Boston Celtics @ Philadelphia 76ers Iverson & Webber are both questionable. Keys: Being 0-3 against the Sixers this season proves that we need to change our approach. A few things that jump right into my head are perimeter defense and offensive awareness. First, out perimeter defense is important against this team because it's obvious that that's a huge part of thier game. The coaches name is Jim O'Brien so we should know what that means. We have to prevent the 3 point shot from killing us because if we do their offensive options are limited, especially if Allen Iverson and Christopher Webber don't play. We also need to be made aware of the fact that this team is full of young, active, scrappy guys that will end up with an uncontested layup if you make sloppy passes. I hope the lesson was learned from the last game and we don't mess around with the ball. It remains to be seen whether the addition of Antoine back into our lineup will help us or hurt us tonight. The team needs to find a balance when it comes to thier over-reliance on him. I've said this many times before and I'll say it again. Antoine needs to be the 3rd of 4th option if we are going to be sucessful. It happens way too much where we get put into a rough situation and the guys just get it to Antoine. We already know the pros/cons of his game, and shooting discipline is not a strong point of his. The best way to overcome that is to keep the ball out of his hands in certain situations. This game is so huge because of all that it implicates. We better not come out flat for this one because the division winner may be decided tonight.
Head check and gut check for the Celtics. I'm tired of the inconsistancy with this team. I hope that Doc stops experimenting with lineups, etc. and we come out tonight and kick the hell out of Philly. We need a win tonight and if we step up this week, we could clinch by Friday, I think.
Pierce really came up big tonight. Davis had a decent night with 16 points and 6 assists. Here's the Box Score: http://www.nba.com/games/20050412/BOSPHI/boxscore.html This was a great win for Boston. Now that Philidelphia is out of the way for the rest of the season The Celtics just have to focus all of their attention into winning most of the rest of their games. I wouldn't be worried about Philly on our heels as much as I would in finishing strong to build confidence for the first round.
The popular pick for player of the game would be PP, but I'm going with Al Jefferson. He was taking on everybody they put in front of him. He was vital in the comeback, and he kept us in the game. He even played some decent D. Please give him more minutes, Doc. What a huge win for us. We all but locked up the 3 seed which is something I didn't really think was possible at the start of the season. Let's work on home court advantage now.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The popular pick for player of the game would be PP, but I'm going with Al Jefferson</div> I would probably agree with you had Al been able to stay out of foul trouble and stuck around for more of the second half. I loved his post play, which was strong last night. He's still committing stupid fouls though, even with as bad as the refs were last night.
"BIG AL" had a HUGE night, that kid can play.. He provided the team with the energy and spirit that was lacking in the begining. But he does need to learn how to play some defense along with the rest of the team. But it was a great win, and the best part of it was that it was IN Philly and that crowd did not have many oppertunities to make a lot of noise that night. The Celts did worry me though in the first quarter, I was figuring we would have a repeat of last game But they came away with a W!
