October 26, 2007
7:30 PM EST (Comcast SportsNet)
TD Banknorth Garden (Boston, MA)
Announcers: Mike AnGormanagement and Tommy "Want to Touch the" Heinsohn ; Gary PoonTanguay and Donny Darko (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
Cavs Starting Lineup: Mailer-Damon Jones, Larry HughesJass, SeeOurZydrunas, Drew GoodenPlenty, Cuckoo Lebronza
The Celtics are a .500 basketball team, EVERYBODY PANIC.
Okay, now that we've gotten that our of our system, it's time to remind ourselves that we're still in the preseason ... the game don't count yet.
Still, we've got one more "fake" game to play before we get down to business, against the defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavs ... We also have Perkins back on the court, so that should take care of some of the frontline problems that the team has been experiencing over the last three games.
FIRST QUARTER
Perkins wins the opening tap versus Ilgauskas, and Pierce winds up with the ball. He quickly takes it to the basket against Hughes, and Lebron is forced to come over for help; instead, he commits the foul as Paul is scoring the layup, and he makes the free throw to complete the three-point play (3-0 11:53).
At the other end, Lebron tries to answer, but misses the shot and KG pulls down the rebound; he gives the ball to Rondo, who takes it back the other way and passes to Pierce. He then gets it inside to Garnett, who misses the turnaround jumper over Gooden, but Perk snatches the offensive board and passes right back to KG who is now all alone for the two-hand slam (5-0 11:22).
The crowd is pumped up already, as Jones upfakes a three-point attempt to get Rondo in the air and then steps in for the shot, but Rajon recovers and blocks the shot from behind (the fans roar in approval); however, he also got a lot of Damon's arm in the process, and the refs can't let that go and whistle him for the foul. That puts Jones at the line, and he makes both free throws to give Cleveland their first points of the night (5-2 10:57).
Pierce then upfakes a three-pointer of his own, to get Lebron off-balance, then drives right down the lane between two defenders for the layup (7-2 10:42). Hughes then misses, while Perkins muscles his way in over Gooden for the hook shot and an eary seven-point Celtics lead (9-2 10:05).
Ilgauskas answers with the fallaway jumper over Perkins, but at the other end KG makes a nice over-the-shoulder pass to Pierce underneath the basket and he scores another layup (11-4 9:31). Lebron then slashes to the hoop and quickly scores the basket; not to be outdone, Garnett works the baseline around Gooden before passing to Perkins for the little hook shot (13-6 9:03); Boston has now hit five of their first six field goals!
The starting five certainly look energized tonight, as KG makes another nice pass inside to Perk for the two-handed dunk and a nine-point lead with 8:11 remaining in the quarter; however, Lebron then pulls up over Garnett for the three-point attempt and rattles it in (15-9 7:45).
At the other end, Kevin misses a fallaway jumper over Gooden, and Drew comes away with the rebound; he gives the ball to Lebron, who quickly dribbles upcourt before passing to Hughes, who sticks the pullup jumper over Rondo (15-11 7:25) ... A jumper by KG (Boston is now 8-for-13 from the field) gets the lead back up to six with 5:23 left, then Ilgauskas misses the shot (Cleveland is 4-for-12) and Garnett tips the loose rebound to Pierce. He pushes the ball upcourt, then gives it to Ray, who is able to avoid Hughes before taking it right at Zydrunas for the layup (19-11 4:52).
Ilgauskas is then fouled by Perkins, so he goes to the line and makes both free throws to cut the C's lead to six; at the other end, Pierce tries to pass inside to KG, and Lebron is able to slap it away but Zydrunas fouls Garnett going for the loose ball. During the stoppage of play, Kendrick (with two fouls) takes a seat at the 4:22 mark and Parker Posey comes in to replace him, as it looks like Garnett is going to play some center against the big Lithuanian. When play resumes, Ray lobs the ball inside to Kevin (who suddenly has three defenders on him) and he makes the nice shovel pass to Allen (still in the paint) who banks in the shot (21-13 4:14); that's KG's fifth assist already!
Any concern over the three previous games should be melting away right now, folks ... It's a nine-point lead with 1:42 remaining, when Lebron tries to make the crossover move around Posey, but the refs catch KG standing in the paint for a wee bit too long, and call the three-second violation. He takes a playful swipe at the ball as James' momentum takes him towards the basket, and that starts a little jawing between the two (they're both smiling so you know it's nothing serious). Anyway, Damon makes the technical foul shot, then Allan Tony fouls Lebron as he's making another move to the basket; Boston is now over the limit, so James steps to the line and makes one-of-two free throws (25-18 1:25).
Garnett then makes a nice crosscourt pass to Hugh Laurie for the three-pointer with :50.5 seconds on the clock to give the Celts a double-digit lead. At the other end, Jones throws a bounce pass to Lebron, who loses Tony and banks in the shot (28-20 :41.3); by the way (we're talking about KG's nice passing so far), that was CLE's first assist of the quarter!
KG answers with the hook shot over Dwayne "The Rock" Joneson, then Lebron tries for the pullup jumper over Tony that goes off the side of the backboard (d'oh!), but The Devin Miss M collects the loose ball and is grabbed by Tony; that's his second foul, so he goes to the bench as Rondo is back in to replace him. Meanwhile, Devin hits both of his foul shots to get Cleveland within eight (30-22 :06.6).
Boston goes for the last shot, as Rondo drives down the lane before kicking the ball out to House for the three-pointer with 1.7 seconds left! That gives the Celts a nice cushion 33-22 heading into the second quarter ... and they have Garnett (10 PTS, 6 AST, 5 REB) and great ball movement (nine assists for Boston compared to one for Cleveland) to thank for that!
SECOND QUARTER
Ray and KG sit to begin the quarter, as The Scals of Justice, Tony Allen, Posey, House, and Pierce are in to start things off ... Speaking of Paul, he has the ball knocked out of his hands by Hughes in the first possession of the quarter; Damon comes away with it, then passes up ahead to Larry who takes it right at Tony and the refs whistle him for the foul (his third already). That gets Perkins off the bench and back in the game, as Hughes makes both of his free throws (33-24 11:21).
At the other end, Posey makes a nice move along the baseline for the layup, plus he was fouled by Devin, but can't make the free throw (35-24 11:11). Donyell "Not Donny" Marshall hits a jumper, then Posey tries to pass inside to Pierce, but it's about five feet over Paul's head and the ball goes out of bounds (Tommy: "Whoops").
Cleveland regains possession, and Hughes tries the outside jumpshot with Pierce in his face; that misses, and Perkins pulls down the loose board. He gets it up ahead to Paul, who puts the spin move on Hughes and goes in for the layup attempt; Larry grabs at the ball, and the refs call him for the foul. He voices his displeasure (thinking it was a clean strip), so the refs tack on a technical foul as well; House makes that free throw, then Pierce steps to the line and goes one-for-two (37-26 10:20).
Ilgauskas then throws the upfake at Perkins to get him in the air, then leans in to draw the contact, and the ref dutifully blows the whistle. That's the third on Kendrick, so he's back on the bench and Glen "Macrosomia" Davis makes his first appearance of the game with 10:02 on the clock; meanwhile, Zydrunas makes both foul shots to get the Cavs within nine. Pierce then tries to drive down the lane between two defenders, and ends up losing the ball. However, Davis is able to pick it up and passes back to Paul; there's now just three seconds left on the shot clock, so he's forced to pull up for the shot over Donyell and hits it (39-28 9:39)!
It's a ten-point lead when Ray Allen comes back into the game with 7:52 to go in the half; Cleveland has a chance to get closer, but Lebron's three-point attempt is off the mark, and House comes away with the rebound. He takes it upcourt himself, then passes to Pierce, who makes the move to the basket; Paul is immediately double-teamed, so he kicks the ball out to Ray behind the three-point line, and he upfakes (to get Damon off his feet) and then just casually dribbles down the lane and goes in over Gooden for the layup (43-31 7:23); Gorman quips "How smooth is that?"
Ira N00bie scores, while at the other end Scalabrine tries to emulate Ray's previous move and upfakes a three-point shot, but doesn't quite get it as he shuffles his feet and is whistled for the travelling violation.
I guess Glenn Rivers M.D. didn't much care for that, as Scals is sent to the bench and KG returns to the floor with 6:42 remaining. Meanwhile, Gooden tries to shoot over Davis but misses, and Ray grabs the rebound. He brings the ball upcourt, and (covered by two defenders) makes the nice pass to "Big Baby" for the layup (45-33 6:10).
A basket by Hughes gets the Cavs back within single digits, then KG tries the off-balance shot over Gooden and misses; Ilgauskas grabs the rebound and gets the ball to Lebron, who takes it the other way before pulling up from the free throw line for the shot over Pierce. That misses, and Ray gets the loose rebound and we're heading back in the other direction; he tries to lay it inside to Davis, but the ball is tipped away by Zydrunas and Lebron comes away with it. He motors upcourt with just Pierce to beat, and takes it in to draw the contact; Paul is whistled the foul, but then KG soars into the picture to swat away the shot. The refs say that he touched it on the way down, so that's a goaltend; count the basket(Gorman: "That was kind of a 'message block' more than anything else"), but Lebron can't complete the unconventional three-point play as he misses the free throw (46-39 4:45).
Pierce makes a nice pass inside to Davis who scores on the reverse layup (!) to get Boston back up by nine with 4:32 remaining in the half. At the other end, Lebron misses a deep three-point attempt and Rondo comes away with the loose rebound; he gets the ball up ahead to Pierce, who passes inside to KG (he's covered by the smaller Hughes). The defense collapses to try and give him some help, so Garnett kicks it out to Ray for the open three-pointer (51-39 4:05)! We're not even in the second half and KG is already flirting with a triple double (11 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST)!
The Cavs call a timeout, and when play resumes Hughes drives down the lane and Garnett comes in for the monster rejection, but the refs call another goaltending (51-41 3:39); unlikely. Hughes then steals the ball from Rondo at halfcourt, and quickly gets it to Lebron, who freezes Rajon with the shudder step and finishes with the LOUD one-hand slam (51-43 3:24); a "message dunk" perhaps?
Ilgauskus tips in a missed layup attempt by Lebron to get Cleveland within six at the two-minute mark; Rondo then drives to the basket against Newble and Zydrunas comes over to help, so Rajon makes the nice pass to Davis, who scores the layup while being fouled by Ilgauskas ("Big Baby" is so excited that he starts yelling right in KG's face who starts cracking up). However, he can't make the free throw to complete the three-point play (53-45 1:41).
Hughes scores at the other end, then Pierce forces up a bad shot (that misses), and Ilgauskas grabs the rebound. He gets the ball to Hughes, who takes it upcourt, then passes to Gooden in the corner. He's covered nicely by KG, so he gets the ball to Lebron cutting down the lane and James tries the no-look pass to Zydrunas (that would've been an easy dunk), but Davis steps into his path and takes the charge!
The crowd applauds "Big Baby"'s hustle, while Lebron starts arguing with the refs that Glen was inside the circle so it should have been a non-call; replays seem to bear this out, which leads to the following exchange amongst our esteemed announcers:
Gorman: Nice job by Glen, let's see where his feet were. That might've been part of Lebron's complaint. [replay shows Glen was in the circle] Well, Lebron had a pretty good complaint, actually ...Anyway, it's still Boston ball, and Ilgauskas fouls Rondo while setting the screen; the Cavs are over the limit, so Rajon heads to the line as KG takes a seat on the bench (Scals comes in to replace him as the crowd cheers ... I'm guessing the cheers are for KG, not Scals) and makes both free throws (55-47 :51.9).
Heinsohn: [pause] I don't care!
Gorman: [laughs] We don't wanna let the facts get in the way here!
It's not a good trade-off, as Scals fouls Newble while he's scoring the layup (Heinsohn: "That's a foolish foul, you gotta hammer him and don't let him get to the rim; don't wave at him!"), and he makes the free throw to get Cleveland within five (55-50 :31.2) ... The first half ends with Boston up, 57 to 51.
THIRD QUARTER
Damon Jones knocks down the trey to cut Boston's lead in half, while at the other end Pierce tries to dribble through three defenders and ends up losing the ball; Gooden picks it up and passes to Lebron, who brings it upcourt and finds Ilgauskas, and he hits the turnaround jumper over Perkins as the Cavs are right back in it (57-56 11:07).
KG then tries to take it to the basket, but fumbles the ball away; Perk is able to come up with the loose ball, and kicks it out to Pierce, who finds Ray behind the three-point line. He proceeds to make the move around Hughes and pulls up at the free throw line, where he buries the jumper; Larry also got him across the arm, so Ray adds the free throw to complete the three-point play (60-56 10:41).
However, the Celts start getting a little sloppy with the ball over the next couple minutes (KG mishandles a lob pass from Rondo and loses it out of bounds, Pierce tries to get the ball inside to Perkins but throws it behind his back and right into the Cavs bench) ... At the 8:22 mark, Garnett fouls Ilgauskas while he's scoring the layup; that's his third foul (but he stays in the game) as Zydrunas misses the free throw. Ray gets the rebound and passes to Rondo, who dribbles upcourt and gives it to Perkins at the top of the key; he makes a nice pass inside to KG (who lost Gooden) and he finishes with the soft dunk (63-58 8:11).
Damon answers with a three-pointer to get Cleveland within two; at the other end, Gooden dives at Garnett and almost steals the ball, but that just leaves Boston with a one-man advantage as KG passes to Rondo and he goes right at Ilgauskas for the layup (65-61 7:19)!
Hughes then misses, and KG collects the carom; he gets it upcourt to Pierce, who tries to drive against Lebron ... apparently, James doesn't think this is such a good idea, as he grabs Paul's right arm and the two get tangled up. Pierce ends up bringing the ball up and scraping it across the face of Lebron (intentionally?); anyway, the refs call the foul on James for the initial contact, meaning that it's still Boston ball and Garnett makes the slick pass to Rondo, who finds himself a clear path to the basket and scores on the layup (67-61 6:38).
At the other end, Hughes tries to make the alley-oop pass to Lebron, but Perkins knocks the ball away (as both Lebron and Pierce get tangled up again and both hit the floor hard) and Kendrick attempts to get it upcourt to Rondo; however, now it's Hughes' turn to intercept the pass, as he gets it back to Damon who pulls up and buries the trey (67-64 6:07).
Pierce tries to answer with his own three-pointer, but the shot misses. Luckily, Perkins is in position for the offensive board, and passes inside to Ray who spins around Hughes and finishes with the left hand (69-64 5:40).
A basket by Perk makes it a seven-point lead with five minutes remaining, but then Lebron slices down the lane for the layup, plus he's fouled by KG (his fourth foul to go with 13 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists); Posey comes in to replace him as James misses the free throw, but Gooden tips the loose rebound back out to James. He tries to again drive inside and misses the layup, however Dwayne Jones grabs the offensive rebound and kicks it out to Gooden for the little hook shot over Perkins (71-68 3:44).
Ray hits the three-ball to double up Boston's lead, as the Cavs want to call a timeout before the momentum swings back in their opponent's favor; when play resumes, Gooden tries to pass inside to Dwayne, but Perk gets a hand in and Posey comes away with the loose ball. He gets it upcourt to Rondo, who then passes to Pierce, and he tries the spin move around Damon to get to the basket; the defense collapses around him, so Paul kicks it out to a wide-open Ray for another three-pointer (77-68 2:55)!
Things are looking up, as Rondo strips Damon of the ball from behind and Perk comes away with it; he gets it back to Rondo who hustles upcourt and is fouled by Devin (he actually scores the layup while falling down, but it was after the whistle so it doesn't count); still Boston ball, and Rajon makes a nice pass inside to Perkins, who finishes with the one-hand dunk (he put a little mustard on that one) as the Celts' lead is back in the double digits (79-68 2:07).
Despite some rough spots, Boston enters the final stanza up by thirteen, 86 to 73.
FOURTH QUARTER
The Celts open the final quarter with KG, Tony, Posey, Rondo, and House on the floor ... Garnett hits a fallaway jumper over Ilgauskas to make it a 15-point Boston advantage, while at the other end Hughes misses the three-point shot but Zydrunas tips the rebound back out to Lebron. He gives it to Damon, who tries to drive around Rondo, but has the ball poked away and Posey comes up with it; now we're headed the other way, as James passes to Tony who is all by himself and lays it in (won't dare risk dunking it, tsk tsk) to the delight of the crowd (90-73 11:14).
Lebron then misses, and KG pulls down the rebound (his tenth, so now he just needs one more assist for the triple double!). He gives the ball to House, who brings it upcourt and passes to Posey; he's double-teamed, so he kicks it back out to Rondo who drives down the lane (to draw in the defense) before passing back to Posey for the uncontested layup (92-73 10:22)!
On the next possession, Lebron is covered nicely by Tony and (with the shot clock winding down) is forced to pass to Newble; he's open behind the three-point line, but takes too long winding up the shot as the buzzer sounds and the refs call for the 24-second violation. Boston regains possession, and KG throws down the hook shot over Zydrunas (94-73 9:38).
Garnett scores again with 8:34 remaining in the game (19 PTS), as Cleveland desperately calls a timeout; when play resumes, Hughes misses the outside jumper and Ilgauskas tips the loose rebound out of bounds. That means it's once again Boston ball, as KG makes a nice move around Zydrunas and the big man just grabs him to prevent the layup, sending Garnett to the line for two foul shots (98-73 7:55).
Hughes then launches a three-point shot that misses badly, when Garnett takes the rebound and throws a fullcourt pass to House hustling up the floor for the layup (100-73 7:33)! That's assist number ten, as KG has his first triple-double in green (21 PTS, 13 REB, 10 AST)!
That's pretty much the final nail in the Cavs' coffins, as they look like they want this night to be over ... KG takes a seat with 4:53 to a standing ovation (I'm not sure why Doc left him in this long, no need to risk anything), as the Celts go on to wrap up the preseason in splendid fashion, crushing the defending Eastern Conference champs by the score of 114 to 89.
FINAL SCORE: Boston 114, Cleveland 89
GAME RATING:
18
KILLER
BOSTON TOP PERFORMERS:
- Garnett: 21 PTS (8-13 FG, 5-6 FT), 13 REB, 10 AST
- R. Allen: 20 PTS (8-15 FG, 3-7 3PTers), 5 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL
- House: 16 PTS (6-10 FG)
- Pierce: 12 PTS (5-11 FG), 6 AST, 5 TO
- Rondo: 10 PTS (3-4 FG), 6 AST, 4 STL, 2 REB
- Hughes: 18 PTS (7-17 FG), 4 REB, 4 AST, 4 STL
- James: 17 PTS (7-18 FG), 4 REB
- Ilgauskas: 14 PTS (5-10 FG), 6 REB
POST-GAME NOTES:
- The Celts shot 59 percent from the floor (45-76 FG), including going 8-for-17 from three-point range ... They also had 32 assists to 16 turnovers (I'm sure Doc will take a 2:1 ratio in that department everytime).
- This was the first sold-out preseason game in the history of the new Garden.
- The game was also televised on ESPN.
- The Celts have their first winning preseason record (4-3) since 1993.
- Dickerson reported that prior to the game, someone (he didn't mention who) put notes in every Celtics' locker which read "THE CAVALIERS ARE THE DEFENDING EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS, LET'S SEND A MESSAGE TONIGHT!!!!" Message received, I guess ...
- You shouldn't be surprised to know that Garnett was tonight's Tommy Award winner.
- Perkins addressed the crowd prior to tip-off ... and sucked up to the Red Sox (worldseries.com) while he was at it.
- I am sad to report that yesterday Dahntay Stop Believing and Jackie Chan-uel were officially cut, trimming our roster down to 14 (leaving us with one free spot heading into the regular season).
- Speaking of which, I'll be seeing you guys next Friday, as the regular season (finally) begins against the Washington Wizards!
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