Letdown in Toronto
The Celtics had a little momentum going into last night’s game in Toronto against the Raptors. Winners of four out of six since the All Star break, Doc River’s crew appeared to be getting their act together in time for a little run at getting back into the playoff picture in the eastern conference. A down-to-the-wire win over the Indiana Pacers at home on Friday had some thinking that this team might’ve finally turned the corner and that perhaps now some of these close games would start ending the favor of the green.
The short spurt of momentum and goodwill got a jolt last night as the Raptors pulled out a 111-105 win over the Celtics at the Air Canada Centre. Shira Springer says that when the Celtics fall short of their playoff goals this spring, this loss will be on that will stick with them. Steve Bulpett notes that adding to the pain, Delonte West went down with a groin injury in the first quarter and did not play in the final three quarters of the contest. In Toronto, Doug Smith looks at a hot night from Morris Peterson (27pts) which gave the Raptors the firepower they needed to send the Celtics down in defeat. Springer’s notebook has more on West’s injury.
Some articles from the weekend: Mark Murphy has a look at the Celtics youngsters growing into their roles. Murphy’s notebook from Sunday says that Gerald Green will likely be with the big club for the remainder of the season. Speaking of Green, I had ESPN2 on late Saturday night and they replayed the 2005 McDonald’s All-American Slam dunk contest. Green won that competition and had a couple of the fiercest, most athletic dunks I’ve ever seen. He would’ve given Nate Robinson a run for his money in the NBA contest had he been invited. Tim Weisberg had a look at the MVP-like run that Paul Pierce has found himself on in recent weeks. The Globe Basketball Notes lead off with a look at former Celtic Vin Baker, who is back in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers. Baker, as usual is saying all the right things. Let’s hope the words are for real this time. Murphy’s NBA Notes has talks to Pierce about the MVP award and what factors into the voting on the award. Shalise Manza Young had a look at Providence product Ryan Gomes in the Providence Journal.
