5.08.2020

Celts have Revenge on Mind

December 3, 2008

We've seen quite a bit through more than a month of this Celtics season, but tonight will be a first: a revenge game. Considering the Celts have just two losses in 19 outings, these are rare occurrences indeed. But back on Nov. 1 in Indianapolis, the Pacers planted a 95-79 shellacking on the Shamrocks kisser. Indiana visits the Garden tonight.



The C's shot a listless 34.6 percent and turned the ball over 24 times in that game. It was ugly stuff.
``We definitely want to try to make a statement in this game that the last game in Indiana wasn't us and we're going to be a better team come (tonight),'' said Paul Pierce, who shot 3-of-15 from the floor with four turnovers in that loss.

``We definitely want to play better than we did the first time. And of course when you're playing in the Eastern Conference you want to win as many series as you can.'' Doc Rivers chuckled at the revenge angle, adding, ``I don't know if it's that, but we do know they beat us and they beat us well. I thought they played better than us that night. We absolutely struggled against them on both ends of the floor.''

Indiana took a 6-10 record into last night's game against the Lakers, but five of those losses have come by four or fewer points. When last they met, the Celts were the ones on the second night of a back-to-back, and they were just a few days removed from a banner raising. Playing at 8 against Chicago in Boston the evening before was a factor.

``I thought that was the tough part,'' said Rivers. ``It's tough whenever you have one of those TV games the first game of a back-to-back. That half-hour doesn't seem like a big difference but it is, especially when you have what turns out to be a three-hour (trip) and you're landing places at 4 in the morning. Every team goes through it. It's not just us, but that makes it tough.''

Celtics notes
It's quite possible the Celtics will be without Tony Allen tonight. Allen sprained his right ankle in the second quarter of Monday's win over Orlando and returned to play well, but there were some issues afterward.

``He's probably probable at best,'' said Rivers. ``It swelled up. It got pretty big after the game, so there's probably a very good chance he may not go (against Indiana). But he may.'' . . . Gabe Pruitt was back at practice after missing the last three games because of a virus. The Celts didn't go through much of a workout, but a skinnier Pruitt went through some shooting drills.

``He looked thinner than he did before, so he's now down to an atom or a molecule,'' said Rivers. ``It was a virus. We just didn't want him around the team spreading his disease.'' . . . Heading into last night's games, the Celtics led the NBA with 25 technicals (21 for players, four for coaches). Phoenix was second with 11. Kendrick Perkins is the individual leader with nine technicals. The Suns' Amare Stoudemire is well back in second with five. Rivers would like to see his team pick its spots better, but added, ``The one thing I don't want to legislate on my team is part of our makeup is our energy. We're not going to stop being that. We're an emotional team. That's part of our makeup.''
In particular, he said that when the officials tell a player to back off, he should do so.

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