Celtics Central

While not a Larry Bird/Magic Johnson ‘off the charts’ type of excitement type of game, this Laker visit to Boston will sell out the building and will provide plenty of great basketball moments for those who paid their money.

The resurgent Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to keep their early season success going against the 9-1 Boston Celtics tonight at the TDBanknorth Garden, starting at 7:30pm.

7-4 after losing to the Milwaukee Bucks, the Lakers had impressive wins over Houston Detroit, Chicago, and Indiana before that loss.

One of the reasons for the Lakers’ success is the play of still developing 7′ center, Andrew Bynum. He is averaging a double/double (11.5 pts, 10 bds.) in 24:36 minutes per game and is among the league leaders in FG% at .558.He was added to the starting line-up 2 games ago.

Vladimir Radmanovic is hitting from downtown at 52.5%. Derek Fisher adds 11.4 pts per on 48% shooting from the floor and more important, adds stability at the (faux) point guard position.

Kobe is taking 3 less shots this years and averaging about 26 points per game.

Lamar Odom has essentially removed the 3 pt. shot from his repertoire and is averaging a solid, if unspectacular, 13 pts. and 8 bds. per game.

This should be a very good contest between a team that made the big trades to help its resident star (Paul Pierce) versus a team that didn’t.

As far as I have read, Kobe still wants to be traded, but has capped his comments for the moment.

I’ll report after the game to see how things went for 2 of the league’s highest profile teams.

While certainly not the same as the Bird/Magic contests of yore, this sold out game should generate lots of excitement from two storied franchises trying to get back to the top of the league.

Boxscore

It was a return to form for the Celtics.

It was back to convincing wins in a game that Paul Pierce’s back and James Posey’s back showed little ill effects, while the Warriors played the 2nd half of a back-to-back on their east coast swing. The Celtics are….uhm….. ‘back’.

Not that they were gone for very long, experiencing a one game losing streak.

They lead from beginning to end, building the lead up to 19 points in the first half, by playing solid defense and holding the high scoring Warriors to an uncharacteristic 37 points. The closest the Don Nelson led, GoldenState Warriors could get the rest of the way was 10 points (56-66) at the 4:47 mark of the 3rd quarter.

The Celtics passed (26 assists) and rebounded (52 boards) more like they had been doing 3-4 games earlier.

The Warriors started this season 0-6 and were without the mercurial Stephen Jackson. Since Jackson’s return they were 3-0 — until tonight. Al Harrington did not play tonight for ‘personal reasons’.

The Celtics out rebounded the Warriors 52-40 with Paul Pierce having his first strong board game of the season finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds including 5 offensive. That is something that’s been eliminated from his game so far this year.

Garnett also grabbed 10 boards to go with an efficient 8-14 from the field for 20 points.

Ray Allen contributed to the rebounding effort, adding 7 of his own, to go with a team leading 21 points. He shot 3-8 from downtown, though he is still not shooting a very good pct. overall (7-18). He added 3 steals to tie Eddie House for the team lead tonight. Rondo had 2 more of the team’s 9 thefts, and led the team with 6 assists.

Doc said he wanted to see better defense from his guards after Orlando’s guards did what they pleased in the first half of the loss to the Magic.

Baron Davis and Monta Ellis returned the favor with 5 and 4 steals respectively including Davis picking Rondo’s pocket clean once. The Celtics had 17 TOs for the evening to the Warriors’ 15.

Boston scored 103 points, shot .481 from the field and .333 from the 3 pt line. against the league’s worst defense, though a much improved one in their 3 game win streak.

More impressive was holding this ‘guns blazing’ Warrior team to 82 points on .333% shooting.

I thought Kendrick Perkins had one of his best games tonight. He looked quicker to the ball on defense and had some nice defensive moments including two really nice blocks. He played 20 minutes, grabbing 7 boards to go with 3 assists and 4 TOs. He still is too slow with his offensive moves. He thinks way too much before making many a move, allowing the defense to come around and double him and strip the ball from him. He must learn to be more decisive when he gets the ball.

The Celtics remain undefeated at home, winning each time by large margins.

As in most of early their games, all three stars had plays demonstrating a high degree of difficulty. It is quite a show when they get going and, I’m sure, helps to demoralize their opponent, when they think they are playing great defense and one of the Boston three drops 2 on them anyway.

Next up are the Lakers at home on Friday. The “Kobes” come to town for the first time since Boston fans chanted MVP to Kobe at the Garden last season. I was there at that quite unbelievable moment. I think their MVP chant might be for a different player this time.

Tom

Boxscore

I didn’t see the game last night and I won’t get to see the tape of it until tonight. So….

I’ll provide the link to the CelticsStuffLive post game audio recap podcast.

It is a regular feature on Celticsblog.com.

Justin Poulin and Jim “JB” Metz of CelticStuffLive break down the game and give you their analysis of the key moments in the game.

Justin says that though Pierce missed a deep three at the end, the Celtics aren’t even in the game without him tonight. JB notes the foul call disparity between the 2 clubs, saying the refs did not let the Celtics play defense as much as they did Orlando.

The foul shooting variance was 26 to 44 taken – Orlando favor.

They make some other excellent observations about this game, so download the recap and give a listen.

All I can is that Orlando added to their legitimacy tonight by knocking off the league’s only undefeated team. They withstood a solid 2nd half comeback from 20 points up, where the Celtics even regained the lead, before pulling out the W.

The end of game had 3 missed Celtic shots that should have gone in, it appears.

I said this Orlando team is rising and tonight reinforces that thought. They seem to be about equal with the Cs right now. Both teams have beaten good but not great teams. Neither has beaten a top 5-6 contending team. Orlando has lost twice to one (Phoenix, Detroit) while Boston hasn’t played one yet.

That Boston fought back is great. That turnovers and less ball movement are occuring more often is something to address for the team.

I’ll catch up with things later tonight.

Tom

Boston plays the hot Orlando Magic at 6:00 p.m. tonight at Amway Center, in Orlando.

The Magic are leading the Southeast Division with a sparkling 8-2 record.

The anchor to this team is a young force named Dwight Howard. They decided to choose him first between what considered a toss up between him and Emeka Okafor in the 2004 draft. Both players have proved their worth, but Dwight Howard has the bigger upside.

I picked this team to make a move to the front last year. I’m doing it again this year. They are poised for a break out season. Last year, the coach Brian Hill, Darko Milicic and Jameer Nelson held the team back, IMO. Their addition of Rashard Lewis is probably the single biggest reason why the team is succeeding. He offers a counterpart to the inside game of Dwight Howard and draws coverage away from the big man.

Stan Van Gundy better understands his personnel. Darko is gone. Jameer is showing signs of ‘getting it’ and the team is playing better ball under Stan. Not coincidentally, unsung Hedo Turkoglu is having a fast start as well, averaging 17.8 pts, 5.5 bds, and 3.9 assts., largely from the small forward position.

The off season pick-up of Rashard Lewis is the big difference maker for this season. A near All Star at the small forward spot, he is being asked to play a lot of power forward in the early going for the Magic.

The Magic’s only 2 losses were at home to Phoenix (106-96) and Detroit (116-92). They have beaten play-off teams in New Jersey, Toronto, Washington, and Cleveland. The Magic are a perfect 6-0 on the road and only 2-2 at home this year. They will look to improve on that tonight.

Based on the strength of schedule, they aren’t quite as mighty looking as the record would suggest with wins over league patsies Seattle, Minn, NY, and Milwaukee.

Still this is a team with talent, a good coach and are establishing winning ways. They need a few reliable outside shooters to draw the defense away from Dwight so he can go to work. They are improved in that area with Rashard, Hedo, and surprisingly Keith Bogans, so far all hitting a decent pct from 3 pt land.

To me, Jameer Nelson is a big key. If he can become the distributor they need, they improve quite a bit. So far he is averaging a healthy 6.7 assists versus 4.3 last year in the same amount of minutes (30). That is more like it. And he gves you 13 pts, and 4 bds. this year rounding out a nice floor game.

With a top 1-2 punch in Howard and Lewis they have some nice supporting pieces to be a dangerous team. They also have good role players in Adonal Foyle, Trevor Ariza, Carlos Arroyo, and Keyon Dooling off the bench.

While not a championship contender, they will take their division this year, I predict. Only a serious revival by Miami will challenge them.

Of note: Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen, former team mates last year in Seattle will be meet for the first time.

This is a good test for the Celtics. Both teams have played well against decent, but not great, teams. Both have established winning ways. It could be said Orlando has the deeper bench. Adonal Foyle is proving to be a wise pick-up.

Paul Piere is nursing a bad back and we will see how well he does tonight and how much he plays.

Will the undefeated streak continue?

I won’t be able to post comments until very late tonight.

Catch everyone later.

T

boxscore

by Tom Halzack

Will someone please hand the Miami Heat the script?

Some forgot to clue Miami in to how Celtic games go:

Close first half. Celtics make move in the third quarter. Opponent folds. Game over.

Miami came roaring back from a 15 point, 4th quarter deficit. That scene has every other team the Celtics played this year, (save Toronto), sitting with their bags packed, waiting to shower, and get on the bus back to their hotel.

The Heat began their run with only 8:12 left in the game. Before they were through, they had erased the entire lead and had the audacity to take a 1 point lead of their own with 33 seconds left. That’s not in the script fellas.

As in those kooky old comedies, that body in the morgue sat up and looked around before the Celtic mortician tonight, Paul Pierce, clunked it in the head one final time to kill it dead.

The Celtics won an exciting game, 92-91, that was 33 seconds away from being their first loss of the season when the Celtics countered with a Paul Pierce lay-up with just 25 seconds left

Unbeknownst to all, Paul had injured his back in the Nets game, missed practice yesterday and was almost a non-participant tonight. The only indication that something was awry was that Paul was getting therapy and wouldn’t do his usual pregame locker room chat with reporters. Only afterword, were his back issues (strain) made public.

Paul…

“In the last game before I came out I strained it. I didn’t do anything yesterday. I didn’t even know if I was going to play tonight. I couldn’t participate in shootaround but it’s getting a little better and I decided to give it a go.”

Paul did struggle against a solid Miami defense tonight and had only 10 points until he made the game winner on a play drawn up for him coming out if a time out.

“Truthfully, I wa surprised coach called the play for me. I’ve been struggling all night, but he still has tremendous confidence in me, in all of us, and I wanted to be there for my teammates at the end. It was a good call.”

The Celtics continue to turn the ball over too much and it almost cost them the game tonight. Each of the starting five had one during the Heat’s drive to tie it up at the end, with Ray Allen’s being the last and most devastating as the Heat tied the game 90-90 for the first time since it was 35-35 at the 5:58 mark of the 2nd quarter.

James Posey and Ricky Davis both wanted to have good games against their former teams. Mission accomplished. Davis hit for 20 points and Posey was critical in the Celtics line up.

Mr. Versatile guarded everything from the power forward to combo point guard this evening. How many players in the league can say that they guarded everything from power forward to combo guard – let alone in the same game – and did it well?.

Miami went small to make their run and Doc countered with…… Posey on Wade?

Dwayne Wade is one of the ‘toughest to defend’, quickest driving guards in the league. Doc said he wasn’t going to trap him.

Maybe Dwayne Wade isn’t quite up to being himself after playing in only his 2nd game after being injured (1st start). Maybe Posey knew him well from playing against him in practice so much the last few years. Maybe Posey is that good of a defender.

Whatever it is, it worked quite well. Posey stayed in front of Wade almost every time and made him take tough shots. James Posey also made some big shots, had a very good all around game and finished with 13 points including 7 straight points in the 3rd when Boston opened their usually game ending 16 point lead. He also had 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in 27 minutes.

Kevin Garnett had another outstanding game, finishing with 26 points and 11 rebounds. At one point near the end of the Heat run, Garnett fouled Haslem underneath, and KG and Ricky Davis got into words.

Rajon Rondo had a good all around game, garnering 10 assists, 9 points, and 7 rebounds, including a huge shot with 1:35 left to give Boston a 4 point lead at 90-86.

Ray Allen had a tough shooting night, scoring 19 points on 5-15, and had 7 assists and 4 TOs, as the refs let the Pat Riley Heat bump him constantly, even cutting across the painted area which is supposed to be ‘bump free’.

The Celtics had 5 players in double figures (Rondo had 9) with Perkins putting up 10 on 5-8 shooting.

While this Miami team has started slow, it is a veteran team with many key players remaining from their Championship team. Tonight we saw the difference between championship caliber players and the rest of the league. They don’t give up nor give in. When the Cs thought this game was iced, the Heat warmed things up considerably and almost stole a win against the Cs on their own home court.

A note about the crowd…..It was boisterous, needed no jumbotron prompts (though they still got them) and were thoroughly into the game. It was fun to be there and a fun game to watch.

As mentioned earlier, too many turnovers (18) were once again a problem for the Celtics. The Heat protected the ball well, as the Cs, the league leading ‘stealers’, only picked their pocket 5 times all night.

If we are looking for skeletons in the Celtic closet, that is a big one. Usually, 8 game winning streaks and high turn over rates don’t go together. Neither do very good teams associate with high TOs. It seems that the enormous talent here and the big leads leading to wins anyway, have made that stat inconsequential…so far.

I’m of the mind that it cannot continue to any good long term outcome.

Doc noted he made a mistake by not playing Tony Allen more tonight (3 minutes). Certainly Tony could have been useful on both ends of the floor in this game. Leon Powe and Glen Davis did not see any PT at all.

So, the Heat didn’t follow the accepted script and the body didn’t stay dead until Paul bonked them one last time.

It did allow us to view this team in a different situation, thus in a different light. They looked beatable tonight. Yet they won again. Luck, fate or sheer talent prevailed.

Next up – the very hot Orlando Magic (8-2) in Orlando on Sunday.

Doc Rivers said that last night when asked about the team’s 7-0 start….

“It’s a number. Means zero, really for me. And hopefully for our team as well.”

It’s become the popular mental approach of the times, especially in Boston where Patriot’s coach Bill Belichik offers a similar outlook to his own undefeated team.

Concentrate on fixing things the team isn’t doing well. Don’t glory in the things it is doing well.

To be sure, the Bill Russell Celtics and even the Larry Bird Celtics would walk off the court of huge wins with little emotion during the season and even in the play-offs. They knew there was only one time to celebrate – when you reached the ultimate goal. Go back and watch the end of games with those teams. You will see what I mean. Mission accomplished. Nothing more.

In football, they say “Act like you’ve been there before, when you score a touchdown.”

This Celtic team has just scored 7 straight touchdowns. They are following the pattern of big winners. They act like they haven’t done anything yet. Zero.

In a sport where little acts of showmanship are over hyped and players think a thundering dunk earns them a place in Springfield, the new Celtics approach is surprising and encouraging.

That attitude is aptly displayed by all three of the Boston stars, starting with Kevin Garnett, but echoed by Paul Pierce many times. He has said after each convincing win over another tough opponent, “We are just scratching the surface of what we can do.”

That is either unrealistic hutzpuh or the kind of confidence that will take this team a long way. I’m betting on the latter.

Ray Allen, who I feel is has the businessman’s approach to the game on this team (not that he isn’t passionate. He is. He just is the ‘on court analyzer’ and keeps his cool under all circumstances.) feels the same way. He knows teams will start games with a flurry. The Celtics must withstand that emotional flurry and then get to work breaking that poor team down, play after play. By the third quarter the game is well in hand on most nights.

It has been a sight to behold. Championship looking. Forgive me if it is too early to say something like that. It really is looking that way and it really is too early to be thinking that. We will learn more as the season rolls on, as they play a true contending team or two and the players start to wear down a bit.

So far, they have proved they can win and win convincingly without playing a very good game all night. The last two games fit that description.

And now, for the first time, they advanced the lead with KG off the floor. Will wonders never cease?

That is one of the underlying areas of concern – the minutes played by the big three. If this team is truly championship focused, they must find ways to rest the three stars and maintain their winning ways as the season rolls on. There has been a lot of focus and energy, if not emotion, coming out of the gate. This is a marathon season with the toughest and most important part coming at the very end – the play-offs.

How Doc approachs this as the season goes on will be interesting. Will he potentially sacrifice a win here and there, to get bench players important minutes and the give the stars a rest?

Or will he ride this horse as hard and fast as possible into the stretch with the idea that it is always good to always play your best and play to win every single game.

It is said that the real top teams don’t elevate their games for the play-offs very much. They play close to that kind of intensity and focus every night during the season to get there.

It’s kind of like the ‘practice’ theory. Most coaches say the way you practice is the way you will play. Doc Rivers has said as much.

So, if the season is practice for the play-offs, then few breaks would be expected. Yet, you still rest your players at the right spots, even in play-off games most of the time.

Time will tell how the Celtics approach this aspect of the game.

Zero means nothing. But nothing means something. And sometimes something – like 7 straight wins out of the gate – means nothing.

Just ask Doc Rivers and the Celtic players.

Boxscore

The Celtics won again, beating the New Jersey Nets at home, 91-69.

A 7-0 start is their best since 1972-73 when they started 10-0 and had a Celtic best, 68 win season, only to lose to the Knicks in the play-offs.

Tonight they again defied gravity by beating the Nets twice in a week, and in the 2nd half of a back-to-back, while the Nets were rested. They were without Vince Carter who was injured in their first meeting.

What was the same:

1) The win
2) Taking the game over in the 3rd period
3) Great defense

What was different:

1) Increasing the lead with Garnett off the court
2) A balanced scoring attack and 6 double figure scorers
3) Being taken out of their game for the entire first half
4) The crowd didn’t need a scoreboard prompt to get loudly into this game, mostly in the second half. It felt great to be there for that.

The biggest story, besides the win streak, was #1, that they actually increased the lead with KG on the bench.

Kevin went out with foul trouble with an 8 point lead at the 4:38 mark of the 3rd quarter. The lead shrunk to 4 points before they reclaimed that and added much more. By the time KG came back the lead was 16 points. I don’t think anything like that has happened this year before.

The unit that did most of the damage had Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Tony Allen, James Posey, and Glen Davis. They were up 12 when Pierce came in for Tony Allen. Though Davis didn’t score, he did have a huge block on the guy who blocked him the quarter before, Sean Williams. Davis’ energy was needed as the Celtics came out a little flat – and tired tonight.

When he walked into the locker room afterwards, Glen Davis was singing that he was ‘so happy!’ He said he was happy about everything – including the fact that he got his first pay check. So now he’s got some NBA money to burn. I asked him about his own ‘burn’ tonight.

He said he was surprised that he got the minutes, but that he has to be ready to play ‘when they call your number’. He waxed philosophical for a moment…

“Just to know that I helped……You gotta be those ‘other’ guys. You know like those guys in the picture – you just see their hand. That’s me. I’m that guy. You know. Who’s that guy?

Most guys who have the chance to snatch immortality? (You) don’t see those other guys who are stepping stones to (help them) have a chance and that’s what I am on this team….Whatever I got to do to help the team.”

Glen didn’t score a point but played 9 minutes and had a block, a steal and 3 rebounds. More important, he was part of the unit that pulled away with Garnett on the bench.

The unit that started the 2nd half played solid ‘Garnett-less’ defense as a unit (Ray Allen, Tony Allen, James Posey, Rajon Rondo and Glen Davis). Rajon Rondo and James Posey had some critical steals and shots, to get the crowd on its feet. Rajon stole the ball from Bostjan Nachbar, passed it to Ray Allen who found Posey for a 3 pointer that made it 68-54. That got everyone up on their feet. Another game, another rout was on.

Giving credit where it is due, the Nets defense also had something to do with the Celtics first half performance. The Celtics shots were all contested unless your name was Rondo or Perkins.

Rajon came through by hitting his open jumpers tonight for 13 points on 6-9 shooting. Ray Allen experienced a tough shooting night (4-14) but led with 6 assists.

Garnett’s double double streak ended as he finished with 16 points and 8 boards. Paul Pierce was 6-10 for 15 points. Kendrick Perkins had 8 rebounds and 4 blocks to go with 10 points.

Tony Allen scored 13 points and played probably his best game so far, including handling point guard duties for awhile tonight. While tentative at times, he attacked the basket for some success though not the same as a pre-injury TA would have.

The team continued to have TO problems in the first half with 10. They managed better in the second half finishing with 14 total.

Celtics, the league leaders in FG% against, and steals, added to that tonight by holding the Nets to 33% shooting and had 15 steals to go with it, led by Ray Allen with 4.

Their defense was particularly suffocating in the second and fourth quarters allowing only 11 and 15 pts respectively.

Doc Rivers…

“Defensively, I thought we were terrific all night, except for the first four or five minutes of the game. And that’s what kept us in this game tonight.”

Nets Coach Lawrence Frank….

“They collapse the paint. They keep on coming, but that paint has some 4 bodies in it so our guys moved the ball, but we just had a hard time making shots and sometimes that breaks your will.”

That’s the second opponent (Carmelo Anthony) to mention 4 bodies guarding the paint this year. The Celtics outscored New Jersey in the paint tonight by 38-22.

The Celtics began passing the ball more in the second half to break open the defense and get their offense going.

Eventually the Celtics wore down their opponent and again won going away.

Miami comes to Boston for a Friday night match.

Boxscore

The imperfect, perfect run out if the gate for the Celtics continues, as they once again decisively beat their opponent. This time it is an old friend, former Celtic coach, Jim O’Brien, and his new team, the Indiana Pacers. The final score was 101-86, keeping true to both their offensive and defensive early season hallmarks.

Paul Pierce fueled the run out with a late 2nd period explosion, logging 21 points by half time. It was the 3rd straight game Paul Pierce has had at least 19 points by half time.

After absorbing opponents emotional opening outbursts for the first 12 minutes, the Celtics have regularly made their move in the 2nd quarter, knocking opponents down and pretty much out by half time. Rarely has a team ever regained the lead, even briefly, in the final 24 minutes. This team knows how to get you down and keep you down. Often teams have mentally surrendered before the third period is over.

Last night was no exception. The Pacer’s played a nice 1st quarter, leading for much of it, and being down only 26-24 by its end. Larry Bird’s new look, but same players Pacers were led by young, up and coming Danny Granger’s 8 points. Jamal Tinsley got by Rajon Rondo twice for lay-ups, causing the early entry of Eddie House. Did I just say that House was replacing Rondo for….. defense? I think the earth just tilted a little bit. Rondo answered Tinsley with 2 quick jumpers himself before he could be replaced by House with a break in the action.

The Pacers stayed with the Cs throughout much of the 2nd quarter as well, in spite of a barrage of foul calls against their bigs, landing O’Neal, Harrison, Granger in foul trouble with 3 each, and Shawne Williams ending up with 4 trying to guard Paul Pierce during a 17 point 2nd quarter outburst. Fouls have plagued this Pacer team all season.

Paul Pierce gave the Celtics the lead for good, 40-38 with 2 free throws at the 3:06 mark of the period. This was after a hard foul by Jamal Tinsley. Paul thought it was a flagrant.

Doc Rivers, “They lit a fire under Paul.” Coach Rivers said he decided to ride the moment and run iso’s for Pierce. Paul followed the foul shots with a loud dunk and was off on a 13 point barrage (of the Celtics final 14 points) in the final 3 minutes to send them to the locker room up 9 points.

The difficulty of playing these Celtics is that you can’t concentrate on just one or two of them. They will wait their turn. Ray Allen took over in the 3rd period with 15 points, as the Celtics built a 16 point lead.

Kevin Garnett was solid throughout, continuing his double double streak (18 pts., 11 bds.) and added 3 steals, 2 assts., and 2 blocks.

Pierce led the team with 31 points (on 8-17 shooting) and 6 assists to go along with 14-14 from the free throw line, 2 steals and a block.

The Celtics stole the ball 12 times last night. The Celtics lead the league in steals at 11 per. Yet, they are doing it mostly within a solid defensive context, as indicated by their other defensive stats, 39.7 FG% against (1st in league) , and 90.2 pts (4th in league).

Role players continue to produce as Brian Scalabrine had 9 points in 12 minutes, James Posey had 6 and Scot Pollard scored his first basket of the year and had 5 points on the night.

Rajon Rondo finished with 5 rebounds, 5 assists to go with a block of Jermaine O’Neal and 5 points for the game. He also had 4 TOs. Kendrick Perkins contributed ‘two’ – 2 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and 5 points and 5 fouls in 21 minutes.

The Pacers did live up to their Jim O’Brien inspired defensive reputation, holding the Celtics well below their season average of 52% shooting at .425% and only 6-21 (.286%) from downtown. The Celtics also lost the rebound battle 47-42, for the first time (Toronto tied at 42) this year.

Danny Granger led the Pacers with 24 points on 8-10 shooting, a remarkable stat as the Celtics held the Pacers to 35% shooting overall and caused 23 Pacer turnovers. The Pacers drop to 3-4 after starting the season 3-0.

The Celtics are home tonight in a rematch against the New Jersey Nets. It is a back-to-back for the Cs while the Nets are rested. Will the Cs prevail with home cooking? I’ll be there to give you a full report.

On a side note:

Brandon Wallace, a 6′ 9″ SF was sent to the Celtics’ D-league team, the Utah Flash, for real playing time. He was the 4th NBA player sent to the Development League so far. Brandon is a project and experiment as a tall, defensive small forward for the Celtics. He played center in college, but seems most suited to the 3 in the pros, according to Doc.