Celtics Finally Win
Posted on February 14th, 2007 by
January 5th 2007, Boston Celtics defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 128-119 to improved to a 12-20 record. Fast forward 5 weeks and 18 losses later, the Celtics snap their franchise worst losing streak with a win over the Milwaukee Bucks. I still think that the Celtics are headed straight to the draft lottery but at least they can go into the all star break with more than two wins this whole year.
Al Jefferson was happily watching the final seconds of garbage time from the Boston bench when Delonte West gave him a piece of advice.
“We’ve got nothing to celebrate,” Jefferson recalled after Boston ended its franchise-record losing streak at 18 games by beating the Milwaukee Bucks 117-97. “We should feel good about it. But don’t run off the court like we won the championship.”
Paul Pierce scored 32 points and Gerald Green had 21 in 20 minutes on Wednesday night to lead the Celtics to their first victory since Jan. 5 and send them into the All-Star break with a sigh of relief. After the break, Boston embarks on a five-game road trip — four of them against teams in playoff position.
“I thought that if we could win this game, it gives us a fighting chance out there. That’s all we want,” coach Doc Rivers said. “The guys are in there taking monkeys off each others’ backs and all that stuff. It’s just a relief to get it done.”
The half-filled house, winnowed by the first major snowstorm of the winter, gave the Celtics a standing ovation for the final minute as they picked up their first victory since Jan. 5. The Celtics won just two of 24 games when Pierce was out with foot and elbow injuries, breaking the franchise record of 13 straight losses and heading for the league record of 24 (23 in one season). #
