POST GAME ATLANTA - GAME 2

WE WIN....NOW LET'S GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!!!!

I only rearranged my furniture in my den 5 times and sat in 8 chairs until I found a lucky one!!!! Wow did we dodge a bullet!

Tale of 2 half's as the Celtics attacked the paint, gained rhythm and played some outstanding defense to shut the Hawks down in the 4th quarter.

Let's give a Tommy point to Marquis Daniels on some great defense and just good basketball to settle the Celtics down.

Paul Pierce is the ultimate assassin when he kept pouring in daggers!!!!!!!!! Great comeback game by him, 36 pts and 14 rebounds. Bradley back to his old self chipped in 14 points and some outstanding defensive plays!!!!!!!

Paul also has many acts to his game.....bows in Madison Square Garden......Tebowing in Atlanta!!!!!!!!!!

NEXT GAME FRIDAY AT HOME - 7:30PM CSNE/ESPN


POST GAME RECAP

WEEI 850 AM

FAST BREAK: TRUTH BE TOLD, CELTICS EVEN HAWKS SERIES
By Ben Rohrbach


Calling what the Celtics played without point guard Rajon Rondo “offense” is being kind, but Paul Pierce and a ridiculous defensive effort in the fourth quarter stole a Game 2 victory against the Hawks, 87-80.

Pierce finished with 36 points on 12-for-26 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds and four assists (and eight turnovers), and the defense held the Hawks to 14 points and 4-for-19 shooting in the final 12 minutes to even the series 1-1 entering Friday’s Game 3. All that was left for Pierce was to Tebow in victory.

Kevin Garnett (15 points, 12 rebounds) also finished with a double-double, and Avery Bradley (14 points) was the only other Celtic to reach double figures as they shot 42.6 percent as a team.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Captain, obvious: In the absence of Rondo, the Celtics needed Pierce to be heavily involved. And he was early. Pierce scored on a layup just six seconds ion the game, the first of his nine straight C’s points to open the game. Through the first 4:45, Pierce played the Hawks even, 9-9, establishing himself as the best player on the floor and setting an early tone for a Celtics offense desperately in need of a leader. He finished strong, too, scoring 13 fourth-quarter points.

Depth perception: Believe it or not, the Celtics built a lead with Ryan Hollins, Sasha Pavlovic and Keyon Dooling all on the floor. After the C’s battled the Hawks to a 24-24 deadlock through the first quarter, they started the second with that trio, Garnett and Bradley. Even Marquis Daniels made an appearance. When Pierce returned to the floor three minutes into the second quarter, his team led, 28-27. It was just a one-point advantage, but the Celtics captain got some much-needed rest even when Doc Rivers had limited resources.

Hanging tough: Through three quarters, the Celtics played perhaps their worst basketball after the All-Star break, shooting 21-for-54 from the field (38.9 FG%) and 2-for-11 from beyond the arc (18.2 3P%) while committing double-digit turnovers. They had no business being in the game, but somehow, even after defensive mental lapses that led to uncontested dunks and wide-open 3-pointers, the Celtics trailed just 66-61 entering the fourth quarter — thanks to the Hawks’ 39.1 percent shooting (25-64 FG).

WHAT WENT WRONG

Empty trey: After shooting 0-for-11 from 3-point range in Game 1, the Celtics started 0-for-7 through the first half of Game 2. Three quick first-half fouls on Mickael Pietrus certainly didn’t help, while both Pierce and Pavlovic missed a pair of attempts in the first 24 minutes. Meanwhile, after connecting on seven triples in the series opener, the Hawks made another four in the opening two quarters to enter the break with a 44-41 halftime lead. Keyon Dooling finally broke the C’s trey-less streak on the team’s ninth attempt of the night, 5:25 into the third quarter. They finished 3-for-14.

The runs: Bradley and Brandon Bass combined to score the first 10 points of the second quarter, and even the bench stepped up to help the Celtics establish a 34-29 lead with seven minutes remaining in the half. But three of Jeff Teague‘s 12 first-half points ignited a 9-0 Hawks run that gave them a 38-34 lead. Teague (18 points) contented to dominate the middle portion of the game until the Celtics somehow found an answer in the fourth.

Josh being Josh: After totaling 22 points and 18 boards against them in Game 1, the Celtics needed the old Josh Smith to show up in the series. He did, missing a wide open windmill dunk in the first quarter. Smith also clanged a corner 3-point attempt off the side of the backboard. Then Smith 2.0 showed up — until leaving the game with a reported left knee sprain — finishing the game with 16 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rapid Reaction: C's 87, Hawks 80 (Game 2)
PM ET
By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

Kevin Garnett at work versus the Hawks in Tuesday's Game 2 at Philips Arena.
ATLANTA -- Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks 87-80 in Game 2 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal series at Philips Arena. The series is now tied at 1 game apiece:

HOW THE GAME WAS WON
Paul Pierce poured in a game-high 36 points on 12-of-26 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds to spearhead a Rajon Rondo-less offense. Pierce handed out only four assists, but carried the offense with his exploits, making 11-of-13 attempts at the charity stripe. Kevin Garnett produced a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds), while Avery Bradley had a quality all-around effort while helping run the offense (14 points, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 2 rebounds). Joe Johnson finished with a team-high 22 points for the Hawks, while Josh Smith had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

TURNING POINT
The Hawks were up 11 with under three minutes to play in the third quarter, but the Celtics took over thanks in large part to their defense. Pierce's offense helped trim the lead to five before the end of the quarter and a Bradley jumper with 8:49 to play in the fourth frame tied the game at 66. But the run was fueled by the fact that the Hawks went nearly 7½ minutes without a field goal and even when Johnson ended that drought, Boston didn't relent. Marquis Daniels, who finished plus-11 in plus/minus while aiding Boston's late defensive stand, delivered a dunk off a pretty feed from Garnett and Pierce followed soon after with his own slam. A 3-pointer from Pierce with 3:30 to go had Boston on top 79-72. The Hawks wouldn't get closer than three the rest of the way.

BOLD PLAY OF THE GAME
For much of the first half, Bradley and Jeff Teague looked like they were trying to one-up each other with highlight-worthy plays. Teague won the competition with a rather ridiculous block on Keyon Dooling. What made it all the more amazing was that Teague left Dooling alone to try to poke the ball away from Garnett, ending up beyond the 3-point stripe on the left wing as the Celtics began swinging the ball around the perimeter the other way. Teague didn't just recover, but raced all the way over to Dooling in the right corner (getting around a Greg Stiemsma screen in the process) before blocking the shot about five rows deep with a monster leap. [Watch it HERE].

HEY, A TRIFECTA!
After missing all 11 3-pointers they hoisted in Sunday's Game 1, the Celtics missed eight more 3-pointers to start Tuesday's Game 2 before Keyon Dooling ended the drought with a triple from the left wing with 6:35 to play in the third quarter. Boston endured a stretch of 77 minutes, 25 seconds before that first trifecta. Atlanta made 12 3-pointers before the Celtics' first of the series. Dooling made two triples overall as Boston finished 3 of 14 beyond the arc.

PIERCE STARTS STRONG; PIETRUS NOT SO MUCH
Pierce scored the game's first bucket six seconds in and tallied Boston's first nine points overall by making his first four shots. Things went south for both him and Pietrus soon after (though both managed to recover later). Pietrus picked up three fouls in 34 seconds before being taken out with 7:50 to play in the frame (the Celtics leaning on Sasha Pavlovic and Daniels the rest of the half). And even though Pierce went cold (making just one of his next five shots), the Celtics hung around in an entertaining first quarter and were tied with the Hawks at 24 after the first 12 minutes.

CELTICS RUN 10 DEEP
Without Ray Allen (ankle) and Rajon Rondo (suspension) and with Pietrus in early foul trouble, Rivers went deep with his bench, utilizing 10 bodies in the first half. That included a fair dose of center Ryan Hollins, who played 4:38 in the first half and was actually one of only two Boston players with a positive plus/minus at halftime (both him and Pavlovic were plus-3). Alas, bench players were still a combined 2 of 7 for a mere 4 points (all from Pavlovic) before the intermission. Dooling and Daniels gave the bench a burst later in the game.

HAWKS LOSE SMITH LATE
Smith came up hobbling late in the fourth quarter and departed with what the team announced as a sprained left knee with 4:20 to go. The Hawks were down 2 at that point and sorely missed his presence as the offensive struggled to generate points throughout the second half.

WHAT IT MEANS
The Celtics can claim this wasn't a must-win but, let's face it, teams that have opened 2-0 series leads in past best-of-seven series own a winning percentage of better than 94 percent. Even with the series set to shift back to Boston, the Celtics needed to steal this one. Now despite fumbling away home-court advantage with their regular-season inconsistencies, they've essentially wrestled it away from the Hawks by evening the series. That's no small feat considering that Atlanta has been a house of horrors for the Celtics. The fact that Boston was able to win despite playing without Rondo and Allen makes it even sweeter. Boston gets Rondo back for Friday's Game 3, but will need to bottle this momentum moving forward.

The Celtics have done something that they couldn't do in the 2008 playoffs:

They won a game in Atlanta!!!

Josh Smith Has A Sprained Patella Ligament

Adrian Wojnarowski


Atlanta's Josh Smith has sprained patella ligament in knee, source tells Y! "He walked out of arena w/ no help, just gingerly," source says.

Adrian Wojnarowski




Smith will have an MRI exam on Wednesday in Atlanta.

Hi,
What a game, what a performance from PP!
Frankly, I don't get it, all this fuss about "tebow" pose. The guy came to win the game: no matter what, no matter where, no matter who, and he did. I think he deserves to stand in whatever pose.
The first comment though should be the whole team came to win. If Celtics had the same attitude on Sunday they'd be 2-0.
I was surprised to see MD on the floor (15+ min) but he rose to the occasion. My goodness, even RH played. Doc was forced to play 10 guys and all of them looked and acted as if their lives depended on the outcome of the game.
Sure, there're lots of oops and hiccups and, I'm pretty sure Doc will be drilling everybody about them.
Now back to Boston. Game 3 will feature a pissed-off RR and, I believe, he's going to show everybody what he's capable of.

AK

Kudos to The Captain! Pierce took control during the key stretches of this game. He took the challange of tying the series up very personal. In his words, " He gives the game what it needs." This game needed an extra dose of # 34. I think last night gives us another example of why when all is said and done, he rates up there (in the rafters) with Bird, Hondo and most everyone else who has a number retired. The Tebowing at mid court was priceless! Pierce is a bit of a showman & entertainer. He was entertaining no thoughts of anything but getting a split in the first 2 games. I just hope Josh Smith's injury deosn't serve to rally the Hawks. It behooves the C's to take a stranglehold on the series by winning Friday (home Friday wins were hard to come by this season) and Sunday in Boston. Rondo's return Friday can't come too soon!

MD!

sinus

Personally I didn't care for what Pierce did. Thought it was a bit over the top rope. His actions while playing were the greater message and IMHO he should have left it at that, Why give Atlanta a reason to give greater effort? (if possible)

In a way it sort of reminded me of the time Terrell Owens scored a TD in Dallas for (whoever) and ran to the big star at the 50 and then spiked the ball. Next time he scored he ran there again.... only this time some player from Dallas blindsided him.

I am in no way comparing the players TO to PP but in this instance in hostile territory it was unnecessary.

As for the game......

We did not play well but played hard. Defense was good, ( and great in the 4th) offense was good enough.

Need to get this series over in 5 if possible. Save the legs for round 2.

beat

Pierce was relentless, he reminded me of Havlicek and Bird in an epic gutsy performance carrying team on his back, making every big play and refusing to lose, gutsy, clutch.....HoF type performance. He showed again that hes capable of reaching a zone that very very few players can get to and do it at the most demanding time, thats why hes the Truth. Glad I got to share that performance with my kids.

KG's defense and AB's defense came to life especially in the 4th as game was tightening our defense choked the life out of them possesion after possesion as Hawks only scored 4 FG's in whole 4th quarter. Quis and Ryan Hollins played great, Hollins was active defensively, at first I didn't want to seem him in there, but he played well clogging the lane.

I didn't mind Pierce kneeling and reflecting for a moment, Tebowing if you want to call it that has been around way before Tebow, its all entertainment and Pierce played his heart out, he wants a moment to thank whoever I got no problem with that.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Pierce was relentless, he reminded me of Havlicek and Bird in an epic gutsy performance carrying team on his back, making every big play and refusing to lose, gutsy, clutch.....HoF type performance. He showed again that hes capable of reaching a zone that very very few players can get to and do it at the most demanding time, thats why hes the Truth. Glad I got to share that performance with my kids.

KG's defense and AB's defense came to life especially in the 4th as game was tightening our defense choked the life out of them possesion after possesion as Hawks only scored 4 FG's in whole 4th quarter. Quis and Ryan Hollins played great, Hollins was active defensively, at first I didn't want to seem him in there, but he played well clogging the lane.

I didn't mind Pierce kneeling and reflecting for a moment, Tebowing if you want to call it that has been around way before Tebow, its all entertainment and Pierce played his heart out, he wants a moment to thank whoever I got no problem with that.

Pierce wasn't thanking "whoever." He was mocking the Hawks and their fans in the middle of the court and I, for one, didn't like it. Thought it was ridiculous and insulting. Walk off the court with your head held high and don't showboat. Obviously loved his game performance though. This is one case where 8 turnovers can be excused with how much he had the ball.

Paul Pierce channels Tebow after beating Hawks (twice?)

Paul Pierce has never met New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow nor is Pierce a big fan of him. If Pierce roots for any NFL team, it's the New England Patriots.

And yet in the closing seconds of the Boston Celtics' gritty 87-80 victory over the Atlanta Hawks – after a performance that saw him spread 36 points and 14 rebounds over 44 minutes – Pierce couldn't help himself. He Tebowed. Twice.

“I’ve seen it on TV," Pierce said later. "I don’t know what inspired it. I don’t know why. I wasn’t thinking about it. It was instinctive.

“It’s just like I don’t know when I’m going to shoot a three or jumper. It was instincts.”

for the rest:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nba--paul-pierce-channels-tebow-after-beating-hawks.html;_ylt=AkkPVqT2mCYScrR6fCZ46SG8vLYF

steve

Look at all the emotion he just played with, you don't know what was in his head, who was he mocking? thats not mocking, its an athlete thanking the almighty for a blessed moment.

cowens/oldschool wrote:steve

Look at all the emotion he just played with, you don't know what was in his head, who was he mocking? thats not mocking, its an athlete thanking the almighty for a blessed moment.

I respectively disagree. PP has never been an overtly religious person. Never ONCE in his entire career have I seen him on camera thanking "the Lord" or Jesus Christ or any other spirit for his performance (and that's refreshing because it gets TIRED). To do it now in his 14th season for the first time, after all the Tebow hoopla, when that is not his history is mocking.

Cow

If Bron or Kobe had a monster game in a playoff game against us in our place and did the same thing on Lucky at half court, after having just made the daggar shot.............

Would you care? Would you feel the same way as you do about Pierce?

IMHO it was a foolish and a thoughtless thing to do. We are a team not an individual, it says CELTICS on the front and as sort of like Herb Brooks said to his team in 1980 in Lake Placid. "the name on the front is a whole lot more important than the name on the back."

Bringing undue attention to himself was unnecessary, act like you've been there. You mentioned Bird and Hondo. They would never have done anything like this.

beat

Paul Pierce, in his own words, does not mention that the reason for the "Tebow" included thanking a higher power.

It was just something he saw on TV and then he just went with it? That Paul, he is sooooo impressionable!!! Like ... totally!!! (lol)

Who cares. If THAT is what the Hawks need to motivate them, they are a sad bunch of losers.

Paul Pierce showed why he is a top 5 all time Celtic, and one of the best players of his generation.

This team is ALL HEART and they refuse to give up, a trait that has to worry ATL and future opponents. I kept thinking, just imagine if you add Ray, Rondo, Jeff Green and Wilcox to this team....MAN watch out.

Doc Rivers is a great great coach - and his decision to relieve Pierce from having to guard Joe Johnson was the difference in this game and this series IMO.

Pietrus and Marquis played great games.....so did KG....digging deep on a few shots with the clock running down and totally shutting down Josh Smith in the 2nd half.

Rondo + the Boston Fans = a double digit victory on Friday Night.

So proud to wear Celtic green today..they are all that is right with sports.

Great gut-check win by our guys.

1. Pierce did it all. Scored, rebounded, assisted (ok, 8 TOs too). The Captain led by example and not a minute too soon. There was a point where I thought it was a little too much Me-Ball, but I can't complain about the result. We all know his number is going to be hanging from the rafters someday and this game is one of the reasons. He was not going to let his team go down 0-2. He just wasn't. Could have done without the Tebow. Definitely could have done without him doing it twice.

2. Great game by Rondo. He really is indispensable.

3. Steamer just played 8 minutes. I don't know what to make of it. He's not in a slump. Can his feet be that bad, even after the rest? If so, then we've got problems ahead.

4. Pietrus took a charge, but other than that did more damage on the court than good. Marquis Daniels though had an excellent game. You look at his stat sheet and you don't see much but if you watched the game you saw steadiness, sticky defense and a coherent offense when he was in.

5. A big deal was made about Jeff Teague's block of Dooling. Oooh. Ahhh. There, I'm done. What's overlooked, after that swat into the 4th row and Teague's chest thumping, is that the Celtics inbounded the ball and Bradley hit a jumper. In the final analysis, Teague prevented a fga from 3 by a team that was ice cold from 3 and then his man got 2 off him on the next play. Teague had 18 points but he needed 6-18 to get them. Only 2 assists. I've never been a Jeff Teague fan. He's doing well this series so far but it doesn't take much from him to impress me. 6-18 doesn't. If you're going to take almost 22% of your team's fga, you better shoot better than 33%.

6. Josh Smith shot slightly better than Teague at 38%. The Atlanta offense was Smith, Johnson and Teague and that's about it. Together they were 67% of their fga. A lot of one-on-one. Some flashy stuff, especially by Teague and Johnson, but not the team ball we saw in game 1.

7. Not that we should talk. Pierce alone had 38% of our fga, but he shot 46%. You can take the shots, IF you hit them. Still, I'm amazed we won this and only got 68 fga. That is ridiculously anemic.

8. We were still only 3-14 from 3. Pierce just couldn't stop taking them, neither could Pietrus (who didn't much of anything else right either). Dooling was 2-3 and the one he missed was the one Teague blocked. Dooling has been coming up big the last week or two. I've been down on him a lot this season, and he did slump, but he's playing like a veteran now. Rounding out the bench, Sasha had an ok game, nothing great. Couldn't hit his 3s either (why should he be different?) but he played his usual defense (getting some shitty calls by the refs) and put it on the floor and went in for a layup once. I love it when he does that. He has such a rep as a 3pt shooter he can put that fake on and step in closer almost anytime he wants.

9. Bradley is attacking the basket beautifully. They're setting picks for him and he's going to the rim. He's taking it fullcourt. There was one sequence where he was going fullcourt and, unlike what we've seen him do in the past, he didn't pull up at the 3pt line and look to defer to someone else, he kept going and got a transition layup. I was in a bar, screaming at him to keep going, keep going and he did. I love it when kids like that listen to me. Seriously, his change in attitude, from timid to aggressive, has produced an amazing explosion in the quality of his game. I know Ray Allen isn't happy. He's not happy being injured and he's probably not happy about coming off the bench for the first time in his career (regardless of whose idea that really was) but I'm thinking that this is best. Bradley is FAR more effective starting and Ray is still a lights out shooter and we need offense off the bench. Of course, we need Ray to get out of his dapper grey suit and pink/grey tie and back into his green/white tank top and shorts first. I hope that's soon.

We went into Atlanta hoping/expecting a sweep. No Horford, no Zaza, what else should we have thought? What we needed was a split. Mission Accomplished. Now we come home and Rondo gets a chance to repair his damaged reputation.

bob

.

Mrkleen

like I asked Cow

What if Kobe or Bron did this to us in the Garden on Lucky?

You ask who cares?

Well for one I do. Would I want my son to do this? Heavens no.

I have never needed to teach him respect you opponents. Uncalled for on any level.

Too much of the Me Me Me shit going on.

As for the Hawks we'll se how they do react maybe they will answer maybe they won't.

If PP needs to do this then he is a sorry sort too. I lost a little respect for him last eve.

beat

Beat

PP has scored 22,000 points with dignity and class. He has EARNED the right to show some emotion from time to time. This is no different than a fist pump or a chest bump....letting off a bit of steam after carrying the load all night long.

It is only as big a deal as the press makes it, as frankly I didnt even notice it during the game and I am sure the Hawks didnt either.

Paul Pierce has a body of work which speaks for itself. Sorry to hear you are letting a non issue change your impression of him

Pierce had a great game. As Doc said afterwards, with Rondo and Ray out, that was the only way Boston was going to win the game, the Hawks knew it, and they couldn't stop him from doing it.

As for him "Tebowing," I don't remember anyone striking that particular pose prior to Tebow. Bowing a head, pointing to the sky, stuff like that, but not the Tebow pose. I think Tebow's motivations were honest enough, but it's become something different, more of a touchstone for popular culture than a geniunely reflective moment. In Pierce's case, I've never considered him to be demonstrative about his religious beliefs, and there are far more humble ways to give thanks.

It's actually the opposite of humility, drawing attention to himself. As my son said when he saw it, "Wow, Pierce, really? I can't believe he just did that!" This is more in keeping with him boasting, "We ain't coming back to LA!" in the 2010 finals. I think of him as supremely confident/arrogant, and that attitude serves him well in situations like last night when he puts the team on his shoulders and carries them. This was him reveling in vanquishing a foe in a difficult situation through force of will. Paul Pierce, humble servant? Not so much.

Outside

Mrkleen

It's not a non issue to me. Perhaps with you.

Hondo score over 27,000 points, with dignity and class and NEVER had to pull a stunt like this'

Russ Cousy Satch, the Jones's any of those numbers that hang up there..... I could never see any of them doing this.

Fist pump and chest bump were one thing. The kneeling at half court was not needed.

beat

beat wrote:Mrkleen

It's not a non issue to me. Perhaps with you.

Hondo score over 27,000 points, with dignity and class and NEVER had to pull a stunt like this'

Russ Cousy Satch, the Jones's any of those numbers that hang up there..... I could never see any of them doing this.

Fist pump and chest bump were one thing. The kneeling at half court was not needed.

beat

beat,

Did any player from that era ever do anything like this? It was considered "tacky". Now it's on Facebook.

It's a generational thing.

bob

.

This is where sports fans confuse me.

You want your star players to be aggressive, hard nosed, strong willed, finely tuned athletes who do everything to win and carry the load for their less talented teammates - yet you think that kind of talent, hard work, confidence should come with a dose of humility?

You cant have it both ways. The drive that makes Paul Pierce great is only possible because of a burning belief that he is better than his opponents. You cant burn that hot, for this long - without having a moment when the pot boils over.

So, you either have a guy like Brandon Bass - who is by all accounts a humble, sweetheart of a guy - who will be a career role player without the disposition to be a star. Or you have a star that is full of himself and because of that, is the man who carries your team for decades. You cant have both.

Its a non issue to me, on the NBA TV broadcast I saw, when asked Pierce said he was thankful that hes blessed, to me thats thanking someone.....its all entertainment, non issue to me.

Mrkleen

again I don't thnk it was called for. That's my opinion.

I'm not trying to have anything both ways. You tell me Hondo and Bird and Russ were not driven as much or not more than Pierce?

Yet can you answer if Kobe or Bron did this to us? I know the crap that would be hurled at them on here and I would be right there flinging as much of it as I can.

Obviously you and I are way appart on this and that fine. We both want the C's to win. But really this is a first round game and there is so much more to do and so far to go. We really haven't done anythiing that we should not have expected to do.

And by the way I can have it my way not both ways.

beat

Beat - are you trying to tell me that Larry Bird was not one of the most arrogant , trash talkers of his generation?