It Stops At Four: Celtics 98 Spurs 90

Boxscore

Highlights

The winning streak, short lived as it may be, is now over. Four games, the last three against D-League teams (Washington, Indiana, and New York), and that’s all she wrote.

The Celtics, sans Kevin Garnett, had the lead for the large part of the second half, dropping the Spurs, sans Tony Parker, in Beantown Sunday afternoon.

Both teams were obviously without their superstar, so complaints can’t be filed with regards to Parker’s absence, though I will say, Parker’s DNP might hurt the Spurs more than KG’s. Stay with me for a minute. Not to take an ounce from what Garnett does and will continue to do for the C’s, but, it’s not so much that Parker’s not on the floor, but who it is that replaces him: Jacque Vaughn.

Memo to TP: Get Back ASAP.

Teams basically sag off of Vaughn and double Duncan, Finley, or Ginobili. Sure, they can pass off double teams and Vaughn does make a few baskets, a few layups, but he’s nothing to worry about. And that, ultimately, is the problem. Not to mention, when Garnett is out, the Celtics still can rebound, and Pierce/Allen can shoulder more of the load. Without Parker, not only do the Spurs have to play 4 on 5, but a significant element of their offense is taken away when TP’s speed is out of the lineup. It frees Ginobili, it allows Duncan to operate without the constant annoyance of double team.

Alas, bitterness aside, the thing you have to love about the Celtics is that they play pedal to the medal, constantly. Winning is new for them. These guys haven’t been on winners for years. Garnett in four years, Allen not significantly since the turn of the century, and Pierce in half a decade. The rest is your assorted cast of hobos and rookies, but they’ve bought into the pressure defense that Doc Rivers has them playing, and every game is Game 7. The Spurs on the other hand, not so much. Effort seems to come in waves, more often recessing than flowing. But, that’s what championship teams do, right? Or is that just in San Antonio.

• Brian Scalabrine is not only a thief, but a clown as well. How he’s in the NBA is not only confounding to me, but has to absolutely rankle guys like Rod Benson every second of the day. He had a shot in the 1st half, as the shot clock was winding down, where he basically fell to the floor, and tossed up an air ball. Mike Breen’s call said it all: “Scalabrine…wild shot.”
• Rajon Rondo can play ball, and he really does bring it from the PG spot. What I mean by that is that he’s as good a rebounder thats on that team not named Pierce or Garnett. Further, he always seems to have his head up when he’s looking for a guy to get the ball too. He knows where to be on offense, and usually doesn’t force his own offense. Finally, on D, he’s a pest, and he can really stymie opposing point guards that aren’t significantly stronger than he is (Chauncy Billups).
• It was evidenced again today, as I’ve said all season, this team has trouble rebounding. Oberto doesn’t play, but isn’t a good rebounder to begin with. Elson has no role on the team. So, that being said, at all times, when Duncan’s on the floor, the next tallest guy is 6 inches shorter than he is. Two big misses (one Boston FT and another Boston FG at the end of the game) that didn’t go to the Spurs changed the outcome. They need to acquire someone, either before the deadline or after they’re eliminated early this year, someone that can get down there and rebound to take some pressure off of Duncan.
• Ime Udoka plays defense very similarly to how Bruce Bowen does. He’s inside your shorts, right there with every fake, trying to take every single physical advantage possible. Late in the game, he denied Pierce the opportunity to post up, and even earlier, was there contesting jump shots. As soon as referees start calling his D like they do Bowen’s, he could be a real force.

Despite an 8 point loss, I wouldn’t be too overly concerned. The Spurs play Toronto tomorrow, then finish with Cleveland, but as far as matching up with the Celtics is concerned, the next game will be a whole different ball game. Obviously, Parker and Garnett in their lineups changes things. That aside, in San Antonio, and considering the fact that the traditionally dormant Spurs will have hopefully turned it to full throttle by that point (next game March 17th) should make for another competitive game, that one possibly in the Spurs’ favor.