94-87 Celtics. Game over. Bosh nowhere to be found. Offense non-existent. We were freestyling like we’ve never freestyled before. I’ve been saying this for a looooong time. One of our biggest problems is fourth quarter offense and what Mitchell can do when it counts. This is not a moral victory.
1:37m 86-84 C’s. No fourth quarter offense. We have no fourth quarter offense. Rivers runs a play to get an Allen three and we counter with pure horseshit. We’re basically running down 24 seconds and turning the ball over. I’m telling you we haven’t run a single play in the last five minutes. If you’re seen Bosh, tell him there’s a game on.
3:14, 84-81 Raps: KG with a score followed by an AP 3 and a JO score. O’Neal with 23/11, Bosh is nowhere to be found.
4:26 4th, 79-77: Raptors resort to shooting jumpers. No fourth quarter offense. Gone is the movement of earlier and we’re basically relying on Parker and Calderon to hit threes with the shot clock winding down. Bosh is nowhere to be found. Celtics are getting ball movement and Pierce is hitting his threes (being guarded by JK still). This one’s not looking good because we just can’t score and don’t have any plays to fall back on.
8:10 4th, 71-70, Sam with a very bad sub. Taking out JC and putting in Will in there really hurt the team, -5 in a matter of a minute or so. What did it buy us? Nothing. Celtics would be winning if it weren’t for JK bailing us out with some last second shots. Raptors defense is looking weak and CB4 is on the bench. JO’s not getting the space he got earlier and the Raps aren’t really looking for him in the post anymore. Tense affair this one and every score we’re getting is tough. 4Q offense is a problem.
65-59 End 3rd: Jason Kapono hits a three to give us a cushion. Celtics defense really stepped up there starting with KG who was basically yelling in Calderon and Bosh’s ear the whole time. A total BS call went against us (bis surprise) Bosh called for a block after it was initially called a charge. Celtics getting easy scores now by moving the ball and KG, Pierce and Allen doing the scoring. Sherman Hamilton made a good point, KG could easily be called for a taunting tech. JC’s fighting back though…4th quarter here we go….
3:08 3rd, 59-51 Calderon finding Bosh for a sweet alley-oop in a half-court play. KG didn’t even bother challenging Bosh. KG is 7-16 and Bosh is 2-7. The stretch ends badly for the Raptors. Moon misses an ill-advised three, KG scores against Bosh on a post-up and Pierce hits a semi-transition three to cut the lead to 8. This all happened between a Calderon/JO turnover as JC tried to sneak a pass in the paint. Celtics D is picking up, let’s see what happens.
7:00 3rd, 57-44 The great ball movement continues. It’s one and done for the Celtics. The rebounding has been solid and O’Neal’s attracting a lot of attention and passing well out of the pivot position. Chris Bosh is trying to get going but gets called for a travel after a Perkins and KG double. The Celtics have gone into a shooting funk right but so have we. Ray Allen came out of the gates hitting a jumper but then KG missed a jumper which is indicative of the game – Celtics on the perimeter. I get a feeling sooner or later Celtics are going to step up their D and we’ll have to respond.
48-36 Halftime: Uneventful last little bit of the half. The Raptors turned the ball over three times. AP twice and Kapono once. We let the Celtics off the hook a little here, lead could’ve been bigger. KG manged to get Boston’s first second chance points. Chris Bosh with some bad offensive decisions to finish off the half. The Celtics defense is really focusing on him and collapsing quick on his drives. JO says in the halftime interview: “Kendrick Perkins has know for a while that he can’t guard me”. I love it. Job’s half done, hopefully Bosh can step up in the second half and win this for us. Overall, Graham and Kapono did a solid job in this half. Graham was playing mainly because Parker’s in foul trouble. Parker’s been very bad in the half, he’s just not in sync with the offense and is basically going through the motions. This was a good half but if we want to win the game we need more than just the supporting cast to play well, Bosh needs to wake up.
2:38 2nd, 46-32: Jermaine O’Neal and Kendrick Perkins get T’d up. JO showing some emotion to add to the great play. Joey Graham hit another three after being found by Kapono and the Kap and JO combined for a beautiful give ‘n go for a score. It’s almost like we’re too quick for the Celtics. They haven’t gotten single second-chance point yet. O’Neal with 19 points and 7 rebounds so far. Bosh has been quiet so far with only 6 points but we haven’t need him. Yet. Kapono is still guarding Paul Pierce and is basically shutting him down. Yes, its unreal.
5:56 2nd, 34-24 Raps. The Raptors just ran the prettiest break I’ve ever seen. Seriously. Can’t describe it but it involved Bosh’s look-off pass, Solomon finding Hump for a jam. Joey Graham’s hitting the glass hard and gets a loose ball foul out of Pierce. The Raptors are forcing the Celtics into jumpers and on offense the Celtics are constantly rotating because the Raps are moving the ball. 5 points and 3 rebs for Joey. Energy level is high. JO just pwn3d Baby Davis for a three point play. Jose Calderon finally gets in the game after an extended rest.
8:48 2nd, 28-22 Raps. Joey Graham’s (playing cuz Parker’s got 2 fouls) won us a rebound and hit a J. Bosh faced up Powe to get a jumper and Kapono’s displaying some nice passing skills in finding the open man. The Raptors ball movement is crisp and their defense solid. Eddie House burned us for 5 points so that sucks but overall we’re right there fighting through screens and making life uncomfortable for Boston. On one play Kapono was guarding Pierce and actually forced a turnover. Yeah, he stopped him. Graham getting some burn. Will didn’t look too solid in this stretch, Calderon’s probably going to replace him soon. Hump’s in the game and keeping Baby Davis off the glass. Even got us an offensive rebound.
End of 1st Q, 23-18 Raps. Jason Kapono comes off the bench, gets a jumper off a broken play and then hits a three. Then to end the quarter he shows some nice vision in finding Hump off the pick ‘n roll. Will Solomon ran the point in this stretch and held his own. Graham’s getting burn, maybe Mitchell’s saving Moon for Pierce-duty. Boston outscored Detroit 30-10 in the second quarter last game so we got to watch out.
2:20 16-14 Boston. Celtics on a 7-0 run. JO’s taken a couple heat-check shots that didn’t work out and Parker’s off-target on his fadeaway. Celtics have introduced Leon Powe who’s had a little more success with JO than Perkins. Calderon looks a little shaky so far, not been able to turn any corners or setup anyone. Bargnani’s in the game guarded by KG. Hasn’t been a factor yet but did give some good help on a drive to the rim. Joey Grahams’ in the game playing D on Garnett.
5:20 1st Q: Jermaine O’Neal’s 4-6 with two rebounds early on and the Raptors are up 12-7. JO’s also playing great D on KG, not falling for his fakes. Bosh has an early jumper while missing one too. Raps overall defense has been good and have forced some bad shots from the Celtics. It’s a good start, mostly fueled by Jermaine O’Neal who’s looking to be very aggressive. Kendrick Perkins seems to be no match for him early on. Moon’s holding his own against Pierce so far, getting a nice early deflection.
7:30PM: Boston is 6-1 and the Raptors are 4-2. Last year Boston won the season series 3-1.
