Ray Allen Helps Celtics Squeak By Nets

NETS 87   CELTICS 96

Very cliche, but they never said it had to look pretty did they? The Celtics started very, very slow. And by very, very slow, I don’t mean they were only up by 2 or 3, I mean they were down at points well into the 4th quarter. If they were scoring on offense, they weren’t playing defense. If they were playing defense, they weren’t scoring on offense. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter, when Eddie House was inserted into the game, that the Celtics found a groove. Eddie House started the game 0-5, but turned it around after a 2 point bank shot. He finished the game 4-5, or really 5-6 since they took a three away from him for a reason I couldn’t find. They called it a 24 second violation but it appeared he got the shot off. Either way he was lighting it up, and finished with 10 4th quarter points.

We must understand that the C’s were going into this game knowing they were playing the worst team ever to step foot on an NBA basketball court. All night they expected the Nets to roll over and play dead, just because they made a few shots. New Jersey did not, and instead played with the belief that they would win this game. Pretty much the only motivation for the Celtics tonight was to not be embarrassed and lose to this team. That showed in the 4th quarter that when they decided they wanted to win, they played with greater intensity. This is similar to the way the Celtics have played the last three games. Boston is closing out games now, instead of letting them drag on.

Slowly, Ray Allen is beginning to turn his season around. Maybe it is because Pierce is out and he has an increased role? Either way he is hitting more of the shots we have hoped for him to make all season long. Tonight he had a game high 26 points on 9-17 shooting. How? I dunno, I was just as surprised as you. Now that I think about it, I think it is because he started hot, went cold, then got hot again. I wouldn’t mind seeing a good 3-7 shooting from 3 point land on every night from here on out.

Thank goodness the Celtics figured out their D tonight, or we would be looking at a much different game. After allowing the Nets to score an unforgiveable 55 points in the first half, the C’s held them to 87 total points in the game. That is impressive and shows the new attitude they came with in the 2nd half.

A decent win- I am not as disappointed with their performance as other people may be. I realize the Nets have only won 4 games, but that is an excuse in itself. There isn’t much to get up for as they look forward to the Magic. Like I said, I am looking more at 87 total points after 55 at the half. Either way the team is on a 3 game win streak, and can hopefully plug out 2 more victories against the Magic and Hornets before the all star break, because after the break, Boston heads out for a tough west coast road trip.

(Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)