Celtics Central

Rajon dished and Stephon swished. (Walt Frazier imitation)

Wait a minute. This is Boston.

(Tommy Heinsohn voice)
Marbury is an all star playing against teams’ bench guards. He is going to eat them up!

That’s more like it.

Marbury scored three baskets as part of a Celtic 9-0 run to make it 92-79 to open the 4th quarter, breaking open a close game.

The long anticipated return of Marbury happened last night at the TDBanknorth Garden. Along the way, the Celtics won their 47th game. However, it wasn’t a perfect game by a long shot. Thank goodness for Ray Allen’s 30 points to lead both teams.

About Ray Allen, from Jimmy Golen AP…

“You give him six inches and he puts it down,” Pacers coach Jim O’Brien said. “Most of his shots were well-guarded and he put them down.”

Doc Rivers said recently that there will be times when he will have to play players and will “just have to take it” if they are getting beat on the court. This was one of those games.

With Kevin Garnett and Brian Scalabrine out and two new players in Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury needing to start to work themselves into the line up, it will take some time to fit in.

After signing Stephon Marbury this morning, Doc Rivers played him over 12 minutes without even having a practice with the team. Marbury performed rather well and showed what he can add to this team with 8 points on 4 of 6 shooting and 2 assists. He even played some decent defense.

The Celtics were out of rhythm for portions of the game, but they still managed to escape with a win against the always scrappy O’Brien Pacers, who were missing their star, Danny Granger (torn tendon right foot).

After starting 7 for 22 (.318) the Pacers shot 22-43 (51%) in the middle two quarters. The Celtics shot .527 on the evening, and .526 from downtown thanks to Ray Allen.

The Pacers clogged the middle, and tried to chase people off the three point line, but Ray Allen was the defense buster all night for the Celtics. Finishing with 30 points, on 11 of 16 shooting, he drained 6 of 10 three point shots to keep the Celtics afloat.

Powe Plays Big
Leon Powe scored 14 points on an efficient 5 of 7 shooting, with 7 points coming in the 3rd quarter, as he added the only low post threat for the Celtics all night. Powe was the only bench player with a positive plus/minus (+7) on the night.

Paul Pierce wasn’t himself with a bad thumb, but scored 16 points on 6 of 13 shooting anyway.

Ray and Glen Finish Off The Pacers
Ray and Glen Davis delivered the kill in the fourth quarter with 9 and 7 points respectively. Davis finished with a season high 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting and a few nice hustle plays along the way. In 24 minutes Davis grabbed only 2 rebounds, but otherwise played well.

The Pacers gave Davis, Rondo and Perkins the mid range shot all night. Davis missed three open jumpers early, but scored well later, mostly around the hoop.

Rajon Ties Career High
Rajon Rondo tied his career high for assists with 17, but was unable to get untracked offensively himself, finishing with 3 points on 1 of 7 shooting. His made basket was a three pointer with just three seconds left in the half. He turned up a number of open looks to try to find other shooters over the course of the night.

While the Pacers didn’t parade through the paint like the Jazz and the Clippers were able to, they kept Kendrick Perkins busy all night. Kendrick played a fine defensive game and blocked 5 shots on the evening. But I bet he misses Kevin Garnett the most.

Perkins block sparks team
Kendrick sparked a run in the third quarter with a blocked shot of ultra quick point guard TJ Ford. After picking Ford up at three point line, Perkins clapped his hands like Garnett does, as if to say, ‘come on’. Ford took the challenge and drove right by Perkins for what looked like a lay-up. But Perkins was right behind him and made a sensational block from behind. The Celtics got the rebound and converted at the other end for a 74-69 lead.

The Celtics were unable to break away until early in the 4th quarter. Later, two straight Ray Allen three pointers helped regain a decent spread against a closing Pacer team.

Marbury Gets Cheered
Stephon Marbury entered the game with 19 seconds left in the first period to a standing ovation. Stephon broke into a grin. I’m sure it was the first cheers he has heard in a while. It has been 13 months since he has played in an NBA game.

With less than two minutes gone in the second quarter, Marbury made his first shot attempt. It was a mid range jumper from the right side, and the crowd broke into cheers again.

The Celtic were outrebounded by 46-35, and gave up a whopping 17 offensive rebounds, 10 in the first half.

Mikki Moore played over 26 minutes and scored 6 points on 2 of 5 shooting. There were a number of clearly bad calls against the Celtics, especially on charging/blocking calls. The Celtics are among the best in the league in that regard, but didn’t get at least 3-4 calls they should have.

The Numbers
Ray Allen – 30 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal.
Glen Davis – 18 points, 2 rebounds, 2 bassists, a steal and a block
Paul Pierce – 16 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, one block
Rajon Rondo – 3 points, 17 assists, 4 rebounds, and a steal
Kendrick Perkins – 6 points, 11 rebounds, an assist, 5 blocks

Leon Powe – 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block
Stephon Marbury – 8 points, 2 assists, and a steal

next up: Detroit at home on Sunday

The headline is meant as the double entendre it suggests. Marbury is joining the Celtics today.

There is a particular irony in this event. Stephon Marbury is largely the reason why I am a blogger today. He and Isaiah Thomas. He was the catalyst that drove me to the internet message boards.

When newly hired Knick President Isaiah Thomas traded for him, it focused my frustration with the Celtics. The Celtics had been my team since I was a child in the sixties. It was enough to facilitate the unexpected discovery of sports message boards. Celtic ones, to be exact.

I found a whole new world. It was a gold mine (or was it bitchfest?) of similar minded fans with a common interest – the frustrating world of the Boston Celtics.

It wasn’t that I thought Marbury was sliced bread or anything. Honestly, I really didn’t like him or his game. I did understand his talent level. But the magnitude of the deal and the dearth of stars trading teams due to the complicated world the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) made it all jump out at me.

How the heck did Thomas, a brand new executive, shake the NBA tree and watch talent of the highest level fall into his lap? Other team GM’s weren’t able to facilitate deals of such magnitude. Big talent changing teams was more rare then. Certainly not like we have seen since Danny Ainge developed a new model for teams to emulate.

I live in the marketing area of New York tabloid newspapers of the New York Post and the Daily News. It was splashed all over the front and back covers of those sentinels of New York sports.

I thought…why can’t the Celtics do something like that? They were a fairly unwatchable team at the time. They had two chuckers named Pierce and Walker and over achieved with largely nameless and uninspiring role players. They had the mixed honor of being an over achieving team that underperformed compared to past Celtic greatness.

I found a few Celtic boards and started posting. That began my journey. Never did I think I would be so connected to the Celtics and my new found friends, the die hards who posted on Celtic boards, now five years later. The discoveries along the way have been many.

Little did I know at the time that, that signing was the beginning of a long and completelypreposterous 5 year journey through hell for Knick fans. It was a three ring circus and daily soap opera that put black marks on the reputations of three of the games biggest names in Isaiah Thomas, Larry Brown and of course, Stephon Marbury. Neither New York Knicks fans, nor the NBA deserved that ride.

At the same time, Danny Ainge was just hired and it would be the beginning of one of the most interesting 5 year journeys that any sports fan could go through. Thank you Danny Ainge. What you have done is simply incredible… Auerbachian even.

Except for being under the weather, I would be at tonight’s inaugural game of Marbury becoming a part of….the Boston Celtics.It even seems funny to write that. I will hopefully be able to see him on Sunday instead, against the Pistons. It will have a strange and significant meaning. Surreal, almost. Life has many strange turns.

Stephon Marbury will join the team in Waltham for shoot around, meet the press, and sign with the Celtics for a prorated portion of the veteran’s minimum of $1.3 million to help the Celtics win a second championship. Life is never boring.

Twenty turnovers, missed shots, poor foul shooting, and poor execution down the stretch did in the Celtics on their final game of the longest road trip of the year. Except for those minor details, they played well.

Call it the trap game. The Celtics return home 4-2 from this trip after losing to the now 15-43 Los Angeles Clippers.

It was the “good team vs bad team” trap at the end of a long journey. The bad team won. Zach Randolph scored 30 points on 12 of 30 shot attempts and put in an air ball miss with 19 seconds left to give the Clippers the final lead, 92-91.

Paul Pierce missed a good look with his mid range jumper with 9 seconds left. After Davis and House fouled, Randolph made one of two foul shots with 5 seconds left for a 93-91 lead.

With no time outs left, the Celtics had to take the ball out from underneath their basket. Rajon got the ball up the floor quick enough for a decent look at a shot, but Rondo and House got mixed up when Rondo went by House with the ball near the left side of the arc. The ball dribbled away as time expired. That was pretty much how the stretch went for the tired Celtics.

Davis’ Shot Coming Around
Glen Davis had a solid game. After making 4 straight foul shots, he missed two straight foul shots that would have tied the game. He then hit his 4th jumper of the game to tie things at 88. He had a season high 14 points with a fairly good floor game at both ends of the court.

After that Ray Allen had a lay-up blocked by Camby, Davis missed a jumper, Pierce missed 1 of 2 free throws and Rondo missed 2 of 4 free throws, leading up to the final sequence.

Suggesting why Stephon Marbury might have value for the Celtics in the waning moments of games, Rondo missed two of four foul shots in the final 1:14 of the game. Rajon finished 4 of 8 from the line, but had 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting with 7 rebounds, only 3 assists, a steal and 4 turnovers.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 20 points, but had 3 turnovers. Glen Davis produced his season high of 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting, but had 4 turnovers. Davis once again started in place of the injured Kevin Garnett.

Leon Powe grabbed 9 rebounds to tie Kendrick Perkins for team honors and Eddie House drained ten points on 4 of 7 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 ill-timed turnovers.

It appeared that the somewhat lethargic Celtics might pull out the win without putting in a solid game. They broke open a close game with a 9 point lead (82-73) in the 4th, climaxed with a tranistion alley oop dunk from Ray Allen to Powe. That was the Celtics biggest lead of the game.

The Clippers then went on an 8-0 run with baskets by Fred Jones, Mardy Collins, Zach Randolph and a put back by Marcus Camby to close within 81-82.

It was not an easy game for Pierce who shot 7 of 19 and had his thumb dislocated twice on slaps at the ball by Baron Davis. You could see Celtic trainer Ed Lacerte put the thumb back in place right in the walkway leading out of the arena. Paul also got into an exchange of words with Mardy Collins and was given a technical for it.

The Numbers
Besides Pierce’s 20 points, he had 4 assist and 3 rebounds.
Ray Allen had 17 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds.
Rajon Rondo added 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists.
Glen Daivs had 4 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block with his 14 points
Kendrick Perkins added 3 points, 9 boards, an assist, a steal and a block.

Leon Powe had 3 points, 2 blocks, a steal, and an assist to go with 9 boards
Eddie House had 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 assists with his 10 points

Mikki Moore played his first game as a Celtic and scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting with 2 assists and a rebound.

Next up: The Pacers Friday night in Boston

Urgent: Seismic readings are coming in from all over.

If Richter’s scale was around when the Cretaceous Period flipped over (that’s how it works, right?) it would have sounded like this.

Massive hits from tremors are being recorded from as far away as Timbuktu.

A slight crack has appeared in George Washington’s head in Mount Rushmore at the same time the Washington Monument has produced a noticeable lean. Engineers are checking a crack in the George Washington Bridge. Psychics everywhere are prophecying the significance.

Klaatu has landed. Please contact your local emergency channel for further information.

Sightings of Big Foot have gone through the roof, while UFO watch gatherings are springing up everywhere. Babies in Boston and New York are crying for…. no apparent reason. Hospitals are being put on alert.

It has just been reported that Putin and Obama sent urgent Code One red phone messages that they will both stand down until this can be sorted out.

Nuclear submarine captains from Russia and the U.S. are breaking open sealed top secret classified orders, checking for validation by exchanged passwords and then reading the encrypted message: Stephon Marbury Will Be a Celtic. Take No Hostile Actions. Stay Calm.

The Russian captain is skeptical. An American trick?

What……… Is Going On?

Call it – Escape From New York

For writers, it doesn’t get any better than this.

Welcome to an orgasmic outpouring of expatiations on the rapacious, narcissistic insolence and ever changing saga of the chief narcissist in a narcissist’s league.

The event horizon is engorging tomes on the volatile chemistry issues and potential consequences of adding a flammable (why do ‘flammable’ and ‘inflammable’ mean the same thing?) chemical to an existing, stable, but fragile compound solution.

I couldn’t have imagined a much more potentially conflict ridden plot. Really. This is brilliance. Thank you Danny Ainge. I’m glad that you believe that Doc Rivers walks on water. But…. my goodness.

Paul, Kevin, and Ray…..what are you hiding behind your backs? Are those……sticks?….. imprinted with the word Ubuntu?

The ink wasn’t even dry on the anti-Marbury signing of journeyman, nice guy Mikki Moore when the news broke.

The Knicks finally waived Marbury after Stephon gave up about $2 million of $6 million left on his current contract in arbitration hearings on his other financial assessments. It’s over. And it has just begun. (cue the Carpenters)

From Steve Bulpett in the Boston Herald….

Like Moore, Marbury would receive from the C’s a prorated portion of the veteran minimum of around $1.3 million. The league picks up almost one-third of the tab for such contracts.

Whew. That is a relief. I thought the Celtics were going in over their head for a moment.

No bail out needed here. No cheaper deal for any better talent could be imagined. Love the CBA.

Marbury brings a needed set of skills and an unneeded attitude to one of the tightest, most disciplined teams in the NBA. Ubuntu and Marbury? wow. Talk about reality shows. Wife Swap’s got nothing on this. The drama unfolds.

A championship team trying to repeat with a player whose most successful days were back when he was with that team’s glue guy, Kevin Garnett, when they both were very young players with the Timberwolves. Life’s a circle.

Or is it a Star-bury side-of-head tattoo?

I’ll spare you the details of Marbury’s well documented career. More ink has been spilled in New York over the last five years on this cat than water over Niagara Falls. Scientists have accurately determined that he is personally responsible for 5.4% of global warming due to deforestation for paper to write articles on him.

Stephon Marbury says he is born again. Indeed he is. Life starts anew for him. The Celtics main players, starting with Garnett, all spoke publicly that they would accept him in their “band of brothers” if he came to the team.

Another irony – Back in preseason this year (it seems so long ago now), a playing Stephon Marbury and a seated Eddie House were keeping up an intense and ongoing verbal duel for a long period of the game when the Knicks played the Celtics.

Here is how Howard Beck of the New York Times recorded part of it….

When play returned to the Celtics’ side of the court, House chirped, “Don’t worry about me. You better worry about Ray Allen,” whom Marbury was guarding. Marbury shot back, “You’re nothing!” then added, “You’re caught up in basketball. Get caught up in life.”

Eighty percent of Celtic fans are welcoming Marbury’s arrival by many Celtic Nation polls. He will get a fresh start and will be welcome in the Celtics locker room as well, to help them win a second consecutive championship.

He can be a perfect fit for some of what the Celtics need. In shorter minutes, especially with the bench players, he will be a plus. He can handle pressure defenses, hit foul shots in the fourth quarter and has made big plays down the stretch before.

Not too long after the exchange above, Marbury was banished from the Knicks’ team and….. caught up in life. It is now time that he follows Eddie House’s lead and gets…caught up in basketball.

The Stephon Marbury story continues. He will be a Celtic now.

Sam Amick is the Sacramento Bee beat writer for the Sacramento Kings.

Sam was kind enough to give me a 15 minute phone interview regarding his perspective on the Celtics newest acquisition, newly released King forward/center, Mikki Moore.

Here is most of the transcript. Some interesting things come out about Mikki Moore. He discusses his strengths and limitations. Enjoy.

Tom: What is your overview on Mikki Moore?

Sam Amick: I’m pretty intrigued by the possibility of Mike going to Boston, because I’ve seen him as a guy who could add a lot to a play-off contender, just like he did with New Jersey. I actually think that he still has the potential to be the same kind of impact player that he was with the Nets, if he’s in the right system.

The problem with the Kings was they brought him in and he was starting, you know, and that’s not a knock on Mikki, but his reputation is what it is. He’s not considered a starting power forward.

He’s an energy guy who…doesn’t have a ton of post game, but he can hit the mid range shot and be a very good locker room and chemistry guy, an energy guy….got a lot flavor to him.

In a system like the Celtics with Rondo running things, and having so many options I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see him flourish pretty well.

Tom: So the post game is not his strong suit, but his mid range is what he’s all about?

Sam: Yeah, well…. the mid range was always there. He was always frustrated because they didn’t really want him shooting it. They had scorers out in Sacramento. That really wasn’t their problem. Honestly, they relied mostly on Mikki for kind of being the glue of what was a really bad defense. You know, he tried his best but the defense was bad with him and much worse without him.

A lot of time, Reggie Theus, the former coach was kind of going against the grain by continuing to play Mikki when it seemed like the front office didn’t want to play him anymore. They wanted to see the rookie Jason Thompson, and guys like that. But he felt like…you take Mikki out of the mix and it was going to get even uglier than it already was.

Tom: That suggestion stands up when you look at Mikki’s numbers on 82games.com. The Kings were minus 8 pts. when Mikki played and minus 10 points when he was off the court. So the Kings were actually two points better when Mikki played.

Sam: But yeah, the post game…he’s still the skinniest 7 footer I’ve ever seen. The guy just can’t gain weight, so the guy’s going to get bounced around a bit. But he’ll give it all he has and he still has that mid range game.

Tom: Defensively, how would you describe his game?

Sam: He can make up for the lack of physicality with…he’s fairly physical with his frame…but he makes up for it by being tenacious.

I’ve seen a few things written recently describing him as a shot blocker. I think that’s a reach. He’s not a shot blocker. He will alter shots.

But the combination of Mikki and Brad Miller down low was probably the worst front court, defensively, in the league this year. How much of that was Brad, I don’t know. Brad regressed after a good year last year and Mikki was making up for his mistakes a lot of the time, too.

I think he’s an average defender. But again, it goes back to the fact that if he’s your eighth or ninth guy, you don’t have to rely on him (for big minutes). If he has a bad spell, put him on the bench for 5-10 minutes and put him back in. You don’t have to rely on him for 20 minutes at a time.

Tom: Is he better on ball or as a help defender?

Sam: He’s a better help defender. That was his niche, helping this team that was a poor help defensive team. There were so many young guys that he always felt like he was making up for too many mistakes and getting exposed because of that. He’s a help guy. He’s not a lock down defender.

Tom: Seems like he’s really good guy, like a Brian Scalabrine in the locker room…

Sam: Absolutely. You know those “NBA happens” commercials? They had one that was exclusively on Mikki, just for the path that he took, to get where he’s at in the league because he’s a guy who went D-League, he was in Greece, he was all over the international game.

His personal story makes him a coach’s favorite. They know that this guy is going to appreciate everything he has, and not get too big of a head, and be a good locker room guy. So…he’s a good dude. His teammates like him quite a bit.

He talks a ton, in terms of just on the floor. The problem was, he was one of the best leaders they had, but it’s not coming from one of your core guys. Their best players haven’t really figured out how to lead, but Mikki was talking and encouraging.

With good teams, chemistry is such a fragile thing, that is one thing I look at, even if he’s not going to play his best game, he’s not going to hurt you in the locker room.

Tom: With his mid range game, and Rondo driving, it looks like he should thrive with the Celtics starters. Do you agree?

Sam: Absolutely.

If he signs, you can joke with him about… he’s been pretty humble about it…he says that he should cut Jason Kidd part of his check, because he knows that Jason set him up time and time again that year. For him, that was a monstrous year. This is a guy that scratched and clawed to stay in the league.

Just for him to come in and seeing a gigantic poster of himself on the side of what is now the Izod Center in Jersey, and just the concept of being kind of heralded as one of the really important guys to an organization. That year for him was just off the charts. I think he knows that he’s probably never going to hit that level again.

But doesn’t mean that he can’t come in and, like you said, make the most of being a bit guy on a really good team. I think it’s good spot for him.

Tom: On the second unit, his defense will probably be more important. Though undersized, Baby and Leon can guard guys that physically bigger than themselves. Baby gives Shaq, Yao Ming and Dwight Howard trouble defensively. Can Moore guard players that are physically bigger than him?

Sam: Mikki can get bounced around by some of the bigger guys you mentioned. You’re not adding a defensive specialist. He can do some things and he’s a smart defensive player. But a lot of the assets and the qualities, in whatever capacity he has, that will help this squad, will be on the offensive end, too.

He’s a good pick and roll guy. He’s kind of a poor man’s Tyson Chandler. If you can set him up, he’s a dramatic finisher.

Tom: So he’s a good finisher?

Sam: Let me qualify that. The worst part of Mikki’s game, I know he’ll take this to the grave wishing he could fix this, but he’s got really bad hands. So he’s a bad finisher, if it’s off a little bit, then you’re going to see some fumbles. But in terms of going up and getting it, he’s fun to watch in terms of dunking the ball. If he’s got a little bit of space, he’s always dramatic about it.

He can be exciting and if it’s an energy thing, than he can give you a little jolt.

Tom: So he needs a soft delivery inside?

Sam: Yeah, he was spoiled with J-Kidd. It was a little bit different out here.

That was most of it.

Final Thoughts
Mikki sounds like someone who will give you all he has, and will appreciate the opportunity to be part of championship caliber team. It was rumored that the Spurs, among others, were interested in him. But all he wanted was Boston. He is a credible pick-up for bargain dollars, which is all the Celtics have right now.

One final thought on the Kidd connection.

Rondo can deliver the ball as effectively as Kidd does. He can accurately deliver the ball at different speeds, at tough angles, with pinpoint lobs, and Rajon draws defenses to himself in the paint. If anyone can get Mikki the ball with a little room to work, Rondo can.

This helps strengthen the bench. It gives Doc Rivers one more option he can rely on with some consistency, and Moore has played very well under play-off pressure. No doubt that factored in.

Welcome to Mikki Moore, the newest Celtic.

I’ll put up more later, but…

Mikki Moore will soon officially be a Celtic.

Stephon Marbury was waived by the Knicks and is expected to become a Celtic, too.

More on both players later.

Early last season, the Celtics went up 40 points in the first half and ripped through the Nuggets at home. They almost did it again, this time in Denver and this time without Kevin Garnett. It was an amazing performance.

The Nuggets worst home loss in ten years was a 38 point pasting at the hands of the NBA Champions and tied for the second worst home loss since the Nuggets joined the NBA in 1976.

With Kevin Garnett out, the Celtics have come together. Cue the Beatles. Other players are stepping up to show the depth and discipline of this team, at least in these first two games without their defensive leader. This was an impressive win against a good team. The blow out allowed Doc to keep Paul’s (33), Ray’s (33), and Rondo’s (31) minutes down.

Rondo Reverses Roles
Rondo has noticeably stepped up his game as he flirted with another triple double with 14 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds in 31 minutes of masterful work. It wasn’t that long ago when the Celtics played Detroit in the play-offs and Chauncey Billups consistently schooled Rondo.

How times have changed. Rondo was 1 for 8 in the first meeting of these two teams this year. This time Rondo bottled up Billups, holding him to three points, five assists, zero rebounds and 4 turnovers, while putting together his own stat filling performance.

Billups was so frustrated, he received a technical foul in the first half. Denver announcers said that, at one point, Billups was angry and emphatically urging his team mates to match the Celtics’ intensity and rugged play.

Ray Allen scored consistently well all game, and led the team with 26 points on 8 of 15 shooting, including 6 of 11 three pointers. Paul Pierce supported with 22 points on 8 of 18 shooting with 4 of 7 from the three point line.

These past two games show the depth of the Celtics and the difference between the Men in Green and most other teams. They still have two lethal scorers if one of the Big Three go out with injury. They also continue to play as a team, no matter what the score is.

Leon Powe, Glen Davis and Brian Scalabrine have played excellent ball in KG’s absence. In this game, they combined for 29 points, led by Leon’s 16 points. Their defense was excellent. Glen Davis drew three charges and played solid defense all night, helping to hold Kenyon Martin to just 5 points and 6 rebounds

Ray Allen and Rondo went to work in the first quarter for 8 and 11 points as the Cs jumped out to a 25-11 lead. The Nuggets closed to within 20-29 by the end of the first period on the strength of Carmelo’s 9 and J.R. Smith’s 7 points.

Boston worked the lead up to 49-34 with 3 minutes left in the half. They then went on a 11-3 run to close the half. In response to Billups admonitions for tougher play, Kenyon Martin fouled Ray Allen hard on a lay-up attempt. It was called a flagrant 1, and Allen hit the two shots to give Boston it’s first 20 point lead at 56-36.

The Celtics would extend the to 33 points in the third quarter, before both teams sent in the irregulars. J.R. Giddens hit his first NBA basket and finished with 4 points. Doc Rivers retrieved
the game ball, I assume, to give it to Giddens.

All twelve Celtics played, scored, and had an assist or a rebound. Eddie House scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter.

Brian Takes a Hit
Scabrine did not play after the first quarter after getting a neck injury from Johan Petro falling on him after a pump fake underneath. Brian hit the two foul shots and was replaced by Glen Davis.

The Celtics definitely caught the Nuggets napping after a 19 day, 8 game road trip with the All Star break in between. The Nuggets are also missing their center Nene Hilario (bruised knee). The Nuggets have lost three straight and have allowed 116, 120, and now 114 points.

The Beantown Ballers are in the final week of their longest road trip as well and don’t return home until Friday Feb. 27th. Boston has the best road record in the league at

The Numbers
Ray Allen drained 26 points with 6 rebounds, an assist, and a blocked shot.
Paul Pierce bombed in 22 points, with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and a blocked shot.
Rajon Rondo’s 14 points, 8 assists, 8 boards also had a steal and a block.
Kendrick Perkins added 7 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block.
Gabe Pruitt added 5 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds in 17 minutes.

The Nuggets were led by J. R. Smith who came off the bench, but led the Nuggets with 39 minutes and 19 points.

Unusual Stats of the Night
The Celtics had only 10 turnovers.
The Cs outrebounded the Nuggets by 46-38
Kendrick Perkins has at least 3 turnovers for 4 straight games.

Summary
The Celtics clearly caught a good team on an off night. But the Celtics took full advantage of the situation and put this one away early. The bench continues to impress and Rondo has joined the Big Three as one who carries a heavy load every game.

The Celtics have come together, as Ray and Paul are getting a little help from their friends on this magical mystery tour. Oh yes, I really did say that.

His full name is Clinton Renard Moore. Mikki (MY-key) was his nickname because he loved Life cereal as a kid….according to the Kings media guide. So, I guess he’s really a guy with two nicknames.

Mikki Moore, alligator, snake, and reptile lover, will slither onto the Celtics team shortly, we are told. Whatever deficiencies he may have, I’m starting to like this guy already.

Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald just reported it….

Mikki Moore is expected to be a Celtic by this time tomorrow, according to NBA sources. The 7-footer, waived last week by Sacramento, will by all accounts clear waivers Tuesday morning, at which time he will be a free agent.

If it happens, it will rejoin Mikki Moore to former team mate’s Ray Allen and Eddie House. I would guess that Danny or Doc might have talked to Ray or Eddie about Mikki.

Ray and Mikki were together on the 2005-6 Seattle team that went 35-47 under Bob Weiss and Bob Hill. House played with Moore in New Jersey in 2006-7 when the team went to the play-offs with a 41-41 record. They beat the Raptors in the first round 4-2, before falling to the Cavs 4-2.

While some think a deal was worked out with Sacramento previously, as part of sending Sam Cassell to them to be waived, Danny Ainge denies he has made a formal offer….

Celtic director of basketball operations Danny Ainge had no comment on the issue, other than to deny he has made a formal offer to Moore. It is known that he has spoken with Moore’s representative, though the same is true for other potential free agents.

But league sources insist Moore, 33, will pick the Celtics [team stats] over a number of other high profile suitors.

Mikki Moore, a 6′ 11″ 225 lbs. forward/center, is 33 years old and an 11 year veteran who is averaging 3.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 16 minutes for the Kings. His best year was 2006-7 with the Nets when he averaged 9.8 points and 5.1 rebounds while shooting a healthy 61% from the field. Mikki’s career shooting percentage is a solid .548 and hits his foul shots at .744.

Play-Off Experience Isn’t Bad
Moore does have 15 games of play-off experience. He played in 3 games with the 2000 Pistons, and 12 games with 2006-7 New Jersey Nets, averaging a combined 29.4 minutes per while contributing 10.2 points on .545 shooting with 5.3 rebounds.

Moore’s career highs are: 24 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals, 4 blocks

While this signing will drastically lower the chances of Joe Smith coming here, if Joe does get bought out, the Celtics do still have an open roster space they could use.

Some think that Stephon Marbury is the player that space is being held for. Talks went into arbitration today on a $400,000 fine. But there is no currently known movement on the basic contract with the Knicks. Once the arbitration is settled, it is hoped the rest is resolved as well.

Moore Facts
As a side note, Joe Smith and Mikki Moore were team mates on the Pistons team in 2000-1. Moore is nicknamed the Snake because of his affinity for reptiles. According to the Kings media guide….Moore “owns several varieties of alligators and exotic snakes, such as a pair of Columbian Red Tailed boa constrictors, a Burmese albino snake, and two American alligators.”
Ya gotta love it.

Moore is a capable enough offensive player and a better option than Patrick O’Bryant. Moore has deficiencies at the defensive end of the floor that need his attention on a team like the Celtics. But for short minutes, say 10-15 per game, he should be able to add value as a stop gap.

The Celtics play the Denver Nuggets this evening at 9:00pm.