C's snap Bulls 7 game streak From the 1st half: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> <u><font color="Navy">Game Recap</font></u> "The Bulls came out on a 12-4 run, with heavy doses of Curry, forcing Doc to take a timeout at 7:26. Out of the timeout, the C's had a nice around the horn passing play, ending a in Raef LaFrentz 3pter. The C's now trailed 12-7. Blount collected his 2nd foul at 6:56 and Al Jefferson began his night. Curry and Deng followed Blount to the bench shortly afterwards, each also with 2 fouls around the 5:00 mark. The C's chipped away with some nice ball sharing and a Jiri Welsch jumper made it 18-16 with 3:56 left. Random fact: The C's were getting outrebounded 9-3 at this point. The C's got it all tied up on a full court passing play, ending with a Big Al Jefferson 2 handed jam. 20-20 3:00 left. PP to Big Al off a a pick and roll and Boston had a lead 24-20 with 2:17 remaining in the 1st. Big Al collected his 2 foul with 2:05 left. The score at the end of 1: 28 ALL. RD started the early 2nd collecting his 2nd foul at 10:29, with Chicago leading 32-30. PP retied it on a fade away at 9:27 and it was 32 all. Kendrick Perkins entered the game at 9:11. By this point, everyone on the Celtics active roster had played, including Googs. <font color="DarkRed">Spot light moment:</font> Perkins ties the score at 39 all with a score off a missed shot, which he powered up for a score under the basket at 5:40. He then ran the floor off a miss, to be the finishing man on a full court push. He got fouled on the play and didn't score. He then had 2 consecutive defensive trips with blocks. <font color="DarkGreen">NICE HUSTLE PERK!"</font> </div>
Paul Pierce was clutch (as usual) in this game. Once again he showed his dominance on the court from mid-range. He does a remarkable job of adjusting and squaring his body up to get off clean shots. Even with defenders all over him, he manages to find the open look and get his shot off. I guess it's similar to how a running back gets 'small' right before he hits the hole and alludes tacklers. One thing the Celtics need to work on is their traps. LaFrentz got burned badly two or three times trying to run at Heinrich and trap him. I don't think he has the footspeed or the defensive hand speed to be effective at the trap. He's better blocking shots from the weakside instead of flashing out. ESPN did a good job of embarrassing him with slow motion and all the arrows and spotshadow technology. Nice win for the Celtics though, it could become a factor later in the year considering these two teams are currently tied for the 8th spot.
It's a good thing that Jefferson came to play in this game, because Blount truly didn't. It's time to make that switch. Despite the slow footspeed, I actually thought that Raef was moving much better after the 4 days off. He really seemed to have needed the rest. And I don't know if there was some history from the game last week, but Paul seemed to be willing to let the game come to him, until Nocioni checked. Then he started demanding the ball and after every jumper he nailed in Nocioni's face Pierce would turn to him and just keep saying "All Day" all the way down the court. Apparently, Paul wanted to prove a point.
