Stunned: Celtics Go Down

Frustrated Sheed shed the headband.

What went right for them & wrong for us:

• The Suns hit 13 of 24 threes (Jason Richardson hit 6 of 7). The Celtics hit 4 of 18 (Sheed was 0 for 6). In fact, the Celtics shot nearly 52% as a team, but couldn't keep up with hot shooting of the Suns from downtown.
  
• The Suns converted on an astounding 23 of 24 free throws. The Celtics hit 9 of 18.
• The Celtics second unit couldn't keep up tonight and the point differential showed when they were on the floor. Rasheed Wallace was -8, Eddie House was -12, and Marquis Daniels and Shelden Williams were each -14.
• The bench shot a collective 9-23 including 0-8 from the three. Yuck.
  

When the starters returned with 7 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, down by 11, Doc Rivers elected to let Wallace, not Kendrick Perkins, finish off the game with the starting unit. Doc felt he needed his best offensive lineup on the floor. The C's nearly made the comeback complete bringing it to four points, and with the score of 104-100, Steve Nash sunk a three that put the nail in the coffin with about 50 seconds left.

The starting unit played really well tonight.

• Garnett had his best game of the season. He had 26 points (13-20), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. KG was a team high +9 on the court in almost 35 minutes.
• Pierce hit only 5 of 15 shots in 41.5 minutes. He had 6 assists, 3 turnovers, and was -2.
• Ray Allen had a solid contribution tonight and hit a couple of big threes down the stretch on his way to 16 points (7-11 FGs, 2-4 3PTs), 7 boards, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
• Rondo had 14 points, 2 rebounds both offensive), 11 assists (1 turnover), and 3 steals. However, the talented young point guard continues his free throw woes going 0-3 tonight.
  
• Perk had 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 blocks. He was a dismal 4-8 from the line.
  

It was a disappointing loss for the C's tonight, as the bench which has been so good thus far let the team down and the team as a whole could not defend the three.

They weren't going to go 82-0 anyway.

The 6-1 Celtics head to NJ for a game versus the 0-6 Nets tomorrow night at 7:30.

NOTES:

• Scalabrine missed the game with back spasms.
• Big Baby told ESPN The Magazine that he would like to to play in the NFL after he becomes an NBA all-star. The 6'9" Baby played halfback, tight end, and defensive line in high school and was highly recruited as a D-I prospect before quitting football for basketball his senior year of high school.