Big men play a pivotal role after Jefferson injures ankle
When Al Jefferson went down with a high right ankle sprain with 3:11 remaining in the first quarter and the Celtics leading the Pacers by 1 point (19-18) at the FleetCenter, it meant that Boston's big men had to step up.
Not only for last night's 100-86 Celtic victory, when they tried to contain 6-foot-11-inch Jermaine O'Neal (game-high 24 points). The Celtics also will have to make adjustments for the next month while Jefferson, the team's top pick in the draft last year who is averaging 7.1 points per game, recuperates.
Raef LaFrentz did what he could for the Celtics. The former Kansas star scored 12 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, four on the offensive boards, for his seventh double-double of the season.
More importantly, he played team defense. With teammates Mark Blount and Kendrick Perkins taking turns trying to cover O'Neal man-to-man, LaFrentz did his best to help them out, especially toward the end of the game when Indiana went on a 13-2 run to cut a 14-point Celtics' lead to 3 with 6:20 to play.
"At the end of the game, they put a shooter out there in Jermaine [O'Neal] and you had to keep him honest," said LaFrentz. "I was on [Austin] Croshere and I was just trying to be active and work between the two. Most of the time, Perk was out there in the red -- out in front of him -- if he ever got there and I was there to help. That was the idea."
"You know, Jermaine O'Neal is a load, and I thought our bigs did a terrific job on him for the most part," said coach Doc Rivers. "I mean, he ended up with 24 points, but he shot under 50 percent [7 of 19]. I thought our defensive effort the last couple of games was really good."
LaFrentz was not much of a factor in the opening half. He played 11 minutes and was saddled with three early fouls.
"It's part of the game," said LaFrentz. "In the first half, the flow of the game wasn't to me. I wasn't getting the looks. I was in foul trouble. In the second half, I was able to play decent."
LaFrentz broke open a close game during a two-minute stretch late in the third quarter. With the Celtics leading, 67-64, he took a feed from Ricky Davis and knocked down a 3-pointer from 25 feet and followed with a layup on the Celtics' next possession, finishing off his streak with another 3-pointer to make it 75-66.
Eventually the lead stretched to 14 at 82-68 with 9:53 to play. LaFrentz was given a breather.
The Celtics didn't catch their collective breath. After the Pacers aforementioned 13-2 run, Rivers reinserted LaFrentz in the lineup and it paid off when LaFrentz hit Gary Payton with a feed on a key 3-pointer to hike the Celtics' lead to 6 (87-81).
"That's the way we play," said LaFrentz. "We tend to be streaky. When we're bad, we're bad, and when we're good, we're pretty good. That's something, hopefully, as the year progresses, we can even out. We have to play at a higher level for longer periods of time."
The six-year veteran is needed to be a calming influence on younger players like Perkins, and Jefferson, when he returns. But during Jefferson's absence, expect LaFrentz to help out Perkins and Blount more.
"It will change the rotation a little bit [with Jefferson out]," said LaFrentz. "We're going to have to have Perkins step up, have Googs [Tom Gugliotta] healthy, and use the big bodies."
Beating a team like the Pacers, basically without Jefferson, is a step in the right direction. Last year, Indiana swept the Celtics in the regular season and again in the playoffs.
"And this year they beat us twice. It's definitely been a tough run with them," said LaFrentz. "But a win's a win and we'll take any we can get."
