Ball Movement and Returning to Form

The Celtics handled their business tonight.  They beat the Indianna Pacers in convincing fashion tonight, becoming the first NBA team this season to reach the 60 win plateau.  The Celtics played an excellent team game on both ends, stifling the Pacers, the NBA's 3rd highest scoring team, and holding them to a mere 77 points.  Garnett led the way for the Celtics with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Leon Powe sparkled off of the bench, contributing 14 points and 9 rebounds on an energetic 5 of 8 shooting performance.

The most interesting and uplifting part of tonight's game was watching Jermaine O'Neal play in limited action.  It feels like the first time in forever that I've seen O'Neal on the court, and although he's not yet completely back to form, he showed some flashes of his old self tonight against Boston's league leading defense.  O'Neal had 12 points in 20 minutes off of the bench on 3 of 6 shooting, adding 3 rebounds and one resounding block. 

More important than the numbers, however, was the way in which O'Neal played and was able to score.  O'Neal looked comfortable playing face-up to Garnett and the Celtics defense, using his classic jab step/ball fake move to create space for two 15 foot jumpers that hit nothing but the bottom of the net.  After establishing the jumper, O'Neal used his the same face-up stance to take Garnett to the basket for a nice lay-up that demonstrated deft touch.  In short, O'Neal was doing all of the things he used to do on offense with the same kind of touch and great footwork that made him an All Star for the Pacers in years past.  

O'Neal looked out of place on defense at times, and got punished by the Celtics for a few slow rotations (including a thunderous and-1 dunk for Leon Powe).  In O'Neal's defense, all of the Pacers (aside from Jeff Foster, as usual) were slow to rotate and looked lost on defense for most of the game. 

O'Neal still has some steps to take, but he seems poised to make the difficult leap back to his true form next season.  Who knows where he'll be playing next year, but tonight Jermaine O'Neal convinced me that he's ready to compete at a high level again.