First Round Game 3: Boston Celtics @ Atlanta Hawks, 4/26/08 (8:00pm, ESPN / CSN)

[Cman]

I hope Pierce remembers that image of Horford taunting him on the ground. Unreal the way the C's played tonight. They deserved to lose. That being said, that had to be the worst officiating I've seen. No T for Horford, phantom offensive fouls, and lack of the shot clock killed the refs. Why do we keep getting terrible officiating?

Yah, and Brian Scalabrine should be commended for making sure that PP didn't do something stupid and get suspended.

[Celtic]

One thing I was thinking was it may have been a good idea to really hammer one of the Hawks players, send an early message for game four. You never know though, sometimes those things go the other way, look for Pierce to go completely off in game 4.

[BASSTHUMPER]

The refs had nothing to do with the loss, however, is there any doubt that Violet Palmer is one of the worst in the league.  She should NEVER ref a playoff game.  Also, it is an embarrassment with the shot clock issue, but that affected both teams.  Simply a poor effort tonight by the Celtics.  They were completely outplayed by Atlanta's young studs.  I wish there was an explanation for Powe only playing six minutes.

house shoulda been on the floor more too...i hope doc fix it....

[Redz]

How dumb is Al Horford? 

This may be the least bothered by a loss I've been all year (maybe the game Utah beat us at the Garden).  I'm actually excited now. Give Atlanta credit for playing a perfect game and feeding off the energy of the crowd.  First playoff road game for the C's was a rough one. 

"Merely a flesh wound"

Game ended when Rondo was called for that cheesy offensive foul.

You know it's officially the playoffs now because I can honestly say I HATE THE HAWKS NOW.  That's whats been missing.  The venom.  Hate Bibby and his sneering face.  Hate Horford and his bush league taunting.  HATE `EM ALL.

GAME ON NOW!  PLAYOFF TIME IS FINALLY UPON US

[vinnie]

Oh, forgot to mention that Al Horford is a complete ****.  Gotta be honest though, game four concerns me.  Those young Hawk legs beat the crap out of the C's tonight.  Probably overreacting, but it did make me nervous.  

[RebusRankin]

Hopefully this is a wakeup call.

[Celtic]

In many ways this is a good team for the C's to lose to. A garbage team that has no chance of winning the series, it's a kick in the ass, wake and realize any team can beat you, if they play harder. In a series like this, we can afford a bad loss, if this were the ECF or the finals, you simply can not come out flat like this.

[OriginalODb]

The NBA
where channeling the Pistons happens

[shbanua]

In many ways this is a good team for the C's to lose to. A garbage team that has no chance of winning the series, it's a kick in the ass, wake and realize any team can beat you, if they play harder. In a series like this, we can afford a bad loss, if this were the ECF or the finals, you simply can not come out flat like this.

what i was thinking too.. better to take the lumps early than late on where it really really counts.

[bigtyc55]

I have 4 problems with Doc here, i know we couldn't make anything or even play defense, but:
1.) Where the hell is Pierce early in the fourth. you're down by about 10 points and Doc is letting Pierce ride the pine for about 6
2.) Why is Perk not in their at all in the 4th quarter, he sat the entire quarter. He gave us a physical presence with some offense (2-4 FG) and got to the line for 6/6 free throws. The Hawks has 12 offensive boards in the game.
3.) Why is Powe on the bench, 6 minutes give me a break, he has shown time after time this year he can come in and catch and throw down dishes from Paul in the lane as well as clean up with some offense on the boards. He gives instant garbage offense, toughness, rebounding, defense, taking the charge. Big Baby played with energy and got some boards, but he doesn't give you the offense that Powe can and he always gets the fouls, no matter where he is on the floor.
4.) This one we all know about, why in the world is Sam I am "not" still in the game. He was just absolutely awful. The offense is just p--- poor with him in their, especially with KG, Ray, and Pierce in the 4th, where he still pulls up to take contested jumpers as well as make a huge turnover on the pick and roll with KG after the great Posey defensive play. Eddie was played PG for 66 wins and he helped us win, even those key games vs. Pistons, Spurs, Mavs, etc.

I severely question Doc's coaching and substitution when it comes to a game 7 vs. Detroit or someone else.

[nickagneta]

The stats guy in Atlanta must be working as well as the shot clock. ESPN has the Celtics with 10 TOs and giving up only 12 offensive rebounds.

I seem to remember about 5 or six offensive fouls alone and a ton of stolen passes.

And I know in one possession during the first quarter the Hawks had like 4 offensive rebounds in one trip up the floor.

Can these numbers be right?

[Las Vegas Asian]

Rather we stay sharp by extending the series to 5 games than sit around getting rusty waiting for the 2nd round. More fitting we end this in the Gah-den anyway.

[dark_lord]

im just going to summarize everything and not even going to get into details.....that sucked on so many levels!


lets get after it on monday!

[BASSTHUMPER]

[GroverTheClover]

I have 4 problems with Doc here, i know we couldn't make anything or even play defense, but:
1.) Where the hell is Pierce early in the fourth. you're down by about 10 points and Doc is letting Pierce ride the pine for about 6
2.) Why is Perk not in their at all in the 4th quarter, he sat the entire quarter. He gave us a physical presence with some offense (2-4 FG) and got to the line for 6/6 free throws. The Hawks has 12 offensive boards in the game.
3.) Why is Powe on the bench, 6 minutes give me a break, he has shown time after time this year he can come in and catch and throw down dishes from Paul in the lane as well as clean up with some offense on the boards. He gives instant garbage offense, toughness, rebounding, defense, taking the charge. Big Baby played with energy and got some boards, but he doesn't give you the offense that Powe can and he always gets the fouls, no matter where he is on the floor.
4.) This one we all know about, why in the world is Sam I am "not" still in the game. He was just absolutely awful. The offense is just **** poor with him in their, especially with KG, Ray, and Pierce in the 4th, where he still pulls up to take contested jumpers as well as make a huge turnover on the pick and roll with KG after the great Posey defensive play. Eddie was played PG for 66 wins and he helped us win, even those key games vs. Pistons, Spurs, Mavs, etc.

I severely question Doc's coaching and substitution when it comes to a game 7 vs. Detroit or someone else.

In case anyone else had been wondering why most of us have been so critical of Doc's coaching, this should be made a sticky to serve as a reminder.