Pierce Drops 22 Pts. In the 4th Quarter To Help C's Beat Raptors
NBA Highlights From November 10th
Last night was the first Celtics game I was able to attend this season and it was a great one. Heading in to the game, I knew the Raptors were going to be tough but they were even better than expected. I don't think anyone realized how much better they are this year even after a great 07-08 season. They were one of the better young teams last season and although they lost to the Magic in the first round of the playoffs, they received that much needed post season experience.
With the addition of a currently healthy Jermaine O'Neal, the Raptors are definitely legit. They should probably be one of the top seeds in the East if they continue to improve their chemistry with each other. With a lineup of Bosh, O'Neal, Calderon, Moon and A. Parker, the Raptors can score with the best of them. They also have a solid bench with some decent guys you've probably never heard of (Graham, Humphries and Solomon) and great scoring options in Jason Kapono and seven footer Andrea Bargnani. Look out for this squad. I'm telling you right now they are gonna cause problems for many teams.
Although the C's were awful and the crowd was bored for the first 3 quarters, this ended up turning into one of the best games they've played so far. Garnett, Allen and Pierce were slowly rolling along getting some points here and there but it seemed like everyone was just having a terrible shooting night. The Raps were crushing the C's all game and were even up by as much as 15 points at one time. All of a sudden out of nowhere, the C's woke up and kicked it into 5th gear. After a ridiculous 4th, they pulled off the win with a final score of 94-87. Unreal.
You can just see the extra swagger and confidence they have this season after winning the championship. They know that they can kick up another notch at any time and they have a level of intensity that no other team can match right now. Garnett was extra cocky last night and was getting in Calderon's face, clapping and waving his finger like Dikembe Mutombo. I don't know what that was all about but it was great. You gotta love KG's fire!
UPDATE: I found a quick clip of the KG taunt. Dude is insane!
Pierce was unreal in the 4th quarter, scoring 22 of his 36 points and hitting big shot after big shot. He started draining threes left and right, sick fade away jumpers and nasty drives to the hoop at will. No matter what he did, the Raptors couldn't stop him. This felt like a playoff game because of the intensity of the crowd and the quick shift in emotions from miserable to estatic in just a matter of minutes. It was even more impressive because the Garden was loud as hell even though it was fairly empty since it was a Monday night game. We were all slapping five and getting fired up as the C's were coming back and it felt like we were right back where we left them last June. Let's hope they can keep it moving like this for the rest of the season.
Let's Go Celtics! Clap, Clap, CLAP CLAP CLAP...
NBA TV Top 10: November 10th
There's lots of highlights from last night's game in the Top 10 but most of them were of the Raptors for some reason. I thought there were plenty of plays in the 4th quarter from Pierce that could have easily made this list. The one play that did make it was #5 on the list and one of my favorites of the game. It was Pierce's dish to Leon Powe for a nice two hand jam. To skip to #5 of the video, CLICK HERE or go to the :55 second mark.
