North Station Sports

Atlanta (23-12) seems to have Boston’s (25-9) number.  The Celtics were up 45-39 at the half and fell behind 50-49 by the third minute of the third quarter.  The C’s only made five baskets in the quarter and put up a 15 spot while the Hawks doubled up that score.

Jamal Crawford score 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and single handedly outscored the Boston bench which only scored 12.  The lack of a reliable bench meant that the starters were forced to play big minutes again with Perkins being the low man with 38 on the floor.

Kendrick had another monster night compiling 15 PTS and 14 REBS for his second straight double double.  Paul Pierce led all scorers with 21 PTS but turned the ball over four times.  He did have six steals to offset that a bit but it is still a problem.  Rasheed Wallace needs to realize he has to play on the post on the offensive side and stop jacking up threes.  1-8 from behind the arc is inexcusable.

Josh Smith had an economical double double with 15 PTS and 11 REBS with a handful of assists mixed in.  He went 7-12 from the field and blocked Perkins on a dunk attempt.   Mike Bibby hit 3-6 from three point and really buried the dagger late in the game, though he should have because he was alon behind the arc for most of the game.  I guess teams haven’t noticed that he has become a three point shooter this late in his career and just let him have ten feet when he’s behind the arc.

The Celtics couldn’t hold onto their lead to begin the second half and couldn’t come back when they were only down by two late in the fourth.  It’s a disturbing trend that continues throught the season where they jump all over the opponents and just let them back in with poor shot selection and turnovers.  More importantly, the loss in Atlanta is their fourth road loss in a row after being 12-1 after beating the Magic.

Back to the bench, though.  Of the four players that were in the game (JR Giddens made a 17 second appearance and doesn’t count) they shot 3-10.  Eddie House was 2-6 and Davis was 1-4.  If someone can remind Scalabrine that Doc doesn’t put him on the court to look pretty, that would be great.  You can’t score if you pass up wide open looks and teams are just flat out ignoring him now.

The next stop is North of the border against the Raps whom they beat at home on the 2^nd with only two starters.  The Celtics need to get their road swagger back and I think it can happen in Toronto.