Celtics Game Recap

Celtics 98
Spurs 90

My computer crashed twice while I was writing this.  An omen?

Was it just me, or was this game exactly the same as the NY Knicks game, except this time Fin's last second shot rimmed out (espn's play by play claims it was Ginobili, but I checked the tape and it was Fin).  The two teams played close for the first half, but in the second half, the Celtics would take the lead, the Spurs would close, and then the Celts would expand again.  Then, just like other recent games, the Spurs would close at the end, only this time the big shot didn't go down.  
I'd like to think our boys are giving it their all, but they seem to play close, or even lose close, no matter who they're playing and I worry that they're playing down to their competition.  I sure hope not, or if so, that they'll at least fix it in the last month or two (like last year when they started destroying everyone and finished with the highest scoring differential).
Other Observations:

·    If we have Parker and they have Garnett, I really think we win.  Big Baby played well (3-6, 9 points, 8 rebounds, good d on Timmy, and some clutch plays late (such as the rebound and putback on that missed Posey 3 that gave them a 4 point lead with 3:30ish left)).  Don't get me wrong, KG puts up better stats, but Davis wasn't a detractor.  Contrast that with Mighty Mouse and Jacque (16 points on 5-17 shooting combined).  Injured Tony plays better than that.  Tony in a wheelchair at least matches it.  I think it's becoming more and more obvious that Tony has joined Timmy and Manu as a guy whose absence drastically affects the team.  We may not even be an elite team without him.  Maybe I'm late to the party on this, but it needs to be said.  We are not the same team without Tony and we shouldn't expect the spurs to play like the Spurs.
·    Timmy played well.  He was our best player today (22-14-6 with only 3 turnovers), but he only shot 10-20.  It was helped by the fact that apparently he was only fouled 1 time in the first 3 quarters, but when he's matched up with a fat rookie, I'd expect more from him than running jumpers and such.  I think it would have also helped if guys who don't play the 2 could knock down shots.  They were able to soft double team him as soon as he got it.
·    Manu played okay, though he's not as good when we're using him as the de facto point guard.  Too many times he would try to drive, only to have everyone collapse on him, and his passes would bounce off of players hands (6 turnovers, though I'm going to blame him for the pass off Timmy's face).  Still, until we got into intentional foul time, he was pretty clutch from downtown (5-11, though the last two were bad shots where he was trying to draw fouls), and was our offense for the first 6 minutes of the game.
·    Finley played well.  19 points on 8-13 shooting and 6 rebounds?  Nice job old man!  Also, does anyone else notice he always seems to jump sideways when he shoots?
·    Paul Pierce can play.
·    Sadly, if we meet up with them in games that count, Bruce won't be guarding Ray Allen.  I understand why, and it's a good decision, but I always loved watching Bruce mess with Ray.  Maybe we can put him on Ray when Pierce rests, just for nostalgia...
·    Honestly, we were out-rebounded 46-37, committed 9 more fouls (though the end of the game slants that number), and shot 21 fewer free throws.  They even had more assists than us (24-20), which is sad since we're the "extra pass" team and they're the stand around and watch Paul dribble team.  And yet we were a missed Fin 3 from tying it up.  

Anyways, I swore I wouldn't give up on the spurs this year if the big 3 were healthy going into the playoffs after watching last year, and I won't.  Besides, I don't think this is the worst thing that's ever happened to a team (it's not like we lost to the Nets by 19).  As long as we get healthy, I think we're okay, but it would be nice to see the roll players step up and start making open shots off the double teams Manu and Timmy draw.  It's getting to the point where, other than Manu and Timmy, I actually prefer Fin to shoot over anyone else during crunch time.

Oh, and could Bonner get some PT next game?  That'd be nice too...