March 5, 2013
Charlotte(27-35) at Boston(29-31)
CHA:BOS
88:96 OVR
80:97 OFF
91:95 DEF
This game is huge, we have 35 losses and would have to go 14-6 to finish .500. Basically our playoff hopes are fading very very quickly.
Boston Scouting
PG Rajon Rondo - 91 OVR - 13.8 ppg/9.2 apg - He's taken over as the star of the team, A+ hands, A+ defense, B outside shooting.
SG Tracy McGrady - 77 OVR - 13.9 ppg - McGrady is 33 years old, A- hands, B+ defense, B- inside/B+ outside. He's not much of an athlete anymore, just a C.
SF Paul Pierce - 84 OVR - 20.2 ppg - A- inside/A- outside, still a B rated defender. 35 years old, he's starting to fade some.
PF Kevin Garnett - 85 OVR - 11.9 ppg/8.5 rpg - 36 years old, B- rebounder, A- inside, A- post D. Pretty similar to Padgett, they should have a good battle
C Kendrick Perkins - 79 OVR - 10.2 ppg/9.5 rpg - A rebounder, A- post D, B+ inside.
First Quarter
Boston 18
Charlotte 16
We lead 11-10 with 6 minutes left and things slow down dramatically. We shoot 35%, Boston shoots 40%. Chandler scores our first 4 points and leads us with 4. Bibby hit a 3, Mayo got a 3 point play. A few others have 2 each. Mayo was really cold here again, 1-5 from the field, 0-2 on two wide open 3's. Boston gets 8 from Garnett, 7 from McGrady, 3 from Pierce, accounting for all 18 of their points.
Second Quarter
Charlotte 46
Boston 39
The scoring sure does pick up. And OJ Mayo just totally went off. He scores 18 second quarter points and now has 21. Padgett has 6 points/5 boards, Wallace 6. Garnett has 14 points/7 boards and has really had a strong game on both ends against Padgett. Pierce 9, McGrady 7, Rondo 5 for the Celtics. Mayo was 6-10 from the field, hitting a 3 and getting to the line 6 times, making 5 of them in the quarter. If he has another quarter like this one he could be on his way to an epic performance.
Third Quarter
Charlotte 70
Boston 67
We lead by as much as 9 during the quarter but Boston ties it up at 61 with 3 minutes left. We end up pulling ahead slightly and will take a 3 point lead into the 4th.
The big story of the quarter is Paul Pierce, he has 11 for the Celtics and seemed to be everywhere. Garnett has 16, backup forward Tiggs has 10, Rondo 8. Mayo has 7 this quarter, he was mostly quiet but scored 5 straight once Boston tied it at 61. Padgett 9, Chandler 8, Wallace and Felton 6 each.
Fourth Quarter
9:30 to go - We lead 70-68, just a Garnett free throw so far. Wallace and Padgett were the only starters out there and I just pulled those. The opening of the fourth quarter is always a difficult time for me as far as managing fatigue. I always want to get my backups out there so i can have my starters as fresh as possible for the stretch run.
6:20 to go - We get 4 from Henderson and 4 from Hill and lead 78-74, giving our starters a good rest. They all come back in now to play out the rest of the game.
4:30 to go - a McGrady 3, Tiggs jumper, and two free throws make it 7 in a row for the Celtics. 81-78 Boston.
2:45 to go - Mayo and Padgett get buckets for us(Mayo has 30), but we can't seem to stop Boston at all. They lead 86-82.
1:50 to go - We get two looks that I thought were quite good but miss them both. Boston only has added a free throw though. I call a timeout trailing 87-82.
1:20 to go - We get two free throws from Sparks, they get one from Garnett. I end up calling my last timeout after getting stuck in a doubleteam. We trail 88-84 with the ball.
0:56 to go - I get it to Mayo who drives but misses. Boston tries a fast break and cannot finish. We rush it back up and Mayo hits a 10 footer. We trail 88-86 now.
0:36 to go - Pierce goes into the lane but loses control of the ball down low. Sparks picks it up, outlets to Mayo who hits felton underneath the basket for a layup. TIED UP! 88-88, Celtics ball.
0:26 to go - Rondo gets it to Pierce in the paint who takes a ridiculous circus shot under the basket, but he finds a way to make it go in... 90-88 Boston.
0:12 to go - Felton gets by Rondo, draws a doubleteam, hits Mayo for a completely wide open 3... that's no good. Sparks gets the rebound and tries to go back up, but he can't finish either. Boston rebounds, we foul.
0:04.3 to go - Amazingly, Rondo misses both free throws, but Perkins grabs the offensive board over Sparks. We foul him, and even more amazingly, HE misses both free throws! I push it up the court hard, catch Padgett in the lane, he goes up, is fouled by Rondo, and the ball just rims out.
0:04.3 to go - Padgett isn't the best free throw shooter in the world, so I'm pretty nervous about this. First shot... SWISH. Second shot... off the back rim
Boston rebounds and we try to foul but the are able to pass the ball away. We finally foul but there's only 0.6 seconds to go. Rondo misses the first ,makes the second. I'm out of timeouts so i can't do anything to move the ball. I try a long outlet pass in to Mayo but its thrown away. That does it.
Boston 91
Charlotte 89
Really exciting game, we just couldn't make enough shots late in the 4th. Padgett was really, really close to a possible 3 point play, but once his FG didn't go in I dreaded the free throws, and he just couldn't make both.
Mayo: 32 points/3 assists/4 steals
Padgett: 12 points/11 boards (3-9 shooting)
Chandler: 8 points/6 boards
Felton: 8 points (4-12 shooting)
Henderson: 8 points
Wallace: 6 points/7 boards/5 assists (2-9 shooting)
So Mayo was great but Padgett/Felton/wallace combine to shoot 9-30. Mayo did miss one wide open 3 in the final two minutes but he carried us most of the way here and we just couldn't find anyone else to step up at all.
Pierce scored 25, Garnett 22 points/15 boards. A nail in the coffin of our playoff hopes.