Boston vs. Indiana (Indiana wins series 4-3)

[Colin]

Anybody expect that for the first game?

Complete blowout by Boston. Paul Pierce couldn;t score, yet they still found away behind great play from Payton, LaFrentz, and the entire bench. Stephen Jackson was the only one to get anything done for the Pacers, and Croshere threw in 10 points for good measure. But their shooting was downright awful. That was more so based on Boston's amazing team defence. Towards teh end of the game there was one play where Ricky Davis denied the ball extremely well out to halfcourt, and Indiana didn't end up getting the ball to the three-point line until about 7-8 seconds were left on teh shot clock.

Full Series Coverage at ESPN

[FendeR`]

Onyx beat you by a hair :\ But very true, it was a great effort by Boston. It seems like the veterans ie. GP and Antoine are stepping it up for the playoffs. I still want to see them lose though, because they're the Sixer's rivals and I want to see Reggie get somewhere in his last year.

[Amphatoast]

this title is much better hehe
but it was suprising, maybe the celtics are better than what most predicted..
then again its only 1 game

[Rip32]

I liked how LeFrentz played he hit his open jumpers (some 3s) and played solid defense.

[8-Hype]

Please reply in my thread, I posted it 3 minutes earlier than this was posted.

http://www.nbaliveforums.com/ftopic23726.php

[8-Hype]

Onyx beat you by a hair

Is it even necessary to start this thread as mine was open? Oh, and please don't tell me you didn't see it before you pressed the "submit" button.

[Matt]

who cares, this thing now has more posts in it.

Anways, this was rather surprising, didnt see Celts win this THAT easy.

[GloveGuy]

I expected them to win, but not by this margin.

But c'mon guys, the Celtics are just a better basketball team. Their depth and talent blow Indy's out of the water.

Pierce was great for us. The scoring wasn't there, but he filled in the holes in just about every way.

I knew GP would be a beast. He still has the ability to take over quarters like the way he did in the third today.

It was looking ugly at first, but then Ricky came in, made a few consecutive shots, and that's when the Celtics went ahead and never looked back.

The bench was huge today. Al Jefferson was a beast and Banks had the Celts playing up-tempo, making Indiana adjust(though failing to).

Onyx is clearly on the bandwagon now...

[Colin]

Is it even necessary to start this thread as mine was open? Oh, and please don't tell me you didn't see it before you pressed the "submit" button.

When I pressed 'New Topic' your thread didn't exist. And it took a little while because I was looking for a site that had the box score up that soon. It's not the end of the world.

I picked Boston to win in 7 games in my pick'n'roll league. So I didn't think it would be this unbalanced. I was not under the impression Boston had a good defensive team. When did Ricky start playing defence?

[cyanide]

I did not expect this, especially from Indiana. That was a very good win for Boston. I won't be surprised if Indiana bounces back next game.

[Drex]

I always saw Gloveguy talking about Al Jefferson, but I've never saw him play until today...he's a freaking 19 year-old who's not afraid of banging in the post and get his points...he went against every post player of the Pacers

[Andrew]

For a game that was a blowout most of the way and didn't feature my favourite team on the good side of said blowout, it was quite enjoyable to watch because of Boston's shooting display. Can't imagine they'll all be like this, but the series may not go the distance after all if O'Neal is too banged up to be effective. I don't think Reggie will be cold all series.

[Ripper]

I have a feeling the Celtics are going to win this series. The Celtics winning game 1 doesn't suprise me at all. I'm rooting for Indiana but somehow I got this feeling they are not going to play well enough. In 2003 the celtics knocked them off as well. But who knows, Reggie might light up, I hope so.

[cklitsie]

I always saw Gloveguy talking about Al Jefferson, but I've never saw him play until today...he's a freaking 19 year-old who's not afraid of banging in the post and get his points...he went against every post player of the Pacers

I heard this season he had a double-double in like 15 minutes.

Onyx is clearly on the bandwagon now...

Well actually he's had usernames involving almost all the 30 teams, so when you say he's bandwagoning he will probably refer to the period his name was Ricky Martin, oh snap... Ricky Davis.

[8-Hype]

OK, if nobody wants my thread (that was started 3 minutes earlier ), at least read what I have to say, please. I put up some effort for it. This is taken from my thread:

I still can't believe it. I watched it live, and I just don't know what to say. There is a plenty to say, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible. Let's get it started:

The Celtics started very weakly and almost didn't score at all in the first half of the first quarter. But then Ricky came off the bench and hit the turnaround, and let the Celtics start their monster run. There was some guy before the game saying something like "Forgive me, lord, but this is Reggie's last playoff run". That wus funny.

Within some seconds Ricky even got two steals that came right into his hands. Indiana had a lot of turnover and just couldn't concentrate on shooting it well, especially inside. Jermaine O'Neal got the ball a lot inside, but didn't make any of the attempted shots. Then some seconds before halftime, Pierce was kidding around a bit with posession, drove inside, passed it to Allen, who had the open look for the dunk. They led the game with 57-31 by halftime.

The Celtics tried some Alley-Oooooops on some fast breaks, but didn't make any of them. The most amazing thing was that big man LaFrentz was 1.000 from beyond the ark (5 attempts). Nice to watch was also how Pierce handled the double team. On one play he slashed trough it, and straight to the basket for the monster slam. And then the no-look behind-the-back pass to Payton, as I said out of the double team.

At the end Indiana shortened the lead a bit with some Foster plays, but it obviously wasn't enough. Indiana put out Miller and J7O out early, since they wouldn't get the win anyway. Later J7O got some ice on his shoulder.

The Celtics' bench outscored the Pacers' bench clearly, and Boston had a huge run in the second quarter (where they made the win certain - 39-11). The even extented the lead to 35 points. Pierce had a lot of rebounds (9), and Ricky and Antoine also made a huge effort for the win.

I'm sure I forgot a lot of things, and my English isn't the best. But, please, Celtics fans, help me get this game to be considered the first win of the Celtics' championship run. Peace!

P.S.: Ricky had some nice braids, again!

And in addition: Payton had a nice game in the second half. He hit a lot of shots, mostly in the paint. And I still don't get why Fender had to post into this thread if mine was more detailed and even came first. Doesn't matter now anymore.

[furious1]

Ever think the reason people are reluctant to reply to your thread is because post in an irritating piss yellow color?

[8-Hype]

It's orange, and Cammo (NLSC Member) is posting in the same color.

[J@3]

He posts in bold though so it's actually legbile.

[Indy]

It was a horrible loss and the sense of urgency wasnt there. But, if we come out with that urgency that they need to have we can win game 2. A 1-1 split in Boston would be good heading in to Indiana for games 3-4, where i think we can win both games.

We need to just put this game behind us and focus and game 2. Yeah, we got blown out, but a L is an L no matter what the score was.

[Drex]

ONYX, stop whining

[Matt]

Payton is lucky Indiana doesnt have anyone that can light him up.....when he runs into Billups again he'll be exposed for the old man that he is.

[1CenT]

Jermaine promises a better showing in game2.. I don't see Pacers getting past the Celtics.. maybe Pacers will steal 1 game or 2...

Pierce played great, did you see his defence.. he was holding on Stephen Jackson the whole time.. i guess he is an all-star, he can do that.. I'm not making fun of him.. he is 1 of my favourite players.. He has great intensity on def .. very underrated, and hes damn big to get past.. but Jackson was on fire.. he hit those off balance fadaways..

Why Pacers will lose... Point Guards.. Who do they have? Marcus Banks/Gary Payton/Ricky Davis pressuring them up court .. banks and davis are freaks .. they have like unlimited energy.. Its not like Miller can relieve pressure , he can't handle the ball either..

Pacers' bigs are fine.. but Celtics have Lafrentz, Blount, Jefferson, Walker(wow he played like a power forward) opposed to 2 years ago when he was more of a shooting small forward..

I expect Pierce, Davis handle the offensive load next game and win by ~10points..
If Pacers can steal 1.. it should be 1 of the next 2 games.

[GloveGuy]

Payton is lucky Indiana doesnt have anyone that can light him up.....when he runs into Billups again he'll be exposed for the old man that he is.

Re-watch last year's Finals carefully and tell me it was his fault that Billups won MVP. As good as Shaquille O'Neal is, he absolutely blows at guarding the pick-and-roll. Now I'm not going to say that Payton's still the defender he was back in '96, but all the Celtics have to do is help GP on the pick-and-roll and that will keep Billups quiet.

[Goldberg]

As a Boston fan... Good game!

[Indy]

Payton is lucky Indiana doesnt have anyone that can light him up.....when he runs into Billups again he'll be exposed for the old man that he is.

Careful there matt, this series isnt over yet. You should still be expecting to see AJ and Jamall Tinsley in the second round.