Please Win
Just To Prove You Can
AP Photo
By
RedsArmy.com’s Matt Geagan
I wanted nothing to do with the loss
to the Timberwolves Sunday night. I cut two plays for the WBZ Sports
highlights, and tried to forget about the game as much as I forgot about Justin
Reed (remember him?). It crippled me to new lengths like no other
game during this never-ending skid. But as much as I tried, it wouldn't
leave me alone. After getting home from a long days work, I threw on the most
recent episode of The Office. In the final five minutes, there is a
hilarious exchange between Steve Carrell and a 90 year old guy with dementia.
The only problem is the Celtics are mentioned.
Uncle Al: Phyllis and
You will be great together.
Michael Scott: We are great
together. We are a great team.
Uncle Al: The Celtics were a
great team.
Michael Scott: Yes, yes they
were……….. Robert Parish.
It may be comedic gold, but it brought
back the pain I felt a few hours before. Why is this team haunting me?! I knew
the line was coming, but it still hurt an awful lot. To make matters worse,
around 2:00pm Monday (when daytime TV hits its afternoon lull. You can't give
us The Cosby Show and follow up with Steve Harvey) the only thing on was
the final five minutes of the game. So just to make it hurt more, I watched.
Why would one do such a horrid thing? Especially since this was the worst loss
of the bunch.
A win was so close Celtic fans could
almost taste it. They actually led for the entire first half and most of the
third quarter. Then Ricky Davis and Mark Blount took over. Blount is up there
with former Celtics I hate the most. Ricky was always fun to watch in green,
but this was just salt on an open wound. How was he that open? Delonte West
needs to get some of the blame, and Doc should as well. Delonte can't
leave a guy that wide open, let alone Ricky Davis. Doc just needs to teach
these young guys that. What hurt the most was watching Ricky stare it down, and
then Blount running over (more running than he ever did as a Celtic after his
big deal) to celebrate. There are so many things I want to say about
Mark Blount, but they're too graphic for print.
The silver lining of the game was Paul
Pierce is looking like his old self. He was only supposed to play 20 minutes,
but was in there for 32, dropping 29 points in only his second game back. Not
bad at all. He hit a huge three to give the Celts a 105-101 lead, and then a
great assist to Al Jefferson for a 107-105 lead. The only problem is Pierce
can't do it all himself, and no one stepped up when they had to. Are the guys
taking a break with Pierce in there, kind of like the Red Sox offense did
when Pedro was on the mound? Probably not… seeing how no one wants this streak
to continue. But now that a star like
Pierce is back, things should be easier for guys. They just need to take
advantage of that. They didn't Sunday night, and because of a Delonte West shot
clock violation with three seconds left, the Celtics were defending not to
lose instead of defending a tie.
So it's come to begging. Please win tonight,
PLEASE. I am crazy about the fact the Celtics have a chance to get Greg Oden or
Kevin Durant in a draft, even if it is over four months away. But if the
Celtics don't beat the Bucks at home, this embarrassing streak could go
onto the record 24. After the break, it's the Kings, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and
Rockets all on the road. Does anyone have confidence they could win any one of
those games besides a chance at the Kings? Losing all five would give them a
streak of 24, tying the longest in NBA history (Cleveland did it over two
seasons in 1982) and breaking the most in a single season (Memphis in 1996).
Losing has just become so tiresome it is getting disheartening. The
Celts can lose all five games on the road, but for the love of
sanity please win tonight. If for nothing else, just to let us all know they
still can.
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