Celtics complete nearly perfect preseason with win against Nets
Recap
The Boston Celtics finished their preseason off in style beating the New Jersey Nets 107-92 in a comeback victory. The win will give confidence going into their season opener against Lebron James and the Miami Heat next Tuesday.
The Celtics finish their 2010 preseason with a 7-1 record which puts them second in their Eastern conference behind the undefeated Orlando Magic who have one game left in the preseason.
The Celtics got off to a slow start finding themselves behind 27-15 after the first quarter but players like Paul Pierce and Ray Allen helped start the comeback. By the end of the first half the Celtics had reduced their deficit to eight points.
The Celtics went into the third quarter determined to make up the deficit and assistant-coach Lawrence Frank spoke of his team after the game saying, “Let’s face it: We’ve got a very, very talented group.” The Celtics had every reason to win and no excuse
to lose playing against the Nets who now sit 13th in the Eastern conference. They used this mixture of confidence and expectation to their advantage when, as Frank put it, they “decided to turn it around” in the second half.
The Celtics went to work in the third quarter outscoring the Nets and catching a number of fast break points. The Celtics had 21 fast break points on the night while the Nets only managed 15.
Pierce led the scoring for the Celtics with 17 points shooting six for nine from the field and five for five in free throws.
Allen contributed in a big way scoring all 14 of his points in the third quarter and fueling the Celtics comeback, who outscored the Nets 36-16 in the quarter.
Pierce expressed his disappointment with their slow start saying, “we knew that wasn’t our brand of basketball, the way we came out to start the game” adding, “We just wanted to establish ourselves.”
The win was a complete team effort for the Celtics with Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis each scoring 14 points and Shaquille O’Neal contributing under the net with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Power-forward and 3rd overall 2010 draft pick Derrick Favors led the Nets in scoring with 16 points, shooting five for seven from the field and six for six in free throws while Anthony Marrow added 13 points of his own.
The Nets’ loss puts their preseason record at three wins and five losses as they head into their season opener on 27 October against the Detroit Pistons.
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