Perkins Nearly Blows the It, But Team Game Leads to W

KG and the C's walked away with a hard-fought W in Detroit. Their record is now 39-9--best in the league.

On a night in which there was no clear player of the game, the Celtics showed some real fortitude in an arena where road teams normally lose. The Palace at Auburn Hills often has a playoff atmosphere and can be very demoralizing to any team playing there (The announcer doesn't help either. How annoying is he?). 

In a few words, the C's played a team game, through and through. No Eddie House career nights. No Ray Ray burning the net with his sweet J. Not even many give-and-go's or alley-oops from Rondo to KG. Yet they still found a way to win in a gritty, physical (at times excessively), and defensive game.

Ray, KG, and Pierce carried the bulk of the scoring load, scoring 14, 22, and 20, respectively. Allen, with his recent All-Star reserve snub fresh in his mind, struggled finding his jump shot for most of the game, going only 4-14, although he knocked down all his free throws, especially when they counted in the waning minutes. Garnett shot an efficient 10-17 with 8 boards and a couple of blocks (and some huge jump shots down the stretch...a high five and a chest-pound for you, sir), and Pierce was 6-10. Rondo barely missed a double-double, with 8 points (4-8) and 12 assists. Again, his jumper continues to fall, as he sunk both of the 16-footers he took.

House wasn't very much of a factor, hitting only one shot. However, that shot was a BIG one, coming with just a couple of minutes left in the 4th and the Pistons making another run. The Pistons never led in this one, but any time the Celtics started to get ahead, they'd claw (literally) their way back into it. We only led by as many as 11, which is definitely not safe against a tried and tested team like Detroit. 

After committing a dirty foul, Perk wisely walks away from a frustrated Maxiell.

Now onto Mr. Perkins, whose emotions on the court have been well-documented. Look, I like Perk. He's a solid player, priding himself mostly on defense and shot blocking. He's got a big body and can carve out space for himself. BUT, he far too often makes boneheaded plays that could hurt the team. The guy came right out of high school and has been in the league for going on 6 years now, but he makes some rookie mistakes. One thing is that 90% of the time the ball gets delivered to him down low, he gathers (meaning he brings the ball down and then jumps up to dunk it). PERK. When you do this, the defense almost always gets back into the play and blocks you. I'm not being picky, people. He does this A LOT. And if you talk to me on occasion, I've probably vented about it a few times. He needs to learn to just hold the ball up and jump. Not too difficult. Another thing is his temper. At one point during the season, Perk led the league in technical fouls. Although I don't think he's gotten one since (is it 12?), he got thrown out of the game tonight with a Flagrant II foul (which basically means the player wound up and followed through on the offensive player; excessive and unnecessary contact.). Maxiell had gotten the ball down low and was going through a series of upfakes. Perk, wisely, stood his ground with his hands up (what you're supposed to do. *Applause*). Still, Perk seemed to get tired or bored of these upfakes and simply karate chopped his hand down on the back of Maxiell's neck and continued to drag him to the ground. Maxiell immediately got up and pushed Perk, who (give him credit) merely walked away without further incident. Luckily, it didn't turn into the infamous brawl between the Pistons and Pacers so many years ago (maybe because Artest wasn't in the building this time. Don't get me started on his ass.). So, end of story: technical called on Maxiell for retaliation, Perk thrown out. The already lacking-in-size Celtics had to bring an ineffective Big Baby in at a crucial point in the game (Oh, Scal...hurry back!). Fortunately, this whole incident seemed to light a fire more so under the Celtics than the Pistons (it's usually the other way around in this situations), and the Celtics escaped with victory. 

Both teams played with a grudge--Rip Hamilton was called for a Flagrant I foul for taking a swipe at Davis' head on this play.

If Perk is reading this, though (I'm sure he is......right?), control your freaking temper. I know the game was chippy, but you cannot let your childlike emotions come into play during games. They're more often than not detrimental to the team. You're a starter for a reason and we want you on the court at the end of games, so don't be an idiot again.

There....showed him...

So, that's 10 in a row for the Green, more than halfway to another 19-game streak!