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Thursday, May 1
Celtics' fast start finished off Pacers
By Joe Lago
ESPN.com
BOSTON -- How preposterous did the Boston Celtics' first-quarter blitzing of the Indiana Pacers get? Even Mark Blount scored. That would be backup center Mark Blount, who came into Thursday's Game 6 averaging all of 1.8 points.
Fittingly, Blount's layup capped an opening period that pretty much told the tale of Boston's 110-90 victory. The Celtics couldn't miss. And the Pacers could barely hit the rim.
Boston shot a ridiculous 81.3 percent from the field, making 13 of its 16 first-quarter attempts and 14 consecutive shots in the first half -- while Indiana misfired on 21 of its 27 attempts to shoot an embarrassing 22.2 percent. Throw in three first-quarter blocks by Tony Battie, including back-to-back rejections of Ron Mercer and Jermaine O'Neal on one possession, and you have a 33-15 Celtics cushion after only 12 minutes.
Eastern Conference semifinals, here they come.
"We just were playing. We were feeding off emotion," said Antoine Walker, who, in the process of scoring 21 points, got to perform his trademark wiggle dance a number of times in the second half. "Guys were looking for one another. Guys were taking open shots. Nobody was forcing anything."
Before the game, Indiana head coach Isiah Thomas spoke about the importance of averting the "Paul Pierce explosion." Pierce scored seven of his game-high 27 points in the first quarter, but plenty of other Celtics did damage.
Tony Delk scored eight of his 15 points in the opening period, making all three of his shots, including two 3-pointers in a 1:02 span that increased Boston's lead to 24-10 with 3:22 remaining.
J.R. Bremer came off the bench to replace Delk and promptly buried two straight jumpers, including a 3, to give the Celtics a 29-13 lead with 1:22 left.
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The biggest thing was that we were getting defensive stops. Outside of them getting second shots, we really shut them down defensively. We came out with the energy level to win a Game 6 at home. We just wanted to take care of things at home. ” |
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— Antoine Walker |
And, of course, there was Walt-ah. Walter McCarty continued to be the Pacers' biggest unexpected nightmare, sinking two consecutive 3-pointers to start the game and work the rambunctious Celtics faithful into a healthy lather.
"When you think of the Celtics, you think of Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker," Pacers guard Reggie Miller said. "But in my opinion, I think Walter McCarty was the MVP of this series. Just by the simple fact that he hit every open 3 he had. He was the catalyst for them whenever they needed a big shot.
"Pierce and Walker seemed like they were putting up big numbers and they did, but Walter McCarty? He killed us."
The Pacers had plenty to do with their own undoing. They missed 12 of their first 15 shots, opting for the 3-pointer instead of going to their strength inside with O'Neal and Brad Miller. And when they finally did work the ball down low, Battie was there to greet them.
"The biggest thing was that we were getting defensive stops," Walker said of Boston's dream first quarter. "Outside of them getting second shots, we really shut them down defensively. We came out with the energy level to win a Game 6 at home. We just wanted to take care of things at home."
"They got into a nice rhythm, a good start," Pacers guard Erick Strickland said. "They were feeling real good about themselves. Paul didn't beat us early on ... We just killed ourselves."
Joe Lago is the NBA editor for ESPN.com.
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