Celtics Central

Boxscore

The Boston Celtics lost to the Philadelphia 76ers at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut last night by a score of 96-78.

It was Boston’s first loss after a 3.5 – 0 start, that is really listed as 3-0, because the half of basketball they won against the Nets was eliminated from the preseason stats according to league officials.

The Sixers put up their first ‘W’ after being 0-4.

Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Kendrick Perkins did not play for Boston last night. With Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Brian Scalabrine, James Posey and Leon Powe as Boston’s starting five, the Celtics quickly dropped behind by 25-15 after one quarter. They gained the lead briefly in the third quarter, but soon relinquished it for good to a win hungry Philly team.

The NBA.com recap….

With the Celtics trailing by 10 at halftime, Allen scored five straight points to spark a 16-4 run to open the second half. Brian Scalabrine hit two shots in a row from the corner and Rajon Rondo converted a short jumper to put the Celtics ahead 56-54 with 6:57 remaining in the third quarter.

With Sam Dalembert out, Philly’s rookie 7′ center Jason Smith accomodated himself well with 16 points on 6-9 shooting to go along with 9 boards.

Doc Rivers had said that the three stars would rest quite a bit over the next week.

I had mentioned in a recent article that Larry Frank keeping all three of his top players (Kidd was injured, but did not play Jeffeson or Carter either) out the the game against the Celtics was likely a little gamesmanship.

It seems to be the case as Doc Rivers will be returning the favor in New Jersey this week. this is from Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald….

There is a good chance that Pierce, Garnett and Allen will not be playing Tuesday night in New Jersey, against a Nets team that didn’t bring Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, Vince Carter or Nenad Krstic for Friday’s game in Worcester.

Could a little payback be involved?

“These coaches in the preseason will always play coaches’ games with each other,” Pierce said. “You want to save your stuff for the regular season.”

Hmmm….The ‘games’ have begun already.

So, Boston lost its first preseason game as Ray Allen led the team with 16 points. Rajon Rondo had 10 pts, 8 rebounds, 4 assts, 2 steals and a block in defeat. James Posey contributed 12 points but the whole team shot poorly especially from 3 pt land (4-24) at .167%

Leon Powe’s start at center against the rookie Smith, and the subsequent Celtic defenders showed the problems the team will have when Perkins or Garnett aren’t available to play center. Smith played 42 minutes against a variety of players who were apparently not able to create any real problems for Jason. A ‘big’ problem is that all of his defenders were 3″ to 4″ shorter, as Boston’s talented power forwards are all considered undersized for PFs, let alone centers.

Mark Narducci of the Philadelphia Inquirer glowed over Smith’s play….

Even when the Sixers have a small lineup of two guards, two small forwards and Smith at center, they are still effective in transition because Smith can rebound and is also skilled enough to start the fast break.
A 7-footer, Smith dribbles effortlessly. One thing is for sure. Smith has earned himself minutes,

After this game, Jason Smith’s preseason stats are:

5 games = 9pts at .375 FG% with 4.8 boards in 30 minutes per game. Those stats indicate that, this was by far, his best performance to date.

It underscores the Celtics need to find another back-up for Kendrick now that Esteban Batista was released so he could sign with a Euro team where he would get real playing time. In the meantime, let’s hope that back-up PF/C Scot Pollard heals soon.

The Celtic’s next game is Monday against a return match against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.

Boxscore

The New Jersey Nets and the Boston Celtics played one half of basketball at a secondary arena in Worcester. Mass. last night.

What few are mentioning is that the Nets were playing only half of their team… talent-wise.

The Nets own version of the big three, Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, and Richard Jefferson, all sat out.

Jason Kidd has some back problems and wasn’t slated to play. Coach Lawrence Frank also decided to not play Richard Jefferson and Vince Carter. Why? A tactical move? Certainly he wouldn’t say that. Was it related to the condensation problems that eventually caused the cancellation of the 2nd half? Hmmm….

Both players contributed heavily to a victory against the Knicks the night before. Preseason rest? I found it curious and haven’t read anything that explains it. Maybe I missed it.

The Nets are expected to compete with Boston for the Atlantic Division title. Center Nenad Krystic is healthy, PG Marcus Williams is a year more experienced, and they have strengthened the depth at the center position with free agent Jamal Magliore and the 6′ 10″ rookie from Boston College, Sean Williams. Energizer bunny, 39 year old Darrel Armstrong defies his age at point guard and adds a veteran presence.

But the players that took the floor Friday night were Boston Nachbar, Josh Boone, Jamal Magloire, Antoine Wright, and Eddie Gill. Only Magloire would possibly start when things get real.

Other teams have done such things in the past. It could be all in my head, but I found that curious. What is tactical about that? you may ask. A few things.

1) New Jersey gets to hold it’s cards on how they would play us.
2) They may want more time to develop a defensive plan that may work against a team that is looking more difficult to defend than some originally thought.
3) Simple gamesmanship. Larry Frank may not want to send his team without it’s leader, PG Jason Kidd, against this Celtic team.

At any rate, the start of the game was strange and mostly a defensive game at about the 5:30 minute mark the Celtic’s took their first lead at 6-5. There was little flow to either team’s sets.
The wet floor was making things awkward for all, it appears.

But after starting out down 6-2, the Celtics went on a 19-2 run to jump out to a commanding 21-8 lead over the 2nd unit of the Nets by the end of the quarter. Ray Allen led the way with 7 points.

Rajon Rondo looked better in setting things up and had 5 assists. Kevin Garnett again displayed some deft passing and finished 6 pts on 3-5 with 4 boards, a block, and an assist.

Paul Pierce’s timing was off just enough to have a few shots roll around and off. PP did grab 4 boards in his quarter of play. Kendrick Perkins didn’t take a shot but he kept Magloire scoreless on 3 attempts and had a nice block of a Josh Boone attempt along the baseline, as well. Kendrick waited until it was out of his hands to tap it away and so, avoid the foul.

The 2nd quarter was about PT for the bench players. It looked disjointed and the bench players were in jeopardy of giving up all of the lead that the starters had built. The game ended with the half time score of 36-33, Celtics.

Trying to determine much from a unit that will rarely see the light of day, except in a blow out, is hard. The offense struggled mightily, but only Eddie House, the PG, was a serious offensive threat in the unit that started the 2nd quarter.

James Posey managed to score 6 points. House went 0-3 and had zero assists with a unit that found it had to run its sets. Glen Davis was active and got to the line to make 4-6 FTs.

I guess the news of the game, besides its cancellation, was that the Nets scrub team held the Boston starters at bay for 5 minutes before Boston totally took over. They didn’t even play all that well, yet locked up the Nets for the rest of the quarter.

Their next game is this evening at the Mohegan Sun arena against the Phildelphias 76ers.

I don’t think there is a hockey rink below that floor. The distractions there will be before and after the game at the casino. I hope Doc tells the players to play the nickel machines. The jackpot they are after is the one at the end of the season. They starting to look like a good bet themselves.

T

“I think you better call 411 and get someone over here, quick.”

“Don’t you mean 911? ”

“Yeah, call them too. It’s getting bloody ugly… but somebody better inform the rest of the league that these Celtics don’t play.”

“It looks like the Knicks are the ones who aren’t playing.”

“You know what I mean.”

“What’s a 402?”

“It means one serious butt kicking. It’s in the NBA secret book of rules and regs.”

That could have been the conversation had by any NBA scouts in the house at the Garden last night.

In truth, Boston and New York are a Tale of Two Cities.

New York can’t lose the controversies surrounding their management for the past few years, particularly Isaiah Thomas and they keep adding high priced players with histories, like Zach Randolph, to a roster of selfish, high priced players.

Boston, on the other hand, has had a 180 degree change of luck. Danny has added two tremendous players who can make history in Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Other players now want to play for Doc Rivers, a players coach and on Danny’s rebuilt roster. It is a new time in Boston, and last night’s game might the the one to make skeptics take notice. Even though it was only New York, it was a 40 point thrashing. I don’t remember the last time Boston beat anyone by 40 points – preseason or not.

What was the crime?

How about this:

1) 61 total points by the Knicks
2) .259 FG% shooting on 22-85 shots
3) 2-13 for .159% from downtown
4) .600 % foul shooting

The bright spots for the Knicks?…

1) They rebounded reasonably well with 43 boards to Boston’s 44
2) They only had 13 TOs to Boston’s 17
3) Morris Randolph played well against Boston’s 3rd unit.

Alan Hahn in Newsday reported that Isaiah Thomas thought the team was star struck…

Isiah Thomas suggested his team was intimidated at the start of the new-look Celtics and the sold-out Gah-den.

“I think we came out a little intimidated,” Thomas said. “I think our team played against the press coverage and the press clippings as opposed to the actual team.”

And this understatement from newcomer, Zach Randolph….

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Randolph said.

Only Quentin Richardson seem to have some fight in him after the game.

After seeing them now, you think you guys will have your hands full with this team this season?

“No,” Q then said. “I think they’re going to have their hands full with us.”

But if you were a Knick fan, there was no denying it was a crime scene. If you were a Celtic fan, it was a reality show and sign of what is to come.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

While the Knicks were star struck….the Boston stars struck.

peace,

T

The Boston Celtics, in their first home game of the pre-season, shredded a Knicks team that added high scoring power forward Zach Randolph this summer to bolster their offense.

The Celtics returned from Rome and London with 2 wins and continued their unbeaten string by ‘roaming’ through a porous Knicks defense while the Knicks looked like they were in a London fog.

Boston was led by Paul Pierce with 22 pts. on a near perfect 7-8 shooting night, including 3-4 from downtown. Pierce also led in assists with 5. He added 6 rebounds, a steal and 2 blocks to round out his night. Ray Allen shot an efficient 6-8 and had 14 points on an array of offensive moves including a nice off balance floater near the baseline.

But it was Kevin Garnett who was the catalyst for the team. He displayed many of his skills tonight including a sweet behind the back pass to Rajon Rondo for two points. Garnett finished with 13 points and 8 rebounds in 28 minutes, leading both teams in boards.

But Kevin Garnett’s defensive abilities and intensity makes as much a difference as his offensive ones for this Celtic team. Doc Rivers prophetically stated in his pre-game interview…

…when you have a guy like Garnett, he changes our defense completely. Everything we do is better. When you look at our schemes, you know, the first two games, our defense was terrific and it’s the same schemes we’ve run. All of a sudden, you put a guy who can do it, and he’s a veteran guy, and a terrific defender, and all of a sudden your defense is better.

Having Kevin Garnett, who can do the things defensively that he can, makes the other players want to play defense, too. It’s been a long time since this team has played solid defense for long periods of a game.

Boston was surgical in the first period. At one point they were shooting 11-12 from the field, including 4 lay-ups and a dunk. They finished at 72% (13-18) for the period. The offense featured a number of variations of motion sets, using picks and screens down low, with Garnett starting up top and Paul Pierce and Ray Allen popping out for open looks at the basket. Eddie House contributed 5 points in 7 minutes to the cause.

Like his partner in the middle, Eddie Curry, Zach is known for his offense, not defense. Tonight both showed little of either as the Celtics carved up the Knicks probable starting five for four lane penetration lay-ups and a dunk early on. That opened the floodgates and the Celtics continued to build on that lead throughout the game.

Perkins and Garnett held the two high scoring Knick big men to a combined 5 -18 and 16 points between them. Randolph, a strong rebounder, did chip in with 12 rebounds.

A 50-35 half time score blossomed into a 76-46 3rd quarter blow-out behind 8 more points by Pierce on 4-4 shooting for the period.

Rajon Rondo, with 4 turnovers, played a little erratically offensively, but was his usual solid self defensively with strong on ball coverage and 2 nice steals.

In a meaningless 4th quarter, Glen Davis had two nice passes for scores and Gabe Pruitt put up a nice stat line, once Doc Rivers ‘went flat’ with the offense, allowing Gabe time to operate one on one, for the most part against rookie point guard, and Hartford native, Jared Jordan. Pruitt finished with 13 points and 4 assists in 17 minutes on 6-9 shooting.

Jordan, the former Marist stand out guard, and 2nd round pick of the Clippers, is trying to make the Knick’s team.

Perkins and Garnett continued to show signs of being a formidable defensive unit in the middle. Things got a little hectic at times, particularly between Kendrick Perkins and Curry. Kendrick’s foul troubles continued, as well.

Tony Allen was not available for this game due to an eye injury suffered in pratice (scratched cornea). Doc says that he is expected to be ready to play in a day or two.

The Celtics next game is Friday night at the DCU Center in Worcester at 7:30 pm.

That is followed by a game Saturday night at 7:30 pm., in Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasvillle.

T

Boston’s first pre-season home game is it’s first game since the Euro trip, where they played Toronto in Rome, and Minnesota in London. Both wins.

They should be recovered from jag lag and be ready for game three in the ‘new era’.

The Knicks big addition to their team in the off season is high scoring, former Portland Trailblazer, 6′ 9″, 251 lb., Zach Randolph. Zach, a 6 year pro, will also grab about 10 boards a game every year.

If both Eddie Curry and Zach play Wednesday, it will present a unique situation the Celtics to deal with – two high scoring big men. Most teams don’t have a combination like this.

Whether New York can use their talents to their advantage remains to be seen. Neither is known as a solid defender. Both are half court players. With Marbury leading the talented but dysfunctional team, I’m skeptical that anything meaningful happens with this team this year.

Isaiah has 2 solid role players in defensive stand out Renaldo Balkman, and rebound eater David Lee.

New York’s starting five for the season is expected to be Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph, Eddie Curry and either Jason Richardson or Balkman. I’m not sure if these are the guys who start Wednesday or not. Thomas says he likes David Lee coming off the bench.

They added first round (23rd pick) draft choice 6′ 8″ Wilson Chandler from DePaul, and sharp shooting Syracuse star, Demetrius Nichols, a 2nd round pick (23rd, from Portland) is trying to make the team.

Add in the ‘drama’ factor of Thomas’ recent court experiences, controversial quotes, and sexual harassment woes, and the Knicks still seem to be about more than the team itself. That is a shame – really.

The Knicks are still the highest paid, and one of the lowest lowest achieving teams in the league.

Former Knick Allan Houston is making a comeback attempt with the team this off season, as well.

Boston

It’s like night and day between the two long time east coast rivals.

Boston is coming off 2 wins and a ‘blue sky’ future.

Doc Rivers says that the 17 man roster might be down to 15 or 14 before the game. Most likely loser is Jackie Manual. Dahntay Jones is a more experienced version of Jackie and he might not make the team either. Doc says Jones is on the edge of making the team.

Both are insurance policies for Tony Allen. With Posey on board and if Allen can comeback, neither will be needed, IMO. But Esteban Batista and Brandon Wallace are also walking a fine line right now. My guess is Batista stays and Wallace gets cut loose, unless something unusual happens.

With Scot Pollard still nursing his foot injury, Batista fills a need for a big man. Especially in games against teams with size, someone competent is needed to come off the bench. I’m not impressed with Batista from the little I’ve seen of him. Others differ. I’ll watch a little more before making any definitive judgements.

The TDBankNorth Garden should be rocking in the first public exhibition there since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were added to the team. I will be there.

I’ll give you the details on Thursday.

peace,
T

Ray Allen is back playing basketball on the east coast, as only he knows how.

Call it ‘the trade before The Trade.’

On draft night Danny Ainge sent fan favorite, Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak’s big contract and weak ankles, and the number 5 pick in a solid draft (Jeff Green) to Seattle for Ray Allen. At the time some said it was giving up too much. Others said, “What is Danny doing?”

I’m not sure that Danny knew it would accomplish what it eventually did – get Kevin Garnett to also come to Boston. I’d love to interview Danny and find out just what he knew and didn’t know that evening. But it was a move in the right direction, if you’re keeping Paul Pierce, and thinking about the play-offs.

Ray is the least heralded of the 3 new Ceatles, as Kevin Garnett calls himself, Paul Pierce and Ray, referring to the media explosion surrounding them that has him thinking about the Beatles. (“I’m Paul”, KG says.)

But Ray Allen is really the key to the Boston Celtics getting KG, thus leading to their overnight transformation. Ray says he is happy to be a Celtic. In fact, Ray was happy to become a Celtic when few other stars would say the same thing. The Cs weren’t Jermaine O’Neal’s first choice. Shawn Marion said he wouldn’t come to Boston. Most famously, Kevin Garnett voiced an emphatic, ‘no way’, too.

It was the trade for Ray Allen that changed everything. No Ray Allen? No Kevin Garnett. You say you’re ecstatic that Garnett is a Celtic? Thank Ray Allen.

Kevin openly admits it. After first making it known that he absolutely did not desire to play in Boston, the draft night acquisition of Ray Allen made him start to re-think things. Kevin knew that Danny was making a relentless effort to put him in a Boston uniform, as were a number of other teams.

While all the press has been about landing the big fish, the Big Ticket, it was the trade before the trade that was the catalyst that set the wheels in motion to the biggest trade in NBA history.

As far I know, the kitchen sink is just about the only thing Danny didn’t have to throw into the trading pot to get it done. Remember growing up and trading baseball cards with your friends?How many guys did you have to give up to get Ken Griffey Jr., or Mickey Mantle? Danny must have felt the same way. But it was the Ray Allen trade that made it all possible.

Ray was ready for a change after playing on a bad Seattle team, knowing that fellow star Rashard Lewis might be moving on and that Seattle would head into a rebuilding phase. Seattle had some promising youth already and ballyhooed Kevin Durant in their sights as the 2nd pick in the draft that night. They also got Jeff Green as the #5 pick from Boston, to give them a solid base of youth to develop over the next few years.

Ray was about to turn 32 himself (July 20) and knew it would take a while for the young players to become a contending unit.

2nd all time in the NBA in 3 point shots made, Ray has a made a nice living as an offensive specialist, and the 3 pointer has been the main weapon. But make no mistake that isn’t the only way that Ray can hurt opposing teams. In college, Ray had a mid range game and was a bit of a slasher, too. He found the angles to get to the hoop though he was considered an ‘avoider’ of contact. He still has those weapons in his arsenal. And he now plays well with contact. He gets to the line for about 5 FT attempts per game in recent years.

He demonstrated as much in the Minnesota pre-season game. Utilizing some very nice moves, he had a number of baskets around the hoop. Go Ray.

An added plus, is that Ray is considered one of the best ‘character’ guys in the league, as in having good character, not being one. The Celtics’ have their quota of characters in Scot Pollard and Glen Davis. Ray is a consumate professional on and off the court. So his presence helps in ways beyond the 48 minutes that each game takes to play. He has won 2 NBA Sportsmanship Awards in his career as evidence of his off court efforts.

His resume is filled with great individual success:

College:

University of Connecticut 1993-6

Ray Allen played for a UConn team that was getting closer to vying for the ultimate goal in college basketball – the NCAA Tournament Championship.

His freshman season (1993-4) he played with Donny and Donyell Marshall, Doron Sheffer, Kevin Ollie and Travis Knight. The team made the Sweet Sixteen.

His sophomore season (1994-5) he led much the same unit, minus Donyell, with 21 pts per game. This team became only the 2nd Jim Calhoun team to make it to the Elite Eight. They lost to UCLA 102-96, the eventual Tournament Champion that year.

His junior year (1995-6), his last before heading to the NBA draft, he again led with a lusty 23.4 pts per game. After leading UConn to a school record 32 win season, a 17-1 Big East record, and a dramatic comeback against Georgetown for the Conference Championship, the team had Final Four thoughts on their minds. But as happens to teams in the March Madness every year, they were tripped up by a lower seeded Mississippi State team in the Sweet Sixteen round. A tremendous season ended on disappointment, but Ray was feeling ready for the NBA.

He averaged 44.8% from 3 point land for his college career, giving a clear indication of what was to come.

The next year, Ray was drafted 5th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves and immediately traded to the Milwaukee Bucks along with the rights to a 1999 or 2000 first round selection, for the rights to Stephon Marbury. I think that is one of the many moves Minnesota would like to re-do.

His NBA career is full of accomplishments:

11 years in the NBA has produced:

21.5 pts per game on .446 FG% and .397 % from 3 pt. land

In 37 playoff games over 4 years Ray has upped his scoring to 24.9 pts per game and he increased his FG% to .476, and 3 pt shooting to .435 % under play-off pressure. That bodes well for the play-off bound (or bust) Celtics.

ALL NBA 2nd Team: once
ALL NBA 3rd Team: once

Ray is currently 7th all time in Free throw pct. at .889 %, just above Reggie Miller and Larry Bird. But his average over the last 5 years is in line with .90 %. That is all time leader Mark Price/Steve Nash territory.

But for all of the these accomplishments, what is missing is a league title.

The only thing missing from a Ray Allen game is a strong defensive component over the years.

The entire team is supposed to take defense seriously this year. In another good move, Tom Thibodeau, hailing from Berlin CT himself, and an NBA assistant coach known as a defensive specialist, joins the Celtics this as well.

If this team can make a few defensive stands each game, it will be difficult to beat. It’s pretty obvious that they will be able to score. Ray, Paul and Kevin will make sure of that.

Ray has already started to mentor Rajon Rondo, the team’s young point guard with the inconsistent jump shot.

If Kevin is ‘Paul’, I guess Ray Allen is ‘George’, the quiet one with all the instrumental talent. That would make Paul Pierce be ‘John’. That’s another article.

Who will be Ringo – Rajon?

Anyway…. Ray Allen, welcome back. Remember, “All You Need is Love” – and a sweet jump shot. As for the rest…. “We Can Work It Out.”

T

What have I learned from the first 2 preseason games?

1) Kevin Garnett is as intense as any player I’ve seen play since….you know who.

It’s preseason.He has already gotten a technical, is diving on the floor for loose balls, and wears a constant look that says “I’m dead serious about this game and you better be, too.”
I love it.

2) The big three’s willingness to share the ball. They look committed to each other and to feeding the hot hand – whoever that is.

3) Rajon Rondo looks like he will develop into the point guard the team needs him to be.

He is looking for his mates, finding the open man and getting it to the hot hand. Add the excellent defense and steals he has demonstrated already and we have a player. He has hit a couple of mid range shots, though I admit that area of his game is still a work in progress. Still, he looks very good out there.

4) 15 of the first 17 baskets in the Wolves games were assisted baskets. The whole team is concentrating on moving the ball, and reacting to the defense to find the open man.
Do you see a theme here?

5) The team’s defense has made a few defensive spurts already. I see an early commitment to this important part of the game.

6) Kendrick Perkins is getting some easy opportunities right at the hoop. We had all expected this to happen…..and it is.

7) Garnett and Perkins look good together on defense and could end up making a formidable presence in the middle.

Eddie House has looked good in limited minutes. Right now, he looks like he can handle minutes at point guard (a few nice passes already) and be that 3 point shooter the team signed him to be.

9) Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis has shown some quick moves, nice shooting and passing ability in short minutes. I hope this guy makes it. I think he will solve the freakish athleticism and size he will face every night in the NBA with his intelligence and superb skills for a big man.

10) Paul Pierce hasn’t even had a good game yet offensively. It appears that the team doesn’t need all three stars to play well every night.

Yeah, I know. It’s way too early to know too much about anything. But these are good early signs anyway you want to cut it.

The Celtics play the Knicks in Boston on Wednesday Oct. 17th.

The Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 92-81 in London this afternoon.

Wins and losses don’t count for a darn thing yet.

Still, after so much losing the past few years, it is nice to see a team that is learning how to play together get a couple of Ws so quickly. I don’t care if they don’t count. It helps to build a winning attitude.

Four former Celtics started for Minnesota. Theo Ratliff at center and Sebastian Telfair at PG, and Ryan Gomes at SF. Juwan Howard and Ricky Davis rounded out the Wolves starting five.

The Celtics countered with the five they expect to be starting on opening day. Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Kendrick Perkins.

This time the three stars did not make 30 minutes each as Doc Rivers substituted for them all in the 4th quarter, with the game in hand by then.

Ricky Davis was red hot in the first quarter and put on a show hitting, 4-5 from down town and getting 16 points total. Many were difficult shots with defenders right on him. He finished with 18 pts.

Ray Allen was hot for Boston as he went 3-5 from downtown in the first half and was making wide open threes, a few drives and some little jumpers in the lane.

Brian Scalabrine also benefitted by all the defensive attention the three stars were getting and hit 2 open threes.

Paul Pierce was making contact, and drawing fouls, but was 4-9 in foul shooting and finished a woeful 1-6 from the field and 6-11 from the line for 8 points. He did have 5 boards and 4 assists in 28 minutes.

Rajon Rondo and James Posey demonstrated some defensive prowess with steals (Rondo ended up with 4) and some ball pressure.

One sweet play with a pass to Perkins underneath for the jam on the move. Perkins was the only Celtic in double figures besides Ray Allen. Perk had 11 points, 5 boards, and continued to hit his foul shots going 5-6. If he can just keep coming to the basket when Garnett gets doubled, he should get about 6 points a game on relatively open shots close in. I’m sure other teams will move to remedy that as things move forward, though.

Al Jefferson entered the game once Garnett exited. I don’t think it was accidental. Al had a nice move on the right side of the hoop backing down Batista for the quick ‘flip in’ that he makes like clockwork. He made one other shot in the game.

Batista did come back later and show a nice post move of his own. Esteban showed some decent numbers for his time, but doesn’t appear to play up to his size on the defensive end.

Half time score: 50-42

The second half saw the starting unit go out front with a commanding lead (15-5 run to go up 65 -48) led again by good defense leading to turnovers. Ray Allen was in front for lay-ups on 2 TO’s (one was goal tending by Theo). It was nice to see Paul Pierce go to the floor to try to get a fumbled ball by Davis. Davis called for travel. PP got up clapping like a kid.

By the end of the third quarter Ray Allen 28 points on 11-13, and 5-7 downtown.

It was an excellent shooting game for Ray after not shooting well in game one. Being in a shooting kind of mood, he only added one rebound and one assist. I said that Ricky and Ray should do well as neither are great defenders. That prediction came true, though R. Davis was quieted after the first period.

Garnett was mostly looking to get others involved when the double teams came, hence the 9 total points. He was called for traveling multiple times and finished with 6 TOs. His counter part, Al Jefferson had a difficult game. He was guarded by Scalabrine, Garnett, Batista, and Perkins at different times and only managed 5 points and 6 rebounds in 24 minutes, though he did get 2 blocks to help out.

It could be a tough year for Al Jefferson. He doesn’t have a player like Paul, Ray or Kevin to draw doubles and get him some open space to work with. Wittman will have to draw up offensive schemes to get Al some daylight.

Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis played in the 4th and showed a few nice offensive plays against the Wolves second unit.

Tony Allen played 21 minutes but couldn’t get any timing on his shooting, finishing with 1-8 but with 2 steals for his efforts..

Celtics win: 92 -81

I’ll take it.

Final observation:

While there wasn’t anything spectacular to report (except for Ray Allen’s performance), it was quite obvious that Kevin Garnett was taking this game seriously from the start. If he is this intense for the season, I see good things for the team. This, or any other highly successful team needs an on court leadership like that. Let the good times roll.

T