11/4 - Celtics @ Raptors

Zen653 · 11-04-2007, 10:05 PM

The Celtics almost allowed this game to slip away. Foul trouble kept Garnett and Rondo off the floor for long periods of time, and Pierce had an off-night shooting-wise. Thank goodness for Ray Allen and his 33 points, because there's no way that the Celtics would have won this game without him. You also have to give a lot of credit to Kevin Garnett who managed not to foul out during the final 5 minutes of the 4th quarter and the OT. He hit some huge shots over Chris Bosh to keep the Celtics slightly ahead. Kudos to James Posey and Eddie House who both provided key minutes off the bench and made some crucial baskets down the stretch.

While I'm somewhat concerned that the Celtics allowed a comfortable lead to whittle down to zero, there are times where you have to give the opposition its due. The Toronto Raptors played a phenomenal defensive game. The Celtics didn't get any easy shots in the 4th quarter or the OT, as Toronto defenders collapsed around whoever had the ball. Some of the Raptors also had uncharacteristically strong shooting nights from behind the arc. As Tommy Heinsohn noted, since when does TJ Ford hit three-pointers? He usually avoids deep perimeter shots, yet he looked like Dana Barros out there today.

It's good that we won this game. The last few years, we would have lost this one the moment we faced the first hint of adversity.

11-04-2007, 10:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,636	11/4 - Celtics @ Raptors The Celtics almost allowed this game to slip away. Foul trouble kept Garnett and Rondo off the floor for long periods of time, and Pierce had an off-night shooting-wise. Thank goodness for Ray Allen and his 33 points, because there's no way that the Celtics would have won this game without him. You also have to give a lot of credit to Kevin Garnett who managed not to foul out during the final 5 minutes of the 4th quarter and the OT. He hit some huge shots over Chris Bosh to keep the Celtics slightly ahead. Kudos to James Posey and Eddie House who both provided key minutes off the bench and made some crucial baskets down the stretch. While I'm somewhat concerned that the Celtics allowed a comfortable lead to whittle down to zero, there are times where you have to give the opposition its due. The Toronto Raptors played a phenomenal defensive game. The Celtics didn't get any easy shots in the 4th quarter or the OT, as Toronto defenders collapsed around whoever had the ball. Some of the Raptors also had uncharacteristically strong shooting nights from behind the arc. As Tommy Heinsohn noted, since when does TJ Ford hit three-pointers? He usually avoids deep perimeter shots, yet he looked like Dana Barros out there today. It's good that we won this game. The last few years, we would have lost this one the moment we faced the first hint of adversity.