Fourteen seconds after the technical-palooza in the third quarter last night at the Garden, the Celtics [team stats] were back ahead by eight points and still very much in position to do to the Hawks what they are supposed to do to the Hawks on this floor.
It would be patently improper to say that the Boston ‘T’ party in which coach Doc Rivers was served twice and assistant coach Armond Hill once was a valid excuse for the Celts to slunk away down the stretch. The most direct effect of the sequence is that the assistant coach who took over, Tom Thibodeau, didn’t make a single substitution in his 18:16 in charge, leaving the fatigued five to languish in the late going.
Playing on a back-to-back and for the third time in five days, the Celtics went on to squander a 14-point lead and fall to 0-3 against Atlanta this season with a 102-96 final in the Hawks’ favor.
The Celts were ahead by 10 when Marvin Williams stole the ball from Ray Allen and took off on a fast break. Glen Davis caught Williams and applied a strong hit, with the officials deciding it was a flagrant foul.
A livid Rivers was called for two techs, and when Hill made a comment (not an abusive one, according to those close by), he got one, as well. With three tech free throws, plus two for the foul and possession of the ball, the Hawks could have done some major damage. But after Jamal Crawford made the three technical free throws, Williams hit 1-of-2 from the line and Kendrick Perkins [stats] blocked a Crawford drive.
The damage had already been done to the flow, however, according to the Celts.
“Well I don’t know, the game is full of momentum changes and throughout the course of the game that’s what happens,” captain Paul Pierce [stats] said. “I mean, we gave them momentum when we were up (10) and then we got the technical fouls and you know they cut the lead basically in half with the free throws, and it becomes a dogfight after that.
“I mean, if you give Atlanta a chance with the guys they have . . . you know, it gets tough.”
Said Allen: “It was just a terrible situation, whether it was justified or not. We’re up 10, and now all of a sudden it seemed like it was a two-point game and the ball wasn’t even dribbled. I hated watching that. The lack of a good call can result in that much of a difference in a game like that.
“Up until that point, we were playing well and after that the game did change.”
Rivers took the blame. He has been ejected from games before, but generally it is a planned event designed to inspire his team. (And then there was the time it looked like he wanted to get tossed so he could watch The Masters, but let’s not get into that now.)
“I told the guys after the game, No. 1, that’s always on me,” Rivers said. “I don’t think I should ever get thrown out. I don’t know when the last time I was thrown out (March 17, 2009, in Chicago).
“I don’t care how bad you think the calls are at that moment, you know, somehow you have to try to ring yourself back in.”
Rivers thought the officials were deciding whether it was a breakaway foul, when he got word of the flagrant and blasted off. Asked if he remembers ever being that enraged, the coach cracked, “Maybe in a practice. But, no. Usually when I get thrown out, I tell my coaches, ‘Hey, I got to go. I think our team needs a lift.’ ”
According to Davis, he was trying to give Williams a lift.
“I’m a big guy and it felt like I didn’t intentionally do it,” Davis said. “When I was coming down I tried to hold him from falling. But the refs made a decision and I can’t get mad and upset.”
Others did that for him.
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