Celtics Central

The Magnificent Losing Knicks celebrated Martin Luther King Day doing what they do best. Talking. And losing.

I missed this one and don’t have it taped so this is a view from the outside, internet comments and the boxscore.

The biggest thing to stick out, besides Pierce and Quentin Richardson getting T’d up and both thrown out, was Kendrick Perkins scoring 22 points in the first half and a career high 24 for the game to actually lead the Celtics in scoring. Way to go Kendrick Perkins. That ought to quiet the critics of KP, who think he can’t dunk a donut into a cup of coffee without bouncing it on the table once and would probably get it stripped before it hits the cup.

Kendrick Perkins is one of the nicest guys to interview, will always give you time, and tries to answer each question with a genuine response. He is a true gentleman. From my short time in the locker room this season, he stands out for his politeness and respect to everyone who bothers him for a quote, including yours truly. He is a pleasure to watch and listen to, if you want to know the truth. He will often get boxed into a corner of reporters, long after the rest of his mates have extricated themselves from the grasp of a group of people I’m sure they feel is a necessary evil – sports reporters.

It stands out in your mind because he is so different than the way he appears to be on the court. There are clearly two Kendrick Perkins.

The off court Perkins won’t clear out space and push his way through the reporters. The on court Perkins will be working to clear out the other team’s biggest and often toughest player at every step of the way. He will be staring him down after a dunk. He will be talking a little trash along with some of the other Celtics. He will be ripping a dunk through the net with tremendous force. The stronger the dunk, the more intimidating.

But the thing you notice most is that Perkins wants to be the guy who protects his team mates. That is the common thread with the off court Perkins. This guy is a person you can count on when things get rough or when things get down. Loyalty is his middle name. Yet that too is ironic, because Perkins is rarely found on the court in final quarter when it matters most. Why? I’m guessing it is because he can’t hit his foul shots (56% this year).

Yet, today Kendrick Perkins celebrated Martin Luther King Day making 6 of 6 foul shots and 9-12 from the floor to go with 8 rebounds, an assist, 2 steals and a block.

Our mild mannered giant turns into the hulk once the horn blows to start the game. Today the hulk did much damage to the Knicks. To be truthful, Eddie Curry is not known as having much heart. If Perkins had Curry’s talent to go with his own heart, we would be looking at a league star.

Even with Kendrick’s offensive limitations, he has combined with Kevin Garnett to be the frontline of the NBA’s best defensive unit. Who would have thought it possible?

I don’t know how difficult his ‘shot making’ was today. I hope he showed a little variety in his moves and shots. But even if most of it was at the rim, that was a heck of an outpouring of scoring.

So the Celtics run their record to 33-6 and are 10-0 against Atlantic Division opponents. Pierce got distracted by the mouth of Q-Rich and both got tossed in the 3rd quarter, working completely in the Knicks favor. The Knicks brought a big lead down to 7 before Garnett helped the Celtics pull away again.

KG finished with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. Paul Pierce left with 10 points and 7 assists as well. Paul Pierce had exactly one rebound, giving him one more than he had in the last game. Ray Allen finished with 17 points and 8 boards of his own.

In what was otherwise a predictable outcome, Boston’s mild mannered Bruce Banner in the locker room became quite the green Hulk on the court and gave the Knicks something to remember him by today – 24 points, solid defense once again, and enough talking to earn him another technical.

Perkins got working and took care of Curry in a hurry as he was truly the center of attention today. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, but don’t tell the other teams that. They won’t ever see on the court, the guy I see in the locker room. That is bad for them. Good for us.

Next up is Toronto at home on Wednesday.

Is Boston close to adding either Damon Stoudamire or Sam Cassell to aid their move towards a solid play-off roster?

Both of those veteran point guards are making a lot of news and the rumor mills are working hard lately.

Damon is in the process of getting bought out by Memphis. Sam would have to be acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers, though is being mentioned as ‘available’.

If you listened to Celticsstufflive last night, or have been reading the NBA articles, both online and in print, it seems that Boston is indeed looking hard at bringing someone in. This is one of those rumors that are denied until it happens.

Doc and Danny have maintained that the team is just fine as it is.

Yet, the only true point guard with a solid handle under pressure, ability to drive and dish with any regularity, and to set up the offense quickly is Rajon Rondo. He has been nursing a couple of injuries of late and has sat out 3 of the last 4 games. It has given the team time to see what it looks like without Rondo. The results have been conclusive. They miss him. But they also are learning how to play without him.

They hit rock bottom in the Washington game on January 12, the 1st game he was out, by scoring only 78 points. The team scored 83, then 100 and finally 116, as the Celtics continually improved in figuring out how to get into its offense without their best ball handler and defender at the point. Before that, Detroit got Rondo in foul trouble in one game and put a lock on his
replacements.

What happens if the Celtics bring in, say….. Sam Cassell?

Sam would probably work into being being the #1 guard on the depth chart. That is not to say that he would start. He might. But he would certainly finish. Rondo might keep the starting position for defense, his own confidence and to give 38 year old Sam more pop later in the game. Sam can shoot, drive and hit his foul shots, including at clutch moments in a game. He is play-off ‘tested and approved’ from his very rookie season on, where, even then, he played a big role and won a championship with Houston.

But that then means Eddie House and even Tony Allen get moved back to straight 2 guards, where they will compete with each other and Ray for limited minutes. One or both will lose opportunities. Doc has constant trouble now trying to get minutes for Tony Allen. It would only get more difficult.

I have been a fan of Sam Cassell for his whole career. The guy is a winner in my book. Good things happen on the teams and on the court wherever he goes. I don’t know how much he has left in the tank at age 38, but he says that he can still score 17 points a game on a regular basis. Rondo can’t come close to that this year. The trade off of Cassell offensive options compared with Rondo’s defense makes this work as an acquisition for a play-off run.

Rondo has an entire career to get better. And even if he does a great job, he is a liability in the 4th quarter when foul shooting becomes an important factor. Sam will spread the defense better, and most likely, run the offense better. He will gets calls from the status conscious refs that young players like Rondo would never get.

One thing about Sudden Sam. He is a talker. You will hear him – often. On the court. Off the court. In fact, it was been reported that some team mates wish he would just….be a little quieter. He is being mentioned already as a coach in the making, by his current coach, Mike Dunleavy. He himself, sees that as a post career possibility.

He has previously played with both Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, so that works in his favor. Garnett’s Minnesota team was most productive with Sam on board.

The only thing left would be to speculate on who would go to the Clippers to make the trade happen. Sam makes $6.1 mil this year. It seems that there would have to be something with a 3rd team and/or Brian Scalabrine, perhaps Tony Allen and ? – unless a trade exception is allowed and maybe a 2nd round draft pick is thrown in. I’m not an expert on these things.

Making it happen, seems to be a difficult proposition. Damon Stoudamire would be easier, simply because a buy out by Memphis means a trade is not necessary. Damon does not bring to the table what Sam does, but might end up being the easier road to go down.

Damon might be more willing to assume a secondary role on the team than Cassell would. He would still present more of an outside threat and better foul shooting than Rondo, though defensively he looks like he would be the weak link. That puts more pressure on the bigs to cover the penetrators that get by the perimeter defenders. But you have to remember that any acquisition is going to leave something to be desired.

Bear in mind that this is nothing but conjecture, but it is a look at how the team dynamics might change.

Does Danny decide that the team has enough answers as is? Or does he bring in someone to plug into some of the PG short comings on the team currently?

My guess is that he makes a move. If not, look for rookie 2nd rounder Gabe Pruitt to start getting more burn regularly – something like 8-10 minutes a game. Gabe has the potential to be good at some of the things the Celtics need at the point. The question is, can he ramp up quick enough to help this year and would Doc give him that chance?

The answers to these questions will be known in the next few weeks, I’m sure.

Rondo is expected to play today against the Knicks in New York.

I mean post-al in a good way. Or is it Powe-stal.

In a rare appearance, the Celtics were able to ‘lean on Leon’, the brand new daddy.

First things first. Games that the Celtics play are starting to look more normal…..if you consider beating the 76ers by 27 ‘normal’.

Kevin Garnett responded to a reporter’s post game question that referred to the last two games as ‘decent’ performances’ by thoughtfully saying,

“Ummm, I think that we’ve spoiled everybody with the fact that we have come to (do) special things this year.”

Good point. We are now calling a 27 point win a ‘decent performance’. We have become so spoiled by such a dramatically dominant start as to expect blow outs, and simply say ‘nice win.’ This game was, for 3 plus quarters, a normal NBA game. It turned into a complete Celtic explosion.

What was a very close contest was broken open with 26 points in the last 6 minutes left in the game. That would translate to a 52 point quarter. Yawn. The Sixers were even leading at the half (57-54), due in large part to pounding the Beantown Ballers on the boards 22-12, with a 7-2 offensive board advantage.

It was a Celtic carpet bombing, with 6-9 from downtown, complementing a strong inside attack (10-14). Very big 4th quarter performances were had by 4 separate Celtics – Eddie House (11), Ray Allen (10), rarely used, brand new daddy, Leon Powe (8), and James Posey (7).

Kevin Garnett turned into a passing guard, I mean center, with 4 assists in just that quarter, finding Powe near the basket twice and Posey and House for a 3 pointer each. KG said the Sixers were quick on their traps, and he didn’t want to take bad shots. Garnett finished with 11 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks to go with the 8 assists.

Paul Pierce sat out the 4th quarter entirely. He led the Celtics to a hard fought 5 point lead, 78-73 after three with 14 points in that period. Paul finished with 22 points on 7-9 shooting with 3-3 from the 3 point line, 5-5 from the line 3 assists, a steal, a block in 30 minutes. He also had 4 TOs.

Ray Allen led the team in scoring for the second straight game with 23 points on 9-14, (5-9 from downtown) and 6 assists of his own. He also played great man on man defense and added 4 steals to complete another solid night.

After House came in for Tony Allen with the Celtics up 5 (86-81), the Celtics ‘worked the body’ inside with a Posey dunk, followed by a House jumper, a Powe dunk, a Ray Allen lay-up, and another Powe dunk to open up an 11 point lead. After that, the Celtics went to work from the outside with 7 jumpshots, including 4 three pointers to win going away. That’s what happens when you go to the rim. It opens up the outside shooting. It was done to perfection.

Leon had season highs in minutes with 14:54, points with 10, and rebounds with 6. He gave the Celtics exactly what they needed – someone who could rebound and score inside. The Celtics were losing the rebound battle badly, 34-16 after three quarters. They outrebounded the 76ers
14-4 in the decisive 4th quarter, thanks to Leon with 5 and, surprisingly, Eddie House with 4. Doc even complimented House’s defense.

The Celtics held the Sixers, who were shooting 50% after three, to just 26% shooting in the 4th.

It was game of two halves, if you look at the Celtics’ defense. The Sixers had 57 points at the half, one of the highest scores against then this year. What did Doc say at the half?

Not a lot. I asked- you know what I came in and asked? – I said, “Okay. They’ve got 57 points. What adjustments do you want to make? I actually asked that question.—–And they all start talking about what we should be doing. Our rules. No changes. They knew it. But it was better for them to say it. —- They knew we were better than that defensively.

Better ball movement helped the 2nd half offense. Defense helped create 23 TOs for the game.

The Celtics really are starting to look normal. More give and take, up and down kind of games. No more crushing teams by the first time out of the second quarter, with the opposing team then quitting for the rest of the game. They are simply reacting to what teams are giving them
now. Tonight it ended up being 27 points.

Decent.

The Celtics have now won 2 in a row and next play the New York Knicks.

Allen wrenches a W for Boston – drills 35. Celtics hammer Trailblazers 100-90. Don’t get me going.

Ray Allen was pretty unstoppable himself.

Ray Allen busted out his ‘A’ game tonight as he rained down 35 points to snuff out the fire on a white hot Portland team that was on an 18-2 rip coming in.

Ray’s A game was stuck somewhere in a trunk he hadn’t unpacked since returning from the now famed ‘west coast trip’ on December 30th. In his last 6 games Ray has scored 13, 2, 9, 16, 8, and 16 while shooting 37%.

Tonight Ray was 12-20 from the field and 7-8 from the foul line to more than double the point total of any of his recent games. He and Kevin Garnett (26 points) carried the Celtics to victory over an earnest, but slightly intimidated young Portland team.

The Blazers were surprised at the physicality, the intensity of the game and the fan involvement, calling it a play-off atmosphere and play-off type game.

Brandon Roy said afterward, “They bullied us tonight. I mean, they got after us tonight. They got in our face. They pushed us around. They beat us tonight because they were the tougher team.”

Joel Pryzbilla added, “This was a very physical game. We weren’t ready for that. It was a good game to see what we have to do to be a top team.”

The Celtics experience and star power most likely played a part in tonight’s win. The younger Portland team, to a man, said they were a little unprepared for tonight’s intense match.

Coach McMillan, “I thought this was a good game for us, and what it does is it shows us that we’ve got work to do.”

Speaking of work to do, that is exactly what the Celtics had coming into this game after losing 3 of 4. The Celtics offense continued to struggle tonight, mightily at times in the first half, before Ray Allen unleashed his rim attack as he aggressively drove to the hoop for a number of assorted lay-ups. Actually, Ray was pretty much ‘on’ the whole game, but he really took in the final two minutes as he scored a barrage of 12 points of the Celtics last 14 to win by 10 . Ray made sure that this 4th quarter lead would not slip away as a few others have recently.

The Celtics made Portland hurry and turn the ball over 19 times to the Celtics 8. The Celtics missed a whole lot of foul shots, but improved that stat at the end when Ray and Paul went 6-6 for 25-38 for the game.

Eddie House started at PG and did a commendable job, playing 34 minutes with 5 assists, 4 rebounds, a block, a steal, and 10 points. Tony Allen played some PG as well and seldom used Gabe Pruitt logged 12 important minutes when the game was still on the line. With starting PG Rajon Rondo out, all three, plus Ray and Paul did an excellent job (with a few exceptions) as they got the team into their offense usually with 19-21 seconds left on the shot clock.

With what seemed to be a little reminding from Doc, Ray Allen played a physical defense against Brandon Roy and quite effectively, limiting his scoring when he was guarding him, while drawing 5 fouls.

Pierce was often the playmaker this evening and was happy to do it for Ray. Paul was having an off shooting night but had 5 assists and 8 rebounds, and played solid defense. They rode the hot hand and that hand belonged to Ray. He brought them home a winner.

The Celtics get back on track with a quality win against the league’s hottest team.

Next up: Philadelphia on Friday at TDBanknorth Garden.

The hottest team in basketball is playing at the TDBanknorth Garden tonight – and it isn’t the men in green.

The Portland Trailblazers come to town as maybe the biggest surprise in the NBA this year.

They lost their most hyped draft pick, defensive stud center, Greg Oden to injury before the season started and everyone thought they would go quietly into the night.

I had underestimated them last year, and we all did this year. They are sporting a Northwest Division leading 23-14 record, good enough for 4th best in the entire western conference. More impressive is that they are on a supernova hot run as they hit town – 18-2 over 20 games including the league’s longest winning streak during that stretch of 13 games. Yowsa. This team is showing that they can play with anyone.

They are led by Rookie-of-the-Year combo guard Brandon Roy (19.0) and big man LaMarcus Aldridge (17.9). It is a young energetic team, as the next two highest scorers are Travis Outlaw (12.1), and Martell Webster (11.1). Yes, that Martell Webster, who was once deemed one of the 2 most clueless (Gerald Green was the other) 1st round draft choices of 2005. It looks like he is making progress. (Gerald, are you watching?)

They have a deep and capable, if not spectacular, point guard corps of Steve Blake, Jarrett Jack, and Sergio Rodriguez.

With solid contributions from Joel Pryzbilla, Channing Frye, and James Jones, coach Nate McMillan has the team playing above what any preseason prognosticator ever dreamed was possible.

Brandon and LaMarcus are the driving forces behind the success, would be my guess. But one knows that 2 players alone don’t drive a team to success in the NBA. So credit must be given up and down the line-up and to the coach. What Brandon and perhaps LeMarcus does, is show them how to win games, a trait that is lost on other teams of great youth.

It couldn’t be a better time to play the Celtics. They are licking their recent wounds and trying to figure out how to get the ball up court quickly and efficiently enough to get into their offense so as to get back to scoring triple digits. The defense will take care of itself.

Rajon Rondo, the missing sparkplug point guard, is nursing his own, very real injuries (back and hamstring), and the team is lacking his ability to drive the offense. When he does play, he is not himself.

He is listed as 50/50 for this evening. There is talk of giving the rookie 2nd round pick from USC, Gabe Pruitt some floor time to see if he can solve some of the offensive problems. It can’t hurt to take a look. It could help – quite a bit.

The Celtics have gotten into a few other bad habits, and are just flat out missing open shots…

from Peter May of the Boston Globe…

Film from Monday’s Washington game revealed that the Celtics missed 18 wide-open jump shots. “Before I saw the tape, I didn’t see [the open shots]; then you watch the tape and go, ‘Wow,’ ” said Rivers. “That was a lot of shots we didn’t make and the right guys taking them. You can live with that. But we have to play at a better pace.” .

They are taking too long to get into their offense. If you watched the recent games that was obvious. The early season spring in their step has been missing since the Detroit game.

Even after losing 2 in a row, and 3 of 4 the Celtics are still a flat out ridiculous 30-6. What they are learning now will be valuable in making decisions going forward.

Tonight will be no easy match up. I’ll be there to give you the lowdown first hand. Back at you later.

Well, we have something to complain about – finally.

It took 36 games to get here.

Boston’s offense is the main concern, though the Boston defense has been solved at the right times, as well, in some of the recent games.

What will be interesting is not how we, the sportswriters, analysts, and fans see things, but how Doc, Danny and yes, even the players perceive what is occurring. More important, what is to happen next.

The game is supposed to be simple. Yet the next moves could be simple, nuanced, or drastic. Doc and Danny have a lot of possible options.

A few questions and a few answers:

First the questions…

1) Has the team been playing on too much emotion since the very beginning of this highly charged journey into destiny for three certain players?

There is everything riding on this and the next year. Everything. They know it. Their families know it. Even the real Gino know knows it.

2) Is it time to make little changes?

3) Is it time to make big changes?

4) Are no changes necessary?

Here are a few options that could be considered in the Celtic War Room:

1) Do little – except focus on what got the team going on this tear in the first place.

That would mean that the brain trust believes that KG, PP and Ray weren’t playing with too much emotion to start with. That means that they think Rondo and Perkins are good enough to carry the day when it counts. That means they think the bench will provide what they need when it counts. No moves. No internal changes to playing time either.

2) Make internal changes with the roster on hand.

a) Play Gabe Pruitt. If they do not plan on going ‘out of house’ for their PG play, then it is time to start giving Pruitt game time to make him ready for any eventuality come play -off time. That is, if he shows that he can play in the NBA this year. That would also tell them if they need to go out of house for a veteran PG. I don’t think they will go back to having Paul running the offense again, like they did at the start of the year – will they?

b) Play Perkins, or Davis, Or Pollard more. The team needs both its offense and rebounding to improve. Perhaps Posey is getting asked to do too much as a PF.

c) (Edgar Allan) Powe. Is he done? It sure seems that way. Or can this give him a second opportunity? Is Doc hiding something about Powe that we don’t know?

3) Change some of the strategy. That would mean that teams are catching on to something. Perhaps, you need to mix things up more.

4) Go for filling the roster spot(s). Get that PG or big, or both, that everyone has been talking about since October. Hello luxury tax elevator – going up – unless it is done with a trade.

That covers it. What will Doc, Danny and the players do?

Whatever they do, or don’t do, will have serious implications for the rest of year.

We will find out very soon.

The Washington Wizards…… playing defense? Two games in a row?

Yep and Yup.

Double their pleasure, double your pain.

In a season of streaks and season highs and season lows, the Wizards just stuck Boston with its first matching set of losses. They did it with defense both times. They gave Boston double losses by doubling down and doubling up.

They did with their high scoring duo, Caron Butler (21 pts.) and Antawn Jamison (20 pts.). Butler, in particular was fantastic in the closing moments to get them the win. Of course, he made 2 very difficult shots. The first was an acrobatic driving lay-up with great body control to tie it at 81 with 40 seconds left. He was fouled and hit the foul shot to give them their first lead since the first quarter.

Paul Pierce hit 2 free throws to give Boston back a one point lead. But it was short lived as Butler then drove right and arced a nice lay-up over a great defensive effort by Pierce for a 84-83 lead. That was the game, as Garnett missed turnaround jumper in the lane with 8 seconds left, and Ray Allen missed a slightly off balanced three with one second left.

Boston had established its biggest lead of the game minutes before at 77-63 with 6:22 left. Garnett accidentally tipped in a rebound for the first points of what would turn out to be a 25-6 run to end the game by Washington.

Give credit to Washington. They never gave up, they played great defense, and they made huge offensive plays time and again to comeback and win the game. While Boston never gave up themselves, they did not look or play confidently down the stretch. At the end, with what should have been two big foul shots by Pierce to give the Cs the lead, the team looked like they knew they were going to lose. How quickly things change – in this game – and over the last week.

The last game, just a few nights ago, Washington held the Beantown Ballers to season lows in scoring (78) and shot attempts (63). Washington?

Previously, the Wizards were a team built much in the mold of previous incantations of Doc’s first Celtics teams, except they had more stars and won more. They did it with offense.

This year, they are playing a much better brand of defense. Last year they gave up 104 points per game. This year it’s down to 97. But what they did against the Celtics was a cut above that even.

Since the Detroit game, Boston’s high game is 86. In what is now a 4 game blip, Boston’s offensive slump was continued by an aggressive and energetic defense by the Wizards. The team only had 17 assists on 31 made baskets.

Paul Pierce hasn’t reached 20 points for 5 straight games, averaging just 16.6 points. Ray Allen is also in a scoring slump, missing wide open jumpers tonight and 2 point blank lay-ups. He is averaging just 11.4 over 7 games.

The team looks lethargic for much of that time. Could it be they are riding an emotional let down since Detroit? Or is it something more? Are teams learning that you can wear the Celtics down and knock them off their game with physical play?

Boston played great defense for much of the night, but they haven’t looked locked in for a while now. They did outscore Washington in the paint by 32-14, but in truth, it looked like the Wizards defense was better this evening.

I think they will check the game tapes. They also need to hit the open shots. They missed a number of them this evening as well.

Garnett was high with 23 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Unfortunately, he was the only Celtic able to break out.

A first half highlight had Perkins dribble the ball behind his back, then pass it to Pierce who threw it to KG for a solid dunk. Yes, you read that correctly. So we may have found a point guard. Now, if only we can find a big who rebounds.

Next up: Portland at home Wednesday night.

Boston gets a chance to pay the Wizards back, this time on Boston’s home court.

For anyone who is placing any great importance on the mini slump the Celtics seem to be in, just look as the Knicks -Pistons game from yesterday. Detroit was crushed by one of the most dysfuntional teams in the league.

Boston is now 30-5. Detroit is the next closest to the Celtics in losses and they have 10. Dallas, San Antonio, Phoenix and the Lakers all have 11 losses each. That is twice as many (plus one) for those with math challenged abilities.

So Boston learns it can’t just play at any way it wants to and win. Better to learn that now than later. The team could use another PG and another big. But that has been known since the beginning of the season. The team’s run remains a remarkable accomplishment.

Rajon Rondo’s status for tonight’s game is uncertain, according to the Celtics website.

The team has yet to lose back to back games.

After watching the last three games, they must make a better effort get Ray Allen touches and good looks. KG and Perkins have to defend the basket a little more. But more important, they have to get the ball upcourt a little faster. With Rondo out, it is challenging to get fast breaks, but the team should be looking to do just that. It puts the defense back on its heels and makes half court set-ups easier as well.

The Celtic offense has sputtered a bit, averaging just 82.3 points in the last three games. That puts too much pressure on the defense.

Will Washington play solid defense 2 games a row? Signs point to “no”.

Gametime: 7:30