Celts Lose to Orlando, Just About Time to Worry



Falling into a 16 point hole against one of the better teams is tough to come back from.  When you have numerous offensive possessions when the game is tied or your down 1 and you fail to get over that hump, capitalize and take the lead, well that takes its toll as well.

Here's my recap of the game and why Celtics fans should probably start worrying a bit:
  • Lewis and Pietrus picked up shooting the ball in that first quarter where they left off in Game 7 last year. They were unconscious in that first quarter.  Pietrus is beginning to remind me of Jason Richardson, who's a fairly regular player except when playing the Celtics.  As for Lewis you can see Garnett was having trouble with him in the first half until he clamped down on him in the 4th quarter.  No one else on the Celtics can guard him, which is why Scalabrine got minutes.
  • How many top paid point guards sit on the bench in the 4th quarter?  Ok Tony Parker may have done it a bit in the beginning of his career but Rondo looks so timid out there.  I understand Howard's a shot blocker on Orlando but take it to the hoop.
  • Is Rondo's mouthpiece giving him problems?  Is it me or is that new for him?
  • So much of the offense to me, seems like they're just giving the ball to Pierce and watching him go one on one.  Ray Allen is not having any plays called for him.  He's a future Hall of Famer and he got all of 10 shots.  When they ran some plays for him and he came off picks he scored or took the ball to the basket effectively.  As far as I'm concerned it's inexcusable Rasheed got 16 shots and Ray only 10.
  • Anthony Johnson played arguably the worst 15 minutes of basketball I've ever seen.  I can't believe he was even credited for 3 assists and 4 rebounds.  He looked like he had the mental preparation for a YMCA game.  0 for 3 from the field and 3 turnovers.  He looked about 55 years old out there.
All I can really say at this point is this team is looking like they'll make the 2nd round of the playoffs and that's it.  Unless KG returns to his 2008-09 form (uncertain) I don't see this team making the conference finals right now.  Should Danny do something drastic, and shake up the lineup?  Something similar to Houston back in 1995 when they acquired Clyde Drexler?  I don't know, but 3 home losses already this year, no real injuries that can be used as an excuse, and I don't know what to say.

As dominating as this team looked in their first 6 games they've looked that much older and passive in their past 7.  Was that it for this year?  6 games of flawless basketball?  I need a 10 game win streak to make me feel better.  Hopefully New York on Sunday can be the start of it.