Strange win for the Celtics last night. Slow start, strong finish. Paul Pierce on fire. Same old story.
Anyway, I’m already looking forward to Wednesday’s game. The Hawks played Boston pretty tough last spring (at least in Atlanta). They’re 5-0, with wins over New Orleans, Toronto, Philly and Orlando. One local connection to note: their radio play-by-play man, Steve Holman, is from Lawrence.
His analyst, Dennis Scott — he was the guy launching 3-pointers with Shaq and Penny Hardaway with the Magic in the mid-1990s — is funny when you get him going.
Got the chance to talk to him about Kevin Garnett in October (they played together for part of a season in Minnesota). He was very complimentary, and pointed out that KG was a homebody, not a huge partier.
“That’s what’s rare, my other friends, I’d have stories for you for days,” Scott said. “My friend in Phoenix (Shaq) right now is acting a fool. Actually he’s being quiet right now.”
Before the season, Scott was trying to temper his expectations. Josh Childress had left for Greece.
“I think this is going to be a pivotal year for them,” Scott said. “I’m very excited.”
It hasn’t hurt that Joe Johnson is averaging 25.2 points per game. Al Horford leads the team in rebounds at 8.8 per game. The 6-foot-10-inch, 245-pound Horford was in Lawrence in September for the Latin Pride Awards. He talked to an auditorium full of kids and gave each one an autograph. The Dominican native is HUGE in person. I wouldn’t want to mess with him in the paint.
“He’s going to be a stud for many years,” said Scott, who was one leg of the “Lethal Weapon 3″ trio of Kenny Anderson and Brian Oliver at Georgia Tech.
Tipoff is at 7:30 at the Garden Wednesday.
