It was an ugly first half of basketball. Neither the Celtics or the red-hot Rockets could really find a grove. The Rockets led much of the half, but the Celtics shut them down in the final minutes to tie the game at 40 going into halftime. I’m not a fan of ugly basketball ala the Bad Boys and early 90’s basketball.
It didn’t necessarily look good for the Celtics. They had played the night before. The overcame a season-high deficit of 22 to beat the defending champion Spurs. Often the second half of a back-to-back is when you lose your legs. Ray Allen was still sitting with a bum ankle.
You would have thought the Rockets played the Spurs the night before. The Celtics continued their streak to build up a lead they would never relinquish. The Rockets never seemed to get the engine running. That was due to the Celtics defense, in large part. They neutralized T-Mac, and picked up 10 steals. Raefer Alston lost 2 left-handed bounce passes, one resulting in a nice Pierce layup as he avoided Shane Battier.
There was a scary moment or two in the 3rd quarter when Scola laid a hard foul on Tony Allen. I disagree with it being a Flagrent 2. It didn’t seem to be purposeful, just a hard foul. But Tony writhed on the floor with a bruised back. I wasn’t sure if that would be a momentum changer. But the Celtics maintained their intensity.
Since it was a late game, I went to bed shortly after the beginning of the 4th quarter when it seemed certain that the Rockets were not coming back. The 94-74 victory showed me that the Celtics are still the team to beat in the playoffs. They have done very well against the Western Conference, and are now 7-0 against the highly-lauded SW division. The Celtics are not just beating up on the weak Eastern division, but beating everyone. They have consistently passed every test that has come their way.
It also showed that the Rockets don’t have an inside game with Yao Ming injured. They can’t compete with a team that has a quality inside game. The Celtics punished them inside. It was beautiful watching Pierce penetrate and dish to Leon Powe, who poured in 21 points, and Perkins.
(photo shamelessly ‘borrowed’ from Celticsblog)
Cavman Considers 
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