C's make pretenders of wanna-be contenders
by By STEVE BULPETT , The Boston Herald
But it's clear that Julius Erving isn't walking through that door any time soon. Nor are Hal Greer, Moses Malone or World B. Free. Maurice Cheeks is, but he's wearing a suit and he's coaching a team that is now two games below .500 and 7 1/2 games behind the Celtics in the Atlantic Division just one month into the regular season.
Last night the 76ers looked more like the Washington Generals than an Eastern Conference contender. The Celtics broke out everything but the bucket of confetti as they rolled to a frighteningly easy 102-78 victory.
``We really wanted to make a mark tonight,'' said Kevin Garnett, who had 16 points (with a season-low two rebounds). ``Philly's one of these teams that's definitely more improved. They're one of the dangerous teams to me in the East.''
Clearly the locals didn't overindulge at the holiday table on Thanksgiving, leaving them more than able to flip the Sixers the bird early. Philly's 28 points in the first two quarters were a season-low for a Celts opponent (Detroit had 29). The 78 total points were a Sixers season-low by two.
It was a six-point Celts lead after one quarter and an 18-pointer at the half. In the third, the C's sailed away. Ray Allen had 15 of his 23 points, and the hosts took a 26-point lead into the superfluous fourth quarter.
Philly had scored a couple of hoops to get within 16 midway through the frame when Allen - with Rajon Rondo as his trusty sidekick - sent the guests into the night with a kick in the tail and a bag of leftovers.
Rondo found Allen on the right wing for a 3-pointer. The next time down the floor he hit Allen in the left corner for another trey. And, hey, if they can't hit the fastball, then keep throwing it. So Rondo fed Allen on the next possession, and the result was the same.
``That's what we try to do,'' Paul Pierce said. ``We try to feed the guy who has it going. Ray's really shooting lights out as of late.
``The guys around him are doing a good job of getting him open, and he's knocking shots down.''
It was Basketball 101 to the point guard.
``He was hot, so I just wanted to continue to get him the ball,'' said Rondo, who finished with six points, six rebounds and 12 assists. ``He started that run for us, and then when they got on him quicker I found KG for a couple of dunks, and that was it.''
The Celts were up 18 and pushing the issue when Pierce said a lot for this team. He missed a 3 and immediately rushed to the other end to take a charge from Andre Iguodala. He got in front of Andre Miller the next time Philly had the ball and drew another charge.
``It just says we're a team, and everybody is pitching in, playing their roles,'' coach Doc Rivers said of Pierce, who had six points on 1-for-6 shooting. ``What I loved about Paul tonight, he didn't have it going offensively, but I thought he just did other things, like those. And it's not just Paul; it's everyone.''
Pierce took the hits and got up, but the Sixers were down for the count.
``Right now, they're just trying to find their way,'' Rivers said. ``And when teams are doing that, you don't want to give them a break. You don't want to be the team that gets them going.''
- sbulpett@bostonherald.com
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