Believe it or not, the Celtics (38-35) had some enthusiasm in this game. That lasted for about 6 minutes or so. The Celtics had a 21-17 lead with 4:14 to go in the first quarter, but then it was all down hill from there.
New York closed the first quarter on an 11-2 run and never looked back. They beat the Celtics for the second time in a week, 108-89.
Here's a recap:
The good:
* There wasn't a whole lot of good in this one, so I'll do my best. I'll start with the best individual performer of the night: Paul Pierce. Once again, The Truth had a great game. In 32 minutes, he scored 24 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and handed out 5 assists. Pierce went to the bench for good with 1:05 remaining in the third, and he spent the fourth quarter icing his right ankle -- for precautionary reasons only.
* For the second straight game, Jeff Green put up 27 points. Green was very efficient, going 10-of-14 from the field in 35 minutes. He started off strong, scoring 10 points in the first frame and never looking back. His play continues to be an encouraging sign for the Celtics' immediate and long-term future.
The bad:
* There was a lot of bad. But the one area that was really bad was three-point shooting. At least defensively. Coming into tonight's game, the Celtics had the second-best three-point defense in the league by holding their opponents to 33.5%. Tonight, they let the Knicks shoot 52% from distance -- 14-of-27 to be exact.
* You know your team's in trouble when they allow Chris Copeland to score 22 points. He was one of six Knicks in double figures.
* Avery Bradley has hit a wall not only offensively, but also -- gulp -- defensively. Bradley fouled out in the fourth quarter after playing 24 minutes and having only 2 points, 2 rebounds and 0 assists. He was not himself on the defensive end, as he let people get by him and score almost at will. I'm not sure if he needs a blow or something, but the Celtics have to get Bradley right. Fast.
* The Celtics played a lot of one-on-one basketball tonight, as evident by their 12 assists on 32 baskets, a really low amount for a team ranks ninth in the league in assists. Jordan Crawford, Courtney Lee and even Bradley tried to force the issue and take the game into their own hands. What made this team successful when Rajon Rondo went down was their ball movement. They need to get back to that if they are to make a run in the playoffs.
The Celtics are back at it tomorrow night as they will fly to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves. Tipoff is set for 8:00 p.m.
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