Celtics Beat Nets in OT for 3rd Win in a Row

In a game that in the first half promised to be one of the ugliest on record, the Celtics erased a 10 point lead in the last 1:20 and went on to beat the Nets in overtime 96-88. In the first quarter, the Celtics shot 12% but yet trailed by just 5 at the end of the quarter. The Celtics couldn’t seem to hit a shot and the Nets couldn’t hold on to the ball. For the game, the Celtics shot 34% and the Nets shot 46%. But they only turned the ball over 10 times as opposed to 21 turnovers for the Nets.

Al Jefferson has arrived as a low post threat. He is clearly our best big man since Kevin McHale roamed the Parquet. Today he finished with 32 points and 18 rebounds along with 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots. He has become a go to guy and produces night in and night out. The future, at least in the post, has arrived. Perk started and even with the plantar fasciitis, he finished with 5 points, 7 rebounds and 1 block in 22 minutes. I still say that next year, Perk is going to surprise a lot of people if he can come back healthy.

Powe came in and pulled down 3 rebounds, had 2 steals and played some good defense, taking 2 charges, in just 5 minutes of play. Then, we never saw him again. What does this kid have to do to get playing time? He produces every time he is on the court. Scal played 34 minutes and finished with 5 points on 2-10 shooting with 5 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block. Powe should be getting some of those minutes that Doc is giving to Scal. This reinforces my belief that we won’t go anywhere until we get a new coach.

Pierce played 44 minutes and started out very slow, missing his first 11 shots. He shot only 8-28 but came up big and made some very big shots down the stretch and in OT. Gomes was solid as always scoring 11 points with 7 rebounds and 2 steals in 28 minutes. Green continued with his up and down play as he scored 5 points, pulled down 1 rebound and racked up 5 fouls in just under 21 minutes.

West played very well today scoring 15 points on 6-10 shooting with 3 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals. And it was West who came up big in the last minute. We were down 7 with 52 seconds to go and in the last 45 seconds Delonte got 2 assists, a rebound, and 7 points including a 3 pointer to send the game into overtime. Rondo played only 17 minutes and had 6 points, 4 rebounds and 1 steal. His best play was on our last possession in regulation. Frank was yelling for the Nets to foul so as to prevent a 3 pointer and Rondo brought the ball up so quickly and passed it off to an open West that they couldn’t catch him to foul him. West hit the shot but without Rondo’s quickness he wouldn’t have gotten the chance. Telfair played 7 minutes and finished with 1 assist.

In spite of a lot of fans hoping for losses and thus more ping pong balls, I am excited to see this team winning again. They are starting to pull together in spite of still missing some of their key players and in spite of Pierce and Perk playing at about 70%. They are learning how to win and that is a good thing that will carry over to next year. I only hope that a win streak now won’t give Danny a reason to keep Doc as we are winning in spite of him, not because of him.

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