Celtics give Bobcats a housewarming gift
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Been there. Done that.
For the second time in three regular-season games, the Celtics were faced with overtime. For the second straight night, they lost an agonizingly close contest, failing to take advantage of ample opportunities down the stretch.
But last night, the defeat hurt more because Boston squandered a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead before falling to Charlotte, 107-105, in overtime. The Bobcats managed only a pair of field goals in the extra session, but that was enough as the Celtics managed only one.
The visitors' offense sputtered and poise evaporated as the capacity crowd attending the first game at the new Charlotte Bobcats Arena grew louder with each hustle play by the home team.
''I thought we let our guard down when we had the [12-point] lead," said coach Doc Rivers. ''Our guys thought the game was over. When you relax, you're going to get beat. I don't care who you're playing. It's tough to turn it back on. I thought our guys tried to and we got great shots, but you can sense it, you can see it.
''Every time we got a lead, then all of sudden we start going to the cute game. We had a lead. We relax. They get back into it. We go back to executing. Tough lessons for this young team to learn right now, but these are games you can't give away and we're giving them away."
Charlotte struck first in overtime when Emeka Okafor nailed a 20-footer. Delonte West drove to the basket kamikaze style for a layup to even the score. Then, Gerald Wallace (25 points, 7 rebounds) banked in a shot with 2 minutes 23 seconds remaining to give Charlotte the only go-ahead basket it would need. Making it more difficult for Boston was the fact that big men Raef LaFrentz and Mark Blount had fouled out in the fourth quarter.
But foul trouble was not the primary reason Boston stumbled in overtime. The Celtics were outhustled on both ends as they rarely got second chances as the Bobcats pounced on loose balls. Boston had plenty of chances to send the game into a second overtime or even earn the win, but they couldn't get any shots to fall -- whether it was a Ricky Davis 3-pointer that was disallowed after it bounced in off the shot clock, or a West 3-pointer that missed as the shot clock expired, or a Kendrick Perkins 10-footer with 9.3 seconds remaining.
Boston appeared to earn a break when Matt Carroll stepped out of bounds before he was fouled and Boston got the ball back with 8.7 seconds remaining. But a 16-footer from Paul Pierce (32 points) fell short and time expired.
''I don't think we played with the sense of urgency we needed to close the game," said Pierce. ''They just stayed close and stayed close until they could tie it up and put it into overtime. We learn from our mistakes. We see what we're doing. We can't get rattled.
''We need to keep our poise. I thought we took quick shots at times down the stretch. We had turnovers and those are the things that kill you."
It looked like Boston would cruise to its first easy victory of the season when it went ahead by double digits in the fourth quarter, but that was before foul trouble and complacency sidetracked the team. Melvin Ely and Okafor went to the line and made their free throws to pull the Bobcats within 3 points (101-98). Then, Ely scored on a 6-foot hook shot to bring the Bobcats within 1 point with 1:51 remaining.
The crowd stood hoping to christen the new arena with a victory that had seemed almost impossible only a few minutes earlier.
On the Celtics' next possession, Al Jefferson lost the ball. The Bobcats called a timeout.
Charlotte went ahead for the first time when Brevin Knight hit an 8-footer with 1:09 left to cap an 11-0 run by the home team. Then, breaking from a disturbing trend, Pierce went to the line and made both free throws to push Boston back in front. Ely went to the line and made only one of two and tied the game at 103 with 47.5 seconds remaining.
Trying to retake the lead, Pierce, who had been hot all night and was the obvious choice to take a critical shot, passed across the arc to West for a 3-pointer. The point guard missed with 36.9 seconds left and gave the Bobcats a chance to go ahead.
West atoned for his errant shot by playing stifling defense on Knight, ultimately forcing the Bobcats to put up a bad shot. Okafor did hit the short jumper, but he pushed Jefferson in the process and was called for a foul. Jefferson, however, missed both free throws. A last second 3-pointer by Ely off a steal never had a chance and regulation ended tied, 103-103.
''They stole our aggression," said Ricky Davis (21 points, 10 rebounds). ''We got a little lackadaisical. You can't do that on the road. You've got to finish them when you can."
