Celtics Central

Boston loses one in what could only be called an energy saving game.

The game was also notable in that Boston’s Three Star (BTS) Express all missed shots they normally make. Usually, at least one of them is on.

Rajon Rondo may not hit all of the foul shots he should. He may have an erratic jump shot. But the Celtics clearly needed ‘Johnny’ Rondo’s energy and ability to push the ball tonight. The team experienced a game losing power outage in the 4th quarter.

Rondo did not play and it showed. He sat with lingering back pain. The Celtics walked the ball up all night.

They were in Washington D.C. Maybe they got a call from the Department of Energy.

In its own special way to help the environment, Boston went ‘green’ tonight. That is to say, they used very little power offensively. They used many fewer shots (13 less) than the Wizards, but the Wizards were much better at ‘recycling’ shots as evidenced by their 20-7 advantage in offensive rebounds. They ended up with their lowest scoring output of the entire year.

Actually, Boston hasn’t looked emotionally involved since the Detroit game. They have now lost 2 of 3 against teams they would normally take to task.

Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett all missed open shots they normally make. That plus lackluster rebounding and no fast breaking equals a loss in Washington. Ray was 2-8 from outside and 3-13 overall. Pierce was 2-5 from outside and 5-13 overall. KG was a solid 7-14 but also missed open shots in the 4th quarter.

Boston led 74-70 but was stuck on 74 while Washington hit 10 of 11 foul shots down the stretch and Antonio Daniels hit a big three that gave them the lead for good at 75-74.

The first half of this game was a game where Washington was playing it’s heart out, making great shots, lots of energy, lots of steals, solid defense, yet could only muster a small lead. The Cs were out shot by 10 in the first quarter alone, yet trailed only by 4.

At the half Washington had upped the shot differential to 13, mostly by way of killing the Celtics on the offensive boards 13-3. yet actually lost ground, barely holding on to a one point advantage going into the locker room.

Even the Wizard announcers called it an “inspired effort. You can’t get much more than they have given.”

The 1st quarter set the tone as the Wizards took 10 more shots than the Cs 28-18.

By halftime the shot differential was 45-32 in attempts. Yet, the score was only 41-40 in Washington’s favor. The Celtics were more energy efficient as they shot 47% to .33%, Each team made 15 baskets.

That’s the beauty of a great team – normally. They hang tough, making the most use of the little they are given, until they see a crack in the other team’s effort. That is what it looked like was going to happen. In the end, this particular evening, someone pulled the plug on Boston as Washington won the pivotal 4th quarter 25-13. Actually, except for James Posey, Boston ran out of power. He score 8 of Boston’s 4th quarter points and 3 of their 4 baskets. The Celtics shot 4-13 when it mattered most.

Eddie House showed some spark early on and did an excellent job keeping the Men in Green close with 11 points on 4-7 (3-4 downtown) in the 1st half. Kevin Garnett led with 12 points on 5-9. He finished with 19 points but only 6 rebounds.

Jamison had 12 rebounds at the half (8 offensive). Washington’s defense was sparkling and caused 11 TOs by half time. Ray Allen and PP each had 3 TOs each.

The second half saw Boston take a solid 9 point lead in the 3rd quarter 61-52. They were outscored 33-17 the rest of the way as Washington refused to give up and Boston did nothing to prevent them.

You know there’s a problem when Eddie House is your rebounding leader with 3 in the 4th quarter. (OK, Kevin had 3 as well). Kendrick Perkins led Boston with 7 boards and had 3 assists and 2 blocks and 9 points in 26 minutes.

Pierce and Butler has their own little war going on, though it looked more good natured than angry. Each took shots against each that they probably shouldn’t have, and kept a conversation going for most of the night.

The Boston defense was good enough to win most games. It was the lack of energy and shot making in the offense that let the team down. Washington’s defense was actually pretty good.

It isn’t a sign of any real trouble yet. And there will be rare nights when all three star players miss big shots. But it would have helped to get a few more easy baskets to get the team going offensively. Rondo would have helped. It seems that no one else on the team can get that break going like he can. (Danny has two open roster spots.)

Next up: These two teams play again in Boston on Monday night.

The Men In Green returned to their winning ways Friday night as they defeated the hot New Jersey Nets by a score of 86-77. The Nets were 8-2 over their last games.

New Jersey has struggled, often mightily, to find it’s way this year. They have experienced games with great scoring droughts, continuing injury setbacks with Nenad Krystic, and Marcus Williams, a disappointing Jamal Magloire, inconsistent Antoine Wright, and a sometimes uninspired Vince Carter.

Through it all Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson have played about as well as they can. The recent success seems to be due, in part, to their assimilation of their youthful big men – Josh Boone and more recently, Sean Williams. They, too, are up and down, but add some needed life to the defensive end of the floor.

Tonight Josh Boone had a career high 16 rebounds (8 offensive) to go with 14 points in a well played game. Unfortunately, he led the Nets in some horrific foul shooting, clanging, and I mean clanging, 6 attempts. Zero for six. The Nets were 9-24 overall. Josh played some excellent ball around the hoop and seems to be improving quite a bit as he gets the time. But he makes Rajon Rondo look like Ray Allen at the foul line. Like Boston’s supporting cast, teams are engaged with the Nets top three players, creating many easy basket opportunities for Boone and others. He made the most of those last night and played some energetic defense.

Still, the Celtics outscored the Nets in the paint by 40-24 even as Boone blocked 4 shots and Sean Williams blocked 2.

KG made a number of difficult jump shots right over some solid Boone defense. Garnett led the Celtics with 20 points and 11 rebounds. He added 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks of his own in a solid all around effort, showing a young Boone what a well rounded game looks like.

After being down by as much as 8 points in the 3rd quarter, the Celtics took the lead with 13 straight points in the 4th quarter. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were on the bench when they went back on top on a Glen Davis lay up. Eddie House followed with his first basket on another lay up and Ray Allen hit a 3 pointer to put the Cs up 76-70 before KG re-entered the game.

It was a game of runs as the Nets took an 8 point lead first quarter lead behind Kidd, Jefferson and Boone. The Celtics followed with a 17-5 run to take a 47-40 lead before New Jersey closed to within 3 on 4 answered points.

New Jersey came back to take the lead at the end of 3rd quarters, 68-63, before the Celtics took control in the 4th. They outscored New Jersey 27-9 and won going away.

Davis and James Posey played good games in support off the bench. Rajon Rondo left the game in the 3rd quarter with a back injury and did not return.

Pierce scored 18 and Ray Allen had 16 as both played strong games. Pierce took at least 3 charges (2 by Jefferson) had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in a well played game. Ray Allen contributed 16 points and some tough defense as well.

This was the Celtics 30th win of the year and tied the best start in franchise history (1959-60 team) as the train got back on track after a one game derailment against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Boston next plays at Washington on Saturday

In my last article, I made light of the fact that Leon Powe didn’t get any burn in the last game against Charlotte. Glen Davis was out. It would be a rare opportunity for some playing time.

Where has Leon’s NBA career gone?

A baby has stolen it from from him. A Big Baby. For that matter, so has a big red head.

Once Danny drafted Glen Davis, who plays Leon’s position, it appeared that there would be competition for Leon.

From the start, it was evident that there would be a battle between the two for playing time. The rotation wouldn’t be big enough for both of them. The battle occurred mostly at practices. It evened spilled into rough play and heated words at one point. It was a bonifide battle.

While I expected Leon to get the early minutes in the season, because he knew the sets and system already, I also expected Glen to slowly take his spot on the floor later in the year as he caught on to the plays and where to go on the floor. Glen brings more possibilities to the game.
If you will, his game is larger.

But Leon was receiving praise for his toughness, rebounding, and shot blocking last year. Doc was saying regularly that Leon gave them a toughness that they needed. Leon did play with abandon and with a physicality was uniquely his own on that roster. He is still the most physical player on the team, I would guess.

Leon never got out of the gate. In fact, neither did Davis. Brian Scalabrine ended up as #2 on the depth chart and ate up the bench PF minutes from the start. Both Davis and Powe were rarely seen. Eventually, Davis started to get spot minutes here and there. He proved himself enough to move past Brian on the depth chart and be the first PF off the bench. Davis’ future is ahead of him. Leon’s is….undetermined at this point.

At the time this article is posted, there is no word whether Leon Powe’s contract has been guaranteed for the rest of the year. January 10th is the day that all contracts get guaranteed. I haven’t seen any news release of that happening. But I expect him to get the guarantee and stay on the roster. His contract would add $600,000 to Leon’s purse and $1.2 to the Cs, due to luxury tax considerations.

At the least he is a good practice player. At best, he is insurance for injury from here on out.

Leon has played an average of 4 minutes in just 14 games this year, while scoring 2.6 pts. on .563 % shooting, and getting 1.6 rebounds. Last year, he played in 63 games, averaging 11.4 minutes, 4.2 pts, and 3.4 rebounds.

Davis not only outweighs Leon, so does his potential. In the battle of second rounders for 2nd on the depth chart, Leon has come in ..third. Brian Scalabrine got the minutes against Charlotte and Leon was the only active player to not get in the game. Even seldom seen point guard Gabe Pruitt got :30 seconds of PT. Leon was the sole DNP-CD.

Some say that during Leon’s limited time on the court this year, he seems to be preoccupied with garnering personal stats to impress. Last year it might have helped. This year it certainly won’t. The new team is dominated by veterans who are looking for role players who will blend with them and the team concepts of motion and passing on offense and movement and solid team defense at the other end. After his own awkward initial moments, Glen Davis appears to be better suited to both, and has figured out that hustle and unselfish play will win him time.

So, where does that leave Leon? For the immediate future, planted on the Celtics bench.

You can’t fault Doc for deciding on one over the other. It is looking more and more like he picked the right one. The knock on Doc by some was that he could never decide on a rotation. He certainly has done that this year. Still, it is somewhat surprising that Leon saw no daylight against Charlotte. Has his stock fallen that much? One would guess so.

I said that I would break down the Boston loss to Charlotte later.

It’s later.

I’ve got nothing.

So I thought I’d start a few conspiracy theories:

1) Doc Rivers’ Pearl Harbor

This was Boston’s Pearl Harbor. As that theory goes, Roosevelt knew they going to be attacked and kept the carriers at sea, minimizing the damage, yet getting what he wanted; America to commit to the war.

Doc’s admittance that he was outcoached was merely the cover for the whole thing.

Doc knew he was setting them up for a loss by sitting both Ray Allen and Glen Davis. He wanted to see how well the team played against a tough but inferior opponent. It was admitted that both players could play if this was a play-off game. Excellent cover, Doc.

2) Paul Pierce Loves his Number But Does Bad Math

Paul Pierce had motives to throw the game. He let Richardson go back door on him multiple times. Shots that he normally makes were clanging long. Why?

tut tut. It should be obvious if you look at the numbers. It doesn’t take John Forbes Nash to see the secret code behind this one. Okay, I’ll spell it out for you.

The Celtics are now 16-2 at home. 16-2. Get it? PP’s number is 34. 16×2=34. Okay, it’s really not 34, but that’s close enough, and it’s also within one year of Pierce’s actual age. You can’t ignor that coincidence.

3) Perkins and Garnett had a bet to see who would allow more points in the paint tonight.

Garnett and Perkins normally stout inside defense was vacationing in Rio for this particular game. Why?

The Celtics usually get more points inside the paint than their opponents. The Bobcats made this the second worse game for the year in that category. They outscored the Cs 48-28 in the painted area. The Bobcats were playing a small line-up often, with Richardson at SF, Gerald Wallace playing the PF spot. Other times, it was Okafor and Mohammed scoring in the paint.

Yes, it was that Mohammed. Philadelphia’s, I mean Atlanta’s, no I mean New York’s, no I mean San Antonio’s, no I mean Detroit’s…. cast off. Whew. That’s a lot of teams he has played for. Nazr lit the Cs up for 18 points. That’s his 2nd best output of the year. What team defended him worse than this? He scored 20 against….the Knicks. I just thought you might want to know.

The ‘protected area’ took on a whole new meaning. It was protected from any defense.

Large or small, they got PIP, we got ZIP.

The Bobcats picked and rolled our bigs to death. They scored on driver penetration who then passed to a cutter when our two bigs both went for the ball almost every time. Actually that meant that Posey, Pierce, or whoever the weak side defender was, didn’t get back to pick up the cutter, either. But we won’t let those kinds of facts get in the way of a good conspiracy.

Neither will we let the fact that Richardson was on fire from everywhere and for the whole game, and that Wallace is a quick and determined post player interfere with our conspiracy.

4) The Ken Mauer Files and the Gino Conspiracy

Just with this official alone, we could build endless conspiracies for his ‘unusual’ calls.

a) Tommy Heinsohn owes him money.
b) He owes Sam Vincent money.
c) He got a speeding ticket coming to the game.
d) His shorts were giving him a wedgie.

Last, but not least. Rumors are flying that….

e) He wears a “I hate Gino” t-shirt under his zebra top. There will be no victory vid on his watch.

Suffice to say that Tommy doesn’t like this ref and he did make some ‘non-hometown’ calls. Garnett’s and Pierce’s minutes were limited in the first half due to foul trouble.

Could the team and Doc have responded differently to what was happening on the floor? Sure.

1) We could have seen (Edgar Allen) Powe. I say that because he is a man of mystery at this point. Big Baby’s minutes were up for grabs. They play the same position and they could have used an inside presence, which is Powe’s strength right now. Or at least it was the last time he was sighted. “2nd Round Danny’s” reputation is at stake here.

2) They could have worked Pierce off of screens more for catch and shoot opportunities.

3) They could have tried to get KG freed up in the 4th more. He was having a great game.

I’m going with conspiracy number one. Doc wanted to see what Brian Scalabrine and Scot Pollard looked like on the court at the same time. He just needed a reason. Tonight was it.

Note: The aforementioned was entertainment. Any similarities between it and perceived reality are purely fictional.

As Doc said, the Bobcats played great and the Celtics didn’t. Next.

Tom

The Bobcats got a strong game from Jason Richardson (34 points) and good support from Ray Felton, Gerald Wallace, and Nazr Mohammed to surprise the Celtics on their own court, 95-83.

So much for the zero games lost by 5 or more. It is only their second home loss of the year.

The Charlotte Bobcats almost beat the Celtics the last time they played each other, with Boston narrowly winning on a last second shot by Ray Allen.

Last night, Ray Allen wasn’t there to stop this loss. Neither was Glen Davis. And only Kevin Garnett stepped up to try to make up for Ray’s absence.

The robust Celtic defense was just bust last night. But you have to hand it to a game Charlotte squad who came out and outplayed the Cs on their home court. It was bound to happen, but who would have thought it from such an unlikely source? The Bobcats were a terrible road team with only one road win before this game.

I’ll break it down later.

Here is the boxscore.

I won’t say it was lost in all the hub-bub of the Celtic’s win over Detroit but if said somewhere else, it bears repeating…

1) Glen Davis did more than score 16 big fourth quarter points. He played good defense and made a number of other hustle plays. And while most of points were lay-ups, most of them were defended pretty well. He has a knack for getting for getting the ball to go in.

2) Paul Pierce played an excellent floor game. His steal may be the biggest defensive play of the game.

3) Chauncy Billups was allowed to push, pull and tug on Rajon Rondo in the most blatant way. Will that be allowed if they meet in the play-offs?

4) Was this the real test of legitimacy in the eyes of the refs? In spite of the foul shooting differential, Garnett was incapacitated for most of the first half, and many Detroit infractions were not called. Both teams complained, a lot, but the Celtics played through it and won in Detroit’s house. Will they get better treatment next time?

5) Detroit was knocked off their game as I have rarely seem them, and probably not at all this year. That has to make you think, if you are Detroit. The Detroit players can minimize it all they want. It mattered.

6) Detroit has to be thinking about what to do about a weak inside game. They were absolutely locked outside of the paint. It was ‘No Trespassing’ most of the night.

7) As much as we Celtic fans might want to ignore it, what was implied by Detroit players was true. The Celtics must learn to play their game better under the enormous pressure and play-by-play microscope of the play-offs.

Last time it was Pierce who was quiet offensively, this time it was Ray Allen. Does it prove that the team needs Pierce to play well to win in this kind of a game?

9) While it was role players helping out quite a bit this time, it seems that Garnett must be in the game for the Cs to handle a team like this, evidenced by Celtic scoring with and without him. I know…. duh. I keep hoping that might change. Kind of like wishing the Cs played well when Bird was on the bench.

10) Rondo was the only Celtic with more than 5 minutes PT who had a minus (-4) in the plus/minus stat. At this stage,Billups is a big challenge for him.

11) McDyess had, by far, the Pistons worse plus/minus (-15).

The funny thing is, I think the Celtics will continue to get better and handle games like these better with each passing experience.

Celticsblog’s Jeff Clark said this was a huge, huge win.

It was wrapped up for the Celtics by a ‘Big’ Baby. The headline wrote itself.

The Celtics beat the Pistons at their home after trailing by double digits early.The final score was 92-85

Glen Davis is listed as 6′ 9″ and 289 lbs. The first number is generous, the 2nd is kind. He is a wunderkind with a football player’s body yet playing a game that defies his shape. While becoming a fan favorite early in his arrival in Boston, he certainly became a favorite of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in this game.

Let it be noted that Paul Pierce played a key role and a large 46 minutes himself, by far the most of any Celtic. He contributed 19 points (5-16 shooting), 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and one big steal himself. Call it a durable game where stats were deceiving.

This was the kind of game where most of each team’s energy was used up on the defensive end of the court, quite unlike most NBA games. With the two top defenses in the league going at each other, it was not surprising.

Baby Power

Glen Davis powered the Celtics win in a number of ways, not the least of which was his scoring. He led the team with 20 points, 16 of them were on lay-ups in traffic and under pressure. Tonight, Glen showed tremendous heart, focus and energy in this game. While this isn’t a true coming out game for the rookie, it is a big step forward for the….big forward.

At one time, there were rumors that he might be among those sent to the D-league. In my very first interview with him, I tried to confirm the possibility. He looked shocked to hear it. The look in his eyes suggested that I was the first to say something to him about it. He said that he hadn’t heard anything. After he thought about it, Glen told me flat out, “I ain’t going to no D-League.”

No Glen. You aren’t, buddy. Instead, you will learn in THE League. The NBA is where you will learn your trade as an NBA energizer bunny trapped inside the body of a bear. Tonight your game was far bigger than your physical stature. You couldn’t have picked a better night to step it up.

In a contest that both teams tried to downplay, the Celtics went into Detroit’s home arena and returned a favor. Detroit came to Boston and put the first (and so far only) home loss on the Celtics record. Here you go, Detroit. We are even.

They did it with Kevin Garnett getting 3 fouls and on the bench for much of the first half. The big 3rd foul was received when he and Primo Brezec were battling for a rebound off a missed foul shot. To say it was a questionable call would be kind. Garnett played 10 first half minutes total.

This game showed that this team can play through foul trouble to its star player, through home town calls (and non calls), through defense as tough as their own, through big game pressure, through a large early deficit, and through a tough shooting game by all three of the stars (12-35 combined), and still pull out a win.

On a team that has been criticized for questionable depth, the hero of the night was a non starter for the second game in a row. In fact, it could be argued that Tony Allen and Glen Davis aren’t usually in the first 8 players in the rotation.

Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis’s 20 points came on crisp 8-10 shooting. More important, he did most of his damage at critical points in the game. Glen exploded for 16 fourth quarter points and almost single handedly brought the Celtics back to win this game. He was a perfect 6-6 from the field during the quarter. I said almost single handedly.

He actually was the recipient of some smart and unselfish passing from a team mate that many said would never give up the ball in times like these. You know the name. Paul Pierce was attracting double teams all night and played a man’s game against a very physical defense that drew far fewer calls than it should have. Ray Allen was given similar treatment by the refs. Kevin Garnett also found Davis as he and Pierce were drawing most of the attention of the defenders around the hoop. Paul had 4 assists in the quarter to Davis this way. Still, Glen put in a number of difficult shots while being guarded closely.

The Celtics exploited this overall strategy so well as to generate 39 points in the paint to the Pistons 14. It was the pivotal stat of the game. Detroit is known as a jump shooting team. Tonight would only confirm it. They took 21 three point shots and made 7 of them. When they did try to go inside, it usually wasn’t successful.

Only Jason Maxiell generated much offense around the hoop. He did in the first half for Detroit what Davis did for Boston in the second. He had 12 first half points and had words with Kevin Garnett after fouling him on a drive. He kept up the conversation with Eddie House on the blocks at the foul line while KG shot his fouls. It’s a sociable league that way.

Boston played a magnificent game as they withstood a double digit first quarter deficit to methodically come back and win in unfriendly territory.

Tony Allen and Glen Davis helped power the Celtics in the first half. Detroit was down 10-3 at first and 10-5 when Garnett went out. The Pistons responded with 17 consecutive points to go up 20-10. They stretched it to 24-12 in the 2nd quarter before Boston recovered and starting to make a run of its own.

Garnett came back in with the score at 28-17, Pistons favor. By the time he left again with 3 minutes to go in the half, the Celtics had closed to within 2 at 34-36, on a 17-8 run of their own. The Celtics showed the poise of a team that wants to prove it can contend for league honors.

Kendrick Perkins and Tony Allen’s contributions should be noted as well. Tony produced some fine defense and 10 much needed points. He also had 4 boards, 2 assists, a steal and a block. Kendrick scored the Celtics first 6 points on a few nice moves around the hoop. He also rebounded well, finishing with 9 in 27 minutes.

In another hard fought game, the Celtics answered more questions for more critics last night.

How far can Boston extend this 9 game winning streak? Their next 5 games games are against Charlotte, New Jersey, Washington (twice), then Portland.

More important, will this team continue to gel and get better? Though it is 29-3, it actually can get better as the players blend together and see what each other can do. It is a blue sky future for this team. Or should I say Green Sky.

I know one thing. Glen Davis isn’t going to no D-league.

Kobe Bryant said it. These are the two best teams in the East.

They are where he hopes his team will get someday.

The Celtics are in the midst of the 4th best start in NBA history at 28-3. The Pistons have the 2nd best record in the league at 27-5. They also have slight bragging rights. They beat the Celtics with a split second left in the last game on a crafty veteran move (pump fake) by Billups on a cold and less experienced Tony Allen to win a closely contested game that could have gone either way. It was Boston’s only home loss to date. Detroit has only 2 home losses themselves (13-2).

In that game, in the second half, the Pistons took control of a Boston team that hasn’t lost its composure like that all year. They also haven’t faced a defense like that all year. These are the best 2 defenses in the league.

Since that game, neither team has lost. Detroit is riding an 11 game win streak. Boston has won 8 straight. The knock on both teams is that they haven’t played very tough schedules. True enough. But the recent 4-0 road trip out west, beating Utah and the Lakers at home in the 3rd and 4th games of 4 in 5 days qualifies as eye opening and very tough to do. The Lakers and Jazz were a combined 21-6 at home before their losses to the road warriors known as the Celtics.

Boston is getting better and better. They don’t need all three stars to play well to win, as evidenced by Ray Allen’s terrible night last night against Memphis. Tony Allen stepped up and added 20 points to Eddie House’s 8, Posey’s 9, and Glen Davis’ 5 to rescue a team that was clearly looking ahead to this game.

Boston’s bench was woeful in the first Detroit game, contributing just 5 points. Paul Pierce is playing some of his best ball of the year and coming off of his 2nd player of the week award. He had exactly 11 points on 5-16 shooting in that game. I expect we will see better from both Paul and the bench support this time around.

According to Eddie House, they know what Detroit is going to try to do and much will depend on the bench players. He would know, as he was pressured into making poor decisions and losing it on turnovers when they did ‘run and jumps’ on him bringing the ball up in the last game. It resulted in Doc taking House out and having Pierce and Ray Allen bring the ball up.
Eddie says they must be ready for that again…

Celtics.com audio…
“We know what the Pistons (are) about. We know their second unit. Lindsay Hunter gonna bring pressure. They gonna pressure me bringing the ball up the court. They gonna run and jump. If somebody else get the ball, they gonna run and jump him. We’re gonna have to withstand that pressure. I think the 2nd unit is very important (tonight). For us to hold the fort down, we keep things going the right way and the boat doesn’t sink.”

Eddie says that they know they could have won that game. They missed a lot of free throws that they shouldn’t have. The Celtics were 13-21 on free throws. The Pistons were 21-23. That is how good teams win.

Rajon Rondo played a solid first half and Billups owned the second half. Rondo went out with foul trouble and the Celtics troubles increased.

How Eddie House plays will be under scrutiny, no doubt. Tony Allen being back in the picture will help. Tony isn’t a true point guard but could help bring the ball up, attack the defense by attacking the basket, and play pressure defense himself.

Doc Rivers is taking a practical approach according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald…

Doc Rivers isn’t picky about when the wins come.

“It’s important eventually,” he said of the need to douse Detroit. “Clearly, eventually we have to (beat the Pistons). But let me just put it this way: If we don’t tomorrow or the next one and then beat them in the playoffs, I’ll take that right now.”

The Celtics don’t have to win this game. But it would be nice just to prove they have it in them to do it. Plant that seed in the Pistons minds as well as their own.

This is the biggest game of the year so far. It is another measuring stick, a test, for this highly successful team.

Garnett from the same Herald/Bulpett article….

Knowing that they’re the last team that beat us, there’s a little something there, but we want to see where we’re at with this. Nothing more, nothing less than that.”

The Celtic’s early success has amazed, even shocked the league and fans everywhere. But the team is still growing together. Detroit’s roster has been through this for 4 years. Boston needs games like this to get to that level, to challenge for a title.

They seem to know that it isn’t about the regular season record. It is about being ready for the play-offs. This is a game that will help get them ready.

So tonight, the dress rehearsal for the big show continues – act 2. This time it is in Detroit. The Celtics would like to return the favor and exact a little revenge. Detroit is playing their best ball of the year as well. Something has to give. Is this new and talented Boston roster ready to make their own statement? Either way, I don’t expect either team to fold after the results of this game, but a Celtic victory would even things out a bit.