Celtics snatch defeat from clutches of victory: fall to Bucks 98 - 105

The Celtics had a 22 point lead in the first half and watched the Bucks chip away at it the whole second half.

First the good news:

• Vitor Faverani ladies and gentlemen.  Vitor Faverani!  12 points, 18 rebounds(!), 6 of which were offensive, and 6 big blocks.  Good golly we've got ourselves a player here.
• Brandon Bass played very well once again with 17 points and 9 boards.  Great start of the season for him so far.
• Jeff Green hit the boards as well with 9 (though I thought someone mentioned that he had 10 - not sure about that box score).
• When the Celtics got out and ran on the break, they were magnificent.

Then the 2nd half happened.

• Tommy said it, this team can't compete for very long in a half court game.
• Turnovers again hurt this team - including a key late game possession where Gerald Wallace was stripped.
• Remember when we'd get frustrated at Paul Pierce when he would do something predictable at the end of a game? Well, at least he was capable of doing SOMEthing in that situation.  Currently we don't have anyone that can step into that closer role.
• That's the kind of game where Rondo would have made a big difference.
• For those scoring at home, Humphries, Pressey, and Brooks were all DNP-CD's.

Make all the jokes you want about "the tanking plan worked!"  Losing isn't fun.  We'll have to live with it, but I never want to "get used to it."

I wanted them to get this win in their home opener to give Coach Stevens his first win in front of Bill Russell.  It wasn't meant to be though.