It was a Scooby Doo Ending in Victory Over Timberwolves
By Kevin Henkin
I’m not ashamed to say that the Friday night win against the Timberwolves was my favorite of the season. Not because of the superior play of the Celtics or the level of competition they faced, because neither claim would be true, but because of the way the team pulled out the victory. This is exactly the kind of game that the Celtics of last season would have lost, against a team with seasoned veterans who are familiar with answering the call at gut-check time. The Celtics are now the team of veteran savy, and how gratifying it is to be on the other side of that equation again. Anyway, I was fortunate to witness the game in person and came away with the following stream-of-consciousness observations as the game progressed:
Pre-Game
Gerald Green spends the vast majority of shoot-around gabbing with Marko Jaric, Ryan Gomes and Cedric Maxwell. After all, slam dunk champions don’t need warm-up shooting drills.
During the line-up announcements for the Timberwolves, it goes as follows: Sebastian Telfair is met with a fair amount of booing and grousing whereas Ryan Gomes receives a strong cheer and Al Jefferson is given a standing ovation. Sounds about right to me.
First Quarter
The former Celtics start out fast out of the gate. Jefferson scores 8 quick points before sitting with 2 fouls while Telfair and Gomes combine for 10 points. There is much hooting and hollering by the Timberwolves cast after baskets while the Celtics go about their business in a far more reserved fashion.
The end-of-quarter results show that the Timberwolves shot 63.2% from the field, although only 2 of 6 from international waters. Of particular concern is that the Wolves shot 10-13 from within the arc. It seems very unlikely that they’ll keep up at this pace. Right? I’m a little concerned by the play of both teams at this point. This has “embarrassing upset at home” written all over it.
Second Quarter
Leon Powe starts the quarter and is the quick recipient of two sneaky passes by Pierce out of the double team, converting on dunks and filling the Perkins role of “ignored big man” quite nicely.
During a time-out, the Celtics dancers arrive on court wearing their black leather pants outfits. The crowd immediately stops talking and stares in rapt silence. From my vantage point, I did not see one person speak during the performance. When the dancers arrive on the court wearing these particular outfits, in the words of Eddie Murphy, “the fish stop swimming.”
Tony Allen appears mobile and is aggressive on an attack to the basket. Subsequent possessions show a tamer TA in his approach to the lane, which means he’s still tentative with the knee. What I’ve noticed primarily about Allen is this: When he’s on offense with the ball and surrounded by aggressive defenders, he still looks cautious. However, on defense, he’ll shock you by his elevation by grabbing a rebound high above the other players. This happens several times over the course of the game. I can’t climb into the mind of Tony Allen but based on that observation, it seems clear that his knee is sound and at this point, the remainder of his recovery will remain on the mental side of things. Not a newsflash, just some food for thought.
Craig Smith comes into the game, looking, um…large. Actually, he looks like he just ate Al Skinner. He’s obviously on the Kedrick Brown diet plan.
Third Quarter
Jefferson throws a nifty triple pivot move at Garnett and converts a tough basket. Kind of reminded me of Kevin McHale. Hmmm…
It’s good to see that Gerald Green still has that selective crazy glue stuck firmly to his hands. The glue apparently prevents him from releasing the ball horizontally to any teammates but rather only vertically in the direction of the basket.
Fourth Quarter
Before the quarter begins, the “on-court entertainment” consists of a three-way dance competition. First up is a reserved matronly woman who does not fare well with the crowd. Next up is a heavy gentleman with some fairly deft and creative moves. In my experience, fat guys are always the favorite in these types of competitions. Crowds love watching fat guys dance. However, an attractive young woman grinds her way to a remarkable upset victory.
Tony Allen attacks the basket again but it’s difficult to assess his lift because Craig Smith aggressively grabs him in the lane and tries to eat him.
The Celtics are still losing and looking flat but the crowd remains upbeat. The game has a definite Scooby Doo feel to it. In other words, the gang suffers a usual minor scare but they rally at the end and inevitably come out on top. Those watching are rarely worried about any harm coming to the gang in question. Yeah, it’s like that. At least until…
Kevin Garnett leaves the court due to an abdominal strain with 6:19 to play and the Celtics down 75-69. Worry of a loss officially creeps into the building.
With the Celtics down by three, they get away with missed calls on traveling violations on the same possession before Ray Allen nearly drains a three that would have tied it. It would have been a proverbial back-breaker for the T-Wolves had the shot gone down. Alas.
After another Timberwolves basket, I utter five words I thought I would never hear myself say: “Sebastian Telfair is killing us!”
Garnett returns with 2:19 to go and the Celtics down by 6. The crowd erupts.
37.5 seconds to go and down by 3, the Celtics have the ball coming out of a timeout. During the timeout, I see many people singing along enthusiastically to “Living on a Prayer” and observe that tense, tight ball games apparently cause people to like Bon Jovi.
After a wild melee under the basket, Pierce makes a put-back to bring the Celtics within 1 but the possession has used up too much time, leaving 23.2 to go. Barring a miracle, the Celtics will need to foul and hope for either a miss or a subsequent tying three pointer.
The Timberwolves commit a five second violation trying to inbound the ball. Euphoria ensues and the Celtics call a timeout. “Footloose” blares on the PA system. I observe that tense, tight ball games do not cause people to like Kenny Loggins.
You know the rest. Perkins cleans up Ray Allen’s lay up miss. Garnett schools Sebastian Telfair. The crowd goes bonkers upon the defeat of the team with the worst record in basketball. It doesn’t matter. On their way off the court, a frustrated group of Timberwolves grouse that they would have gotten away with a win if it wasn‘t for that meddling Kevin Garnett. Alas, the Scooby Doo ending, indeed.
