Sorry Pacers, You Chose The Wrong Night To Face The Celtics

Mike Gorman said it best at the end of the game against the Grizzlies. He said that it was either a good thing for the Pacers that they would be playing the Celtics on Friday night, or it would be their worst nightmare. It ended up being the nightmare, as the Celtics pounded the crap out of Indiana. Talk about a game that was over before it started. The Celtics had a new look in their eye, and a kick in their step tonight. They had it in their heads that they would never, ever be embarassed and humiliated like they were against the Grizzlies.

It is only one game against a bad team, but the Celtics have had their issues with bad teams so any win by a substantial amount is good. It is not so much the amount they won by, but the way they did it. To me, this win was much bigger than the demolition of the Charlotte Bobcats last week. This game was a bounce back game, where the team was at their ultimate low. They won this game through toughness, hustle, and an energy we haven’t witnessed for a while. The boo’s from last game sure lit a fire under their rear ends.

That is why booing is acceptabe in certain situations. Some people may argue that you should never ever boo your team. If the fans were to never boo this Celtics team this year, the players would think no one cared. To me, in a goofy way, the booing on Wednesday night showed the team that their fans cared. Their fans knew what the team was capable of, and expected much more- thats all. Via the Celtics twitter:

"Pierce and KG say the team had a “heart to heart” and open dialogue this morning. Say that loss to Memphis and boos at home stuck with team"

Then they came out and played the way they did tonight. Don’t tell me fans shouldn’t “boo” their team when the time is fit. To me, the fans did what no coach can do. The fans were basically the almighty coach saying, “Get your head out of your butt, you are better than this.”

Anyway, everyone on the team played well tonight. I can’t even complain about Sheed. He played great defense, and did what he needed to do on the offensive end. No player stuck out with extreme numbers, and thats the way it should be. They played like a team, and won like a team.

The real challenge is up on the plate for Sunday at 3:30 in Cleveland. I said it on Gino’s Jungle, and I will say it here, if the Celtics win this game against the Cavs, they are going to be a scary team to face for the remainder of the season. You DO NOT want to release the confidence this team had at the beginning of the season. That team… that Celtics team was scary good. Hold on tight.

If this recap wasn’t enough…Read my other recap of the game on Gino’s Jungle– “That Game Had A Different Feeling”

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)