Saturday's leftovers: Celtics vs. Raptors
January, 3, 2010
1/03/10
12:17
AM ET
By
Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com
A handful of leftover notes following the Celtics' 103-96 triumph over the Raptors Saturday night at TD Garden:
Rasheed's spin move
Even at age 35, Rasheed Wallace still has moves.
Despite back-rimming a dunk earlier in the game, Wallace provided a highlight-reel moment when he put a quick spin move on Toronto center Andrea Bargnani and drove baseline for a dunk that put Boston out front 92-83 with 3:11 to play.
"I’m just playing basketball, man," said Wallace. "[Bargnani] wants to sit on that high side, well, I’m gonna spin baseline. I’ll go baseline. He wants to cut out the baseline, I’ll go low. It’s just basic basketball, ain’t nothing new, nothing different.”
Said Kendrick Perkins: "I know he's got that [spin move]. He doesn't do it in practice, but I know he's got it. When 'Sheed wants to, he can be one of the best post players in the league -- when he wants to. When he comes to play and he's focused, he's great."
Add another to the injury report
Celtics guard Tony Allen said he hyperextended his left arm while drawing a fourth-quarter charge against Marcus Banks. Despite clutching his left side while going to the bench following a timeout after the play, Allen returned to the game and scored a driving bucket before the final buzzer.
He didn't look much worse for the wear after the game and said he'd come in for treatment Sunday, but expected to be fine when the Celtics resume practice Monday.
Tough talk
Raptors guard Jarrett Jack made some headlines and turned some heads in the Celtics' locker room with his comments about Toronto needing to match Boston's physicality Saturday. Jack most notably told reporters: "They have been a team that we haven't been competitive with at all and I'm talking about going back to preseason. And they're a team that has been very mouthy saying we don't have post players and stuff like that. Those guys are the beasts of the East. We have to step up and make them respect us."
Players said coach Doc Rivers brought the quotes to their attention before Saturday's game and Boston responded by finishing with a 48-30 advantage in points in the paint, along with a 36-28 edge in rebounding.
"Doc's always giving us motivation and he brought up whatever Jarret Jack said about being the bullies," explained Perkins. "Doc brought it up today, and it helped a lot, guys got really focused. We decided we were going to be the bullies today."
Wallace, not surprisingly, had the strongest comments on the matter.
"It's just my personal opinion, but there's only a few teams in the league that play physical, and they're not one of them," said Wallace.
Toronto's Chris Bosh said the Raptors need to respond in composed fashion.
"We just have to respond and the thing with us is that we have to respond in a composed kind of way," said Bosh. "Instead of really just being super aggressive, we need to be strong and controlled. Because usually when guys hit you first, you know you hit back and then the next block you're going to get called for the foul. So we just have to be physical as well, but we can’t let stuff like that throw us off our game."
More football chatter for Davis
No, Glen Davis doesn't want to play in the NFL, but Rivers heaped an NFL-style compliment on him after Davis registered 15 points off the bench, despite playing with ankle and thumb injuries.
"It's ‘Belichickian’ I guess I’ll call it. You know, 'Do your job completely.' And I got on Baby early in the game, because he came in, I think the first time he touched it, he took a jump shot, second time he got in, he wanted the ball on the post. And that's not what he does. He goes out, sets picks, and he pops. Those are his shots. I thought after that he was absolutely fantastic. He did hit the wall a couple times, but that’s fine. And each time out -- you don’t know what the minutes will be for him. We've just got to gauge fatigue, and sometimes that's tough to see."
Rasheed's spin move
Even at age 35, Rasheed Wallace still has moves.
Despite back-rimming a dunk earlier in the game, Wallace provided a highlight-reel moment when he put a quick spin move on Toronto center Andrea Bargnani and drove baseline for a dunk that put Boston out front 92-83 with 3:11 to play.
"I’m just playing basketball, man," said Wallace. "[Bargnani] wants to sit on that high side, well, I’m gonna spin baseline. I’ll go baseline. He wants to cut out the baseline, I’ll go low. It’s just basic basketball, ain’t nothing new, nothing different.”
Said Kendrick Perkins: "I know he's got that [spin move]. He doesn't do it in practice, but I know he's got it. When 'Sheed wants to, he can be one of the best post players in the league -- when he wants to. When he comes to play and he's focused, he's great."
Add another to the injury report
Celtics guard Tony Allen said he hyperextended his left arm while drawing a fourth-quarter charge against Marcus Banks. Despite clutching his left side while going to the bench following a timeout after the play, Allen returned to the game and scored a driving bucket before the final buzzer.
He didn't look much worse for the wear after the game and said he'd come in for treatment Sunday, but expected to be fine when the Celtics resume practice Monday.
Tough talk
Raptors guard Jarrett Jack made some headlines and turned some heads in the Celtics' locker room with his comments about Toronto needing to match Boston's physicality Saturday. Jack most notably told reporters: "They have been a team that we haven't been competitive with at all and I'm talking about going back to preseason. And they're a team that has been very mouthy saying we don't have post players and stuff like that. Those guys are the beasts of the East. We have to step up and make them respect us."
Players said coach Doc Rivers brought the quotes to their attention before Saturday's game and Boston responded by finishing with a 48-30 advantage in points in the paint, along with a 36-28 edge in rebounding.
"Doc's always giving us motivation and he brought up whatever Jarret Jack said about being the bullies," explained Perkins. "Doc brought it up today, and it helped a lot, guys got really focused. We decided we were going to be the bullies today."
Wallace, not surprisingly, had the strongest comments on the matter.
"It's just my personal opinion, but there's only a few teams in the league that play physical, and they're not one of them," said Wallace.
Toronto's Chris Bosh said the Raptors need to respond in composed fashion.
"We just have to respond and the thing with us is that we have to respond in a composed kind of way," said Bosh. "Instead of really just being super aggressive, we need to be strong and controlled. Because usually when guys hit you first, you know you hit back and then the next block you're going to get called for the foul. So we just have to be physical as well, but we can’t let stuff like that throw us off our game."
More football chatter for Davis
No, Glen Davis doesn't want to play in the NFL, but Rivers heaped an NFL-style compliment on him after Davis registered 15 points off the bench, despite playing with ankle and thumb injuries.
"It's ‘Belichickian’ I guess I’ll call it. You know, 'Do your job completely.' And I got on Baby early in the game, because he came in, I think the first time he touched it, he took a jump shot, second time he got in, he wanted the ball on the post. And that's not what he does. He goes out, sets picks, and he pops. Those are his shots. I thought after that he was absolutely fantastic. He did hit the wall a couple times, but that’s fine. And each time out -- you don’t know what the minutes will be for him. We've just got to gauge fatigue, and sometimes that's tough to see."
PODCASTS
ESPN Boston Radio with Adam Jones
ESPN Boston Radio: Mike Reiss
Larry Lucchino: 5/25
ESPN Boston Radio with Adam Jones
Play Podcast ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss and Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal
Play Podcast ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss on the Patriots and OTA's
Play Podcast Red Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino says part of the reason they hired Bobby Valentine was adise he gave them in Japan about Matsuzaka.
Play Podcast Red Sox OF Darnell McDonald and True Hoops' Henry Abbott
TEAM LEADERS
| POINTS | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Paul Pierce
|
|||||||||||
| OTHER LEADERS | ||||||||||||
| Rebounds | K. Garnett | 8.2 | ||||||||||
| Assists | R. Rondo | 11.7 | ||||||||||
| Steals | R. Rondo | 1.8 | ||||||||||
| Blocks | J. O'Neal | 1.7 | ||||||||||





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