October 10, 2007
2:30 PM EST (Comcast SportsNet)
O2 Arena (London, England)
Announcers: Mike "GORE GORE" Gorman and Donny "Yell" Marshall ; Gary "Astronauts Drink" Tanguay and Tommy Gunz (in-studio); Greg "Old Saint" Dickerson (sideline reporter)
Celtics Starting Lineup: Rayden, I've Got a Rajon Rondo, Perk'd Off, Kevvy G, Da Troof
Wolves Starting Lineup: Big Sebastian Telfair Night, Ricky "Feels Like a Triple Double Tonight" Davis, Theo "The Human Expiring Contract" Ratliff, Juwannaman Howard, Ryan Gnomes
The Europe Live tour continues, as the Celts find themselves in merry old England (home of the Queen, bad teeth, and that version of "The Office" without Steve Carell) facing some familiar faces in Mister BigAlsworth and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Oh yes, I have a feeling there's going to be many emotional layers to this game ...
FIRST QUARTER
Big Al starts the game on the bench, as Ratliff and Perkins take the opening tip; Perk wins out and the ball winds up in Rondo's hands. He gives it up to Allen, who passes inside to Pierce; covered by Gomes, Paul takes the baseline to try and get around him and is fouled (looked like he was in the act of shooting but the refs won't give it to him). Instead, Pierce inbounds the ball to Rondo, who gives it back to Paul, and he in turn passes to Perkins in the paint; Kendrick backs down Theo and hits the little turnaround jumper for the first points of the night (2-0 11:31).
At the other end, Juwan misses the outside jumper and Perkins pulls down the rebound; he gives it to Ray, who quickly pushes it upcourt and tries to make a move to the basket but is double-teamed by Howard and Davis. So, he passes to Perkins at the top of the key, who just makes his way down the lane unopposed but Ratliff (eventually) gets in his way. Perk pulls up for the short jumper, and misses; he gets his own rebound and tries to go back up, but is tied up by Theo so a jump ball is called. Theo wins the tap and Ricky brings it back the other way, but misses the pullup jumper; Gomes grabs the offensive rebound and kicks it out to Theo, who tries the shot over Perkins, but misses. KG pulls down the loose ball and gives it to Allen, who moves it upcourt (he's in a running mood early) and makes the nice move to lose Telfair and create a wide-open path down the lane. Ratliff is forced to foul him, so Ray heads to the line but only makes one-of-two free throws (3-0 10:17); huh, that happened last night too, it just seems weird to see Ray "struggle" from the line like that.
Anyway, a dunk by Ratliff gives Minnesota their first points of the night, but Ray answers with the 20-foot jumper over the outstretched hand of Davis (5-2 9:43).
At the other end, Ricky drains a three-pointer to tie the score at five apiece. Ray tries to answer with a three-point attempt of his own, but the ball rims out and Gomes grabs the rebound. He takes it upcourt himself, then passes to Telfair (who is quickly double-teamed) and he makes the bounce pass to Juwan who is wide open for the 15-foot jumper. However, that shot misses, and Ray grabs the board; he sends the ball upcourt to Pierce, who tries the pullup jumper over Gomes, but can't connect. Ratliff nabs the rebound as we go back the other way, but Gomes airballs a three-point attempt (embarrassing) and the ball goes off Juwan out of bounds. Boston regains possession, and Garnett is fouled by Gomes attempting the turnaround jumper in the lane, so he's rewarded with a trip to the line ... but only makes one-of-two free throws (6-5 8:01)
That's Gomes' second foul so Milwaukee Brewer comes in to replace him. At the other end, Telfair blows past Allen off the dribble, but when he goes into the lane Perk is right there waiting to alter the shot; sure enough, it misses, and KG grabs the rebound. He gives it to Rondo, who dribbles upcourt and then passes to Pierce; seeing that Davis is out of position, Paul quickly gets the ball to a wide-open Ray in the corner for the three-pointer (9-5 7:40).
Ricky hits another trey of his own to get the Wolves back within one, while at the other end Pierce makes a nice pass inside to KG who is fouled by Howard; even though the play is dead, Garnett still finishes with the strong one-handd dunk (I'm guessing that Allan Tony would not recommend that course of action); it got a rise out of the crowd, in any event. Anyway, it's still Boston ball, and Perk (standing behind the three-point line) shoots a bullet pass to Pierce under the basket, who scores on the layup while being fouled by Brewer. Unfortunately, he can't complete the three-point play and misses the free throw (11-8 6:31).
Theo hits the jump hook over Perk (even Gorman is surprised that Minnesota's offense is going through Ratliff so much) to again get the Wolves within one; Pierce then misses the outside shot, and Howard grabs the rebound. He gives it to Telfair, who finds Brewer for the three-point attempt that hits the side of the backboard (cue Nelson Muntz for the obligatory "HA HA!"); Pierce collects the loose ball and gives it to Rondo, who pushes it upcourt but then the ball just slips out of his hand - you took your eye off the ball, young man - and Juwan recovers. He finds Ricky who dribbles behind his back to avoid Rondo (that was nice) before pulling up and draining the 3-pointer (11-13 5:20)! That gives Minnesota their first lead of the night; Garnett then tries to pass inside to Perkins, but the ball bounces off his hands out of bounds. The Wolves regain possession, and Davis is able to lose Allen off the dribble and drives down the lane (right into Perk's chest) but is still able to get the shot off for two more points (11-15 4:46).
Perk is then fouled by Theo making a move to the basket with 4:26 remaining; it is at this point that Al Jefferson comes into the game for the first time to replace Ratliff. Meanwhile, Kendrick makes both free throws to get Boston within two. Howard then misses, and KG snatches the carom; he gives the ball to Rondo, who quickly gets upcourt and finds Allen in the corner who just pulls up and buries the three-pointer (16-15 3:53)! Donny mentions that he didn't expect Ray to "force the issue" with his shot but it looks like he's got "something to prove tonight".
Ricky answers with a fallaway jumper over Pierce (he has 13 points himself!); at the other end, Pierce sees Garnett posting up Big Al down low, so he gets him the ball and KG just spins right around Jefferson for the open one-handed dunk (18-17 3:23); come on Al, I know you're one of the enemies now, but you just made that too easy.
At the other end, Ricky tries to make a move around Pierce, but Rondo steps in and strips him clean; Rajon finds himself all alone for the uncontested layup (20-17 3:05). Big Al then tries the pullup jumper over Perk, which fails to find the bottom of the net; Garnett grabs the rebound and tries to give the ball to Rondo, but the young guy wasn't paying attention and loses it out of bounds. Minnesota regains possession and calls timeout with 2:36 remaining in the quarter. Parker Posey comes into the game at this point, and immediately takes the charge from Brewer to earn an offensive foul call. Now it comes back Boston's way, and Brewer ends up fouling Pierce trying to keep him out of the paint; the Wolves are over the limit, so Paul goes to the line but (again) can only manage to hit one-of-two free throws (21-17 2:18).
At this point Gerald "No Longer" Green comes into the game for first time, while Tony Allen and Hugh Laurie (which seems like an appropriate nickname in this locale) are in for the Celts ... However, outside of a DEEP three-pointer by Ricky, neither team can muster much in the way of offense in the closing minutes of the quarter, as Boston is up one (23-22) at the end of one.
SECOND QUARTER
Boston opens the second quarter with Posey, House, Estaban "The Animal" Batista", Tony Allen, and The Scals of Justice ... Meanwhile, "Do I Make You" Randy Foye misses a three-point attempt, but Ahmad Rashad McCants comes away with the offensive rebound and makes a nice pass underneath to Agro-Craig Smith who is fouled by Scals; he makes both free throws to give Minnesota back the lead (23-24 11:34).
At the other end, House sets a nice pick on McCants to give Posey a wide-open lane to the basket, but he misses the easy layup (!) and Smith grabs the rebound; we go back the other way, and Smith tries to back down Batista, but Estaban pulls off that old trick the defender backs up himself and leaves his opponent with nowhere to go (why don't more people do that in the post?). Sure enough, Craig shuffles his feet and is called for the travelling violation. Boston regains possession, and House knocks down the outside jumper (25-24 10:58).
At the other end, Jefferson works the baseline around Batista and finishes with the one-handed dunk (that's one of those moves that are going to haunt me five years down the line, I just know it) to put Minnesota back on top. Tony then misses a short jumper, and Big Al grabs the rebound; he gives it to Foye, who makes the fullcourt pass to a hustling Green, and he pulls up over Posey for the 15-foot jumper (25-28 9:23). Sigh, that outside shot may be haunting me in five years' time as well ...
The crowd seems to be solidly behind the T-Wolves now (lousy Brits), but Scalabrine hits a three-pointer and House makes a nice no-look pass to Batista who finishes with the two-hand slam during a 7-2 Boston run to regain the lead (32-30 6:33).
McCants hits a three-pointer to put a stop to that, but then House makes the bounce pass to Scals in the corner for a twenty-footer (34-33 6:06). At the other end, Marko "Alas Poor" Jaric tries the outside jumper and misses, but Gerald skies high over Batista for the offensive rebound and kicks it back out to Jaric. He passes inside to Jefferson, who backs down Scals and hits the hook shot PLUS is fouled; he makes the free throw to complete the three-point play (34-36 5:29).
Ray Allen is the first of the "Not Big Three" to return to the court at this point, then McCants is called for the reach-in foul as Tony Allen tries to bring the ball upcourt; Minnesota is already over the limit, but Tony only makes one-of-two free throws to prevent the Celts from tying the game (35-36 5:21); Boston has only made 9-of-17 free throw attempts thus far tonight.
At the other end, McCants blows by Tony Allen and goes in for the layup, but Tony appears to recover nicely and gets the block from behind; unfortunately, the refs don't see it that way and call him for the foul. Rashad heads to the line and makes one-of-two free throws himself (35-37 5:08); that was actually the T-Wolves' first free throw miss, as they've gone 6-for-7 from the line.
Now Garnett and Pierce are back into the game (Tony and Batista take a seat), but it's Scals who knocks down the three-pointer wtih the shot clock winding down (38-37 4:43)! Stand back and give Scalabrine room to work!
Jaric then has the ball knocked out of his hands by Ray; Pierce picks it up and quickly takes it the other way, but is tied up by McCants to stop the fast break. That sends Paul to the line, and he misses the first free throw (aw, come on!) before making the second (39-37 4:27).
McCants is then fouled and makes both free throws (I'm jealous) to tie the score; at the other end, KG faces up against Big Al, so he simply pulls up and knocks down the jumper (41-39 3:57).
Two free throws by Jaric again ties the score, then Rondo passes to Perkins, who lobs the ball inside to Garnett; KG is immediately double-teamed, so he makes a nice over-the-shoulder pass to Rondo (who was able to sneak his way underneath the basket in all the commotion), but - rather than attempt a difficult shot over Ricky Davis - he kicks it out to an open Ray Allen for the three-pointer (44-41 3:13).
Minnesota calls a 20-second timeout, and when play resumes McCants misses a three-point attempt of his own and the loose rebound goes off Gomes out of bounds; Boston regains possession and Rondo tries to take it down the lane between two defenders (almost losing the ball in the process). Pierce is in the right spot to pick it up and - while the defense scrambles to get back into position - he passes inside to Garnett; this gets Big Al's attention, who collapses on KG, but that just gives Kevin a wide open target in Perkins underneath the basket for the two-hand slam (46-41 2:21).
Jaric then tries to pass inside to Gomes, but KG knocks the ball away and then dives to the floor to recover (Tommy Point!); he gives it to Rondo who finds Ray all alone behind the three-point line. Unfortunately, the ball barely touches the front of the rim, and Jaric grabs the rebound and pushes it the other way. Rondo tries to come from behind for the steal, but the refs whistle him for the foul, and Marko makes one-of-two free throws (46-42 1:55).
Still, the Celts seem fired up now, as Garnett makes the bullet pass to Perkins underneath the basket for another dunk with 1:41 remaining. Pierce then strips Davis as he goes up for the outside jumper; Rondo recovers the loose ball, dribbles upcourt, then finds Ray all alone for the two-hand slam of his own (50-42 1:22).
That's more like it, as we enter halftime with Boston up 50 to 43.
THIRD QUARTER
Gomes opens the second half by trying the spin move on Pierce, and the refs reward him with a trip to the free throw line; he makes one to pull Minnesota within six (50-44 11:48). Ray Allen then makes a move to the basket and is triple teamed (guess they're scared he might heat up again), so he makes the simple bounce pass to Perk waiting underneath the basket and Theo is forced to give the foul; Kendrick makes both free throws (I think he's the only Celtic to make two straight free throws all night!) to put Boston back up eight (52-44 11:29).
Telfair then misses a three-point attempt, and Perkins grabs the rebound; he gets it to Ray, who dribbles upcourt and then gives the ball back to Perk, who finds KG under the basket for the little hookshot over two defenders (54-44 10:58).
Davis hits the pullup jumper over Ray (Donny: "He didn't have anyone to pass it to except the rim"), while at the other end Pierce tries to answer and misses. Ricky comes away with the loose rebound and passes upcourt to a wide open Gomes for the layup (54-48 10:15).
Ray - who's still feeling it - drains the trey, then Pierce strips Gomes and Perkins gets the loose ball; he quickly gets it upcourt to Ray who has only Ricky to beat, and he does so with the crossover move for the layup (59-48 9:26).
Davis then misses the three-point attempt, but Ratliff grabs the offensive rebound and gets the ball to Juwan; he has the mismatch on Allen so he tries to go over him for the layup, but Garnett gets into the picture and swats the shot out of bounds. Minnesota retains possession, but Ricky loses control of his dribble and Pierce dives to the floor to try for the steal; Davis ends up going out of bounds trying to recover, so Boston takes possession and Rondo just blows by Telfair and is able to avoid the outstretched hand of Ratliff for the layup (61-48 8:58).
Minnesota just looks out of it right now, as Rajon sneaks up on Telfair from behind and strips him (ew, that sounds naughty); Perkins picks up the loose ball and gives it to Pierce, who makes the fullcourt pass to Ray under the basket, and he has his layup attempt goaltended by Theo (63-48 8:03).
Howard is then called for a three-second violation, giving Boston back possession, and Ray makes the nice move between Telfair and Ratliff for the layup of the non-goaltended variety (65-48 7:25).
Theo answers with a hook shot over Garnett, then Rondo misses and Juwan nabs the rebound; he gives it to Telfair who quickly dribbles upcourt and slices down the lane for the layup of his own (65-52 6:33). Undeterred, Ray sticks the pullup "jay" right in Ricky's face (67-52 6:15) ... I'd say that Ray has redeemed himself from his poor shooting performance from last night, wouldn't you (25 PTS, 10-12 FG)?
Gomes hits a three-pointer with 4:34 remaining in the quarter to cut the Celtics' lead to twelve; at the other end Garnett tries the bankshot over Ratliff but misses, and Gomes snatches the loose board. He gives it up to Telfair, who pushes it upcourt and then passes back to Gomes who slashes down the lane for the easy bucket (68-58 3:39) ... However, the Wolves can get no closer, as the quarter ends with Boston back up by twelve, 75 to 63.
FOURTH QUARTER
The quarter begins with the "Not Big Three" firmly planted on the bench, as House, Scals, Posey, Batista, and Tony Allen take to the court ... Tony starts things off by missing a wild shot, and the loose rebound finds its way to Telfair; he quickly moves things upcourt, and passes inside to Jefferson who gives it right back to Sebastian for the layup (75-65 11:27). Batista is then called for the offensive foul setting the screen on McCants; Minnesota regains possession, and Rashad is left wide open for the three-pointer (75-68 10:56).
At the other end, Batista has his layup attempt blocked by Big Al ... however, Estaban redeems himself by stealing a pass from Jaric and getting the ball back upcourt to Tony, who is fouled by Marko while scoring the layup. However, it's no surprise that he misses the free throw (77-68 9:20); shucks.
At this point, Jefferson takes a seat, as (once again) I believe we'll be seeing both teams test out their benches in end-of-game situations ... To prove my point, with 7:20 remaining Glenn Rivers M.D. inserts Just Pruitt and Glen "Macrosomia" Davis into the lineup. Meanwhile, Craig Smith barrels down the lane for the layup, PLUS he's fouled by Batista and makes the free throw (80-75 6:53) as the T-Wolves inch closer.
Davis then has his shot blocked by Chris "Reed" Richard and Jaric picks up the loose ball; he tries to take it in all the way himself, but misses the layup attempt. Smith then tries to tip it in but misses, and Tony Allen is fouled by Craig going for the rebound; Minnesota's over the limit, but it hardly matters as Tony only makes one-for-two from the line (I may have lost count, but I believe Boston has now missed 14 out of 36 free throw attempts)! At the other end, Tony steals the ball from Smith and quickly passes to Dahntay Stop Believing for the layup; he's also fouled by Jaric and (surprise!) is actually able to make the free throw to complete the three-point play (84-75 5:53). Gorman quips "Dahntay should make the team alone just on making that free throw ... "
A layup by Glen Davis with 4:20 remaining puts Boston's lead back into double digits, as I'm just about ready to call it a night ... Smith and Dahntay trade baskets, then Jaric misses a three-point attempt and Tony grabs the loose board; he takes it upcourt himself and passes to Davis, who tries the turnaround jumper over Smith, but misses. However, Batista snags the offensive rebound and kicks it out to Pruitt, who dribbles some time off the clock before making his move to the basket; when the defense collapses on him, he passes out to Davis who finds Batista under the basket for the two-handed dunk (90-77 1:46).
That's a nice capper to the night, as the final score sees Boston win big, 92 to 81.
FINAL SCORE: Boston 92, Minnesota 81
GAME RATING:
17
KILLER
BOSTON TOP PERFORMERS:
- Allen: 28 PTS (11-14 FG, 5-8 3PTers)
- Perkins: 11 PTS (3-5 FG, 5-6 FT), 5 REB, 1 BLK
- Garnett: 9 PTS (3-6 FG), 6 REB, 6 TO, 3 BLK, 2 STL
- Rondo: 4 PTS (2-3 FG), 6 AST, 4 STL, 2 TO
- Davis: 18 PTS (7-12 FG, 4-7 3PTers), 3 AST
- McCants: 11 PTS (3-7 FG), 4 REB
- Smith: 7 PTS (2-7 FG), 7 REB
- Gomes: 9 PTS (3-6 FG), 4 REB
POST-GAME NOTES:
- I guess it was Pierce's turn to struggle tonight (8 PTS, 1-6 FG, 6-11 FT, 5 REB, 4 AST) ... not that it mattered, of course.
- Al Jefferson also failed to make much of an impact, with 5 points (2-5 FG), 6 rebounds, and two blocked shots in 24 minutes.
- Boston finished the game shooting just 59 percent from the free throw line (23-39 FT)! Minnesota didn't do much better (19-26 FT), but it should be noted that they had a grand total of zero free throw attempts - not just makes, but attempts - in the first quarter.
- Juwand Howard and Ray Allen addressed the London crowd before the start of the game.
- Ray Allen was tonight's Tommy Award winner ... great minds think alike, I guess.
- SCOTTY 2 HOTTY joined Gary and Tommy in-studio during the pregame show. He gave us a quick update on his left foot ("It feels like I need some sympathy, I've got this big boot on to let people know I've got a little boo-boo on my ankle") and reminisced about the many hairstyles he's displayed over his career (Tommy mentioned that another "big guy from San Diego" named Bill Walton was a "free spirit", and asked if there's something in the water up there, to which Tanguay quickly added "it's in some substance and we'll leave it at that!")
- I just have to point out one more excerpt from Glen Davis' blog (bostonherald.com): The clinic was fun. I told the kids how to play defense. I told them to get down like they were sitting on the toilet reading a newspaper. They seemed to like it, but I hope I didn't mess them up too bad.
- I'm sure the Celts had a lot of fun across the pond, but it's time to head back to the States, as we have to wait until Wednesday for the "Not Big Three"'s debut at the Garden against the New York Knicks.
- Happy birthday Ma!
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