but Jiri started to light it up for a little bit and we closed it back to 5. At the half, it was 53-48. In the 3rd, Lebron started off looking great making nice passes to get guys good shots and to the line. He was taking control without having to do the scoring. Boston's offense went back to being stagnant, and it seemed like Raef Lafrentz couldn't hit anything. But somehow Boston stayed in the game despite Cleveland shooting 60% to that point. Most of that was due to Cavs turnovers and Pierce doing a good job getting to the line. As soon as the bench came in, the Celtics got back to running the break and getting easy buckets. The bench was phenomanal on both offense and defense. They got the crowd back in it by playing defense, forcing turnovers, and running the floor. They finished off the 3rd on a 14-0 run and got the first Boston lead since the 1st quarter. The 4th started with the Boston bench still in the game to try to continue where they left off. They added to their run by scoring 2 more to cap off the run at 16-0. But the Cavs had an answer and followed with a run of their own to retake the lead. Mark Blount was keeping them in the game for a small portion with his hustle and shooting. He finished with 19. In the middle of the 4th, both teams weren't playing smart ball. The Celtics had every chance in the world to put the game away but they couldn't hit their shots. They also commited some costly turnovers down the strech that really hurt them. In crunch time, both teams started looking bad. Finally, Gary Payton proved that someone other than Pierce can score in vital moments. He made a nice drive and scored to tie the game. But Big Z had an answer. Lebron found Z who hit a huge jumper that ended up being the game winner. Boston had one last shot, but Pierce's jumpshot got rejected by Lebron and Drew Gooden. It was a terrible shot, and all it does is prove that the C's need to find another approach when the game is on the line. There were some positive things to look at in this one, but it was another disappointing loss.
I agree that there was far too much "lets stand and watch Paul Pierce" offense tonight. That last possesion was disgraceful. But the most infuriating stat line of the night has to be this: Walter McCarty: 25 minutes, 4 points, 3 rebound (1 foul)... seriously if your playing power forward in the NBA and you get that much run, you should get 5 rebounds BY ACCIDENT. Jefferson only had 2 fouls, why not put him back in? I understand that Walter is a veteran and he won't make many mistakes, but he's not going to get his body in the mix for rebounds (obviously) and he clearly needs others to create the offense for him. Jefferson can get his own shot. West looked great for his first action of the season. Marcus had 11 games and didn't impress me in 8 of them. I'm not saying West should be the back up point just yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it in another 10 games or so. Moment of the night: late in the third when Allen, West and Jefferson were all on the floor together was very cool, cause you can see the future of the franchise and looks good.
