Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 7, 2009 7:32:50 GMT -5
www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1143611&format=text
Defenseless Celtics can’t stop slide in Charlotte
OT loss fifth slip-up in last seven games
By Mark Murphy | Wednesday, January 7, 2009 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics
Photo by AP
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - This is no longer a bump in the road. The Celtics [team stats] are now caught in a trend.
They have lost five of their last seven games, and last night’s fall - a 114-106 overtime loss to the young, pugnacious Bobcats - at least shed greater light on the problem.
The operative term here is slippage. The problem area, according to the men who have fallen off their game, is as obvious as the throbbing pain in Kevin Garnett’s right calf.
“It’s our defense,” said Paul Pierce [stats], whose 28 points, including a five-point overtime, wasn’t enough to make up for all of the breakdowns at the other end of the floor.
“Teams are way too comfortable when they go up against us now,” the Celtics captain said. “We’re missing assignments. One person can mess up the whole five, so we all have to get back on the same page. We had a seven-point lead with (nine) minutes left tonight, and we didn’t get the stops we needed.”
The Bobcats hit all of the major shots to wipe out that 84-77 Celtics lead and force overtime.
Adam Morrison, feeding off an exchange of words and elbows with Garnett, hit one of his trademark running 20-footers, followed by a rain-making floater from 5 feet.
Raymond Felton, smarting from a Glen Davis pick that ignited the little Bobcats point guard, scored 12 points over the last eight minutes of regulation.
And then, when Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen all missed open shots in overtime, the game easily slid the other way.
It never should have come down to those make-or-break moments, according to Doc Rivers.
Forget about the missed shots or the nagging injury that appeared to slow down Garnett last night, especially in the first half.
“I told our guys that you can’t put yourselves in the position where you have to make shots,” Rivers said. “If you play defense all game, those shots aren’t as important. The game changes when it’s a one-point game.”
Kendrick Perkins [stats] put it another way.
“Our problem is miscommunication on the court,” he said. “And you can’t have that, because every game is a championship game. We’re playing 82 Game 7s, especially when we’re on the road.”
Garnett pointed a finger at himself after hearing about Perkins’ communication remark.
“I’ll take credit for that,” he said. “I’m the one who usually is the person for that, and I haven’t done a good job at it. My overall game wasn’t there.”
He wasn’t alone. Rajon Rondo [stats] had as many turnovers (nine) as he had assists (six) and steals (three). Allen shot 2-of-9 in the second half and overtime. But everyone lost hold while chasing the likes of Felton, Gerald Wallace and D.J. Augustin, Charlotte’s exciting rookie who made all eight of his free throws in OT, across the floor.
Though the C’s had won both of their earlier overtime games this season - on the road in Milwaukee and Indiana - the fuel gauge hit empty last night.
The Bobcats finally broke through on an Augustin 3-pointer with 2:27 left for a 104-101 lead. Garnett was caught walking with the ball, and then left the back door open for an Emeka Okafor dunk with 1:44 left for a 106-101 Charlotte lead.
This time Garnett missed from 12 feet, and compounded his problems by fouling Augustin under the basket. The rookie hit both free throws for a 108-101 lead with 58 seconds left. Pierce hit from the lane, Garnett forced Felton to lose the ball out of bounds, and Pierce, trying a little too much for the foul, gave it back under pressure from Felton.
Tempers flared, officials had to separate both sides with 38 seconds left, and the Celtics ran out of clock.
