Finally. A win. On the road.
It looked like it was going to be another near 4th quarter collapse, but Baron and the D stepped it up this time. In the final couple minutes, the Celtics cut the lead to 1 three times, but Baron was there to knock down a jumper or hit a couple free throws. Then on the last play, Paul Pierce had the ball, drove the lane, and here's what happened...
SWARMED
I guess Pierce thought that he could take on the entire Warriors defense. There are 5 guys surrounding Pierce. It was a weird play actually. He drove the lane, got swarmed and there might have been a foul, but the refs ruled a jump ball with 0.1 seconds to go. Nothing the Celtics could do to win. The Warriors caught a break. The Celtics fans complained about a foul, and I'm sure I'd complain too if I was a Celtics fan. But in that situation, you have to get hammered to get a foul call and if you go 1 on 5, you don't get any sympathy.
Here's what Nellie had to say:
As far as the D stepping it up, what I like to see is that Paul Pierce had just 2 points in the 4th quarter. The Warriors made sure that the Celtics' best player was not going to beat them. If the Warriors were going to lose, somebody else would have to step up and make a shot. With Wally out it was going to have to be one of the young guys, Jefferson, Green, Allen, Gomes, etc.
Pietrus knew what needed to be done on D.
"We really tried to play good defense in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. I think we did a good job of getting the ball out of his (Paul Pierce) hand."
Honestly, this is not a game we should have won. JRich shot 4-19, Monta had 3 turnovers in 5 minutes, got out-rebounded, shot a lower percentage, and had less free throws. But this is how we won:
Baron!
Seriously, where would we be without Baron? He's playing out of his mind right now. 31 points on 11-16 from the field, 7-9 from the line, 8 assists, and big big clutch shots. All-Star. The guy is carrying the team right now. He ran out of gas the last few games in the 4th quarter because he's not getting as much help as earlier in the season due in part to Monta and Biedrins coming back to Earth. But tonight, he wasn't going to let the Dubs lose again. He's not going to shoot 11-16 often, nor can we afford to have him play 44 minutes every night, so looking forward, someone else has to step up. He needs some help fellas!
Nellie on Baron
The upcoming games against Orlando and Miami will be real tough games. The win is great, but the Warriors will have to play better to beat those two teams and avoid a 1-5 trip. The Warriors can beat both teams, so that 3-3 road trip is still a possibility. They'll need some better games out of everyone else to do it, but I still think we'll go 3-3 on the trip.
Also, here are some of the Celtics blog recaps:
Celticsstuff Live Recap
Loy's Place
Warrior Wonder: Baron Davis.