Celtics Central

Apologies to Meatloaf, but the Celtics only needed 2 of its three stars and great contributions from the rest of the team to beat Dallas in Boston last night.

The Celtics passed another huge test as they prove they can beat one of the NBA’s top teams with Kevin Garnett in street clothes. This game will again send the naysayers scurrying for cover.

While Kevin Garnett rested his abdominal injury for another night, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce tag teamed the Celtics to victory.

In spite of missing numerous lay-ups through out the game, the Cs managed to continue their inside attack last night, scoring 44 points in the paint. They really should have had 5-7 more baskets from point blank range that were just flat out missed.

Ray put on a 22 point first half scoring exhibition, showing us what a Ray Allen who gets the ball soon and often, looks like. He was coming off picks and curls, he was making threes, pull up jump shots and getting to the rim. It was a quintessential Ray Allen shooting display. He is so much fun to watch when he is on.

The second half belonged to Paul Pierce as he scored 22 points and got it done the old fashioned Paul Pierce way – in the trenches. Paul rocked and jerked his way to the rim with multiple spin moves with degrees of difficulty of 9 or 10. He was drawing contact and getting to the line. He was making his foul shots count, going 9-10, and had 6 boards of his own.

These were 2 vintage, prototypical performances from two great players.

But through it all, the Celtics role players, especially Rajon Rondo, James Posey and Leon Powe came up big in support. You cannot underestimate the significance of any of their performances towards this satisfying victory.

Rajon Rondo was busy rebounding and playing a fine floor game. He played tough defense on the Devin Harris-less Mavericks point guards. Jason Terry went 4-12 and Jose Juan Barea was 0-3. The 6′ 1″ Celtic point guard decided to help where needed and led both teams with 12 rebounds. He grabbed an impressive 6 offensive rebounds, including the biggest rebound of the night, pulling it away from 7 foot Dirk Nowitzki, and scored the winning basket right around him, with 42 seconds left on a put back of a Paul Pierce miss. That gave Boston a 92-90 lead. Dallas would not score again.

James Posey followed up Rondo’s great play with a few game savers of his own. He got a tough defensive rebound, made 4 straight clutch free throws and had a huge steal off of Jason Terry to ice the game with 6 seconds left. Posey knocked the ball away and with tremendous effort, threw himself after the ball, corralling it as he went to the ground. Dave Cowens would have been proud.

James also hit a few very big shots along the way, scoring 13 points including 3 big threes and had 3 steals to go along with solid defense.

While Dirk Nowitski had a very good game with 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 blocks and led all scorers with 31 points, the Celtics did a decent job of making him uncomfortable with multiple players taking turns guarding him. He made only two 4th quarter baskets.

You just have to love this team. They are answering questions that doubters have been asking from the very start. In the midst of a mid season let down (or let up), the ‘no depth’ critics are sticking their heads out of their holes for a few yaps of “See. I told you so.” The last two games will be sending them back into hibernation.

The Celtic took care of the ball with only 8 TOs (season low? – I have to look it up.) and force 13 Maverick TOs. It was also a season low in assists for the Celtics with only 13.

The Celtics kept up in foul shooting with the league’s top free throw pct. team, making 25 of 29 to Dallas’ 24 of 28, and held Dallas to 4 of 22 from beyond the arc.

Rajon Rondo looked very comfortable out there and went to the hoop with the abandon he is known for. He missed at least 3 lay-ups, including 2 of that ‘fake behind-the-back pass’ variety that would have given him 20 points and the Celtics a more solid lead at the end. Yet, I liked what I was seeing. He knew he had to step it up and he used the whole floor better to get his shot and to distribute. Rondo is slowly getting his whole game going and when we fail to take remarkable note that he went 4-4 from the foul line, he will have made a huge step forward.

Kendrick Perkins played his usual solid, but unsung game with 6 boards, 5 points and solid defense in 18 minutes of play. Both teams went small quite a bit.

Leon didn’t do very much stat-wise, but he played a solid game and credibly guarded Dirk often. For the time being, he has taken Glen Davis’s minutes and has done enough to earn more time going forward.

So this was a great win for the team as it solidifies its identity and other players continue to step up when they are needed. Dallas had won 13 of the previous 14 games they have played against each other.

Next up for Boston: At Cleveland on Tuesday

The Boston Celtics beat the Heat in Miami by 117-87. It was actually worse than the score suggests.

The Celtic’s ’sub’ dudes subdued the Heat.

This was a ‘Ripley’s Believe or Not’ game.

There are two Ripley’s ‘Believe It Or Not’ Museums in Florida. The things you can see there are really something….or not. But you would have had to drive past St. Augustine and Orlando to get to the best ‘believe it or not’ in the state tonight. It happened at the American Airlines Arena in Miami.

The league’s best team played the league’s worst. (Right now, I’d take Minnesota in a game between the two.) Without a doubt, the Heat, sans a healthy Shaq and Alonzo Mourning are a different team entirely.

Even three time Coach of the Year (with 3 different teams) Pat Riley, he of 1,204 regular season wins in 23 years and 11 Coach of the Month Honors can’t make a Shaq and Alonzo-less team have a back bone. The team is on a plummet without a parachute of 1-16 and just ended a 15 game losing streak on the 26th against the Pacers. It is fairly safe to say that he was won’t be Coach of the Month this month.

The Celtics led by as many as 39, won by 30 and….. believe it or not….

1) Kevin Garnett didn’t play. (Abdominal strain)
2) Ray Allen didn’t play. (Flu)
3) Paul Pierce had only 7 points.
4) The Celtics had four 20 point scorers.
4) Leon Powe led the team in scoring. Career high 25 points. Season high in rebounds
5) Rajon Rondo had 23 points in 25 minutes on 8-10 shooting. Ties his career high.
6) Tony Allen had 20 points, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. His season high in assists. Ties his season high in points
7) Eddie House had 20 points in 23 minutes with 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals (4 TOs).
His season high in points. Dwayne Wade only scored 7 points, his season low, on 1-9 shooting.
9) Paul Pierce didn’t even score until they had 60 points on the board.

Believe it.

A number of interesting things occurred tonight. The fact that they played so hard and so well speaks to Doc Rivers preparation of the entire team. They played excellent defense even without their ‘goalie’ Kevin Garnett back there to save them. They played with purpose and executed a game plan that did not include going to Paul Pierce all of the time. Nor did it need to.

Rajon Rondo ate up Jason Williams and anyone else who tried to stop him from penetrating, especially in a first quarter when he scored 13 points on an assortment of drives and lay-ups.

They were running pick and rolls and passing the ball effectively enough to confuse what little defensive effort the Heat were making.

Seeing Mark Blount as the Heat starting center brought back memories of the Celtic’s porous defense of a few years ago. The size challenged Celtics made excellent use of the opportunities with 46 points in the paint before the night was through.

Leon Powe replaced Brian Scalabrine at the 7:35 mark of the first quarter and went on to play 36 plus minutes of solid basketball while playing within his skills. This kind of recent performance was what I thought we might see to start the year from Leon, granted not in so many minutes.

Even with Kendrick Perkins playing only 18 minutes, the Celtics grabbed 51 rebounds to Miami’s 36.

The Celtics impressed as they played within a scheme and stayed within the game plan with great results. The Heat looked like they had given up early.

There is lottery talk in Miami now and Pat Riley once again looks at possibly getting out from coaching.

There have been comparisons of this Celtic team to the Miami Heat, regarding trying to trade for an NBA title. The implication is that Miami now is what Boston could look like in a few years.

Somehow, I don’t see Kevin Garnett as washed up at age 35. He is one of the most athletic players in the history of the game and keeps himself in superb shape.

Eyebrows will be raised around the water cooler when it sets in that it the was Celtic role players who soundly outplayed the Miami team. 61 points were scored by the bench. This is after considering that 2 bench players became starters tonight. Miami is missing 2 great players, but only one is a starter. The Celtics were even more indisposed with Ray Allen and Kevin out.

This game was a good change of pace for the Celtics. They did not have to face size and they did not have to face speed, great defense, or formidable scoring. They matched up very well and it gave some players a good chance to contribute in big ways.

The Celtics shot .513 from the field, .476 from the 3 point line, and .771 from the free throw line, while holding Miami to .358 from the field, and .294 from the 3 point line. That was only because Luke Jackson came in during the 4th quarter and went 4-5 from downtown. The rest of the team shot only 1-12 from beyond the perimeter.

Boston is now 35-8.

Boston’s next game is Thursday in Boston against Dallas. Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen may not play that night either. Stay tuned.

I was thinking about how to evaluate this year’s version of the Celtics at the halfway point – which is about where we are.

Comparisons to and similarities of this team with a bottle of fine wine compelling.

When judging fine wine, it is mostly the quality of the grapes that decides the quality of the wine. But the wine maker, and blending grapes play a crucial part as well.

I was in the fine wine business years ago and still enjoy a good bottle of wine now and then. In France in particular, in the old days, wines were only designated with a year and ‘estate bottled’ when the crop and resulting wine were deemed exceptionally good. Therefore, it declared a ‘vintage year’.

That is a perfect way to describe this year’s Celtic team.

While the real grape harvest was taking place in California and Europe, the Celtics completed their harvest of players and ‘made the wine’. It was effectively made in the preseason. Doc Rivers and his assistant ‘wine makers’ assessed the team’s talent, and decided on the proper blend of strategies for this ‘lot’ of grapes, dominated by 3 very high priced barrels of the sweet fruit. Unlike real wine, there was no time for aging in the tanks or barrels. Doc had to devise the plan and mix the parts of the roster instantly.

We are now drinking the results with every game played.

The difference between fine wine and simple wine is that fine wine is far more complex. Chemists have analyzed wine and found that it has more than 250 compounds in it, making it more complex than blood serum.

It changes as it ages. It slowly changes in the bottle. It changes in the glass after you pour it.

Doc Rivers has said, more than once, that this is a simple game. Agreed.

But it is played with 5 starters, 3-4 important substitutes, and 3-5 other players, who are potentially in the game with but an unexpected injury or two. That is as many as 15 different personalities, experience levels, skill sets, confidence, intelligence, and last, but certainly not least…egos to work with.

That complicates things quite a bit.

Without going into what a coach must do (not that I even know), regarding evaluation all of the above, his job is to find a system and set of players to best execute that system to produce the best performance he can massage from that set of players. That is happening before our eyes.

The Celtics are, by no means, a finished product. At the halfway point, they are perhaps, halfway there – possibly a bit more.

In fine wine, the first thing you encounter is the bouquet. A big, powerful bouquet is the first sign of a possibly great wine.

The season starts. The bottle is opened.

9-0, 21-2 and so on. The Celtics romp from the gate was the bouquet of this team. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen confirmed that they are, in fact, among the highest quality hectares of grapes available. It was impossible to ignore. The best, highest quality grapes dominate a blend, and subsequently the bottle of wine you consume. So it is with those three players.

As the wine makes contact with air, it begins to change at a quicker rate. Even fine wine doesn’t automatically just get better and better. It may be ‘closed in’ for a period. You may think it is isn’t a great wine at all. The bouquet disappears, the taste is muted, or not complimentary to the tongue. The ‘compounds’ are not in sync.You look at the glass as if you have been ‘had’.

Then it explodes with flavor and finds exquisite balance. It still moving and changing, but has hit a point of dynamic chemistry. You discover this by tasting it. It is unmistakable. Multiple flavors all coming together as one in a most delicious way. Sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious, but simply…. unmistakable.

But there is a time for the lesser, ‘blending’ grapes, used to complete the wine, to become a part of the whole. They play a very important part in the character of the wine. They help determine just how complex and nuanced that wine will end up being. A big, forceful, singularly characterized wine is but an ego trip, and without the class, complexity and refinement of the world’s best wines. Great to drink for a short while, but not for the long term. The blending grapes are but a small portion of the total. Yet, they help bring out the very best and elevate the wine to a higher level.

The three major players have shown that they can dominate and blow you away for a long period of time. They have the bouquet. They have the undeniable flavor. But they have, perhaps, reached a ‘closed in’ period. They need to blend in a strong way with the chosen blending grapes in order for this wine to reach its fullest potential.

You can declare this a vintage year for the Celtics.

The main crop is of the highest quality. In wine country, it usually means that the blending grapes are also going to be above average. But not always. They are less complex and simpler, less remarkable in taste by themselves. Ordinary, in fact.

We are entering the period where the main components of the wine will either mix well with the the blending grapes – or not. The blending grapes don’t carry the taste of the wine. They support it. But it is a support that most fine wine needs to achieve its greatest possibilities.

When you drink a wine too young or too old, you will know it, if you have drunk enough wine and know what to look for.

They say that the best wine comes from old vines. Mostly mature components, this Celtic wine, yet with a few younger grapes. It is still interacting with the air, and each compound that makes up the wine. It is not a mature wine, regarding its own aging. It is not even 6 months. Teams and fine wine take time to reach the perfect apex, if they ever do.

Will it reach perfection? Will it do it in one season? Or will some potential flaws play a larger role?

Give a great wine enough time and it won’t disappoint.

He has done it before. He did it again today.

Hedo Turkoglu hit a long and well guarded 3 pt shot as time ran out, to give the Orlando Magic their 2nd straight win at home against the league leading Celtics. Hedo is having a career year and led the Magic with 27 points on 8 for 18 shooting, 3-7 from downtown, to go with 6 rebounds, and a block.

Paul Pierce gave Hedo very little room and Perkins came up to cut off a drive, forcing Hedo to take the three when two points would have been sufficient. The game was tied at 93, after Ray Allen had connected from the corner for a three, on a pass from Paul Pierce after he drove the lane. Rondo had just made a huge steal, his 6th of the game, on a Carlos Arroyo pass attempt at the other end to get Pierce the ball.

It was a toughly fought game with big runs by both teams. Kevin Garnett was kept out of this game by Doc Rivers, to be cautious about KG’s abdominal strain. Rajon Rondo had gone down with an ankle twist in the 3rd quarter as well. Rajon came back in taped up to make some huge plays down the stretch. Garnett was so upset at not playing he did not come out of the locker room and sit on the bench to cheer his mates on.

Brian Scalabrine got the start in his place. Kendrick Perkins, who was expected to play a bigger role with Garnett out, drew 2 fouls by the 8:50 mark and (generously listed) 6′ 8″ Leon Powe had to come to play against the league’s most dominant center, Dwight Howard.

After being down 13-9, Boston went on a 14-4 run when Howard when out.

By the time the first quarter ended, Powe had 6 rebounds and 6 points, second only to Paul Pierce’s 8. Dwight Howard also had 6 and 6, but was replaced by Adonal Foyle with 5:52 left in the quarter, starting the Celtics on their run.

Well traveled 6′ 5″ Maurice Evans (5 teams in 6 NBA seasons), acquired in the trade of Trevor Ariza to the Lakers along with Brian Cook got the start at shooting guard today. He played 36 minutes, scoring 11 points on 5-8 shooting. Brian Cook had a flurry of his own in the 3rd quarter, with 11 points in a little over 3 minutes (he played 9 minutes), including 3 of 4 from the three point line. That boosted a 5 point Magic lead to 12 at 65-53.

Turkoglu and Howard each added 2 foul shots to grow the lead to 16, before Posey answered with eight points in less than 2 minutes, getting the Cs to within 11 points.

Orlando, another of the top three point shooting teams in the league, made 9 of 25 from beyond the line. Boston was 7-18 with James Posey leading the way with 4 of 6. Posey finished with his 2nd best offensive showing of the year with 16 points in 26 minutes. He added 6 boards as well.

Leon Powe finished with 9 points and 9 boards (6 offensive), in 26 productive minutes.

Rondo had 15 points on 6-16 shooting to go with 5 boards, 5 assists and all those steals. He did have 3 TOs and got blocked 3 times. Rondo led the Cs with a plus/minus of +11. He contained Carlos Arroyo all night as Arroyo finished with 2 points, 4 assists and 6 TOs in 31 minutes.

Play of the Game

Rajon Rondo drove against Dwight Howard and used a double change of direction move and lay-up in the paint against Dwight Howard to get the Cs within three with 43 seconds left. School yard quality…and it worked.

Brian Scalabrine scored one point and had 1 rebound in 21 minutes. Ray Allen finished with 17 points on 7-18 shooting, 3 of 8 from beyond the line, after starting off 2 of 8. Tony Allen and Eddie House had totally unremarkable games, with House missing on most of his shots (1-5).

The Celtics made their move in the 4th, ripping off 11 straight points to take a 79-78 lead on a Rondo assisted, Ray Allen three point shot. The Magic responded with a run of their own, going back up 8 at 89-81, before the Celtics tied it at 93 with the Ray Allen three with a defender in his face.

Paul Pierce had 19 first half points to get the Celtics started and finished with 24, 9 rebounds and 4 assists including that big one to Ray for the three. He had 3 steals and 3 TOs, while playing decent defense most of the time, even though Turkoglu garnered 27.

Dwight Howard finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Rashard Lewis had 15 points, 6 boards and by far the worse plus-minus on the Magic at -14.

It is notable that Pierce is no longer looking for isolation and his own shot at the end of games. He drove, drew the defense, and passed for the second time in a row, I believe. The Celtics created 20 Magic turnovers to only 11 of their own, helping to keep them in the game without their acknowledged leader, Kevin Garnett.

Leon Powe acquitted himself well in a tough game against an intimidating player. Notable by his absence was Glen Davis. Injured?

The Celtics are having their toughest time against the Southeast Division, with 2 losses each to Orlando and Washington and one to Charlotte. The Celtics are now 5-5 over their last 10, the same as Detroit. Maybe they both played themselves out against each other.

Boston next plays at Miami on Tuesday.

A look around the league says these teams are:

Rockets….

The Houston Rockets are finally playing well with a 8-2 run over 10 and are now 24-19. That gives them a chance at redemption for what was a very disappointing season. The interesting part is that they started the run with a 5 game winning streak without Tracy McGrady. They then lost 2. McGrady returned and they are on a 4 game winning streak since. There was talk that the team might be better without the oft injured, high scoring, ball controlling swingman.

The team did well for a long stretch without Yao last year, under Van Gundy, and with Mutombo playing unexpectedly well in Yao’s absence. Adelman doesn’t let Mutombo see the light of day much more than a groundhog as he preaches an uptempo game. It makes you wonder if Dikembe might be regretting going back to Houston for what appears to be his final season.

Hornets…

I should have known that the New Orleans Hornets were going to off on everyone this year. They had a ton of injuries to all of their best players last year. PG Chris Paul is showing why he is among the very best at his position. The Hornets have lost only 12 games and are 9-1 after pounding the San Antonio Spurs 102-78. That is right. The Spurs.

Dallas…

That makes 3 teams from the same division that are ripping off a bunch of Ws recently. The Mavericks are 8-2 and 29-13 overall. They have beaten 3 very good teams in the stretch in Detroit, Golden State and the Lakers (without Bynum), and the rest are mediocre to bad. Dallas still has to prove it can win big games in the play-offs to get any special respect around the league after last year’s humbling by the underdog Warriors.

Utah….

They are finally playing more like Jerry Sloan team with an 8-2 of late. Is it a coincidence that it starts on the day Korver plays his first game for Utah? Was Giricek that divisive or negatively affecting the offense and the team? Or is Korver just what they needed?

The Cavaliers….

Sporting an 8-2 run themselves, they are now only 23-19. At least they are headed in the right direction. One of the teams in need of a solid point guard, they have found a way to get Hughes more involved, continue to get solid play from the Big Z, and Lebron is a locomotive all by him self. Anderson Verejao is a sparkplug. No one expects much from them in the play-offs, though they represented the East last year (in a SA sweep) They could be a sleeper if they can get Andre Miller or any other solid PG to come there.

There could be some big trades before the deadline and it should get more interesting, not less, before all is said and done.

T

They squared off to start the game at tip off at center court.

Al Jefferson blocked Kendrick Perkins very first shot to start the game. He then went and scored himself.

Poetically, Perkins guarded Jefferson on the Wolves final possession on the left side of the court, causing him to throw the ball back out when Garnett started to trap with Perkins. Just 5 seconds before that, Perkins had thrown down a clutch put back dunk. It gave the Cs an 87-86 lead with 16 seconds left and was the winning basket.

The pass back out went to Sebastian Telfair, the Wolves high scorer, near the top of the key and 7 foot Kevin Garnett guarded him like a ….guard, knocking the ball out of his hands and then diving to the floor to corral it and the game, as time ran out. Plays and hustle like are seldom seen by a guard, let alone a big man. Garnett was spectacular without scoring a point, in those final 2 minute as he grabbed 3 big rebounds and made that win sealing play after returning with his pain in the stomach.

Kendrick Perkins, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen also made huge plays in the final minutes to help the Celtics make a 4th quarter comeback of their own this time. Perkins not only made sure the Celtics didn’t fold after Garnett left, they actually recovered a point from the lead as KP made 2 big lay-ups shortly after KG left.

Ray Allen hit a big three and a lay-up, while Paul Pierce fought hard to get rebounds and made a 3rd effort put back and 2 foul shots to help the cause.

Kendrick Perkins has often mentioned that he and Al Jefferson remain good friends since the trade that put half the distance of the country between them. Yet, he prophetically predicted after the Toronto game that this game was going to be “a war.”

Kendrick Perkins played what could only be called an inspired and truly dominant role in the crucial 4th quarter and led Boston in scoring for the 2nd time this week. The Celtics beat a feisty Timberwolf team, in what could be called The Reunion Game.

It was the first time the two teams have met (in a game that counts. They played in London in the preseason.) since the trade that sent 5 Celtic players and 2 draft choices to Minnesota for future Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett.

It was 21 huge points for big man Kendrick Perkins as he led the charge when Garnett went out of the game and into the locker room because of an abdominal injury.

The Wolves played inspired ball themselves as they seem to be finally becoming a competitive team.

Telfair had 18 points and added 6 assists (3 steals) to lead Minnesota. Jefferson had 15 points, and Ryan Gomes added 13 in a valiant effort by the Wolves.

Pierce played with purpose in those final minutes and flirted with a triple double by netting 19 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. While Ray Allen once again had a difficult night shooting (4-18), he made 2 of his 4 baskets when they counted most, in those final minutes.

Rondo has leg problems or he has other problems. He wasn’t able to play up on Telfair all night. They were running him off screens, still, Rondo didn’t do a good job of fighting through the screens, making you wonder if he should probably be sitting until he is truly healthy.

It is too early to wonder if this is a sign of Perkins breaking out offensively, but it would help the team in so many ways if he really is. It was exactly what the team needed and needs ongoing from here.

While it was the team with the best record against the team with the worst, both have been moving in different directions of late. I’m sure the impetus of the personal relationships and the trade itself made this game one that was circled on the calendar by many Wolves.

They came. They played. They almost conquered.

The Toronto Raptors just scored the most points of the year against the vaunted Celtic defense.

It was only the 5th time this season that the Celtics allowed 100 or more points. The Raptors are also the best 3 point shooting team in the NBA. Tonight they showed why.

As Doc Rivers remarked in the post game interview…

(They shot) 58% (from the floor), 71% from the three, 100% from the foul line…at least the foul line, it wasn’t guarded, I guess. They played great. I mean, give them all the credit, number one. They made every shot

The Celtics once again gave up a 4th quarter lead…at home. They were up 7 to start the 4th, got up as much as 8, and were up 7 with 5:06 left on a Paul Pierce 3 pointer. The Raptors outscored the Cs by 19-10 the rest of the way with Jose Calderon making the winning basket with 10 seconds left on a drive that picked Rondo off, then Pierce picked him up and fouled him for the 3 point play.

The Raptors had 4 players with 20 points or more tonight for the 4th time in their history. Jose Calderon played a superb game, netting a career high with 24 points on 8 -10 shooting and 3-4 from downtown, to go with 13 assists and 3 steals and the winning basket. The Raptors have 3 of the top 15 three point shooters in the NBA with Jason Kapono leading the league with a Kerr-like .505%. Carlos Delfino made 5 of 5 from downtown. Anthony Parker was 4 of 6 and Bargnani got things started with a few long shots. He finished 3 of 6 from downtown.

It wasn’t a Boston ‘Three Party’. It was Toronto’s. They got the monkey off their back after three straight losses to the Celtics with declining scoring each time (95, 84, 77) Boing – another three and back to the top and the best offensive showing of the year against the league’s top defense.

There were a number of conflicting stats and plays to sort through in analyzing this game.

1) The Celtics pounded the Raptors in points in the paint with 56-16.
2) Toronto was making an incredible amount of big 3 pointers (15-21)
3) The Celtics has 23 fastbreak points to zero for the Raptors

Yet, in the final seconds, Jose Calderon’s winning basket was a drive (and foul) for a traditional three point play. The Celtics final shot was a miss in the paint by Ray Allen, after rebounding a missed Eddie House shot as time ran out.

3) The Raptors began by outrebounding the Celtics 7-3. The rest of the way the Cs outrebounded them 36-22 and had 16 offensive boards, led by Ray Allen with 4.
4) The Celtics caused 18 TO’s against the 2nd best team in the league (11.93 TOs per) in taking care of the ball. Chris Bosh had 7 of them.
5) Tony Allen, in a starting unit of Pierce, Powe, House, Scalabrine and himself, led a Celtic charge to an eleven point lead in the 2nd quarter. Tony scored 14 straight Celtic points in 8 plus minutes.

So…though they killed Toronto in 4 major categories (boards, TOs, FB points, PIP), the hot outside shooting of Toronto was enough to negate all of that.

In figuring out what ultimately happened in this game, it comes down to two simple things:

a) The Celtic defense just wasn’t up to par
b) 5 Toronto players made shots all game long

The hot outside shooting by multiple Toronto players caused some confusion on the Celtics according Ray Allen. They didn’t know who to guard, as everyone was making shots.

The team seemed just a step slow most of the night on its rotations. Toronto made the Celtic defenders work harder by making multiple passes until they got a perimeter player a decent look. They played very well.

Kendrick Perkins was willing to step up and shoulder some blame, perhaps too much so.

Kendrick Perkins …

I say it started with me. I set the tone on the defensive end. It just wasn’t there tonight. I don’t think we had the defensive energy… one through five. I don’t think (the mind set was there). I don’t think we accepted the challenge like we should.

True enough. I would add that, though the offense scored 112 itself, it wasn’t pretty for large parts of the game. They were working hard and though they were passing, they were not crisp nor necessarily smart passes. There always seemed to be a Toronto defender right on the supposed shooter.

Neither Rajon Rondo, Chris Bosh nor Coach Mitchell thought that the Toronto defense was all that good. But my impression was that it, at times, looked pretty solid to me, regardless of the score or FG%. Many of the Celtic makes by Garnett were very difficult shots, often against 2 defenders, and kept the team in the ball game.

Garnett had a very solid, even impressive offensive game, finishing with a game high 26 points, 7 boards, and 5 assists. Pierce’s shot was off a little, 8-20, for 19 points but he had 9 assists. Ray Allen added a solid 19 points on 7-16, including a huge make for the lead with 15 seconds left.

Glen Davis had a strong offensive game with 8 points in 11:35 minutes. But Chris Bosh shot right over him a few times, as Bosh had done with others tonight.

Rondo started the game on fire himself with 3 steals early on. He finished with 14 points on 7 of 13 with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

The locker room was subdued as this was hard loss to take after leading by so much in the 4th. Ray Allen said it will be hard for him to sleep tonight, as he will think about that last missed shot at the end.

It was a very competitive game to watch with the teams changing leads a few times along the way. It was one of those heartbreakers to lose.

Garnett, Allen and Perkins all said they will watch film tomorrow on this game to see what they have to fix. There were a number of missed assignments all night.

Next up are the Minnesota ‘Celtics’ on Friday. They just beat Phoenix for a 2 game winning streak. Al Jefferson had a career high of 39 points in that game.

Questin Richardson did an excellent job on Paul Pierce Monday afternoon, holding him to just 10 points.

Richardson is not known as one of the league’s top defenders. Did he rise to the occasion and body him up, deny him the ball, bump him at every turn?

Did he put a hand in his face with every shot? Did he get ‘digs’ and strip him on drives? Was it deflections? Must have been mad deflections, right?

Was he fighting through picks – going over the top to stay with him like glue? How about out and out steals? Pick him up at halfcourt and run him into traps?

Quentin Richardson found a much easier way to stop Paul Pierce.

He used some of the smallest muscles in his body, those around his mouth and his vocal cords, and some dramatic acting to get Paul Pierce to respond in kind and get them both thrown out of the game. Mission accomplished.

If you will, it was a trapping defense afterall. He wedged Paul between himself and the referees. Paul fell into the ‘trap’ and put his destiny in the hands of the zebras.

My guess is that it was part of the game plan – “Q-Rich get into Pierce’s head. He can’t ignor your stuff.”

Maybe Q is smarter than Paul. It was ‘his’ game plan just for ‘The Thruth.’

Or maybe it was a spontaneous thing. It just happened. But I remember that Q-Rich was in denial the first time the Celtics handed the Knicks their collective heads in preseason 101-61, a 40 point thrashing that was the new look Celtics very first devastating win. The Cs had won their first 2 preseason games by 4 and 9 points. Richard had 3 points in that game. Pierce had 22. This time it was Pierce 10, Richardson 0. He scored nothing and still narrowed the margin

Like reading entrails or leaves in a tea cup, we were witnessing foreshadowing of both team’s futures. Little did we know that this was the direction of each team in a nutshell. Richardson would not give any credit to the Celtics and if I recall correctly, he was the only Knick who was upset and fighting to win long after his team mates threw in the towel.

Teams have been coming after the Celtics harder and harder with every win – physically, and in some cases, verbally. The Cs have sometimes responded in kind.

Paul thinks he was perhaps thrown out without just cause. Doc thinks otherwise. Coach Rivers remembers back to his first year at the helm of the Boston franchise. Pierce and Walker both were involved in antics that could been game deciding, in the play-offs against the Pacers. Doc wants no more of that. He doesn’t want the team’s players to lose focus and get involved in the mind and word games that teams will use to get to this juggernaut of a team.

Wise advice, I would say.

Quentin Richardson played great defense on Pierce. But it wasn’t with great footwork, staying in front of Paul’s body. It was with great mouth work, staying in the front of Paul’s mind. The Celtics won the game, but you could argue that Paul Pierce lost the battle, though he might disagree.

But he must know that he is more valuable to the Celtics on the court than off. He has been tremendous this year, as a player and as a team mate. When he was on the bench in the Philly game in the 4th quarter, he was the most animated cheerleader on the bench, rising multiple times to cheer on his mates as they finished off the Sixers. But Paul, you must know that the team needs you in the game far more than they do as a cheerleader.

Advantage Q. Paul……your move.