# GAME 65: Celtics (36-29) at Houston (39-25)



## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

The reigning players of the week will be on display as Paul Pierce leads the Celtcs into battle with Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets. 

McGrady has rebounded well from early struggles with Jeff VanGundy. McGrady is averaging 25.7 ppg to go with 6.3 rpg and 6.0 apg. McGrady also gets 1.72 steals per game as he likes to get out and into passing lanes on defense, often going down the floor for a fast break finish. Yao Ming is playing to form with 18.3 ppg and 8.5 rpg while blocking 1.9 shots a contest. Ming is shooting 54.9% from the floor, good for third in the league. Bobby Sura has had a solid all-around year with 10.5 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 5.3 apg, as well as 1.26 spg. In six games with the Rockets, Mike James is impressing with 15.8 ppg and 4.7 apg to go with 47.8% shooting and 45.2% 3FG. David Wesley is performing better since going to Houston with 11.5 ppg on 43.3% FG. Jon Barry is doing well off the bench with 7.0 ppg and 2.8 boards and assists a night in a bench role. Dikembe Mutumbo is also doing well off the bench with 4.0 ppg and 4.7 rpg while averaging 14.2 mpg.

The Celtics have already met with Houston in the home leg of the season series. The January 31st game saw the Rockets taking it 97-94. The Rockets were led by Yao Ming who shot 11-15 to finish with 23 points, 8 boards, and 2 blocks. Jon Barry lit us up off the bench with 17 on 7-8 shooting (3-4 3FG). Tracy McGrady struggled with 16 points on 5-14 shooting (2-7 3FG) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals and 4 turnovers. Bob Sura double-doubled with 10 points (2-7 FG) to go with 10 assists, 6 boards, and 2 steals. David Wesley shot 2-11 to finish with 10 points, five boards, and four assists, while also blocking a shot (one of his seven this season). Scott Padgett went for 10 off the bench on 4-5 shooting.

The Celtics were led by Ricky Davis' 10-15 shooting to finish with a game high 24 points. Paul Pierce had 22 on 7-15 shooting to go with 5 boards and 5 assists. Mark Blount shot 6-11 to finish with 14 points and had 4 assists. Raef LaFrentz hit 6-10 to go with 7 boards. Marcus Banks scored 7 in 13 minutes while shooting 3-3 from the field. Kendrick Perkins blocked two shots in 19 minutes of play.

The Celtics blew this game from behind the arc. The Celtics shot 49% from the field, as compared to the Rockets' 46.6% from the field. The Celtics took 77 shots to the Rockets 73. The difference was that the Celtics hit just 3 of 14 from three point land (21.4%), as compared to the Rockets 8-19 (42.1%).

This will be a huge test for the Celtics. The Rockets are one of those teams that are placed among the top championship contenders. If the Celtics can take this one, as they took the Pistons, I think we would have to believe that the Celtics would be among them as well.


----------



## toolatetoride (Mar 12, 2005)

hear this... My boss has scheduled me for the next two weeks on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday (If you didnt know thats the Celtics schedule for the next 2 weeks). 

The Solution : Im giving my two weeks notice tomorrow, lol

But back to the basketball, I'm going to say the Celtics will step it up and edge the Rockets out. 
110-109


----------



## Auerbach (Mar 18, 2005)

agoo-
I agree with your Justin Reed signature...


We might need to run the legs off of a big center....
Keep rotating players and run their legs off.


----------



## Auerbach (Mar 18, 2005)

toolatetoride said:


> hear this... My boss has scheduled me for the next two weeks on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday (If you didnt know thats the Celtics schedule for the next 2 weeks).


How is a person to live like that... :curse:


----------



## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

Auerbach said:


> How is a person to live like that... :curse:


Well he has a good solution, QUIT. lol. Job or Celtics on TV? hmm....Celtics.

This should be a fun game though. It's gonna be hard containing Ming and McGrady....and MIKE JAMES.


----------



## LX (Oct 14, 2004)

Oh god, not Mike James. He friggin killed us in Milwaukee. I'm not worried as much about T-mac. Last time we played he got shut down. Wesley was ice cold as well. Jon Barry is the one that absolutely killed us that game. Ten bucks says Wesley knocks down 4-5 treys, and T-Mac puts up 30 just because I said that lol.


----------



## TONYALLEN42 (Jan 24, 2005)

whos defending mike james


----------



## LX (Oct 14, 2004)

I would assume GP.


----------



## Bsktbllplayr25 (Feb 10, 2005)

this should be a tough match up tonight for the celtics, considering the firepower that McGrady has and if he is on fire tonight then we could be in trouble. if we play some strong D tonight and contain Yao down low, the Celtics should pull away with this one, and keept he success going. 
Celtics 102 Rockets 97


----------



## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

Bsktbllplayr25 said:


> this should be a tough match up tonight for the celtics, considering the firepower that McGrady has and if he is on fire tonight then we could be in trouble. if we play some strong D tonight and contain Yao down low, the Celtics should pull away with this one, and keept he success going.
> Celtics 102 Rockets 97


PF advantage: Walker 40 pts, Spoon 4 pts
Lafrentz and R Davis are great players.

Rockets 102
Celtics 92


----------



## Al Jefferson (Nov 20, 2003)

Id put Marcus on Mike James... Id be willing to bet he wouldn't drill as many trey's as he would with Payton on him.. 

I think the C's may fall to a loss tonight.
They really don't have a answer for Yao...
In order for the win.. We would need big contributions from the Pf and C spot.. If Blount can play like he has been playing.. We have a shot.
Should be a fun game to watch.

PdP


----------



## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

PhearDaPierce said:


> Id put Marcus on Mike James... Id be willing to bet he wouldn't drill as many trey's as he would with Payton on him..
> 
> I think the C's may fall to a loss tonight.
> They really don't have a answer for Yao...
> ...


good points, Walker needs to offset yao.


----------



## AoK-TripleDouble (Feb 28, 2005)

Well so good so far, up by 8 points, last time i checked before i came on here, looking good guys


----------



## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

You must have checked a while ago. 51-33 with 3:17 left in the third. Al Jefferson took Yao to school.


----------



## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

"Smooth," lol.

That's Toine's nickname for Delonte.


----------



## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

Balanced scoring and a brillant bench effort as the Celtics up 56-42 at the half. Antoine Walker is leading the scoring for the C's with 11 points on 4-8 shooting, to go with three steals. Gary Payton has hit 3-5 for ten points and also has four boards and four assists. Davis and Blount lead the bench with 8 a piece. Blount has 5 boards to go with his. Al Jefferson has 7 points, most against Yao Ming. Delonte West has 5 points and two boards in five minutes of play.

For Houston, McGrady and Ming have 10 a piece. Yao has hit just 2-3, but is 6-8 from the line and has six boards. McGrady is 4-12 with four turnovers, but also has four assists. David Wesley is shooting 2-7 for 6 points. Jon Barry leads the Houston bench with 6 points on 3-5 shooting.

The Celtics are shooting 47.7% from the field and 54.5% from three. Houston is shooting just 38.6% from the field and a sad 15.4% (2-13) from three.


----------



## Anima (Jun 3, 2003)

What did I miss? I see the C's are up 12 over the Rockets!


----------



## Premier (Oct 30, 2003)

I was too caught up with the NCAA tournament that I forgot about this game, although looking at the teams respective field goal percentage, I can see why we are winning over a very good team.


----------



## banner17 (Jun 28, 2003)

Settle down Celtics, lets not meltdown like we did against Toronto on Wednesday.


Lets put this thing away!


----------



## banner17 (Jun 28, 2003)

Mark Blount having a heck of a game!!

He's been on fire lately, playing like he did towards the end of last season


----------



## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

Celtics up 12 with just under three and a half left. McGrady can cover that himself, so we still have to watch out big time. Yao is not on the floor though. Rockets on a 11-2 run Both teams are goingvery small right now.

Walker just hit a tough two to beat the buzzer. Celtics by 13.

McGrady hits a pullup, Celtics by 11.

Eight second violation, back to Houston.


----------



## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

McGrady misses three, gets miss. Sura drives for two. Celtics by 9.

Under two minutes.

Antoine throws up bad shot, gets board, throws up another with a foul on Padgett.


----------



## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

Walker hits first, C's by 10.

Walker hits second, C's by 11.

McGrady drive hits, Celtics by 9.

Allen drive hits, Celtics by 11.

McGrady misses three, board to Barry.

Sura misses, Allen gets board. Bowen fouls Allen.


----------



## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

Allen to the line. Hits first, C's by 12.

Allen hits both. C's by 13.

Rockets time out. 1:15 left.


----------



## LX (Oct 14, 2004)

lol Pierce. What a fruit. I don't know what him and Sura were arguin about, but PIerce was laughin in his face hahaha.


----------



## banner17 (Jun 28, 2003)

C's gonna pull it out


Pierce and Sura tossed in last minute after extended trash talkin' session


----------



## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

Blount with season high 22. Bench scoring, 52-25 Boston.

Houston ball at half court. Sura turnover to Allen.

Pierce and Sura are sharing words. Allen keeping Pierce from stupidity. Pierce ejected. Sura gone as well. Pierce taunting the crowd on the way out. I personally like to see that, but I do have ******* tendencies.

59.7 left. Padgett swipes ball from DAvis. Gets ball back and hits. C's by 11.

Banks drive misses, Padgett board. Houston break. Mike James misses three.

Davis board, dribbles to half court, game over.

Celtics win by 11.


----------



## LX (Oct 14, 2004)

Great win by the C's.

Man did we make Yao look stupid or what.


----------



## banner17 (Jun 28, 2003)

agoo101284 said:


> Pierce taunting the crowd on the way out. I personally like to see that, but I do have ******* tendencies.




is that masking agoo 


Great win by the C's.


Lots of positives on both ends of the floor


----------



## aquaitious (Jun 11, 2002)

Agoo's taking Anima's award for "Queen of Post-Padding For a Celtic Game"

Very good game, I enjoyed all of it.

Blount was on fire.
Jefferson played very well.
Toine was hot in the begining.
Pierce contributed in every way but scoring.
Payton did very well.
Allen, I love this kid.
Ricky's the man.
and my favorite, Marcus Banks. This guy can break down the whole defense, if he didn't have that one 8-second violation (which was very good pressure by the Rockets, too) he probably would have had a mistake free night. I didn't see anything else but positives tonight.

I gotta share the aqua-award between Blount and Banks. Great job by both guys.


----------



## G-Force (Jan 4, 2005)

Wow, very impressive win. Thanks for beating Houston. Your Celtics are really rolling now, aren't they?

G-Force


----------



## ZWW (Jan 17, 2004)

Blount's best performance of the year? Maybe. Great win. :clap:


----------



## G-Force (Jan 4, 2005)

That's six in a row and 9 out of your last ten. Somebody finally stepped up in the Atlantic Division. Good job, Celts.

G-Force


----------



## TheRifleman (May 20, 2002)

Oh, my "men in green" are doing excellente since the retrieval of our VERY own draftpick, 
Antoine, the "AingeCorrectedHisTradeMistake" =<font color=green>dragon slayer!!</font>

10 and 1 since getting "the man" back=<font color=green><font size=7>YES!</font></font>:gbanana:


----------



## AoK-TripleDouble (Feb 28, 2005)

Yes I do think Blount played GREAT "His jumper seems to improve every game" (a quote from Tommy)....

We kept Yao to only 6 rebounds last night, but he did have 18 points....


----------



## Al Jefferson (Nov 20, 2003)

The game was boring until the 4th Quarter..
The C's pretty much had their way with the Rockets, I would've never said that before tip off last night. I was looking for a much better ball game.

Blount impressed me ALOT.. Without him we lose this game I think.
Paul done everything 12 Points, 5 Steals, and 7 Assists.. Nice line.
Toine done really good..
Big Al came off the bench and produced against Yao.. I loved it !

Good game overall.. Great win for the C's..

PdP


----------



## TONYALLEN42 (Jan 24, 2005)

good game by the celts killing the red hot rockets, when are we playing the heat?


----------



## KingHandles (Mar 19, 2005)

pierce had it all right leavin tha arena wit number 1 in tha air...cuz dats what we gun be dis year...bleed grren 4 life..but letz not be dumb n get upset by NO 2night


----------



## agoo (Jun 1, 2003)

AoK-TripleDouble said:


> We kept Yao to only 6 rebounds last night, but he did have 18 points....


Thats a terrific effort the. Six boards is below his average and 18 is his average.


----------

