The
Matty G ventures into the Garden to bravely log every minute of the Celtics
16th straight loss
AP
Photo
By RedsArmy.com’s Matt Geagan
I knew the Celtics were going to lose their 16th in a row
last night against the Heat but I went anyway. Why not make it a night to go
see another Superstar play, not to mention an old friend returning. Thanks to a
recent computer problem, I couldn't host a chat, but I will be doing that
again. Instead, I took the minutes of the game. It wasn't as fun as I hoped but
still entertaining. I was planning on watching Blue Chips when I got home so I wanted
to see how Shaq looks now compared to 1994.
Pre Game
7:22pm: Sit down just in time to see Antoine Walker on the big screen.I would never pass up a chance to see Toine. Maybe get to see him hurl up some deep bricks. My
friend Mark and I spot a Ronald McDonald on the floor. It wasn't just Brian Scalabrine so we got excited he was going to do something
at some 
point in the night. Just
another reason to pay attention to the game.
7:31pm: Turn on the Garden TV to watch the replays and probably switch over to
the Duke-UNC game when the Celts are losing. I think I broke the TV though. I
hit a button and the screen went all red. It didn't turn off for three minutes.
I hadn't even taken a sip of my beer and I already broke something.
7:32pm: Antoine does the wiggle on the big screen and most people go wild.
Memories...
NBA/Getty
Images
First Quarter
7:41pm: The Celtics first possession shows some promise but gets stolen by
Dwayne Wade for a driving dunk. Great way to start
off the night.
7:48pm: I hear someone yell "Go back to Providence Gomes!" Then Gomesy hits his third jumper. Take that idiot.
7:50pm: They congratulate Gerald Green for being invited to the dunk contest.
This should be exciting. They show a dunk montage that gives me hope there
might be a championship of some sort related to this team.
7:53pm: Antoine comes in for the first time with a mixed reception. He looks
huge now.
7:55pm: Rajon Rondo gets an offensive foul called on
Gary Payton.
7:59pm: Another emphatic Dwayne Wade dunk.
8:00pm: Wally Szczerbiak hits his first two shots, one of them a three. The
Celtics lead 23-13. NBAE/Getty Images Is there some hope after all? Probably not.
8:03pm: Rajon makes an awesome reverse layup. This kid is awesome.
8:04pm: The Celtics have a 27-17 lead after one. They show more Gerald Dunks,
so why not celebrate a good quarter with another beer!
2nd Quarter
8:14pm: After a bathroom break and a short wait in the beer line,
that 27-17 lead is now a 29-28 Heat lead. At least we saw the T-Shirt girls on
the way back. I think they are better than the dancers. Ronald McDonald still
hasn't moved.
8:17pm: Delonte West gets mad after a no call and gets a technical. I've never
see Delonte get that pissed before.
8:24pm: Michael Olowokandi gets called for a
defensive foul after Shaq trips a little bit. Come on
ref, Olowokandi doesn't do anything, ever. Terrible call.
8:30pm: Shaq throws down a huge dunk but gets called
for a travel. Then on the defensive end he blocks Al Jefferson twice. I can't
wait to watch Blue Chips later.
8:32pm: So far in the game, Olowokandi and Scal have each checked in twice, but no Gerald Green. There
have been two dunk montages, but no Gerald. What's up Doc?
8:33pm:
Vintage Toine. He takes four steps back
and bricks a three. It was a terrible AP
Photo shot. He is playing the worst of his career, so it's
good he signed that five year deal.
8:39pm: Scallywag drains a three at the buzzer (No reaction from Ronald
McDonald). The Celtics are only down four at the half 44-40. After scoring 27
in the first quarter, the Celtics score 13 in the second. It's amazing they are
only down four because they are shooting 34%.
Halftime
8:41pm: At
halftime, a lady rides around on a unicycle and throws plastic bowls on her
head. If it wasn't for the T-Shirt girls, this would be the highlight of the
night.
8:48pm: All
Ronald does is accept a big check for a bunch of
different charities. He is one of 10 people to do this. There's no slam dunk or
half court shots or a simple silly antic. What a huge disappointment.
8:55pm:
Ronald checks his cell phone and leaves. I wonder what a Ronald McDonald does
after work.
3rd Quarter
9:00pm:
Dwayne Wade makes a great diving play to save a ball from going out of bounds.
Seeing Wade and
9:01pm: Four
Celtic dancers run out onto the court during a 20 second time out when they
weren't supposed to. What I would give to be in that huddle right now.
9:03pm: Wade
makes another awesome dunk right in front of a furious Doc Rivers. Doc calls a
time out with the Celtics down 57-44. I wonder if someone will send them a
"Sweet 16" cake.
9:08pm:
Wally hits back to back threes, part of a 10-2 Celtics run. Maybe there's some
hope after all. AP Photo
9:10pm: It's
half way through the third quarter and they've just shown another Gerald Green
dunk montage. But still no Gerald on the court. I
actually called Karalis to see if Gerald had some last second injury I didn't
hear about. Nope, just part of Doc's crazy non-rotation.
9:13pm: Wade
blocks Rondo. Is there anything this guy can't do?
9:14pm:
Wally makes a running leap to try and block a Jason Kapono
three. He steps on Leon Powe's foot and hurts his
ankle AGAIN! Is there any explanation for this?
9:15pm: Now
Gerald gets to play but he misses his first shot. Maybe he shouldn't have sat
for two and a half quarters.
9:19pm: Scal and Doc get all fired up on a bad foul call. Even Scal is getting mad at the refs. I guess Dwayne Wade can
get any call now that he has a ring.
9:22pm:
Sebastian Telfair is in the game, and instead of going to Al down low, he desides to try a driving layup
into a triple team. PASS THE BALL!!!
4th Quarter
9:25pm: They
play the Hoosiers speech. I'm not convinced that the Celtics would be
considered winners even if the play well. They need to actually win at this
point.
9:29pm:
Gerald misses his fourth straight shot. He's running out of time to warm up.
9:30pm: Wade
makes a great behind the back pass to Udonis Haslem, who gets a three point play out of it.
The Heat are up 82-61 now. It's just a matter of
time until 16 is official.
8:33pm: Antoine
Walker has a huge head. This turns into a five minute discussion
9:38pm: Wade
makes a ridiculous alley-oop dunk, followed by Toine hurling up another NBAE/Getty
Images three. It doesn't even matter the Celts are losing, this is still kind of fun.
9:43pm: Leon
Powe comes into the game in complete garbage time.
Shouldn't he get a chance in something other than the final five minutes of a
20 point loss. Even Michael Doleac
is playing. Don't we want players to have high morale?
9:50pm: The
Celtics are down 16 with 1:30 left. Very fitting.
9:53pm: The
Celtics lose their 16th straight 92-79. They shot 32%. Al Jefferson
finished with another double-double, but that was it for the home town
team. So it's a good thing Wade dazzled with 30 points and nine assists.
It was also good to see Antoine again.
How long is this streak
going to last? My guess is 18 games. They need to beat
It can't get that bad, can it?
Matt Geagan is a
sports producer at WBZ-TV… which means he’s not just into basketball. You can catch MattyG’s
thoughts on all things sports on his FoxSports.com blog. You can email him at MattyG@RedsArmy.com