jestersmash
03-29-2010, 02:32 AM
http://www.csnne.com/pages/v1_landing/?blockID=205979&feedID=3392
By: A. Sherrod Blakely
CSNNE.com
BOSTON — The Celtics have been a dominant squad at home recently, reeling off a season-high five straight wins.
But all streaks, good and bad, must come to an end sooner or later, and San Antonio made sure of that tonight, as they used a strong second quarter surge to propel them to a 94-73 win over the C's.
It was the Celtics' worst loss of the season, and only the third time this year they were beat by 20 or more points.
Leading the charge for San Antonio was Manu Ginobili, who scored 12 of his game-high 28 points in the second quarter.
"Manu's been playing great for the last month," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "He's basically taken over the team."
Even Rasheed Wallace gave Ginobili props for his play, as well as a new uh, nickname that plays off Ginobili's first name.
But that nickname, like the Celtic's defense on Ginobili Sunday night, probably won't stick.
"You know, Manure (Manu) did his thing," Wallace said. "He opened up the floor for them. We tried to trap him. He made the basketball play to the open man. We tried to do a good job on him, but he got a little loose in that first half."
Ginobili's scoring certainly paved the way for the Spurs winning in Boston where they have dominated, evident by Sunday's victory being their 14th in the last 16 meetings at the Garden.
But San Antonio's success on Sunday had just as much to do with their defense which limited the Celtics to 37 percent shooting for the game, and just 31.3 percent shooting in the second half.
"This was a big win for us," said Spurs big man Antonio McDyess. "It shows what we can do if we continue to play together, and focus on offense and defense."
During the C's most recent string of wins, the same was being said about them.
The similarities between what the Spurs did on Sunday and what the Celtics usually do to opponents, is not lost on Paul Pierce.
"Just the extra effort plays," Pierce said. "It was a one point (44-43) game at the half and we just didn't make the second and third rotations. They were driving, being more of the aggressor, and had us on our heals pretty much all of the second half. Like I said, they made the extra effort plays that we usually make. The team that you saw, San Antonio, the way they played is usually the way we play and we just got an old fashioned butt whooping."
And while San Antonio put the game away in the second half, trouble began much earlier than that.
Boston got off to a solid start and led, 23-19, after the first quarter.
However, San Antonio's defense tightened up and Ginobili caught fire.
The combination was too much for the C's, as San Antonio went on a 16-6 run to start the second quarter to lead 35-29.
San Antonio continued to pull away, and led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter.
But the Celtics mounted a nice charge of their own, as they closed out the quarter with a 13-4 run and trailed just 44-43 at the half.
"I thought we pressed a little bit, and started forcing instead of ball movement offensively," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "It was one of those nights, guys."
Whatever momentum Boston had going into the half, didn't return to the floor with them to start the third quarter.
The Spurs opened with a 10-0 run to lead, 54-43.
"Coach (Popovich) always tells us to jump on teams in the first five minutes," McDyess said. "This time we did it. We took it to heart. We jumped on them the first five minutes, and kept it on the whole game."
By: A. Sherrod Blakely
CSNNE.com
BOSTON — The Celtics have been a dominant squad at home recently, reeling off a season-high five straight wins.
But all streaks, good and bad, must come to an end sooner or later, and San Antonio made sure of that tonight, as they used a strong second quarter surge to propel them to a 94-73 win over the C's.
It was the Celtics' worst loss of the season, and only the third time this year they were beat by 20 or more points.
Leading the charge for San Antonio was Manu Ginobili, who scored 12 of his game-high 28 points in the second quarter.
"Manu's been playing great for the last month," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "He's basically taken over the team."
Even Rasheed Wallace gave Ginobili props for his play, as well as a new uh, nickname that plays off Ginobili's first name.
But that nickname, like the Celtic's defense on Ginobili Sunday night, probably won't stick.
"You know, Manure (Manu) did his thing," Wallace said. "He opened up the floor for them. We tried to trap him. He made the basketball play to the open man. We tried to do a good job on him, but he got a little loose in that first half."
Ginobili's scoring certainly paved the way for the Spurs winning in Boston where they have dominated, evident by Sunday's victory being their 14th in the last 16 meetings at the Garden.
But San Antonio's success on Sunday had just as much to do with their defense which limited the Celtics to 37 percent shooting for the game, and just 31.3 percent shooting in the second half.
"This was a big win for us," said Spurs big man Antonio McDyess. "It shows what we can do if we continue to play together, and focus on offense and defense."
During the C's most recent string of wins, the same was being said about them.
The similarities between what the Spurs did on Sunday and what the Celtics usually do to opponents, is not lost on Paul Pierce.
"Just the extra effort plays," Pierce said. "It was a one point (44-43) game at the half and we just didn't make the second and third rotations. They were driving, being more of the aggressor, and had us on our heals pretty much all of the second half. Like I said, they made the extra effort plays that we usually make. The team that you saw, San Antonio, the way they played is usually the way we play and we just got an old fashioned butt whooping."
And while San Antonio put the game away in the second half, trouble began much earlier than that.
Boston got off to a solid start and led, 23-19, after the first quarter.
However, San Antonio's defense tightened up and Ginobili caught fire.
The combination was too much for the C's, as San Antonio went on a 16-6 run to start the second quarter to lead 35-29.
San Antonio continued to pull away, and led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter.
But the Celtics mounted a nice charge of their own, as they closed out the quarter with a 13-4 run and trailed just 44-43 at the half.
"I thought we pressed a little bit, and started forcing instead of ball movement offensively," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "It was one of those nights, guys."
Whatever momentum Boston had going into the half, didn't return to the floor with them to start the third quarter.
The Spurs opened with a 10-0 run to lead, 54-43.
"Coach (Popovich) always tells us to jump on teams in the first five minutes," McDyess said. "This time we did it. We took it to heart. We jumped on them the first five minutes, and kept it on the whole game."