Frustrating Game to Watch
This game frustrated me to no end watching it. The Celtics played no defense. The announcers were awful. And worst of all, this had to be the worst officiated game in NBA history. There were just so many bad calls that it would be impossible to name them all. It was like one bad or no call after another. In all fairness, not all of them were against the Celtics. The Nuggets got some pretty bad calls against them as well. The one that stands out is the air ball that Ray Allen shot that was short and to the left and they called it a goal tend as Melo reeled it in. But, the 49-28 free throw disparity, in spite of the fact that the Celtics drove to the hoop throughout the game, shows that the officiating was pretty much one sided. The Celtics drove to the hoop early but were mugged on almost every attempt with no calls. On one drive, Melo had Pierce's jersey with both fists which pulled Pierce up short on the drive. The officials at least gave the Celtics the ball back as it had gone out of bounds when Pierce got stopped so abruptly, but they didn't call the obvious foul that caused him to lose the ball in the first case. That was a very blatant non call.
Defense Still on Break
The Celtics defense hasn't made it back from the break yet. The Nuggets got uncontested jumpers and layups the entire game. The Nuggets scored a season high 124 points. The Celtics need to play defense to win and their defense in this game was simply not there.
KG was Rusty, Powe was Great
KG returned from his 9 game absence to play 21 minutes, but he wasn't himself. He had 4 turnovers and was stripped several times as he went to the basket. He was only 2-7 and didn't score until the second half. He did pull down 8 rebounds but seemed a step slow the entire game. Doc played Perk only 10 minutes and I am not sure why. Hopefully the shoulder isn't still bothering him. Leon Powe once again with 13 points, 2 blocks, and 11 rebounds (6 on the offensive end)in just 21 minutes. Doc needs to continue to play Leon, plain and simple.
Rondo's Aggressive
Rondo continued his aggressive play and fouled out with 22 points (9-15)and 4 rebounds. He had one spectacular play where he flew in from nowhere to slam home a Posey miss. Rondo just seems to get better and better. It was good to see him continue to be aggressive with KG back in the lineup. The play of the night may have been when Rondo was diving out of bounds to try to save the ball and landed on a kid in the first row eating dipping dots ice cream. Dipping Dots went everywhere.
Annoying Announcers
I love Mike and Tommy and miss them when I have to listen to the other team's announcers. Usually it isn't too bad but last night was intolerable. Those guys were so bad. They called Pierce slow almost every time down the court. On one drive where Pierce dunked over Camby, They said that Pierce resembled a water buffalo plodding through a muddy rice paddy. These guys were probably the worst I have heard all season.
The Positives
The big positive from the night was the fact that Detroit lost to Orlando and so the Celtics remain 4 games ahead of the Pistons. In spite of the horrible officiating, the Celtics' lack of defense, a rusty KG and Perk, and the thin air, the Celtics still had a chance to win this and kept it close much of the game. The Nuggets were very motivated as they felt the Celtics disrespected them in Boston by continuing to press even though they were up 40 at the time and were looking for payback. But in spite of all that, the Celtics didn't fold and that is a good thing.
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