PACERS OUTLAST CELTICS, NO ONE CARES CAUSE ALL EYES WERE ON THE G-SPOT

The Celtics put up a great effort tonight, shooting 59% against the Playoff bound Pacers, but in the end the Pacer's experience was the difference as they came away with the 117-112 victory.
Despite the loss it's hard for any Celtics fan to be dissapointed. With the playoffs out of reach fans know the Celtic's goals have changed, and tonight the Celtics accomplished exactly what they needed. In one single game they took another huge step in developing their young talent. Let's start with the "swamp thang" who likes to bang, Kendrick Perkins. Another start for Perk and another solid game. He scored 17 and grabbed 8 boards. Most importantly Perk played some solid defense on Jermaine O'Neal. After coming back from his injury the Perk-i-nator looked more than aloof when he was on the court. Since being back in the starting line-up his play and confidence have picked up. He showed it tonight and you better believe he will show up next year with a thirst for blood.
Ryan Gomes was another youngster that made strides tonight. While 12 and 3 might not sound like big numbers for a tamed stallion the likes of Gomes, by starting at the small foward spot, Gomes gained valuable experience chasing smaller players like Peja around all night. While Gomes did a formidabe job, it was clear that he will have his share of struggles on the defensive end when matched up with an outside threat. Also by playing outside, His freakish rebounding ability was deminished as he only grabbed a mortal 3 boards. Despite these issues he did play a nice game and proved that with a little more practice he can still be quite effective playing the 3.
Brian Scalbrine was another young talent that made big strides in tonights game. His 2 points and 5 personal fouls was just a preview of the damage he can inflict against his opponents. The box scores don't do this Ravishing Red Head justice. Rumor has it that Scalabrine snuck into the Pacers locker room before the game and ate all of Anthony Johnson's penut butter cups. Talk about a team player. Johnson was having snack attacks so bad in the second half that he could barely get up and down the court.
Tony Allen recieved tonights "Tommy Award" and for good reason too. His 5 steals didn't even begin to do his defensive dominance justice. He hounded Stephen Jackson like Anothony Johnson hounds Haggen Dahz. He had three steals in the final 3 minutes and was soley responsable for the C's near comeback. Tommy was on the money when he mentioned how much of a difference Tony's D would made for the Celtics earlier in the year. If the Celts had a healthy Tony Allen all year they would have won at least 5 more games. As much of a space case he may be, he takes his D very seriously and as a personal challenge. The type of defensive play he has demonstrated in the last 10 games is exactly what the Celts were missing all year.
The hands down most encouraging perfomance of the night goes to the man I call the G-Spot cause he's oh so good! Double G Money himself Gerald Green. He set a new career high tonight with 22 points. To make it even sweeter probably half of his points will make tommorows Sports Center top ten. His offense ranged from high flying dunks, deadly mid-range jumpers, to a half court 3 that he instinctly heaved up at the last second to beat the shot clock in the fourth quarter. When it comes to offense Gerald is the whole F'n show. Many will be quick to bring down the G man, criticizing the fact that he only had 1 board and 1 assist to go with his 22. The knock will be that he is soft and lacks intensity when he;s bit playing offense. Those people who feel that way can Der-a-lick my balls. The guy is only 19 years old. It takes time to develop defense and rebounding in the NBA. The bottom line is that Gerald is a FORCE on offense and he has the effort and enthusiasm to improve any aspect of his game. The Celtics do not need a "Bruce Bowen", they need a "Ben Gordon" spark off the bench and that will be Geralds job next year. The rest will come in time.
In retrospect missing the playoffs was the BEST thing that could have happened to the Celtics. They would have been 3 and out in the first round and lost their lottery pick. Even more importantly as pointless as these last few games have seemed they might turn out to be the most important games of the year come next season. Instead of having a timid inexperienced Gerald Green that would probably continue to ride the bench next year, they now have a blossoming young all-star in the making who has the potential to be 6th man of the year. Throw in the confidence boost to Tony and Perk and the versitility Gomes is getting and it is clear that this dissapointing season may be a blessing in disguise.
P.S. Despite being overshadowed by various Celtics sub-plots, Paul Pierce did score 30 points tonight and remains the reigning MVP of my heart.