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November 1, 2008
Every Ugly Thing....Celtics Lose Big to Pacers Before 'Rare' Sold Out Arena
The Pacers must have thought you turned back the clocks a night earlier. They were about an hour ahead of the Celtics all night.
The old jazz standard says...What a Difference a Day Makes.
It weren't the Jazz the Celtics were playing but it might as well have been. The Men in Green looked as bad tonight as they looked good just 24 hours earlier against the Bulls.
All the happy endings tonight were Pacer ones.
In the Indiana Pacers' first home game, playing in front of a sold out Conseco Fieldhouse, a rarity, the new look/new attitude Indiana Pacers beat the NBA Champion Boston Celtics 95-79. The Pacer's took the lead 15-13 at 6:30 of the 1st quarter on a Danny Granger jump shot and never looked back.
Before the start of the game, in an unusual move and breaking with player tradition, Pacer's co-owner Herb Simon personally welcomed the audience. Last season the Pacers had the lowest attendance in the league at 12,221, a mere 66% capacity. After acknowledging and thanking the full arena he said:
The Pacer organization has worked real hard this off season, to do the right thing, to change things around....We love our new players along with our existing players...and rededicate ourselves to the community. We feel we are on an upswing.
Through the efforts of Larry Bird, Pacer management has been trying to rebuild the clubs' bad boy image over the last year or two. They traded Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Shawne Williams, and honored Jermaine O'Neal's trade request while quarantining toxic Jamal Tinsley from the team completely until they can trade him. They have added 7 new players.
Granger Breaks Teeth
You could say Danny sunk his teeth into the Celtics. He scored 11 points in the first quarter and 20 for the game to lead both teams. He also broke his front teeth on the floor when he and Pierce scrambled for a loose ball. Granger went to the lockerroom, but returned to finish the game.
The Pacers played without Mike Dunleavy, their 'best all around player' according to Larry Bird. They are incorporating many new players to the team. There isn't a single all-star on the team though Granger is getting close.
Every Ugly Thing
This game exposed almost every conceivable Celtic weakness.
1) It was a road game and they played like it was the 2008 road play-offs all over again.
2) Newly acquired Pacer guard, TJ Ford, is one of the quickest guards in the league. He got Rajon Rondo into foul trouble early. Doc gambled by keeping him in the game with three fouls and Ford promptly got the 4th on him - in the first half no less - essentially cancelling out the Celtics only hope of guarding Ford for the rest of the game. Doc took that chance because he knew he had no one else who could stay with Ford.
3) The Celtics have trouble with teams with height because they don't have much height themselves. The Pacers traded O'Neal, a reluctant low block performer for 7 ft. Rasho Nesterovich and drafted 7 ' 2 " Roy Hibbert, two tall solid paint patrollers. They anchored the interior defense and neutralized Kendrick Perkins.
4) They didn't have a Posey on the team to defend the long, rangy Granger. Tony Allen among others did his best, but a tall defensive forward is missing from the Celtics this season.
5) The Celtics started off a little cocky. That ends up biting them every time. They obviously did not take the Pacers seriously enough.
6) They faced a power forward with an effective outside shot, Troy Murphy, creating a situation for Kevin or another big to step out side to guard him.
7) The Pacer's defense was surpringly organized and tenacious. With Rondo out or passive when he was in because of his fouls, the Celtics offense looked remarkably ineffective
8) Patrick O'Bryant's numbers notwithstanding - he lacked real effectiveness in his short appearance.
In short ...
The Halloween Costume Party was a night late. Who were those guys wearing Celtic uniforms?
Giving credit where it is due, Coach Jim O'Brien's teams will always fight you for 48 minutes. This team "out energied" the Celtics at both ends of the floor.
Turnovers - A little Traveling Music
Traveling calls were the order of the night as Garnett had at least 3 turnovers that way and 6 TOs for the game. The league is enforcing that call more this season. The Celtics were out of sync while the Pacers were the aggressors, causing 24 Celtic TOs to only 12 of their own.
Scoring:
Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 18 points, shooting 9 for 18, and pulled down 14 rebounds. Paul Pierce had a double-double with 15 points on but 3-15 shooting and 7 of 12 from the foul line to go with 10 rebounds and 4 TOs. Ray Allen had 10 points on ten shots, 6 rebounds, and 4 TOs.
Tony Allen had 14 largely ineffective points, as the Cs just couldn't get anything going in the 'team offense' concept. He played pretty solid defense. Eddie House's shot is still MIA as he went 1 for 10 overall and 1 for 7 from the arc, finishing with just 5 points in 20 minutes.
The Celtics got to within three at 38-41 in the 2nd quarter and never got that close again. Though they has 15 assists, there were lots of no pass, or one pass, one-on-one play once the Celtics got frustrated. On the other hand, the Pacers had 20 assists on 33 made baskets they and moved the ball around quite well.
As the Pacers' lead reached 20 points in the last quarter, the fans stood and gave them an ovation in appreciation of what they were witnessing, a hard playing underdog team that completely outplayed the NBA champions.
I am not attributing tremendous meaning to tonight's game. Lots of things just went wrong. We know where the Celtics are strong and where they are not deep. If similar patterns emerge in similar situations as the season goes on, then it might be time to consider some remedies.
Posted by Tom on November 1, 2008 9:54 PM
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