Ray's Day

by Jeff Clark on Nov 4, 2008 11:39 PM EST in Games Comment 22 comments

Back when the Celtics first traded for Ray Allen, he sat down and did a number of interviews with the local media. My first impression of him was that he was as smooth as a politician answering those questions. So it only makes sense that he would shine on Election Day.

Sometimes it feels like the Big Three take turns taking over a game. When one of them gets hot, especially from outside, the team just keeps feeding him the ball. Tonight was Ray Allen's turn. He dropped 29 points on the Rockets with layups, pull-up jumpers, and a couple of three pointers. So he gets the game ball.

However, I can't go any further without singing the praises of Kendrick Perkins who was playing before his hometown crowd. On offense, Perk surprised everyone by knocking down jumper after jumper from the elbows. Even better, he played suffocating defense on Yao (when he wasn't sitting on the bench in foul trouble). Perk ended up with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and a huge 4 blocks (and just 2 fouls). Just a huge night by the big fella. Yao was so flustered, that he short-rimmed a dunk attempt. Hilarious.

The rest of the starting five added their own flare to the box score. KG got a double double (though just 14 points). Pierce only scored 13 points but had a +/- of +16. Rondo pulled down 7 rebounds and dished out 7 assists.

Houston is for real as a legit contender and worthy opponent. McGrady proved once again he can fill it up when he gets hot. Luis Scola had a very solid 21 point, 9 rebound game. Artest was reasonably quiet but still chipped in 15 and 7 himself.

The other theme of the game was all the runs. The Celtics got up big early, then let the Rockets pull ahead on a 23-4 run where the C's looked confused and discouraged. Once they got organized, Boston went on an 11-1 run of their own to end the half. The 2nd half was just a back and forth battle that wasn't really over till the final free throws.

This was at times an ugly game where the defense didn't show up all game, but it stepped up in the fourth quarter when it mattered the most. So a win is a win, especially against such a quality opponent. The Champs are back on track.

Final - 11.4.2008	1	2	3	4	Total
Boston Celtics	28	30	23	22	103
Houston Rockets	22	31	25	21	99

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Starters		Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
R. Allen	G	35:06	11-15	2-6	5-5	-2	2	5	5	2	0	0	0	6	29
R. Rondo	G	29:04	5-10	0-0	0-0	-7	2	7	7	2	0	0	0	3	10
K. Perkins	C	34:32	7-8	0-0	1-5	+3	3	7	0	3	0	4	0	2	15
P. Pierce	F	44:28	5-15	1-4	2-4	+16	3	9	4	4	3	0	1	3	13
K. Garnett	F	36:28	6-15	0-0	2-2	-8	1	11	1	2	0	1	0	2	14
Bench		Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
E. House		19:29	2-5	0-2	4-4	+11	0	1	1	1	3	0	0	1	8
T. Allen		16:02	1-1	0-0	2-2	-6	0	2	0	1	2	0	0	1	4
G. Davis		12:53	3-6	0-0	3-3	+1	2	2	1	0	1	0	0	2	9
L. Powe		11:32	0-2	0-0	1-2	+12	1	2	2	1	1	0	0	4	1
G. Pruitt		DNP - Coach's Decision
B. Scalabrine		DNP - Coach's Decision
B. Walker		DNP - Coach's Decision

Totals			40-77	3-12	20-27		14	46	21	16	10	5	1	24	103

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Comments

perk was huge along with Ray. eddie came up big at the end as well and I thought rondo was aggressive and got us out to a nice lead. Pierce and garnett did not have good games . Pierce often struggles with Artest so I can understand why he had an off night but garnett just seemed out of it. he settled for jumpers out of his range and repeatedly left scola open for jumpers. his D just didn’t look good .tony allen once again proved why he scares the hell out of everyone by fouling McGrady behind the 3 pt line at the end of the game. what a dope

by Red2 on Nov 4, 2008 11:43 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

McGrady also proved...

…that he’s about as interested in playing defense as I am in getting a double root canal.

by Big Ticket on Nov 4, 2008 11:49 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

hard to argue there

but Artest makes up for it to a certain extent

by Jeff Clark on Nov 4, 2008 11:54 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

so, can we forgive the Indy game now?

by Jeff Clark on Nov 4, 2008 11:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Bill Walker activated (but DNP-CD)

I missed this before, but Walker was active for tonight. Dickerson apparently reported that it was a reward for his good play in practice and wasn’t a reflection on Patrick O’Bryant (who was deactivated)

not sure why you don’t just deactivate Scal in that situation – seems like a message he’s trying to send POB

on the plus side, this means Walker is that much closer to contributing – we’ll see if Doc keeps the same actives as the weeks progress

by Jeff Clark on Nov 5, 2008 12:14 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Ray gets the headlines, but Perkins, Garnet and BBD controlled the paint. Good win against a good team.

After a terrible game in Indiana, House played a very nice game tonight. Of course, it;’s alot easier to play well against Rafer Alston than it is against TJ Ford and Jarrett Jack.

by Brickowski on Nov 5, 2008 12:22 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

well played game. Garnett grabbed 11 boards. i’d like to see him get back to the 12 to 13 a game range this year. his rebounding went down as the year went on last year.

did anyone else watching the game feel Donny Marshall was too hard on TMAC? he is clearly playing hurt and Marshal was all over him.

by bringbackdino! on Nov 5, 2008 12:29 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

donny seems to make a point and then goes to great lengths to prove it. even when he is just backing himself into a corner. i wouldn’t call mcgrady a good defender but he was clearly hurt; not really a good time to judge someone. kind of dumb also when you have no idea what kind of pain that person is dealing with.

anyway kudos to Perk and Ray. And Baby. i really like how Paul handles Artest now. Who I really detest at this point. The Rockets were always pretty physical but they seem to be upping the ante with Crazy Ron on board.

And how about Yao? I always root for Yao (well almost always, not when he plays the green, obviously), but he was awful tonight. Awful and weak. I wonder how he’s recovering from surgery and the Olympics.

by Berkcelt on Nov 5, 2008 12:54 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Tmac

When isn’t Tmac hurt?

by NoraG1 on Nov 5, 2008 1:19 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

It is interesting that the starting five were the finishing five last night (until Ray Ray fouled out). That’s a bit of a change from last year.
The new “kinder gentler” (softer shooting touch) Perk is interesting. I imagine teams will give him that 12 to 15 foot shot for quite a while. The question is can he consistently make them pay. That would change the Cs offense quite a bit in terms of spacing, how teams use the double team against them.

by Silverlock on Nov 5, 2008 7:39 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

BA

Can someone tell me what BA means in the boxscore?

by PISTOL PETE on Nov 5, 2008 8:07 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

you know you have a

good team when you win games like this on the road, with terrible refs, foul trouble, and all the rest.

by reggie35 on Nov 5, 2008 8:09 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

BA: blocked attempt

If you block someone’s shot, it’s a BS for you. When someone blocks your shot, they get a BS and you get a BA.

by no kidding on Nov 5, 2008 8:16 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Artest's comments?

Anyone else laugh at what Artest had to say after the game? It was along the lines of:

“You know normally you can praise the other team and say they did a good job, but I think we all played terrible.”

In other words, he thinks the Rockets shot themselves in the foot. I had a different take on the game though. What I saw was the Celtics taking the Rockets out of their game plan. I never thought I would say this but, Perk completely SHUT DOWN Yao. With no low post presence to go to, the Rockets took alot of jumpers. Paul Pierce did to Artest what Artest does to him. Play relentless suffocating Defense. The only bright spot was McGrady getting hot and Scola cleaning up the garbage. Looking at the box score, the Rockets played a pretty solid game and still lost.

As for the Green, I am excited for this year based on the 4 games we have seen. Every game has been vastly different. One game Pierce is hot and KG and Ray are cold. The other KG is hot and PP and Ray cant buy buckets. Last night, Ray was hot, KG was lukewarm, and Pierce was cold cause he was hounding Artest. Thankfully Rondo did his thing in the 1st half, and Perk played the game of his life. Ok maybe 2nd game of his life.(Game against Detroit last year). So imagine if you will, a night where KG is doing his thing on Off and DEF, Pierce is slashing and getting to the line, Ray’s shots are falling, and our DEF is on point. We Are pretty much unbeatable. I know that wont happen often, but if it does I hope it’s in the playoffs.

Right now we are where we were last year. Finding the rotation, and figuring out roles. We lost Posey so we’re not going to replace him, we’re going to find a new way to play with the players we do have. I think for a team going through this, we are still DAMN GOOD!

peace

by EatSleepBreatheGreen on Nov 5, 2008 8:29 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Team Win

The first post stated that PP and KG didn’t have good games. It may have seemed that way because of the way Ray and Perk stood out, but this was really a team win. I’m not much for the box score, but look at their rebounds and steals (PP). Also, both needed to be guarded which especially kept Artest out of their team defense. Both did things that the box score doesn’t reflect. Perk is usually the one called out because the box score doesn’t reflect what he does. But last nite Perk STOOD out. It was a great game and a good test for the C’s.

by TrueGreen on Nov 5, 2008 9:09 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I agree

and like I said, one of the things they did was to keep feeding Ray when he was hot

by Jeff Clark on Nov 5, 2008 9:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Shane Battier

One of the things this game showed is that the Rockets need to get Shane Battier back ASAP if they expect to be serious contenders.

by Brickowski on Nov 5, 2008 9:15 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

question

where do I go to find out how the +/- is calculated? thx in advance!

by Thruthelookingglass on Nov 5, 2008 9:18 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Is this a sample of what Perk is capable of?

Great game big guy.

by CfanMissippi on Nov 5, 2008 9:44 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

don't count on it

but take it when it comes

Perk won’t shoot like that every day but he showed us something for sure

by Jeff Clark on Nov 5, 2008 10:26 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The rockets are a train wreck by mid-season, Brick. O’Grady doesn’t play defense. Artest isn’t going to tolerate that and be a 3rd-4th option offensively at the same time. It really doesn’t matter when Battier comes back.

I thought flopping was going to be addressed by the league?? McGrady is learning well from the messiah. Flop like you’ve been blasted by a shotgun.

by Finkelskyhook on Nov 5, 2008 10:16 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

twas ray’s night which was needed as he was really soft for a while. artest is a smart pest like rodman was. he fouls on every play. we can get up for the biggies—let’s see tonite.

by nazzbo on Nov 5, 2008 11:27 AM EST reply actions 0 recs