CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Celtics Close Out Preseason in Style

by FLCeltsFan 10:08 PM

In the final preseason game that was a preview of the regular season, the Celtics looked very good as a team and moved past the Cavs 114-89. The starting lineup of Perk, Pierce, Rondo, Ray Allen, and KG all played very well together and showed cohesion on both ends of the court. They were able to keep Lebron to human type numbers with 17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

Kevin Garnett was incredible. He played with passion and finished with a triple double of 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists, in 33 minutes. His last assist was a full court pass to Eddie House for a layup with 7 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. For his efforts and triple double, KG won the Tommy Award.

Ray Allen also played very well and found his shooting touch. He finished with 20 points (8-15), 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 32 minutes. Pierce seemed to force things at times, forcing up shots and driving into a crowd only to lose the ball. I guess some habits die hard. He finished with 12 points (5-11), 4 rebounds, and 6 assists in 34 minutes. As he has promised, he did work hard on defense keeping Lebron in check. Doc will probably play these 3 for 30-35 mpg in the regular season and will have an 8 or 9 man rotation.

Perk played 20 minutes because they are still watching him due to the hamstring pull and looked very good. I love this guy and I can't help but feel that he makes a huge difference on this team. He finished with 22 points (5-6), 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in 20 minutes. When Perk went out, Big Baby came in for him. Once again, he showed some good moves and finished with 8 point and 1 assist in 14 minutes. I love his energy and passion. He seems to feed off KG's energy. Powe played only 3.5 minutes tonight and in his press conference, Doc said that some nights Powe would play more and some nights Big Baby would play more. As he always does, Powe made the most of his time scoring 2 points and pulling down 3 rebounds in those 3+ minutes.

Rondo had a great night and was finishing at the basket on his drives. He ran the offense very smoothly and made great decisions. Tonight's game should help to settle the concerns as to whether Rondo can play the point. He finished with 10 points (3-4), 2 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals in 34 minutes. House backed him up with 16 points (6-10), 3 rebounds, and 1 assist in 21 minutes. Pruitt came in for just 5 minutes and finished with just 1 assist.

Tony played 13 minutes and had a couple of nice drives to the basket and finished with a layup instead of trying to dunk. He is coming along and I am sure he will be back to his old form before too long. He finished with 4 points and 1 assist. Posey had 10 points (4-5), 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block in 21 minutes. He also took a couple of charges and showed the defense that the Celtics signed him for. It was nice to see Scal play only 7 minutes with only 2 fouls to show. Wallace played the final 1:51.

A few thoughts on the game. Rondo is fast. He is very fast. When he turns it on, no one can keep up with him. He seems to be able to get to the rim at will. Tonight he made great decisions on when to kick it out and when to finish.

KG and Perk have to be two of the best passing big men in the game. There were some great passes from our 2 big men tonight. As a team we also shared the ball very well. We had 34 assists on 45 field goals and only 15 turnovers, which is excellent.

I can't wait for the regular season. If tonight is any indication, this is going to be a very exciting season!!!

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