Two of the Celtics key players, including Gordon, were injured in two overtimes against the Clippers. It was a disastrous blow; just thinking about it sent chills down one's spine.
After Gordon was taken off the court, the morale of the Celtics players hit rock bottom. Their style of play clearly lacked penetration. They seemed to be afraid of physical confrontations. Clearly, the other players were starting to worry that they might end up injured like Kerry and Gordon.
In the eyes of Coach Arnold, the players being unwilling to be too physical was a good thing. The score became irrelevant. As long as no additional players were injured, Arnold would be thanking God.
