In a game were Dallas never led by more than 6 points Boston gave a good accounting of themselves. But come on now did you really think the Celtics would pull it out? Mark Cuban had a better chance of posting something interesting on his blog today than the Celtics did of winning this game. And yet with under a minute to go in the game and the Mavericks only up by 1 it didn't seem that way.
Paul Pierce started out hot for Boston scoring 17 points in the 1st quarter on 7 for 8 shooting. Al Jefferson provided a low post presence displaying an array of moves. Once again the Mavericks had trouble stopping an athletic, powerful post player for the opposition. At halftime the Celtics enjoyed a 10 point lead at 54-44. As we knew they would the Mavericks made up the deficit in the 3rd quarter, as midway through Dirk Nowitzki started to heat up from the field. Early on in the third Dirk had 4 points on 1 for 8 shooting. He finished with 30 points however on 8 of 10 shooting on his final 10 shots. Josh Howard also had 30 points matching a career high. Josh is a much improved shooter this season, but it was clear he wasn't going to settle for jump shots. Howard never attempted a 3 pointer and attacked the rim earning himself an 8 for 8 night from the charity stripe.
With less than a minute to go Dirk drove to the cup and was fouled by Gerald Green. Unlike Wednesday night's game with Phoenix Nowitzki calmly drained both free throws and threw in a turnaround jumper in the lane with 6 seconds to go sealing the game for Dallas.
notes & hso's (hot sports opinions)
Gerald Green had a career high 25 points for Boston. Boston is on a collison course for one of the top 2 picks in this year's NBA draft. I think they showed in this game they're really not as bad as their record indicates. Extended stretches without Paul Pierce this season and no Tony Allen since January 10th also key injuries to Wally Szczerbiak and Theo Ratliff. Given Boston can stay healthy next season how much better could they be with Durant or Oden in their lineup?
Baby Alert! To all DFW mothers of young infants please under no circumstances give your baby to Erick Dampier for him to hold. On Dallas' first possesion of the second half Jason Terry drove the lane finding Damp on a wrap around pass. Dampier badly mishandled the pass painfully reminding me of the pass he bobbled from Dirk late in game 5 of the NBA finals last season. Could we please get TO Owens and Damp together for a brainstorming session?
I've never seen anyone shoot a jump shot like Devin Harris before. His feet seem to dangle in the air as he shoots in an akward motion almost like he's trying to pull his feet towards his butt. Devin's feet move back and forth ever so slightly and there is a hesitation on some of his jump shots. He's not always releasing the ball at its highest point I think it's one of the big reasons he's been an inconsistent jump shooter to this point in his career. Somebody's gotta do something about those feet out there it looks like he's trying to play a game of hopscotch when he shoots. On a positive sidenote I'm going to stop being so surprised everytime Harris flys through the lane creates contact and flings one in off the glass. Geez, this guy is good at that, it's like he's done it a time or two before.
No comments:
Post a Comment