Eight And Counting For Boston; Trap Grizzlies 100-96

You know a team is having a pretty good season when it’s head coach says the team just played it’s least focused game of the year, and the team wins the game! That was exactly the scenario Friday night as the Boston Celtics defeated the Memphis?Grizzlies 100-96 for their eighth straight win. But Celtics coach Doc Rivers was not pleased enough with the end result to excuse the? way they got to it. Rivers theorized that his team may have been looking forward to Saturday night, when the Green Team meets up with the last team that beat them, the Detroit Pistons. The Celtics suffered their sole home loss against Detroit by a score of 87-85 on December 19.

Grizzlies took the lead in the first quarter as they ended the period up 24-22, but Boston came back in the second to have a lead of 47-45 when the two teams went to their respective lockers. Boston then opened up the lead in the third quarter to 74-65, and then held on in? the fourth, as the Grizzlies kept threatening but could never bridge the gap, as the closest they got was within 4 points.

Paul Pierce led Boston with a double-double 23 points, 10 rebounds 5 assists, 1 steal, Pierce shot 9-17 from the floor and 4-5 at the line. Kevin Garnett also scored 23 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 block, Tony Allen came up big off the bench scoring 20 points, 3 steals, 2 assists, 2 rebounds. James Posey also had a good night off the bench with 9 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals.

Memphis was led by Rudy Gay who has really started to come into his own this year. Gay shot 10-21 from the floor, but only 1-7 from outside the arc for a team high 21 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists, 1 block, Juan Carlos Navarro scored 20 points from the bench, 2 rebounds, 2 assists. Mike Miller scored 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, Pau Gasol scored 12 points, 8 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks. Mike Conley Jr. in his second night starting at point scored 10 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, and only 2 turnovers in playing over 35 minutes. Boston?travels to Detroit Saturday,?the Pistons?are riding an 11 game winning streak of their after defeating Toronto Friday night 101-85. The Celtics are now 28-3 while Memphis is 9-23.