December 26, 2007
10:00 PM EST (Comcast SportsNet)
Arco Arena (Sacramento, CA)
Announcers: Mike An-Gorman-agement and Donny "We Are" Marshall ; Gary PoonTanguay and Tommy "Want to Touch the" Heinsohn (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
Kings Starting Lineup: John "Smoked" Salmons, Beef-A-Beno Udrih, "Rad" Brad Miller, Mikki "And Minnie" Moore, Ron Artesting Testing One-Two-Three
Is it time for the Celts to be "tested"? Well, when you play four games in five nights out West, that should be a pretty fair indicator about what type of team this Celtics club truly is ...
First up, a matchup with Ron Artest and the Sacramento Kings ... The Celts haven't won a game in Sacramento for quite awhile (February 16th, 1996 to be exact), so that should provide some motivation for our mates to try and put that losing streak to an end.
FIRST QUARTER
KG steals a pass by Moore in the opening play (which gets this road trip off to a good start); he gets the ball upcourt to Allen, who finds Pierce spotting up in the corner. With the defense paying attention to him, he passes back to Garnett, and - finding himself with an open path to the basket - he takes advantage and finishes with the two-handed dunk (2-0 11:25) ... That actually gets a few cheers out of the Sacramento crowd (not a good sign for the Kings' supposed homefield advantage).
At the other end, Perkins blocks a shot by Miller (nice) and Kevin collects the loose ball; he gets teh ball upcourt to Ray, who misses the outside shot, but KG grabs the offensive board ... Unfortunately, he tries to kick it back out to Pierce, where Brad steps in to pick off the pass.
That gives the Kings back possession, but Miller misses again and Perk collects the rebound. He passes to Rajon, who makes his way back the other end; he gets the ball to Allen, and (with two defenders stepping up to stop him) he passes back to Rondo for the open 15-footer (4-0 10:25).
A dunk by Ray (wow) with eight minutes remaining gives Boston the early six-point edge, then Pierce strips Moore of the ball and Mikki ends up falling right on top of Paul trying to take it back ... The refs call him for the foul, so Boston regains possession (Kenny Thomas Roasters has to make an early appearance to replace Moore) and Allen scores on the pullup jumper (10-2 7:49); the Celts are off to the fast start (they're 5-for-8 from the field).
Artest then misses the outside shot (Sacramento, meanwhile, is 1-for-5 shooting), but Garnett can't control the rebound and Udrih winds up with the ball; he takes it back up and scores with the layup (10-4 7:24).
It's still a six-point lead with 4:30 remaining in the quarter, when Perkins takes a seat on the bench (Parker Posey is the first sub off the bench) ... Meanwhile, Artest misses another shot (the Kings are 3-for-13 from the floor) and Miller fouls Garnett going for the rebound. Boston regains possesion, as Pierce passes inside to Garnett; he's covered by Francisco "Cherry" Garcia, and Francisco ties him up as the refs call him for the foul.
Now, the whistle has already blown, but Garcia decides to take a swipe at the ball and try to knock it out of KG's hands ... Not sure what he was trying to prove there, but everyone keeps their cool and nothing comes of it (Kevin just has a bemused look on his face about the whole thing).
Anyway, the bottom line is that it's a non-shooting foul, so the Celts retain possession ... Rajon inbounds to Pierce, and he pulls up for the short 15-foot jumpshot. That misses, but Rondo grabs the offensive board; he kicks the ball back out to Garnett, and he gives it right back to Rajon. He takes the outside shot, however it bounces off the rim and Garcia comes down with it; he quickly takes it up the floor, then finds Artest who finally scores a basket (12-8 2:51).
Man, after that nice start, the Celts have now gone 2:29 without scoring a field goal ... Glenn Rivers M.D. needs a timeout, and when play resumes Scotty 2 Hotty is on the floor in place of KG (not sure that's gonna solve Boston's offensive woes). Meanwhile, Pierce misses another shot, and Salmons comes away with the rebound. He sends it up the floor to Artest, who blows past Posey and scores on the layup (12-10 2:21); ouch.
It's still a two-point lead with 1:53 on the clock, when Hugh Laurie comes in to replace Rondo ... He gets right to work, as Eddie makes the nice lob pass inside to Posey slicing down the lane, where he finishes with the dunk (15-11 1:40). Now, for the record, the Celts' last field goal with a baseline jumper by Garnett at the 5:20 mark; you do the math :(
At the other end, Pierce plays some tight defense on Artest, and forces him to take a deep jumper to beat the shot clock. That misses, and Pollard comes away with the rebound; he makes the outlet pass to House, who finds Pierce at the top of the key, and he swings the ball around to Ray where he buries the trey (18-11 :56.0)!
On the next play, Paul fouls Artest with 46.5 seconds left in the half; Doc subs Allan Tony in to replace Pierce, while Ronnie makes just one-of-two free throws to get his team within six.
However, Quincy Rollin' Douby then strips Ray of the ball, as we head back the other way ... He passes to Artest, who's fouled by Tony taking the ball to the basket. That means he gets to head back to the line, and this time he's able to make both free throws (18-14 :26.8).
Tony then slowly brings the ball up the floor, but Coman-Dahntay Jones strips him of the ball at halfcourt ... He quickly takes it right to the basket and misses the shot, but Garcia is there to try and tip it in and Posey is called for goaltending (18-16 :17.6).
Douby almost comes up with another steal on Tony in the closing moments, but the other Allen is able to recover and misses a shot at the buzzer, leaving the C's with just a two-point lead (18-16) heading into the second quarter ... Neither team shot the ball particularly well, as the Celts were down around 42 percent (8-19 FG), while the Kings were even worse (6-18 FG).
SECOND QUARTER
Douby opens the quarter with one more steal on Tony, and takes it all the way in for the layup (18-all 11:43); yikes.
Allen tries to redeem himself, but misses the layup attempt (!); luckily, Pollard grabs the offensive board, and kicks it out to House. He makes the bounce pass back to Scotty, but he misses the shot and Douby collects the rebound. He takes it back the other way, and finds Spencer Hawes-enpfeffer, who hits the awkward hook shot over Pollard (18-20 10:26).
Now the crowd is coming alive, as on the very next play Tony (showing a bit of frustration) throws Jones to the floor while trying to set up position in the paint; the refs catch it and call the offensive foul, as Sacramento regains possession and Salmons is able to knock down the jumper (18-22 10:01).
Pollard and Salmons trade baskets, then House misses the outside shot, but Scotty gets himself another offensive rebound. He kicks it out to Ray behind the three-point line, and he gives the pumpfake to get Garcia off-balance; with his defender sufficiently neutralized, Allen drives right down to the lane and is fouled by Hawes! He makes the free throw to complete the three-point play and gets the C's within one (23-24 9:01).
The Scals of Justice comes in at this point for Posey, while Garcia throws up a brick and Pollard hauls down the carom. He passes to Ray, who takes the ball upcourt himself, then finds House wide open in the corner for the trey (26-24 8:33)!
Eddie adds another three-pointer to make it a five-point Boston advantage, then Jones tries to take it strong to the basket but winds up getting fouled by Pollard; the Celts are over the limit, as Dahntay makes one-of-two from the line (29-25 7:39).
Garnett and Pierce come back on the floor (Tony and Scotty take a seat), then Pierce drives to the basket and misses the shot (he's missed his first three field-goal attempts) as Garcia collects the rebound. At the other end, he tries to pull up over Paul for the three-point attempt, but his shot clanks off the side of the rim and House comes away with the loose board. He takes the ball up the floor, and passes inside to Scals; he's covered by Hawes, but dishes it out to Pierce wide open behind the line and he buries the three-ball (32-25 6:50).
Another basket by Paul (of the two-point variety) makes it a nine-point lead with five minutes left in the half. Udrih can't score, and House gets himself another rebound, then makes the fullcourt pass to Pierce. He pulls up over Artest (with a foot on the line) and drains it (38-27 4:33); it's a reversal of fortune, as Paul has now made three straight shots!
Artest tries to answer by driving down the lane, however Perk (just into the game for Scals) steps in his path to cause the turnover; KG picks up the loose ball, then sends it upcourt to Ray, who makes a nice behind-the-back pass to Kendrick hustling up the floor. He goes up for the layup, but is just leveled by Miller (he gave a little extra elbow to Perk's head after the play was over) ...
That was uncalled for, but Perkins doesn't try to retaliate (bless his heart) and simply walks to the line with 3:55 on the clock. He makes his first free throw, and misses the second, but the rebound bounces right back to him (sweet); he passes the ball out to Ray, and he buries the trey (42-27 3:51)! Now that was simply awesome.
Garnett scores to make it a 17-point lead with 2:22 remaining, then Artest tries to pass inside to Garcia, but it goes over his head and out of bounds (ha HA!). Boston regains possession, as KG misses the outside jumpshot, however Perk takes the offensive board and scores on the layup (48-29 1:21).
This crowd is starting to turn on the home team, as Salmons simply fumbles the ball away and out of bounds. The Celts get a chance to extend their lead further, and that's just what happens as Garnett pulls up and buries the 18-footer (50-29 :51.7) ... That's ten points now for Kevin (5-7 FG)!
Hoo boy, Garcia follows that up by throwing up a brick from behind the three-point line (Sacramento is now 0-for-6 from beyond the arc), and Pierce takes down the rebound. He brings it up the floor himself, as Doc is yelling from the sideline "2 for 1! 2 for 1!" ... He's nothing if not obedient, so Paul dutifully pulls up and buries the three-pointer (53-29 :27.3)! After a slow start, that gives The Truth 14 points (4-7 FG).
Udrih then misses (the Kings have been beyond pathetic thus far) and Rondo comes away with the loose rebound. He quickly takes it upcourt - here's the two in "2 for 1"! - but backrims the shot as the buzzer sounds ... Can't really complain though, as Boston ends the half on a 33-5 run (!) and leads 53 to 29.
The Celts shot 46 percent (12-26 FG) in the second quarter, while limiting the Kings to just 29 percent (5-17 FG) ... I'll take numbers like that, I reckon!
THIRD QUARTER
At the start of the quarter, Miller drives to the basket and collides with KG (Brad also gives Kevin a little inadvertant slap to the top of the head); that leaves Number Five a little groggy, but the refs still call him for the foul, so Miller heads to the line and makes both free throws (53-31 11:29).
Artest then steals the ball from Pierce, and gives it to Udrih who heads back the other way. He passes back to Ronnie, who frontrims the three-point attempt ... but is able to track down his own rebound (dang). He finds Udrih in the corner, who sends a pass inside to Miller for the one-hand slam (53-33 10:44)!
It's obvious that the Kings are playing with a bit of a chip on their collective shoulder, as Salmons blocks Allen's layup attempt; Udrih collects the loose ball, as he heads back the other way, then finds the trailer Salmons for the pullup jumper (53-35 9:39).
KG then misses the shot over Moore (the C's are now 0-for-4 to start the quarter) and Beno collects the rebound. He again pushes it up the floor (Sacramento has found their second wind) and takes it right at Perkins for the layup attempt ... That comes up short, however Moore is in perfect position for the offensive board and finishes with the dunk (53-37 9:07).
Doc has seen enough, as he calls a timeout. When play resumes, Rondo misses the outside shot, and Miller grabs another rebound. He passes upcourt to Artest, who finds Udrih in the paint. He drives down the lane (drawing in the defense) and gets the ball to Mikki for another two-hand slam (53-39 8:31)!
The Celts are finally "saved" by a defensive 3-second violation called on Moore; Ray makes the free throw to give Boston their first point of the half (yikes). The Celtics retain possession, and Allen tries to make a move to the basket, but Salmons plays some nice defense and causes him to cough up the ball (double yikes) ... KG is able to recover, but has his shot blocked from behind by Artest as the shot clock expires!
That makes it Kings' ball, however Salmons misses the outside shot and Ray pulls down the rebound. He takes it upcourt himself, as the C's try to set up for their first field goal of the half ... but Perk screws that up as he is called for the offensive foul away from the ball!
Sacramento regains possession, as Udrih tries to score on the layup, but Kendrick comes up with the block (way to redeem yourself, Perk!). Pierce picks up the loose ball, then sends it up the floor to Allen, who drives down the lane with only Moore to beat ... He knocks Mikki to the floor, and the refs reward him with the offensive foul call!
That gives the Kings another crack at cutting into this lead; luckily, Artest misses the jumpshot and KG hauls down the rebound. He passes upcourt to Rondo, who finds Pierce behind the three-point line; that shot is wide of the mark, but Perk is able to secure the offensive board. Unfortunately, he's surrounded by three players and winds up stepping out of bounds!
Ugh, another Celtics turnover, as Perkins starts to argue that he was forced out of bounds ... The refs won't stand for that, and whistle him for a technical foul! Udrih makes the free throw, as Sacramento cuts the Boston lead down to fourteen (54-40 6:34).
Not only that, but it's Kings' ball, so they have a chance to get even closer ... However, Artest misses another shot, and Garnett takes down the rebound. He passes upcourt to Ray, and he gives the ball to Pierce, who tries to drive on Ronnie but Moore comes over for the double-team; he tries to pass out of it, but sends the ball to no one in particular as the ball rolls harmlessly out of bounds (shit).
This is getting ridiculous (that was Boston's seventh turnover of the quarter), as Sacramento regains possession; Artest makes a strong move to the basket for the layup, plus he draws the foul on Perkins (SHIT). That puts Ronnie at the line, and he makes the free throw to complete the three-point play (54-43 5:33).
KG finally buries a jumper with 5:19 on the clock (Boston is now 1-for-8 from the field in this gawdforsaken quarter), but Moore quickly answers with the easy layup off the nice pass from Artest (56-45 5:02).
Rondo then misses, but Garnett grabs the offensive board (he's got seven rebounds) and kicks it back out to Rajon; he ends up being fouled by Udrih at the 4:22 mark, as Posey comes into the game to replace Perkins ... Meanwhile, the Celts are still trying to get their second field goal of the quarter, but Pierce takes care of that with the bullet pass inside to Ray Allen. He's able to score the layup (there you go) as well as draw the foul on Salmons, and makes the free throw to complete the three-point play (59-45 4:15).
At the other end, Salmons scores (Sacramento is now 7-for-14 from the floor in the quarter), then KG tries to work his way into the paint, but fumbles away the ball (d'oh!) and Udrih picks it up. He takes it back the other way, and finds Miller for the 15-footer (59-49 3:34).
House comes into the game for Rondo with 3:18 left in the quarter (Doc is looking to breathe new life into this offense) ... Doesn't work, as Pierce has his pass stolen by Beno, and he gives it up to Artest. He takes it up the floor, then finds Salmons for the layup (59-51 3:00)!
KG scores (whew), then Ray steals the ball from Artest. He passes to Pierce, who finds Posey in the corner for the three-pointer (64-51 2:12); well, that was a much-needed basket.
Garcia tries to answer, but comes up short on the three-point shot (Sacramento is now 0-for-10 from behind the line). Unfortunately, Udrih winds up with the offensive board, and makes a nice pass back to Francisco slicing down the lane for a layup (64-53 1:43).
At the other end, Garnett attempts to make a pass to Pierce, but the ball winds up in the stands for yet another Boston turnover (!) ... Sacramento regains possession (while Pollard and Tony come into the game), as Garcia gives an upfake to get T-Allen in the air. He absorbs the contact to draw the foul (this is eerily reminiscent of the "Billups Incident"), and makes both free throws to get the Kings within single digits (64-55 1:11).
Pierce then misses the shot, and Pollard tries to tip it in; that too misses (!!!), and Douby comes away with the rebound. He passes upcourt to Garcia, who drives to the basket and is fouled from behind by Tony (you're killing me man!). So, we head back to the line, and Francisco makes one-of-two free throws (64-56 :46.4).
Thankfully, two foul shots by Pierce with 34.1 seconds left puts the Celts back up by ten (66-56) ... That doesn't give me much comfort, however, as Boston shot just 25 percent (4-16 FG) with nine turnovers in that quarter! Sacramento, meanwhile, was on fire in the third, shooting better than 50 percent (10-19 FG) with only three turnovers.
FOURTH QUARTER
Garcia hits a three-pointer to open the quarter (he gives the crowd a little swagger after the shot, which Gorman describes as "some nonsense") ... House tries to answer, but misses the three-point attempt, and Miller comes away with the rebound. He sends it up the floor to Garcia, who dribbles around for a bit before giving the ball back to Brad; he misses the outside shot, but Artest secures the offensive rebound and scores on the putback (66-61 11:12)!
House tries another three-point shot, and actually connects on this one (good) ... At the other end, Miller misses another shot, and Posey pulls down the rebound. He passes to Pierce, who takes it back the other way, then swings the ball around to Posey behind the three-point line. He pulls up, and buries a trey of his own (72-61 10:11)!
It's still an 11-point lead, when Garnett comes back into the game at the 9:47 mark (Pollard takes a seat) ... He gets himself involved quickly, as he makes the nice pass inside to Tony who finishes with the layup (74-61 8:58).
At the other end, Artest has his shot blocked by KG (it's like he never left); Ronnie is able to recover the loose ball ... until Posey sneaks in from behind and strips him! Yeah, DEFENSE!
Posey gets the ball upcourt to Tony, who passes to Garnett. He then finds House in the corner behind the three-point line; his shot misses, however KG grabs the offensive board ... and Miller reaches over to give him a shot across the bridge of the nose, which sends Kevin to the floor in obvious pain (oh man).
That's the second time Miller has gotten KG in the face tonight (which makes it harder to believe that it's all inadvertant contact); meanwhile, Garnett is slow to get up off floor, so Boston calls a timeout with 8:30 remaining to give him a chance to recover ... Sure enough, when play resumes Kevin is still in the game (Gorman: "I don't believe this guy's walking back out on the court"), as Posey misses the three-point attempt and Garcia lets the ball bounce out of bounds.
Sacramento regains possession with a chance to trim the lead further ... Salmons misses, but the loose rebound goes off Tony and out of bounds. That gives the Kings another shot, and Garcia finds Salmons in the corner for the three-pointer (74-64 7:39).
At the other end, KG winds up being double-teamed by Garcia and Miller (watch the nose!), but is able to pass out to Tony for another layup (76-64 7:17).
Garcia then tries to lob a pass inside to Miller for the easy bucket, however House slides in to knock the ball out of his hands; Pierce dives to the floor to try and save it (nice hustle play), but it goes out of bounds with three seconds left on the shot clock ... Garcia inbounds to Miller, but Paul is again able to knock it out of his hands, as the buzzer sounds and the Kings are assessed with the turnover!
That makes it Celtics' ball, but Tony can't convert on the layup, and Garcia grabs the rebound ... We head back the other way, as Salmons has his shot partially blocked by KG, but the refs say that Posey fouled Moore trying to keep him away from the ensuing loose ball.
The Kings regain possession (as Rondo comes into the game for House), but quickly cough it up as Garcia is whistled for travelling! That puts Boston back in control with 5:57 left in the game ... Ray misses the three-point attempt, but Rondo grabs the offensive board and dribbles out to reset the offense. Then he thinks, 'Ah the hell with it', and drives right at Garcia for the layup (78-64 5:15)!
Things are looking up, as Salmons is called for his own travelling violation; Udrih follows that up by committing the foul on Rajon as he's making another strong move to the basket, and our young point guard heads to the line for one-of-two free throws (79-64 4:25).
Garcia can't answer with the jumpshot, and Garnett pulls down another rebound. He gives the ball to Rondo, who dribbles up the floor, then passes back to KG and he takes it down the lane himself. Before he can get a shot off, however, Francisco grabs him from behind ... Kevin decides to voice his displeasure with that (I'm guessing he's sick of being everyone's punching bag tonight), but eventually steps to the line with 3:48 remaining, and proceeds to miss both foul shots (dangit).
Udrih scores a basket to get Sacramento within thirteen, while at the other end Pierce sets the pick on Beno to free up Rondo ... so he just explodes down the lane and tries to go up over Moore for the one-handed dunk (!), but Mikki won't allow it and gives the hard foul. That sends Rajon sprawling to the floor, but he's okay, and is able to make both free throws (81-66 3:12).
Rondo's tenacity has been Boston's saving grace over the last few minutes, as they just might have survived Sacramento's second-half onslaught ... Sure enough, they end the game on a 10-3 run, and come out of this one with the 89-69 victory.
FINAL SCORE: Boston 89, Sacramento 69
GAME RATING:
16
SLAM DUNK
BOSTON TOP PERFORMERS:
- R. Allen: 36 MIN, 17 PTS (6-16 FG), 3 REB, 3 STL
- Pierce: 41 MIN, 16 PTS (4-12 FG), 6 AST, 4 REB
- Garnett: 36 MIN, 14 PTS (7-13 FG), 10 REB (5 OFF), 2 STL
- Rondo: 29 MIN, 13 PTS (3-10 FG, 7-10 FT), 4 REB, 4 STL, 3 AST
- Artest: 41 MIN, 15 PTS (4-15 FG), 6 REB
- Salmons: 41 MIN, 13 PTS (6-11 FG), 4 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, 2 BLK
- Miller: 34 MIN, 7 PTS (2-11 FG), 11 REB, 5 TO
POST-GAME NOTES:
- Neither team shot the ball particularly well ... Boston was down around 41 percent (31-76 FG), while Sacramento was even lower (26-68 FG).
- However, the Celts were even money from three-point range (11-22 3PTers), as the King struggled with a paltry 13 percent (2-15 3PTers)!
- Rondo was tonight's Tommy Award winner.
- One down, three to go ...
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