Friday, February 06, 2009

BRUINS AND CELTICS BOTH GO TO OVERTIME... ONLY ONE OF THEM WINS





The Bruins won 4-3 in a shootout, the Celtics lost 110-109 in OT

The B's got some overdue production from their power play unit, scoring 2 goals in 5 chances with the man advantage. Chara also added his 12th with a rare (for him) even-strengthed goal.

An indicative stat in this game was that only two Bruins finished with positive ratings. Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder were both +1, while every other Bruin was even or -1.

It's not healthy to give up 2 goal leads. The Bruins can claim fatigue or complacency, but to give up a 2 goal lead to the Senators, the weakest offensive team in the NHL, is absolutely inexcusable. The Bruins made mental mistakes and unforced errors which directly led to Ottawa's scoring. They nearly didn't get 2 points or even 1 point because of it.

Thankfully, the B's are good enough to overcome their occasional lapses against weak teams. They host the Flyers Saturday afternoon.

Now on to the Celtics.

You know why basketball struggles to be one of my favorite sports? Because moments like KG's 6th foul. Derrick Fisher blatantly runs into Garnett, KG puts a hand on him, whistle blows, KG's out of the game. An obvious embellishment by Fisher and the last 270 seconds change.

And there's no retaliation for this kind of womanly, foul-seeking play. And it's so prevalent in the NBA and NCAA. It just makes basketball less desirable to watch, at least for me.

Anyway, what was Glen Davis doing with the ball and 0:17 left in overtime? I know Doc Rivers has faith in him, and he's a perfectly capable player, but with 17 seconds, a 1 point lead, and guys like Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo on the floor, I don't want Glen Davis taking 19 foot shots with 9 seconds on the shot clock.

Whatever. Lakers win a regular season game. Whoopty shit. SportsCenter will be all over Kobe like a Colorado District Attorney, but if these teams meet again, and the refs don't suck, we all know what has happened, and what will happen.

Fuck L.A.

Celtics get to vent their frustrations Friday night in New York against the Knicks.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Fred Chartrand
AP Photo/Stephan Savoia