We knew this was going to happen. With very rare exceptions, the Celtics have always played down to their competition in situations like this.
Tonight was no exception. Both teams looked downright crappy out of the gates. The halftime score in this crapapalooza was 35-34 Nets. No one was moving, the ball was turned over…
… it was gross.
The second half wasn't all that much better, at least for Nets. The Celtics ripped off a 29-12 3rd quarter in which Paul Pierce scored 11 of his 24 points. Add his 3 assists and Pierce was responsible for 18 of the 29 the C's scored in the 3rd.
The Nets, meanwhile, were as bad as expected. After leading 38-34 early in the 3rd, the C's outscored them 55-32. With 4:14 left in the 4th, the Nets had scored 16 second half points.
Paul Pierce finished with 24 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds. KG had 14 and 12. Brandon Bass had 15 and 13. Rajon Rondo slept through an 8 point, 12 assist night. Hell, Avery Bradley scored 11.
All in all, an expected performance from the C's. Play down to the competition, turn it on later. I'm just glad they turned it on in time for KG to only play 25 minutes. The biggest potential positive out of this would be Avery Bradley finding some level of offense. That would be a very nice indeed.
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