The Boston Celtics went on the road for their final two-game road trip of the regular season and came away with a win in game one, 99-89 over the Atlanta Hawks in front of 20,098 at the Phillips Arena. The win gives the Celtics a 64-16 record with two games to play before the playoffs.
It was another game for Doc Rivers to play the reserves as only one starter, Ray Allen, saw 30 minutes of playing time. Rivers, who was much maligned last season is Boston’s newest coaching genius, has been resting the starters over the last week or so in anticipation of them needing long minutes come playoff time.
The Green were led by MVP candidate Kevin Garnett who had 24 points, veteran reserve Sam Cassell came off the bench to score 20 points and Ray Allen and Paul Pierce each added 14 points.
The Hawks, who dropped to 37-43, hold a two-game lead over Indiana for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with two to play. They were paced by Joe Johnson who had 21 points, rookie of the year candidate Al Horford had a double-double with 17 points and 11 boards and Josh Smith also had 17 points.
The Hawks need to win just one of their final two games against Orlando and Miami to clinch the final playoff berth. If they do get in they will play these very same Celtics in the first round.
The Celtics final two games are at New York on Monday and home against New Jersey on Wednesday.
I’m going to close in saying that while there are other MVP candidates out there like Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant, nobody has done for a team what Kevin Garnett has done in Boston this season. The NBA award voters really need to take notice as the Big Ticket was the missing piece in making the once great Celtics franchise relevant again.
Scot Pollard was doing the color commentary on the broadcast last night. He might want to stick to playing with basketball or doing something else after his basketball career.