CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Back Court Duo Leads Nuggets Past Celtics

December 26, 2006

Celtics lost the first game of their 5 game road trip as they fell to the Denver Nuggets 116-105. The biggest loss wasn't the game, however as Delonte West went down hard in the second quarter as he flew in trying to block a shot. He landed on his back and had to be helped off the court. He was in for just a few seconds to start the third period and then went to the locker room for the rest of the game. Reports were that he was having back spasms. It was back spasms that sidelined him for much of training camp and preseason. He finished with 11 points and 1 rebound.

In spite of being double teamed as soon as he touched the ball, Big Al finished with 16 points on 8-15 shooting. Most of those points came off of his 15 rebounds with 8 of those coming on the offensive end. Leon Powe once again came in and made the most of his minutes. He played only 7 minutes but as always was there to change some shots under the basket. He scored 5 points with 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block in just over 7 minutes. He needs to get more minutes. This kid can play. Gomes had a quite game with 3 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists. He never does anything flashy, but he plays hard and rarely makes mistakes.

Green got his second start and finished with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 blocked shots in 36 minutes of solid play. Tony once again filled up the stat sheet, finishing with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assits, 3 blocked shots, and 2 steals in just over 16 minutes of play. Scal was impressive, making some big plays and playing some good defense under the basket. He finished with 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 steal.

Telfair came in for West and finished with 7 points, 3 assists, and 2 rebounds. He doesn't have the defensive skills to stay with the better point guards. Rondo got 16 minutes and played a solid game. He finished with 6 points, 6 assists and 2 steals and looked to be our best point guard tonight. West was off to a good start when he went down, but was trying to do too much himself. He wasn't passing the ball but was trying to take it to the basket every time. A point guard should look to get his teammates involved and Rondo was the only one who did that consistently tonight. Allen Ray played a solid 12 minutes finishing with 12 points and 1 steal.

Once again our lack of defense was our downfall. We weren't playing a team game and it seemed as though each player was trying to win it by themselves instead of playing team ball. We need to get back to playing tough defense and playing unselfish team ball in order to win.

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