50centf’s Weblog

PHILADELPHIA – Doc Rivers noted that you don’t get a trophy for 50 wins in the regular season. Ray Allen said he’d look in his mailbox at home today to see if there was a prize for getting 50 wins. And Kevin Garnett basically couldn’t care less.

With their focus on the big picture of an NBA title, the Celtics were ho-hum about becoming the league’s first 50-win team after a 100-86 victory over the Sixers last night at the sold-out Wachovia Center.

“I didn’t even know we had 50 wins, to tell you the truth,” said Garnett, who had his 23d double-double of the season with 26 points and 12 rebounds. “I haven’t even looked at our record. I’ve looked at who we’ve played and the person I’m going to guard.

“Other than that, I [don't care] about the record. My focus is on who we play one game at a time. That’s it.”

At 50-12, these Celtics tied the second-fastest route to 50 wins in franchise history. The 1964-65 and 1985-86 teams both reached 50 wins with just 11 losses.

“It doesn’t really mean anything,” Allen said. “I haven’t thought about it. I don’t think any one of us has looked at the schedule or the record at 50 wins. I know 50 is 50.

“Any time you win 50 games in a season – and we have quite a few games left – it’s a pretty remarkable accomplishment. But I’m going to check my mailbox first to see if I’ve got any prizes in it for winning 50 games before I speak too soon. Other than that, you don’t win anything for 50.”

Said Rivers, “Numbers are numbers. We just want to keep getting better and keep playing. You don’t get a trophy for getting 50 wins.”

The Celtics extended their winning streak to nine games, tying a season high already accomplished twice. They have won four straight on the road and improved to 7-0 on the road against the Atlantic Division.

Allen had 21 points and nailed four 3-pointers while Paul Pierce added 17 points. New Celtic Sam Cassell, in his debut, was scoreless with four fouls in 5:24. The Sixers, who played an afternoon game at Milwaukee a day earlier, shot a season-low 31.6 percent from the field.

“We’ve got to continue to do the things we’ve been doing and we’ve got to do them a little bit better,” Sixers coach Mo Cheeks said, “especially when you’re playing against a team like Boston.”

Since a Dec. 5 loss to Boston left them at 5-13, the Sixers had gone 25-20. They entered last night’s game having won four straight and were facing a potential first-round playoff opponent.

The Celtics came out focused from the tip-off, sending a message to the Sixers about what they could be looking forward to come playoff time. Boston is 3-0 against Philadelphia this season.

“It’s one of those things where we might see them again,” Pierce said. “So we wanted to make a statement tonight. You always want to go out there and win and make a statement because you want to try to take a team’s confidence away.

“You want to make teams think they can’t beat you. Mentally, that’s half the battle, anyway.”

The Celtics ran out to a 15-0 lead before finishing the first quarter ahead, 26-20. The Sixers got back into the game – and had it tied at 44 – before going into halftime down, 53-47.

“It was great,” said Rivers about the early lead. “But then we let our guard down.”

The Celtics put the Sixers away in the third quarter by opening with a 10-3 run finalized with a Garnett alley-oop dunk to take a 63-50 lead. They outscored the Sixers, 23-15, in the quarter, holding the home team to 5-of-22 shooting, as they built a 76-62 lead. Garnett had 12 points and 5 rebounds in the period.

Boston’s defense kept the Sixers from getting back in the game by holding them to 7-of-23 shooting from the field (0 for 5 on 3-pointers) in the fourth quarter.

“We all know that Boston’s a very good basketball team,” Cheeks said. “No. 1 defensive team in the league and they showed why tonight.”

But having 50 wins, right now, isn’t a big deal to the Celtics.

Said Pierce, “It’s great. It shows that we’ve been playing well through the course of the season. But we have bigger goals than that.”