reflections
January 12th, 2007 The Kids Lose to Toronto

Chris Bosh

On Friday night, the Celtics played without Paul Pierce, Tony Allen, Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, Theo Ratliff, and Brian Scalabrine. The “kids” got the call all night long, and they showed great fight. Unfortunately, the Celtics lost the game 95-86 due to a late surge by the Raptors, led by star Chris Bosh. The Celtics missed 9 free throws, shot just 40%, and they turned the ball over 21 times.
Bosh led the way for Toronto with 27 points and 8 rebounds, as he made some really big shots down the stretch. T.J. Ford had a remarkable start, until Rajon Rondo came in to harass him, as he finished with 19 points and 6 assists. Anthony Parker had a solid all-around night on both ends, coming up with 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Number one overall pick from the 2006 NBA draft, Andrea Bargnani, had a tough shooting night, but ended up with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 big blocks. Jose Calderon chipped in 11 of his own off the bench, including 4 assists. Rasho Nesterovic was relatively quiet, as usual, but he ended up with 8 points and 8 rebounds.

Leading the way for Boston was rookie point guard Rajon Rondo, who had an outstanding night on both ends of the floor. Rondo scored a career high 23 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, dished 5 assists, stole the ball 4 times, harassed T.J. Ford, and only turned the ball over once in 30 minutes of play. The other rookie, Leon Powe (who was picked 49th overall by Denver and immediately traded to Boston), had an excellent game off the bench as well. He scored just 3 points, but he also grabbed 12 rebounds (6 offensive), stole the ball 3 times, and played some tough defense along with Michael Olowokandi. Gerald Green scored 13 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, dished 2 assists, got 2 steals, and blocked a shot, while hitting 3-6 from deep. However, Gerald had a bad night overall, shooting just 4 of 14 from the floor, and turning the ball over a whopping 6 times. Sebastian Telfair had an excellent first half, but struggled in the second, as he finished with 14 points, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers on 5-14 shooting. Al Jefferson and Ryan Gomes each didn’t have their best games, as they combined for 17 points and 12 rebounds. Undrafted rookie Allan Ray played 26 minutes and had an outstanding 2nd quarter, but struggled immensely in the second half, as he scored 11 points. Michael Olowokandi played 20 minutes, and played very well. He played excellent defense and he was very active, coming up with 3 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block. Kendrick Perkins had a lot of trouble defending the Toronto big men, who like to play on the perimeter, as he finished with just 2 points and 3 rebounds.

Player of the Game: Rajon Rondo

Rajon Rondo

23 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals

Next Game: Tomorrow night (1/13/07) @ Detroit at 7:30 pm ET. The status for Delonte West for this game is unlikely.

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