Who saw this one coming? Charlotte had played the night before and had yet to win a game on the second night of a back-to-back all season. The Celtics hadn't played since last Saturday (but had had only one practice since then). The Bobcats had lost 11 straight on the road, their only victory away from Charlotte coming Nov. 4 in Miami, their first roadie of the season. The Celtics were 29-3, although one of those wins had been gift-wrapped by the Bobcats in Charlotte Nov. 24. In that game, Jason Richardson had an inbounds pass stolen, leading to a winning three at the buzzer by Ray Allen.
"I knew I had to make it up to my teammates," Richardson said. Did he ever, with a macho, 34-point performance in which several of his 14 field goals came as the shot clock was about to expire.
"Jason Richardson was tremendous, absolutely fantastic," Doc Rivers saluted.
But the Bobcats? They were still 12-21 and had not won more than two straight all season. The Celtics were going for their 10th straight victory and were coming off the huge win in Auburn Hills, Mich. Still, before the game Paul Pierce talked about the Bobcats in almost reverential terms, saying this season's Celtics prepare for every team the same way. In the past, Pierce reckoned, that might not have been the case. In the past, Pierce reckoned, a game like this might well have resulted in an upset.
Oh, well.
"Maybe it's good for us," Pierce theorized after the game. "You can always learn from a bad win. You can also learn from a bad loss." Expect that to be the theme today when the Celtics gather for practice.
