Celtics Central

A-d-v-e-r-s-i-t-y. Find out what it means to me.

Apologies to Aretha as the Celtic Summer of Love, turned Winter of Wins, runs into a west coast drought.

Spin doctors assemble.

The Boston Celtics lost to the Phoenix Suns in Phoenix in a very untypical game for both teams. Helter Skelter might be a good description. The game was very physical, there was lots of talking between the players, especially between Garnett and Amare Stoudamire and they should have erected a sign that said, “Danger – Flying Elbows.” Multiple players took hard shots throughout the contest.

That is 3 straight losses for the first time this season – all to western play-off teams – by losing to the Suns 85-77. They can’t quite get the ship balanced. They lost two by not playing defense and last night against the Suns, they played defense but forgot how to shoot the ball, pass the ball and rebound the ball. Other than that, they played great. They are only 3 losses better than Detroit now.

Time to start checking the Celtics place in the lottery? No. But they are losing their grip on home court advantage for every round of the play-offs. Is there really anything to be concerned about? Yes, there is. But it isn’t anything that is not fixable.

As the Celtics beat themselves time and again last night, I wondered about the over all team make up and it’s play-off prospects.

But the Celtics have simply hit a tough time with Garnett making his return as a very tough west
coast trip began.

Doc Rivers was even heard to say in a 4th quarter huddle that they need games like these where things aren’t going right and they are still in the hunt for a win.

In this game, the Celtics made an admirable recovery from a blazing start from the fast breaking Suns. The Suns jumped out to a big lead, before the Celtics clamped down for a 12 minute period when they did not allow a Suns field goal, and almost caught up 27-26, before the Suns ran the lead back up to 43-30. The Celtics never led in this entire game.

There are a few things to take from this game.

It was a contest where little went right for the Celtics. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen shot a combined 5-25. The Celtics were pummeled on the boards 50-32. They were beaten on the boards by 18-4 in the first quarter alone. They made dumb passes and threw the ball away (20 times), often as they were about to close the gap. It was frustrating to see them blow so many fast breaks for sure lay-ups. They were simply a tight team.

But I actually liked seeing Rondo assert himself offensively. His shot total was up (12), but his assist total was down (2). He wasn’t overly successful offensively, but he is still learning to be aggressive out there and was successful enough to know that he should continue to build his repertoire. Defensively, it was his third straight night against a top point guard (Steve Nash) and another learning experience, to say the least.

Tony Allen played both well and poorly, as he had some of the worse turnovers and best offensive plays. Ray Allen took a hard elbow to the head and so did Glen Davis. Paul Pierce badly miss timed a dunk and stuck it on the front rim.

Kevin Garnett was the most productive Celtic with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and he led the team with 4 assists.

Kendrick Perkins played a rough game, had 3 blocks and received a flagrant foul when he hit Amare Stoudamire in the neck with his arm.

In an unusual move, Coach D’Antoni played the deep end of the bench, Sean Marks, Brian skinner and DJ Strawberry, in the first quarter for a few minutes.

Not that the Suns played a masterpiece either. The Celtics actually held Phoenix well below their season average and had them at 29 points midway through the second quarter, after allowing 24 first quarter points.

The Suns managed to not lose control of the score or the game though the Celtics mounted many charges to try to overtake the Suns.

As things stand, the Celtics have to pull a Barry Manilow, and try to ‘get that feeling again.’ Hopefully they find it in Portland on Sunday the 24th.

The Thursday 3:00 pm deadline finally passed with a flurry of moves to make some teams better, other teams worse, and other teams re-organizing for the future.

Notable is the fact that the Clippers weren’t going to let Sam Cassell leave for small change. There was a rumor that Memphis made an offer for Sam. It also brings up the possibility that the Clippers will buy him out. Hello Danny.

Today’s Cleveland trade and a few comments….

The Cleveland Cavaliers made the big trade of the day and moved 5 players for 4 more in a three way deal. They got Ben Wallace and Joe Smith from Chicago, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West from Seattle, while sending Larry Hughes, Drew Gooden, Shannon Brown and Cedric Simmons to the Bulls. They also sent Donyell Marshall to the Sonics. Seattle received Ira Newble from Cleveland and Adrian Griffin from Chicago – both of who have expiring contracts this season.

Hmm…..

Talent-wise it is an obvious upgrade for Cleveland. They essentially got 4 useful players for 2. It gives Mike Brown some depth, outside scoring, and versatility they didn’t have yesterday. They also show LeBron they are serious about trying to get him help this year.

Delonte West vs. Larry Hughes – two totally different games. Neither is a true point guard. Delonte gets a big chance to run the point in a play-off bound team where he won’t be counted to be the sole or even main distributor. But it may give LeBron a chance to play ‘off the ball’ a little more.

Like the Lakers, the ball runs through the team’s uber star on most offensive sets. Delonte West has been maligned by many. Yet, looking at what Hughes was contributing in 30 minutes a game this year: 12.3 pts on 37% shooting with 34% from the 3 pt.line, with 81% FT, it is something that West could easily duplicate if he gets the same minutes and finds his rhythm. And he’ll do it for a lot less money.

Defensively, it’s probably a wash, but D. West has been able to make some big defensive plays in the past and was learning to play well in crunch time for the Celtics as the year drew to a close last year. This year he just wasn’t part of the Seattle’s plans going forward. Delonte has been quoted recently as saying he feels lost in Seattle.

That being said, Delonte West brings a dimension to the Cavs that Larry Hughes didn’t. His big adjustment with be defense in a what was/is a defense oriented team with Mike Brown. The Cavs have liked Delonte for some time. He now will be given a solid chance to prove them right.

Joe Smith and Ben Wallace vs. Drew Gooden – that’s what it comes down to. Smith is on the downside of his career but keeps surprising each year with his productive play, as did PJ Brown did for years. They now have a solid but completely different look to throw at teams with Ben Wallace. It will be interesting to see how Brown works Ben into the line up. Wallace’s game has been described as creeping southward by many observers this year. But with Zydrunas there, less will be required of each of the 2 centers. How it affects Z is more of a concern, but I always thought that Brown hasn’t truly appreciated Ilguaskas’ abilities on either end of the court. Drew Gooden was a better offensive player than either Smith or Wallace, and has more career left than either, obviously.

Wally Szcerbiak will give them another outside shooter to go with Boobie Gibson. That will help spread the floor and give West or James a second open shooter when the doubles come to LBJ. He is play-off tested and if he can keep the injuries at bay, will be a solid help come this year’s second season.

Conclusion: There will be an adjustment period, but you can put the Cavs right up there with the Celtics, Pistons and Magic as a possible finals entry from the Eastern Conference.

It is now a 4 way race more than ever. Chicago takes a step back as they try and recover from the Ben Wallace debacle. I’m sure he will get to wear his head band in Cleveland without incident.

But it might not be a big step backward for Chicago either as Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes will give the Bulls some things that will help their new team. Larry is a slasher by nature. They must figure out how to get that ability to help the rest of the offense. The Bulls will remain a team without a post-up presence and big time go-to guy.

Baron Davis that is. Glen Davis plays big, but not that big.

The Warriors won on a cool as ice, 20 foot, ‘not-an-all-star’ Baron Davis step back jump shot over Tony Allen, 119-117, leaving just .03 tenths of a second left on the clock. The Cs tried a long desperation throw that missed as time expired. Foiled again.

The Celtics have had only moderate success in close games, going 5-6 in games within 5 points. Rajon Rondo made a costly mental mistake last night, as he fouled with the Warriors only up 3 and 35 seconds left. Doc Rivers could be seen asking him, ‘Why?’ as he walked by the bench.

James Posey also got an unnecessary technical foul at a critical time, and didn’t play again.

But the team’s problems went a little deeper than that. The 119 points given up were the 2nd highest total of the year, after giving up 124 points, the highest of the year, just the night before.The Celtic’s defense is still not what it was before the break, without KG, let alone with the big guy back. That was obvious with open jumpers and trips down the lane without weak side help for much of the night.

As it was, the Celtics didn’t give in or give up. Paul Pierce made 4 pressure packed free throws in the final seconds to almost get the game to overtime, as the last two tied it all up at 117 with 6.5 seconds left. That’s when Baron came up with his clutch, game winning shot over Tony Allen.

Tony had actually played solid defense all night on Baron Davis, had 2 big steals, and contributed 18 points in 21 minutes.

Ray Allen led the Celtics in scoring with 32 and had a superb shooting night with 11-17, 6-8 from the three point line to go with 6 assist, 3 rebounds, and a steal.

Paul Pierce was second on the team with 23 points, attacking the paint, and making 12 of 13 from the line. He added 5 assists, 5 rebounds and a steal.

Baron had 29 to lead four Warrior players with 20 or more points. Monta Ellis had a break out game with 26, Al Harrington had 22 points in 27 minutes, and Andris Biedrins added 21 points on 9 baskets, all within three feet of the rim.

It was game of seconds (and doubles).

The Celtics lost their second straight close game on the record breaking Green Machine West Coast Tour. They have drawn record breaking attendance at 2 straight stops now. The 20,711 tonight at the Golden State Warriors Oracle Arena in Oakland was the largest audience to ever watch a basketball game in the state of California, according to the Warriors TV commentators. That follows a record breaking night at Pepsi Arena with the Denver Nuggets.

Everyone wants to see the suddenly dominant Boston Celtics, their three stars, and the best record in basketball. Beating them has been a bonus on both nights for the home teams. Unfortunately, they are setting season records for defensive ineptness at each stop so far.

Yet, if you saw tonight’s game you will see why they are drawing the crowds they do. Some think you can’t get exciting, hard played basketball in the NBA during the year. They obviously aren’t watching these Celtics play.

On almost consecutive plays, you would have seen 6′ 8″ 280 lb. Glen Davis dive to the ground in an attempt to get and save a rebound, followed by 7′ Kevin Garnett doing the same a short time later, as he knocks the ball away from a Golden State guard (Monta Ellis). Glen Davis also crashed to the floor again on that same play to get the loose ball and pass it up court. Even the Warriors’ announcers were awed by the Celtics’ players hustle.

Kevin Garnett had a double double (17 points, 15 rebounds) as he showed why he was missed on his 2nd night back from an abdominal strain. His inspired play in the 4th quarter helped energize a Celtic team that needed inspiration.

The Celtics still aren’t together defensively as tonight’s and last night’s scores will indicate. But there was improvement at times.

The Warriors came out guns blazing and opened a Don Nelson paced 32-29 first quarter lead on the eye opening play of 21 year old, 3rd year, high-school-to-pro, combo guard Monta Ellis. Not bad for a second round pick. Monta is following up a strong sophomore campaign with even more improvement this season as he is still defining himself as a combo guard in the NBA. The double teaming attention he received from the Celtics tonight was a first, so said the same Warriors talking heads. And he handled it quite well.

Monta is on a roll in February and averaging 26 points a game. You could see why as he drove, dished and hit outside for 10 points and 4 assists as Andris Biedrins was the recipient of most of those assists for dunks when Ellis forced Garnett or Perkins to pick him up. The Celtics defense was slow to ‘help the helpers’ inside, leaving the Golden State big man open for 10 first quarter points.

The Warriors shot a blistering .636 for the opening stanza. The Celtics almost kept up as Pierce had 9 and Ray Allen 8. Kevin Garnett looked sharper in his 2nd game back with 6 points and 6 boards in 8:29 minutes.

The 2nd quarter was much better as the Celtics defense started to shape up a little and held the high flying Warriors to just 18 points.

The game see-sawed until the Warriors took over later in the game, due partly to Celtic turnovers, but mostly due to unCeltic-like defense.

The Celtics next play the new look Phoenix Suns on Friday with Steve Nash and Shaquille O’Neal. If they don’t start playing better D in that game, you could be watching the Celtic’s first 3 game losing streak of the year.

The game starts at 10:30pm.

By George (Karl), the Nuggets ‘Moe’ down the Celtics, 124-118.

Doug Moe must be smiling and nodding right now.

The current assistant coach for George Karl, Doug is the winningest coach in Nugget history with a 10 year record of 432-357 (.548). “The Big Stiff”, as Doug is affectionately known (according to the Nuggets Media Guide), tried to prove, during his reign, that defense was over rated. His ‘pedal to the metal’ offense would try to outscore every opponent every game and his teams led the NBA in scoring in six of his ten years as a head coach to prove it.

Last night the talented, but underachieving Denver Nuggets put on a scoring clinic against the NBA’s best defensive team, the Boston Celtics, totaling the highest point total allowed by the Cs this year, by a margin of 10, and it was done in front of the largest Denver Nugget audience in history, 19,984. People want to see this Celtic team play. Or is it, to see them get beat?

Denver has one of NBA’s best home court records and is now 22-6. This is the Celtics first loss, after 16 straight wins against Western Conference teams and ends a current 5 game Celtic winning streak.

The Celtics had Kevin Garnett back, but he wasn’t in sharp game shape, as he played just 21 minutes, scored 4 points on 2-7 but had 8 rebounds. He looked a little out of sync for much of the time.

Paul Pierce led the way for the Cs with 24 points, many of them difficult makes, including a nice power dunk with 2 Nugget defenders, including Marcus Camby no less, right there trying to stop it. In fact, there were a number of athletic plays made in this game by both teams. It was a fun game to watch, except for the porous Celtic defense. They were certainly not sharp coming out of the all-star break.

Rajon Rondo continued to insinuate himself into the offense, and even made a 3 pointer, while scoring 22 for the game. He was a solid 9-15 shooting, with but a single assist, as Pierce led with 7 and Ray Allen had 5 assists.

The Celtics went small a lot, as it was working for them. Leon Powe and James Posey made big contributions. Leon had 13 points and 11 rebounds (6 offensive) and had 2 blocks in 21 minutes. Posey played a heavy 37 minutes and added 13 points, 4 steals and 6 rebounds while having the 2nd best plus/minus (+6) on the team.

Eddie House played nearly 18 minutes and scored 9 points, including a big three in the final moments. The team played well with him on the court as he had a team best plus/minus of +9, though he only shot 4-13. He had a nice assist to Powe on a drive and received one himself on another drive.

Kendrick Perkins was also welcomed back after nursing a shoulder injury, blocked 2 shots, but played only 9:38 minutes. The other returning injured player, Glen Davis played only 7 minutes.

Both teams started fast as the 1st quarter ended with the Nuggets up 36-31. Ray Allen continued his All Star hot shooting with 14 quick points in the quarter. He finished with 20. After hitting 6 of his first 9, he missed his next 8 shots in the game. Ray did come up big at crunch time as he hit a big three and got credit for another on a terrible goal tending call.

I’ve always felt that the Nuggets have enough talent to compete for the league title over the last few years. I still do. Whether they ever will is still not decided. It is the defensive end of the court that is holding them back.

But they have the pieces to be a solid defensive team. They are active, as they are among the league leaders in steals and shot blocking. Marcus Camby is the reigning Defensive Player if the Year, and was a shot blocking machine last night with 9. Yet the Celtics almost won a game in a pace they didn’t want to play, and scored 52 points in the paint, to the Nuggets 38. The question is why do the Nuggets have size, shot blocking and agile players, yet don’t play very good defense (except for the ‘lone ranger’ Marcus Camby)?

Another question is, if the Celtics pounded the paint for 52 points to the Nuggets 38, why was the foul shooting so skewed in Denver’s favor? They had 49 attempts to the Celtics 28. Hmmm….

They have been called a selfish team at times, as well. Not last night. They had 29 assists on 41 makes, putting them into the Celtics class for team work and unselfishness. They looked quick, motivated and sharp. Could the first meeting they had with Celtics this year have been in their minds?

The Celtics absolutely dismantled this same Nugget club in their 3rd game of year on Nov. 7 with a half time lead of 77-38 that turned into a 119-93 win. The Celtics shot .645 from the field in that one.

I remember hearing Carmelo Anthony in the locker room after that game saying things like, “That’s not the first time that’s happened. It won’t be the last either.”

I was wondering how he could say that and take a pounding like that so lightly. They were humiliated that night. Yet, NBA players know that any loss, no matter how bad, is just one loss. The Nuggets went on to win their next game and are currently 16-6 against the Eastern Conference. They are also 33-12 and 7-3 over their last 10 games, as they make their own play-off run. They are currently tied with Houston for the 7th spot in the highly successful west.

The last time these two teams played, Carmelo said that he had never seen such defense as what the Celtics were playing that night. “It was 4 on 1″, he said, every time he touched the ball.

Last night, it was quite a different story as the Nuggets remembered, and got their revenge.

Doug Moe was happy. Tom Thibodeau wasn’t.

The Celtics play the Golden State Warriors at 10:30 PM tonight

This looks every bit the three part drama for the Boston Celtics.

Act One ended with the All Star break. The team leaves the stage to a rousing ovation and the best record in the NBA at 41-9. The Celtics pull up for a break, catch their collective breath, get some rest and physical therapy. They return for Act Two – the drive to be a play-off ready team. Get healthy. Get your roles down. Get after it.

32 games remain in their regular season in order to make the team, like the Marines, ‘be all they can be’. For what? The ’2nd Season’ also known as the play-offs.

It is the only season that this team is concerned with. Everything that happens for 82 games is to get ready for a play-off run.

The Celtics assembled a three star team, drew up simple plays, and threw them to the Wolves….and the Raptors…and so on.

Something strange happened. They started to win immediately. 8-0 to start. No chemistry to work out. No getting to know each other. No problems. Or so it has looked…and has been, for
the most part.

But if you have been watching regularly, a number of things occurred in the first half, almost all of them good.

The main thing, and it is subtle, is that the team is more of a team now. Yes, they might have passed more and won by bigger numbers in the first half of the first half. But they may have even passed too much at times. The unselfishness of everyone might have actually been too extreme. Hard to believe, when you are talking about an NBA team, I know. But it was true.

Talent, energy, focus, unselfishness and defensive intensity ‘impersonated’ team chemistry to start the season. The three stars, starting with Kevin Garnett, drove the team out of the gate with winning the only thing on their minds. They needed to establish that mindset in their own minds, and in the minds of their opponents. All of the major runs in each early season game included at least one of the three stars to catapult the team to sometimes ridiculous leads. They were crushing teams like some intra mural games everyone remembers when they were kids.

Paul Pierce Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen had to see for themselves just what they could do if they put their ‘all’ into it. It was something spectacular to behold. Yes, their strength of schedule was among the worse, but bear in mind, so was Detroit’s. You still have to play and win the games. They were winning in eye opening fashion and were winning with defense, much to the surprise of many observers.

Doc’s first goal was to get the three stars comfortable playing with each other. Now his goal is to keep them healthy and to get consistently strong performances from his other players.

Rajon Rondo is growing by leaps and bounds and is becoming one the league’s premiere point guards. He leads the team in ways he could only dream of to start the season. While neither played at all, to start the season, Glen Davis and Leon Powe have become important parts of the puzzle, as Brian Scalabrine has slid down the bench (until recent injuries). Eddie House and James Posey are all you could hope they would be. Kendrick Perkins is playing consistently solid defense, and just enough offense to keep teams honest.

With the loss of Kevin Garnett for the most recent 9 games, it actually helped develop team chemistry a little more, and to get a good reading and give valuable court time to Leon Powe and Glen Davis. Rondo has stepped up a huge way with KG out. It is eye opening to see his development.

Ray and Paul have done what you would hope and expect. They are the book-ends of the offense as they get things going and finish them in most games.

I wouldn’t let the recent success without KG get me too optimistic. The team is winning, but there are holes in the defense and they are in the middle. The team can ride for a while without KG and Perkins but they will have a tough time duplicating the recent results in the play-offs with out those two guys. But we know that.

As Act Two begins, it is Doc’s job to try to keep everyone healthy and rested enough for the second season. Injuries are unpredictable. Doc can do little about those, save keeping his players rested.

Team chemistry still has room for improvement as players solidify their roles. Glen Davis can still be erratic though he will bring energy every night. Leon Powe has some defensive shortcomings. Eddie House must continue contributing in other ways, even if his shot is off.

Paul, Ray and Kevin seem to take turns as a focus of the offense as you can’t run picks and back screens for two players at the same very easily, if at all. But they have managed to make it all work. I think you won’t see Kevin Garnett working in the post more until nearer the play-offs, unless there is a compelling reason for it, like seeding and home court advantage.

Finding Tony Allen’s role is a little more interesting. In addition to his defense, he can bring an offensive dimension to the team that no one else has. He presents a challenge for Doc, though Rivers has managed to find him regular playing time and Tony has responded with strong, if unspectacular showings. Surprising Tony Allen fact: He has the best 3 point shooting pct on the team. Granted he doesn’t take a lot from beyond the arc and his shot can look ugly on release. But it is going in.

Some say you can’t know what this team will do under play-off pressure. I would add that we don’t know how the refs will make calls either. Will Rondo get treated like a 2nd year man against veteran point guards? Will he get 2 quick fouls and sit? I don’t think Glen Davis is going to get the benefit of calls against Tim Duncan in the play-offs, his recent notable defense of Duncan notwithstanding. There are a number of things that are unanswered. But they will only be answered by getting there and playing.

So far, the Celtics have met and passed every test thrown at them. I like their chances going forward.

Act Two begins tonight as the curtain opens in Denver against the talented Nuggets.

Glen Davis, Scot Pollard, and Kendrick Perkins are all probable for tonight’s game according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Kevin Garnett is also possible. The Cs will need them against Marcus Camby, Kenyon Martin, and Carmelo Anthony. Allen Iverson will give Rondo or Ray Allen fits, depending on how Doc plays it.

This is the first in an extended 5 game road trip.

Just to keep you abreast of all things Celtics during this All Star break:

1) Kevin Garnett might return to action against Denver on Tuesday. The practice before that game will determine that answer.

2) 21 year old Rajon Rondo played with the 2nd year men in the Rookie-Sophomore game and had 6 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals.

3) Tom Thibodeau, defensive wunderkind, and Celtic Assistant Coach was the head coach for the Sophomores in the Rookie/Sophomore Game. The Sophomores won 136-109. The Sophs created 20 plus turnovers and had only 8 themselves. Go Tom!

4) Paul Pierce was knocked out in the 1st round of the Zo and Magic 8-Ball Challenge, a celebrity pool tournament. Paul won a similar event a few years ago. That’s okay. He is on a better run this year.

5) As you know, as owner of the best record (41-9) in the East (and NBA) Doc Rivers is coaching the East Squad. He joked that he was going to play the players from the East Conference contenders – that were not Celtics – a lot of minutes (to get them tired out). Yeah, do it Doc. You rascal.

6) Ray Allen is representing on the East Squad as a replacement pick. ‘Humble’ Ray is more than happy to get in that way. Right after finding out he was selected, in the Celtics locker room after the Knicks game, he was asked if he would miss having a vacation. “No, I’m honored. I’ll have plenty of time for vacations later.” We need more players with attitudes like that.

7) Glen Davis is getting treatment for quad sprain and twisted knee that happened when he spun around on a drive that was blocked by Malik Rose against the Knicks. Return unknown.

Brian Scalabrine has a groin pull, though I’m not sure if you can treat that. Return unknown.

9) Scot Pollard has recovered from foot and ankle problems and can play if needed. His mind may never be normal, not that it ever was. A unique personality, Boston needs the ‘Son of Poison’ for it’s play-off run.

10) Rajon Rondo lost a side bet he made with Kevin Garnett. He was supposed to make a windmill dunk in the Rook/Soph game. He missed. The bet? 100 push-ups at the winner’s
command. We may see Rajon a little more buff, but a little arm weary coming out of the break. Go easy on him KG! We need those long arms for the second half of the season!

As I write this:

11) The Dunk contest just had a great Gerald Green (former Celtic) dunk, where he blew out a candle on a cupcake that seated on the rim as he dunked. The replay show it. I’m not kidding. Quite entertaining, and I don’t even really like the dunk contest.

12) Dwight Howard with 3 incredible dunks, including one wearing a Superman outfit. Even entertaining to an ‘old school’ guy like myself. Well done by a guy who looks like he is flying through the air. Maybe he did come from Krypton. All three dunks were very, very creative. Now, if he could just make a foul shot…..

This week-end showcases the incredible athletic skills of the players in the NBA, and those skills are impressive. No doubt about it.

More on the Celtics incredible season coming.

regards,
T

Paul Pierce called his team “a rebellious group. Not letting the injuries bother us and come together as a team.”

They came together and gutted out a win against the Knicks, 111-103.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way. The Knicks had a huge height advantage to start with, and it got bigger as the game went on.

You would think that playing against Eddie Curry, Zach Randolph, and substitute David Lee, a tall, talented front line, while the Celtics 2 front line starting bigs (Perkins and Garnett) were already sidelined, would present a problem. It didn’t. Then it did. Almost.

The Celtics lost Brain Scalabrine to a groin pull in the first quarter, and Glen Davis to a quad strain in the 2nd quarter, bringing their total available bigs to 1.5, if you add them up, Leon Powe and James Posey.

Along the way, Rajon Rondo got poked in the eye by Fred Jones. Rondo said that he couldn’t see out of that eye immediately after.

Surprisingly, the undermanned, undersized Celtics built up a 27 point lead midway through the 3rd quarter, on the strength of lonely Leon’s 12 points in the paint, supported by Ray Allen and Paul Pierce’s 7 points each. It was almost too easy, as the Celtics weren’t even playing great basketball entering the second half. They led a rather listless New York team by 13 (53-40) at the half.

Eddie Curry…

From my point of view, it seems like the same things from last year. Nobody is really coming with anything new. But he is the coach and I have faith in him and what he is trying to implement here.

Zach Randolph…

How hard is it to be positive at 15 -37? “I mean it’s hard. Win one, lose eight. You know it’s just tough. It’s hard for words, it’s tough. It takes more than talent to win basketball games. Whatever we’re doing, it ain’t working.”

After running the lead up to a ‘here comes Gino’ 27 points, on the strength of Leon, the Celtics fell asleep at the wheel. The Knicks responded with 9 points each from Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford and 7 from David Lee. The Celtics helped awaken the Knicks with 4 turnovers on sloppy passing in the last 2:36 minutes. Pierce committed 3 of them. The lead was back down to 13 as the 3rd quarter ended.

By the time the Celtics stopped the Knicks from getting any closer in the 4th than 97-90, the Knicks had outscored the Celtics by 20 on a 42-22 run over about 12 minutes. During this run, Isaiah Thomas got 2 technicals and was ejected from the game with 2 minutes gone in the 4th period. The 4th quarter was close enough that Gino never got to appear.

Both teams scored a lot of points in the paint (40 plus each). Boston, because the Knicks front line doesn’t play much defense, and New York, because Leon Powe and James Posey were the only two bigs left to play in the middle for Boston. Both undersized players responded with strong contributions. Powe played the entire 2nd half and 38:24 total minutes scoring 18 points and had 8 rebounds. James Posey had his season high in rebounds with 11 and added 5 assists.

For the second game in a row, Paul Pierce played the entire second half and finished with another double double, 24 points and 10 rebounds. He added 7 assists, 2 steals, a block, and 6 turnovers.

Rajon Rondo shouldered more of the offense in the second half with 12 points, 18 total, and finished with 5 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocked shots, and zero turnovers. He had a number of highlight reel plays, including his patented ‘fake’ behind the back pass, only to bring it back around and score.

Ray Allen was once again solid with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Tony Allen played well with 14 points off the bench.

As undermanned as the Celtics were, the Knicks, surprisingly, didn’t take more advantage of the height mismatches.

David Lee…

At half time, Isaiah was upset we weren’t going inside enough…for that reason. Especially with Glen Davis going out. They were really, really short on bigs. That was our advantage tonight, and we didn’t utilize that as much as we should have.

Both teams put up 40 plus points in the paint, but the Knicks could have added to that and/or possibly driven Leon Powe from the game with fouls, if they made a more conscious effort to pound it inside.

Doc Rivers…

I don’t know if you can ask much more (from the players). The problem with the injuries is the minutes you have to play guys. We’re hoping that when we get back from the break, we’ll have some healthy bodies.

As it was, many Celtics logged big minutes with Pierce, Posey and Ray Allen all over 40 to go with Leon’s big night. The team re-energized in the 4th quarter to get the win with Tony Allen leading the scoring in the 4th with 7, followed by Pierce and Rondo with 6 each.

The two injured big men made it a bittersweet win. If some good can be found, that it happened in the last game before the All Star break, will give the players maximum time to heal.

Ray Allen – All Star after all

Also, the Celtics received good news at half time. Jeff Twiss came in and told Doc Rivers that Ray Allen has been named, as a replacement, to the East All Star team. He will accompany his team mate Paul Pierce, while top vote getter, Kevin Garnett will not play. Fellow Celtic, Rajon Rondo will play in the Sophomore-Rookie game.

Workmanlike. That’s all you can call this performance as the height challenged Celtics make it a non-issue once again.

The Indiana Pacers are without their one formidable big man, Jermaine O’Neal, so it was a not match up game that might worry Doc Rivers very much.

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen played their roles as team scoring options number 1 and 2 while the rest of the team knew and played their roles very well, too.

Pierce continued his offensive aggressiveness by scoring 28 points and led the team with 12 rebounds. He did it completely within the team concept and didn’t even appear to be working hard. He used his hesitations and herky jerky moves in the post to get to the line for 10 points on 12 attempts. He has been to the line for 12,12, and 6 attempts after 2 straight games with one free throw attempt total. Most of it was done against the longer (6′ 9″) Danny Granger.

Like meat and potatoes, milk and cookies, or peanut butter and jelly, Ray Allen was the perfect complement to Paul Pierce’s drives with his outside shooting and added 23 points of his own. It did appear that Ray was the Celtic of choice to attack at times, but to no avail in the end.

As expected, Travis Diener could not keep up Rajon Rondo, and Marquis Daniels was given the assigment for much of the second half. Rajon had another solid game as he cements himself into his position. He was 4-8 with a rare three pointer thrown in for good measure. Add that to 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals with only 2 turnovers and you have what is becoming a typical Rondo night.

Leon Powe started at center, played 30 minutes and was the right choice again as he provided a presence in the middle both on offense, scoring 16 points, and defense with 9 boards and a +24 defensive rating.

James Posey had 2 big threes, 6 rebounds, a number of deflections and 2 steals, again just doing what he does best. Brian Scalabrine even played good D and had 2 blocks. Eddie House and Tony Allen both played solid floor games.

Coming off of his eye opening game against the Spurs, Glen Davis couldn’t get untracked at either end if the floor last night and ended with 3 points and a rebound in 16 minutes with a poor plus-/minus.

It was a game where the Celtics played as well as they had to, gave up the lead a few times to a team that played their role well as “the underdog who would try but lose in the end.”

The Pacers have offense-less Jeff Foster or foul magnet David Harrison in the middle. Their offense revolves around Danny Granger and Mike Dunleavy but tonight’s game was like a who’s who of the Pacer’s roster. They played 10 players and 6 reached double digits, while trying to find a combo that would help beat the boys in green.

While the Celtics aren’t quite the same, they give up more points in the paint (40 tonight) and are getting outrebounded (48-42) by teams they probably shouldn’t be, they are playing well with the parts they have. This group has learned what it takes to win, to get a lead, to retake a lead, and to close teams out.

So the game was close right until the final minutes, with the Pacers within one at 3:08 and only down 4 at 99-85 with 1:20 left. But it wasn’t really in doubt, as Pierce hit 2 free throws and a fade away jumper over Granger to give the Cs a 101-95 lead with :52 seconds. It was more than enough as the Cs’ weren’t really challenged even in those last few minutes.

The Celtics had only 8 TOs, made 10 steals of their own and had 14 fast break points to keep the Pacers on the defensive for most of the game.

The Celtics are now on a 4 game winning streak and are 6-1 over the last 7. They play the Knicks tonight in Boston.