The good news is that the first quarter went extremely well. The bad news is that the second quarter did not treat the Celtics as nicely. In what was a tale of two quarters, the Celtics trail the Hornets at the half, 44-43.
Here are my thoughts:
* The Celtics looked impressive in the first quarter. They were active, forcing turnovers and running the floor at high speed. There was balanced scoring, as Bass led all scorers with 7 points. They had 5 steals in the quarter to none for New Orleans.
* Then came the second quarter. Someone forgot to tell the Celtics that they have to play three more quarters in order to complete the game. Dribble penetration was a big problem, rebounding was an issue, and the aggressiveness from the first did not carry over.
* Boston is 4-of-11 from the free throw line. Yikes.
* Brandon Bass had a nice first half. He and Kevin Garnett lead the Celtics with 9 points a piece. Bass is 4-of-5 from the floor with 3 rebounds and a steal. His defense has been pretty good as well. In the first quarter, Bass kept a couple offensive possessions alive by getting his nose dirty down low and tipping the ball out.
* Kevin Garnett passed Patrick Ewing for 16th on the all-time scoring list at the 3:32 mark of the second quarter on a jump-shot in the paint.
* Avery Bradley has been extra assertive tonight. He's been stuck like glue on his opponent, leads the team with 3 steals, and has been gliding up and down the floor like a gazelle. Bradley looks fired up tonight, and that may be because he has to guard Austin Rivers.
* Speaking of the rookie, Rivers entered the game at the 4:19 mark of the first quarter and went to the bench with 3:07 left in the second quarter. During that span, the Hornets went on an 18-9 run. Rivers had 4 points in his 15 minutes. It would only be fitting for Rivers to be the difference maker.
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