Phoenix @ Boston ?2
The suns are coming off a disappointing loss to the nets in a game that was billed marbury vs. kidd and the suns were promptly routed. Now they head to the Fleet center to face the equally surprising celtics who are coming off a rout of the Denver Nuggets and an interview before the game with Celtic superstar Antoine Walker may have set the tone for the new look celtics. In a nutshell walker spoke of how he was very pleased with how the celtics were playing on the road but to be a great team they would have to win at home. The celtics were also reminded by coach Jim O?brien earlier in the season of the great start they had last year only to blow it with a late season collapse. Boston coach Jim O'Brien told the Boston Herald this week that he put a No. 71 on a chalkboard after the Celtics started the season 5-6 and had lost four in a row.
O'Brien put the 71 up to remind his players of how many games remained and to tell them to forget what had happened to that point.
"You've got 71 games. Now who the hell do you want to be?" O'Brien asked. "And I think the guys decided that they want to be a good defensive basketball team."
Since then the celtics have played outstanding defense.
Defense should play another key role in tonight?s game as well.
Statistically, the Celtics are among the best this season. They rank fifth in the NBA in points allowed, giving up only 90.9 a game. The Suns are 15th at 94.6 points a game.
The Celtics also have the seventh-best defense based on field-goal percentage allowed. The Suns are 14th.
The game against the nets may have been a telling sign for things to come as they were out rebounded by the nets and things should continue to go that way tonight.
But the category that might give the Suns the most concern is rebounding. New Jersey, the second-best rebounding team in the league, dominated the Suns on the backboards.
The Celtics rank fourth-best on the boards, and the Suns have slipped down the rankings to 17th.
"We are really struggling to rebound the ball," coach Scott Skiles said after the loss to the Nets. "At halftime in a combined 22 minutes, Jake (Tsakalidis) and Googs (Tom Gugliotta) had one defensive rebound. That's just not going to cut it. We gave up 17 offensive rebounds for 24 points."
The celtics have also played very well against the suns in Boston as they are 4-1 su, and 5-0 ats in the last five. The celtics also post good numbers against teams that have winning records (4-2), against teams that are out of conference (2-0), and in home games at 5-3 against the number.
Finally the celtics are full of confidence especially the leading scorer in the NBA Paul Pierce. What's going on? In a word, it's called confidence. Pierce has it, and he also knows he's in a position where he will be encouraged to shoot until his arm falls off because there aren't a lot of other choices.
''I'm confident,'' he said, telling the world something it already knew. ''I might not talk about it, but I've been confident ever since I've come into the league. I feel like I can dominate any game I come into.''
More importantly he has a team that believes him, and supports him ''[Pierce] is very hot right now,'' said Antoine Walker. ''He's killing the rest of the 2 and 3 men [shooting guards and small forwards]. He's playing very confident and we feel very confident in him. He's done a great job of going to the line.''
In the Nets game, Pierce was 17 of 18 from the line. Against Denver, he was 9 of 10. He's had four games with 10 or more free throw attempts, and the Celtics are 4-0 in those. When you have someone who can shoot and drive and who has a lethal first step, it's a combustible mix.
''I try to mix it up. Keep the defense off-balance. Go inside. Shoot perimeter shots to keep the defense honest,'' Pierce said. ''It's tough when my perimeter shot is going and you have to come out because then I can drive to the basket. My teammates and coaches know that I'm tough to stop one-on-one. They got me the ball in pretty good position.''
Even if the suns try to stop pierce they have to deal with walker & Co. and more importantly rookie Joe johnson who has been outstanding in his first year with the celtics.
The Green at home is the play tonight.
-2
JT
Sneaks
[This message has been edited by JT Sneaks (edited 12-07-2001).]
Sneaks
