No ‘Melo? No Problem for the Celtics

By John in Celtics, Featured ⋅ December 9, 2010 at 10:40am ⋅ Post a comment

Doc Rivers directs his players, with what is apparently a tie with way too much starch. (Elsa / Getty Images)

Carmelo Anthony’s right knee was inflamed, and so was Denver’s hopes of winning George Karl his 1000th game. In the end, Denver made it close, but Boston swatted them back down, and took the win 105-89. All the way into the 3rd, Denver held their own, but Boston was able to charge forward and lead by as much as 20 with 3:31 left to go; Denver never led in the game.

Boston started very strong, and scored 26 points before the Nuggets even made it to double digits (26-11). Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and even Big Baby Davis contributed to Boston’s 35-21 lead at the end of the first 12 minutes. Boston went up 39-24 in the next frame before Denver started chipping away. 40-31. 42-35. 49-45. And of course, 51-50. Allen and Pierce managed to give Boston the 59-52 lead going into the half, but you can bet Doc Rivers wasn’t happy about blowing a lead that made it up to 19.

Denver tried to keep on the pressure after halftime, and cut the lead to 67-63, but from there, Boston just came out guns-a-blazin’. Garnett goat an “and one,” Ray Allen was fouled taking a three (he made all three free throws), and Garnett hit a jumper to put the lead back at double digits. Boston extended their lead to 13, and 11 at the final intermission.

From there, it was a clinic. Boston kept scoring, with Denver answering only sporadically. Boston pushed the lead up to 20 points, 98-78, before they traded buckets and charity stripe tosses with Denver and settled on the final 105-89 score. In between, Denver’s frustration led to a war of words between Glen Davis and Nene (he just has one name, like Prince or Cher) with 2:32 left, which ended with Nene shoving Davis with his head.

C’s Stud of the Game: Ray Allen

Allen led all other players on both sides in scoring by at least 11 (with the exception of Ty Lawson), and came down with five boards and four assists, to go with three threes and seven free throws.

C’s Dud of the Game: Marquis Daniels

In 17:14 of playing time, Daniels didn’t record even a single point. He only attempted two shots, and despite racking up two rebounds, and assist, and a block, Daniels managed a +/- rating of -9, whatever that means.

Game Notes:

Scoring Leaders: Ray Allen (BOS 28), Ty Lawson (DEN 24), Kevin Garnett (BOS 17), Paul Pierce (BOS 17)
Field Goal Leaders: Ty Lawson (DEN 9/14), Ray Allen (BOS 9/14), Kevin Garnett (BOS 8/9)
Three Point Leaders: Ray Allen (BOS 3/5), Arron Afflalo (DEN 2/2), J.R. Smith (DEN 2/4)
Free Throw Leaders: Glen Davis (BOS 8/12), Ray Allen (BOS 7/8), Ty Lawson (DEN 6/7), Nene (DEN 6/8)
Rebound Leaders: Kevin Garnett (BOS 9), Al Harrington (DEN 8), three others with six
Assist Leaders: Rajon Rondo (BOS 13), Chauncey Billups (DEN 7), Ty Lawson (DEN 7)
Steal Leaders: Glen Davis (BOS 3), Ty Lawson (DEN 3), Nene (DEN 3)
Block Leaders: Shaquille O’Neal (BOS 3), Semih Erden (BOS 2), six others with one
Foul-outs: none
Technical Fouls: Chauncey Billups (DEN, 3:21 left in 3rd), Glen Davis (BOS, 2:32 left in 4th), Nene (DEN, 2:32 left in 4th)
Turnovers: BOS 19, DEN 18