Celtics Hold On to Beat the Knicks 102-94

In spite of many fans hoping for losses to add ping pong balls, the Celtics continue to play hard and go for wins. The Celtics started out strong and built a 20 point lead in the first half. They shared the ball, hit their shots and played defense. They stretched the lead to 23 before forgetting how to beat the zone and play defense and allowed the Knicks to get back into the game and even take the lead in the 4th quarter. But, give them credit, the Celtics never gave up and behind Al and Green, they persevered to win the game 102-94. Combined with a Memphis loss tonight, this moves the Celtics out of the cellar and gives the Grizzlies the worst record in the league for now.

Al Jefferson once again proved that he is a dominant low post threat. He finished with 26 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. Most importantly, he was the go to guy down the stretch and he produced. Also coming up big down the stretch was Gerald Green who finished with 21 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 20 minutes of play. It has to make a Celtics fan excited to see the promise that these two players show. They are the future and hopefully Danny will realize that and keep them on the team.

Pierce was able to relax somewhat and watch his young teammates take over down the stretch, although he hit several big shots in the fourth as well. But the pressure wasn’t on him to take over the game and that was the difference down the stretch. Pierce finished with 24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Gomes had a quiet game with 7 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, but one thing about Gomes is that he never hurts you and rarely makes mistakes that cost the team.

Perk got the start tonight as I had hoped he would. He started in place of Powe, instead of Scal, though so it was a hollow triumph to see him start. But Perk produced and played great defense on Curry pretty much shutting him down when he was in the game and finished with 0 points (he only took 1 shot) but he did have 4 assists, finding the open man when he got the ball inside and was doubled. He also pulled down 8 rebounds and had a steal. Scal played 37 minutes between the 4 and the 5 spots and didn’t get even 1 rebound. How can that be? Doc, come on! Sure he hits the 3 from time to time (he was 4-9 from beyond the arc tonight) but we need more than that from the starting bigs. Continuing to start Scal and play him big minutes puts us at a disadvantage against the front lines of other teams. But maybe that is Doc’s plan all along. What better way to tank?

I have no idea how long it will take for Doc to realize that Rondo is our best PG. Maybe he never will. He continues to start West, who isn’t doing a bad job, but Rondo is better. Also, it isn’t fair to West who would thrive if moved to the 2 and was able to find his role and stick to it. West finished with 6 points on 2-6 shooting with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Rondo was everywhere last night scoring 4 points with 9 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals. The team plays so much better with him at the point. I wish Doc would start Rondo and back him up with Telfair and let them build their confidence and we would have a good 1-2 punch at the point. West would give us so much more at the 2 guard.

We played very well as a team, limiting our turnovers to 14 and shooting 51% from the field and 53% from beyond the arc. We had 28 assists on 34 field goals, which shows that we are sharing the ball and finding the open man. It helped that our bigs were finding the open man when they were doubled inside. Perk and Al are both becoming very good passing big men. We also won the battle on the boards 38-35, although when the Knicks made their comeback in the second half, they were out rebounding us through that stretch. All in all it was a good win. They were missing some of their key players but it is hard to feel sorry for them because we are too. Wally, Ratliff, and Tony are out. Perk is still playing at about 60% as he continues to play in pain. Pierce is probably only at 75% as well. And we have Doc as a coach that really puts us at a disadvantage. Even Isaiah is a better coach than Doc and that is pretty bad.

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