Celtics Fend Off Pesky Nets

Entering the fourth quarter the Celtics had a comfortable 13 Point lead, then with one minute left in the game it was tied. The nets, known for collapsing and giving up in games did the exact opposite Wednesday night and came from as many as 13 Down to give the Celtics a scare down the stretch.

Paul Pierce again rose to the occasion sinking a 17 foot fade away with 20 seconds left to put the Celtics up 113 to 111, and a couple of Ray Allen free throws later led a Celtics victory over the nets 115 to 111.

The Celtics defense is clearly hurting with Garnett and Scalabrine still out of the lineup. While Garnett’s timetable has stayed the same (2-3 weeks) the Celtics are still to report of anything positive Garnett is doing and Scalabrine has already been ruled out for the entire month of March with a concussion.

While the offense is stagnant at times without the energy of Garnett they are still scoring plenty of points. The defense is clearly suffering, a Garnett led defense does not give up an 11? Point lead in the fourth quarter to a New Jersey Nets squad who have been known to tank it if the game takes a bad turn.

With that said, Doc Rivers and the rest of the Celtics have done a great job over the past week, losing two key players in addition to incorporating two new players one of which has not played basketball in a year.

While Michael Moore has had his downs, he has adjusted and fit in pretty nicely thus far. Stephon Marbury had a good first game but has struggled since, turning the ball over and just not knowing the Celtics defensive and offensive sets yet. While the Marbury addition could prove to be a key addition to a playoff run the Celtics must go through this transition with the point guard and for the time being, deal with his mistakes.

However, none of that matter comes Friday night when the battle for eastern conference supremacy will take place between the Cavaliers and Celtics. So whether Starbury has learned the Celtics game plan or not the Cavaliers are coming with a full roster to win home court in the playoffs. After last year the Celtics better hope they learn how to win on the road before the third round starts.