POST GAME INDIANA

Better showing by all the C's as their defense kicked in and we built a comfortable lead which we held.

Steam Boat had 5 blocks and RA came to life with a couple of huge 3's when we needed it. He finished with 19pts. Paul rounded back into form with 24 pts


NEXT GAME TOMORROW @ BOSTON - PHILLY - 6PM CSNE/NBA LEAGUE PASS



POST GAME WEEI 850 AM

FAST BREAK: C’S PACE THEMSELVES IN CONVINCING WIN IN INDY
By Ryan Hadfield

The Celtics snapped their two game losing streak on Saturday night, beating the Pacers, 86-72. Rajon Rondo had double-digit (12) assists for the 16th straight game (the longest streak since John Stockton in 1992.). Paul Pierce led the way with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Kevin Garnett struggled with his shot for the majority of the game, but in the fourth quarter he heated up, scoring 10 of his 15 points in the final frame. For the Pacers Danny Granger scored 20 points.

Boston will host the 76ers, who currently trail the Celtics for first place in the Atlantic division, Sunday night. Philly has already beaten the C’s in dominant fashion twice this season.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

What Goes Around Comes Around: In the Jan. 6th match-up at the Garden, the Celtics set a franchise record-low for points in the first-half, only scoring 25 points. The Pacers didn’t embarrass themselves to that level, but in a battle with strong playoff implications, they certainly came out flat, only putting up 33 first half points. Part of this effort was poor execution, but the Celtics also played swarming defense and contested shots — especially in the paint, where Greg Stiemsma had five (yes, FIVE) first half blocks.

No Reservations: The production off the Celtics bench has been volatile all year. The starters, from an offensive standpoint, have had to carry the load. Doc Rivers shortened his rotation and established roles after the All-Star break which has improved the unit’s efficiency. With Ray Allen relegated to the bench after missing six games, the reserves should have more firepower going forward.

This was the case Saturday night, as the Celtics bench outscored the Pacers reserves 37-12. The expected output from Allen (19 points) came. The way in which Allen scored was encouraging, his whole arsenal was on display. He hit a few 3-pointers, a mid-range jumper, and converted a lay-up on the fast break.

But unsung heroes also came up big for Boston. Stiemsma added 10 points and nine rebounds and Sasha Pavlovic (8 points) continued to play the role of “good soldier,” and contributing in the limited minutes of action he is given.

Sharing is caring: The Celtics had 27 assists on their 32 field goals. The strong ball in the half court gave open looks for Boston.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Making Things Uncomfortable: As good as the Celtics defense was, their offense struggled at times. Boston shot 42.1% from the field and at times settled for jump shots, which led to a 19-14 free throw discrepancy in favor of the Pacers. A more aggressive offensive approach could have helped Boston’s cause.

That said, the Celtics’ lead did float around nine points for the duration of the game, so it’s tough to find fault in the performance.

Bad B’s: This will probably be a game Avery Bradley and Brandon Bass will want to forget. The two starters have been pleasant surprises for the Celtics and have played well beyond preseason expectations. Saturday night, however, the two combined for six points (2-of-13 shooting).

After the game, Doc was a bit more optimistic than Ray was about Ray's performance. Doc mentioned how, in the second half, one could see it happening for Ray. Ray said he's still working with the ankle and still not in rhythm. A case of a perfectionist not yet feeling perfect, I guess.

But it seems obvious that Ray's presence will make the offense of the bench much more potent while Avery's presence will do the same for the starters' defense. In recent memory, the Bulls' game has been the only one in which the Celtics have not built an early lead. That's a dramatic turnaround compared with the Celtics of earlier in the season.

Has anyone else noticed that other teams are getting wise to Avery's baseline drives and are starting to swarm him under the basket? He also lost the ball once or twice with his dribble drives into traffic against the Pacers. Although Avery's outside shooting seemingly has become somewhat more accurate, it's definitely not at the stage where it could be considered a reliable offensive weapon. So, until he reaches another plateau in his offensive moves, his defense remains his key contribution in helping the Celts build early leads by disrupting opponents' defense and their rhythm.

What's nice about the emerging balance between the scoring potential of the starters and the bench is that (1) it gives the Celtics more insurance against the possibility that one or two key team members might have an off shooting night and (2) it helps the team to be more consistent in getting defensive stops which, in turn, leads to more runs for them and fewer runs for competitors.

Other pleasant observations:

• For the most part, both starters and the bench are pushing the ball the majority of the time.

• Stiemsma is turning into a team leader when it comes to interior defense. Because of this, he's getting more minutes, perhaps at the expense of Bass.

• It's noteworthy that two defensive stalwarts (Steamer and Avery) are taking minutes from two offensive weapons (Ray and Bass) in the interest of providing balance between offensive strength and defensive strength. And the combination of KG and Steamer is giving teams fits under the basket.

• Doc's doing a magnificent job of juggling players' minutes so that KG is spending big minutes with the starters and big minutes with the bench without winding up with too large a total of minutes.

• As it should be, the "crunch time" unit most typically consists of KG, Bass, Pierce, Ray and Rondo. Either Bradley or Sasha (maybe Pietrus if/when he returns) can replace Bass if Doc decides to go small, dredge up more offensively intensity, or deal with foul problems.

• In short, one advantage of playing with a shortened rotation is that everybody's getting used to playing with everybody, offering Doc versatility in matching players to situations.

They're currently longshots as candidates for going deep into the playoffs. But they're also gelling pretty quickly and strengthening themselves at both ends of the floor and for all four quarters of games.

Go Celtics.

Sam

Steamers best game by far, his defense was there, hes suddenly got good hands catching and finishing at the rim in one motion it seems, earlier in the year he wasn't doing that. Somewhat off game offensively for AB, I'm thinking was just that an off night, he'll pick it up and hit his shots. KG showed me something carrying us in 4th after being cold most of game,as usual he was battling in paint. Pierce was his usual self with a knack for scoring in variety of ways, thougfht he should have gotten more calls.

Overall a game we needed and we weren't near our best, but the defense in 2nd quarter helped get us out to the lead and we held it to win. I'll take it.

what a good news way to start the day...now if we could only beat Philly

All the previous games against 76ers the Celtics were on the second night on a back2back and Philly had the night before off.

Tonight they are both coming off a back2back which should make things more equal.