CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Celtics Blown Out by Hornets

March 19, 2007

The Celtics started off like they were going to dominate this game. They hit their first 9 shots and seemed in control. Score at the end of 1 quarter was Celtics 31 and Hornets 26. Then the wheels came off in the second quarter. When Doc went to the bench, they couldn't seem to get it going and we were outscored 31-9 in the second quarter and we never recovered.

We had trouble hitting shots and shot 43% from the field for the game. And on the other end we allowed the Hornets to shoot 52%. We did out rebound them 39-37 but our lack of offense and inability to get stops did us in. Chalk it up to let down after the big win in San Antonio, or maybe they were just tired playing the final game of a 3 game road trip and nearly beating Dallas and putting it all out there to beat San Antonio,, but the effort just wasn't there tonight. After the first quarter, they seemed out of sync and a step behind.

Pierce won the Tommy Award and was one of the only players who shot the ball well. He scored 28 points on 11-18 shooting with 1 rebound, 3 assists, and 1 steal. Green shot 4-9 for 11 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. He seemed to be thinking too much about his shot instead of shooting off the catch as he has been very effective doing, he would fake the shot and then dribble in to mixed results.

Rondo played well with 6 points (4-11), 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals. Telfair came off the bench for 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal. Allan Ray had 12 points on 4-15 shooting with 5 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. West had only 4 points on 2-7 shooting with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block. He may still be feeling some after effects of playing 40+ minutes on a day when he had a 103 degree fever most of the day.

Al didn't see get the ball inside very much and went for long stretches without touching the ball on offense. He finished with 9 points on 4-7 shooting with 10 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 1 steal. We need Al taking more than 7 shots if we want to win. Most of our shots were from the outside. Perk scored 3 points and pulled down 3 rebounds with 1 assist. Powe played 23 minutes and as always made the best of them scoring 8 points on 4-7 shooting with 6 rebounds and 1 steal. Kandi played only 4 minutes and pulled down 1 rebound.

It was a very ugly game for us. It was disappointing to see them play so poorly after what we saw in Dallas and San Antonio. They are capable of much better play. I have to believe that fatigue had something to do with it in that their shots were mostly short and they just didn't have the hustle on the defensive end that we have seen recently. We go home now for a very important game against the Bobcats. The Bobcats are 4 games ahead of us with the 3rd worst record. If we win, we make up a game on them and the team gains confidence. If we lose, we go 5 games behind and stay firmly in 2nd place for the worst record.

[Box Score]
[Recap]
[Play by Play]

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