Celtics Central

Not.

An unusual All Star Week-end it was.

The host team fired it’s coach, but tried to keep it quiet until today. The Suns are in their highest disarray while being the center of the media spotlight for pro basketball’s all star event.

It was most likely the final all star appearance for league giant Shaquille O’Neal. He went out in style, both on the court (co-MVP with former team mate Kobe Bryant) and off, with his masked dancing routine.

Just to get this in, the game was won by the West: 146-119 in a defensive struggle. Not that it matters much, but Kobe led everyone in scoring with 27 points. Lebron James led the East with 20 points.

The Celtics? Paul Pierce led with 18 points on 6 of 11 shooting, Kevin Garnett had 12 on 5 for 5 shooting, and Ray Allen added 8 points on 4 for 10 shooting.

Everyone in the East, except Danny Granger, played at least 15 minutes. Everyone in the West, except Shaq, played at least 14 minutes.

Best quote on the co-MVP voting comes from Adrian Wojnarowski:

The NBA’s tabulation of votes that made Shaq and Kobe Bryant co-MVP’s felt as legitimate as election night in Havana,….

Surely Chris Paul should have been considered with 14 assists and 14 points.Amar’e Stoudamire with 19 points didn’t quite do enough to get MVP as the home town guy. But the league did it’s part to tilt towards ‘storyline’ anyway. Kind of reinforces all of the ‘star preference’ foul calls we all complain about.

Porter Out; Gentry In
The big news was that Terry Porter was, in fact, fired. Assistant coach Alvin Gentry takes over. He is a left over from the Mike D’Antoni regime and, I assume, will try to re-invigorate the running game. How he does any better than Porter I really don’t know.

The Suns are still trying to trade Stoudamire by Feb 19 as reported by many. Owner Robert Sarver, who I knew little about two weeks ago, is being singled out as an impetuous and impatient owner who changes with the weather. One day wanting to clear cap space, the next trying to re-energize the team.

I’m not sure really what to to think with Phoenix, other than they are in a bit of upheaval, since D’Antoni left and the Shaq/Marion trade began. The mixed messages tell you that they are panicking a bit at this point.

One of the reason’s that Porter was not able to make seminal changes was the tough act he had to follow behind Mike D’Antoni. He is said to be a stricter coach (as Sarver wanted), but couldn’t get the players to buy in to his cultural as well as game style changes.

Celtic Outlook
Meanwhile, the time off will be good for all the Celtics, as they will next play Utah on Thursday.

The Celtics are still one game better than last season at this same point. But the Laker’s coach Phil Jackson says it best when he says that the Celtics “are more vulnerable” this season.

There is still time for a deal by Danny Ainge but the clock is running. Four days remain to do a trade.

Barring a trade here are some possible options:
Point Guard
1) Sam Cassell gets dusted off and we see what he has left in the tank at age 39.
2) Gabe Pruitt gets force fed additional playing time that he hasn’t really stepped up and claimed for his own.
3) Eddie House claims point because neither option turns out to be better.

Small Forward
1) Tony Allen turns a corner on his own inconsistency. If not…
2) Bill Walker may get a closer look. But I’m a bit leary of this as he is a rookie with so few game minutes and almost none at times that matter. Hard to believe that Doc would put his trust in Bill at this point. Can’t count it out. Tony Allen is still injured. But as long as Tony is healthy for the play-offs, he looks like the swing man off the bench.

Power Forward
1) Quite an array of ‘pretty good’ options without anyone standing out as a lock. The ensemble cast is Leon Powe, Brian Scalabrine (if his multiple concussions are gone) and Glen Davis. All have had their moments and their limitations.
2) Celtics go small with Pierce playing PF when KG sits. Not often likely, but possible at times.

Center
1) Patrick O’Bryant hasn’t proven to Doc he can earn even 10-12 minutes of regular game time, as of yet. Will that change if no trade for Joe Smith (who can play PF and a little C) occurs?
2) Glen Davis has logged the bulk of back up center minutes, and is doing better lately but still looks like he is lacking the confidence he displayed last season.
3) Leon has played far more power forward than center, though he is an option there as well.
4) Hope that Perkins can play 40 minutes

I don’t expect Marbury to get bought out in time to help. If no deal happens at all, then this is the crew that Doc and Danny will go with to repeat. With the Big Three intact, and the starting five playing terrific, that is still very much a possibility. Play-off rotations shrink and all bench players play better with the starting five.

But there is no doubt that I was a little more confident last season as the play-offs began. There is still time for players to step up before this year’s second season. We will have to see what happens the next few days.

(This was buried in my Monday games recap for Bleacherreport.com and I thought I’d give a bit more attention in light of today’s rumors.)
I follow it with a few new thoughts.

Correct or Kerr-wrecked?

It seemed a bad idea from the beginning, but I was willing to give it a chance. Hey, maybe they knew something I didn’t. Shaq’s All Star year and illusionary renaissance notwithstanding, (he is not very good defensively anymore), GM Steve Kerr says he takes full responsibility and he should. It was Steve’s decision that Kerr-tailed this team. (OK. I’ll stop now.)

The Suns still have the league’s third best offense (104.9 pts) and the best shooting percentage (49.6) in the league, due partly to Shaq’s .585 shooting, but they have the sixth worst defense (103.2 pts) and are currently ninth one game off the last playoff slot with a 28-23 (.549) record.

They won’t finish as well as last season 55-27 (.671) last year. Ironies of ironies, if they hold off Utah and stay at the eighth spot, it will be an emotionally charged playoff series against the Lakers and Kobe Bryant for the Big Aristotle.

Shaq’s performance on the second nights of back-to-back games has been so sloth-like, that Coach Terry Porter was keeping him out of those games completely for a while. Last night’s game against one the league best running teams showed why. The game was over early as they blew by Shaq and the Suns. O’Neal played only 21 minutes with 10 rebounds and seven points.

Porter was given was a difficult assignment to blend an aging Shaq with the team he had inherited. The team is doing some soul searching, and is now openly entertaining trade possibilities for their prized possession, young stud Amar’e Stoudemire. The Suns appear to want to reduce costs and want expiring contracts, young players and/or draft picks for Amar’e.

I’d guess it is Shaq they would rather move, but who would take him at $20 mil. for this year and next? He can only play in a halfcourt offense. The idea was that all he had to do was rebound to get the break going.

Halfway Pregnant

Now the team is trying to rebound from that move and is stuck halfway between two worlds. The Suns are halfway pregnant. The future direction of the franchise is a bit unclear at the moment and will remain so, as long as Shaq remains. Any short term changes should consider emphasizing the league’s iconic big man’s remaining strengths. Shaq would most likely revolt at reduced minutes. But you can count him gone after next year.

End>

Okay that was Tuesday.

Now it’s rumored that Coach Terry Porter might be gone and (shades of New York and Minny!) GM Steve Kerr will be asked to coach the team.

As the saying goes, he bought the groceries, so he might have to cook the meal. It didn’t work out for Isaiah Thomas, but it seems to be working out pretty well for Kevin McHale. That doesn’t mean that McHale likes being a coach. He actually hates the traveling aspect of coaching an NBA team.

But Kerr has no coaching experience. It goes without saying that Suns’ owner, Robert Sarver is getting impatient with everything there. He is rumored to be personally trying to make a deal for Amar’e Stoudamire with other owners before the February 19 deadline. That speaks volumes about Kerr’s current standing and Sarver’s mindset.

It is no longer the house of the rising Suns. It looks more like paradise lost. No doubt Steve Nash is an excellent point guard. But it was the D’Antoni system that elevated his performance to MVP status. He looks far more human and “Dallas-like” in the bi-polar system that the Suns are trying to assimilate.

In fairness, I don’t know that Terry Porter is a great coach, but I doubt that he is the real problem. Like Chicago, the GM is far more to blame for the situation than the coach. In Chicago’s case, you don’t put an untried head coach named Vinny in charge of that mentally fragile group of players and expect instant results. Sorry. It doesn’t happen that way.

BTW…there are rumors that Paxson has offered to resign in Chi-Town. I think the owner, Mr. Reinsdorf has a right to make some noise. They aren’t doing great, but they were a 33 win team a year ago. There is improvement. If he wanted a seismic change, Paxson should never have put Del Negro in as coach in the first place. That is on Paxson, IMO.

Back to the Suns – I don’t understand the mentality of key players on that roster as well. Marion was unhappy with a championship contending team, and was happy to be traded. As of today, he is on his third team, in a trade to Toronto for Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon.

Amar’e Stoudamire was able to move to his natural power forward position and the game got easier for him. But he’s not happy either. So they are trying to trade Amar’e and will have to keep Shaq. There must be something in the desert air there, because I don’t get it.

There’s bad case of Sun burn there, as the Steve Kerr Experiment hasn’t worked out as planned. My question is how much more did they expect to get out of Shaq than they are getting?

The Celtics head into the All Star break with a 9 game road winning streak with the win last night against the Dallas Mavericks.

A gutty Celtic come-from-behind win went from boring to roaring on the back of four major factors.

1) Rajon Rondo turned an important corner last night with a monster triple double against one of the point guards he most respects, and his game resembles. Rondo exploded for 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 14 assists, and there just wasn’t anything that Jason Kidd could do about it.

This game can absolutely be bookmarked as one of those turning point games in the ascent of Rajon Rondo, and the descent of Kidd.

ESPN’s Kenny Smith…

Kidd can’t stay in front of Rondo anymore…..Lightning quick guards are too much for him.

2) But it was Paul Pierce’s get-on-my-back 18 fourth quarter points that led a Boston charge to win the game, after being down by as many as 15 in the third. The Celtics created mismatches of Juan Jose Barea on Pierce and Paul drilled 5 big jumpers, “like a ringing a bell”, along with 8 foul shots.

Dallas was ahead 75-69 to start the 4th. Boston tied it up at 84 with a Pierce jump shot with 5:37 left in the game. He was fouled and made the foul shot to take a one point lead. It was his 10th point of the quarter.

Pierce then scored 8 of the next 10 Celtic points to take a 95-91 lead with 38 seconds left. Along the way Dirk regained his touch to twice tie the game. Once with a three pointer at 89 and again with a step back jumpshot at 91.

3) Before all that occurred, Kevin Garnett, who was getting schooled by Dirk Nowitzki (37 points on the night), decided to play his typical trash talking mind games with Dirk, because nothing else was working against him. Though both players got technicals, completely through Kevin’s instigation, it worked well. Dirk went cold and missed 6 straight shots after that.

4) But it took Doc Rivers strategically getting teed up twice and thrown out of the game late in the third quarter, before the Celtics got charged up enough to take over this game. They had played much of the game lethargically, until that point. Clearly Doc wanted to do something to get his team one last win before the All Star break. It worked.

Ray Allen played and played well with a very sore thumb, scoring 20 points in 35 minutes on the evening, including 5 big points in the 4th quarter.

Rajon Rondo actually had his triple double by the end of the third quarter wih 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists. Improving at the rate that Rondo has, he should be playing in next year’s All Star game for sure.

Turnovers
Rondo’s only drawback tonight, and it was a team wide problem, was turnovers. Rondo had 6 of the team’s 19 turnovers – all by the starting unit. Pertkins and Garnett had 4 each. But the Celtics had just one in the critical fourth quarter, while outscoring Dallas 30-17 to end the game.

Numbers
Pierce has 31 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers
Ray Allen added 20 points, 3 boards, 2 assists, a steal and 3 turnovers
Kevin Garnett contributed 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 turnovers
Rajon Rondo had the big triple double and one steal
Kendrick Perkins did not score but had 9 rebounds, 4 turnovers and a blocked shot.

Eddie House drained 7 points
Leon Powe added 7 rebounds
Glen Davis had 4 boards

Unusual Stats of the Night
The entire Celtic bench did not register an assist. Not one.
The Celtics outrebounded the Mavs by 50-31.

All Star Festivities This Week End

Hornet Coach Byron Scott….

He is developing into a very, very good back up center.

Former University of Connecticut stand out Hilton Armstrong had one of his best games of his career last night against the NBA Champion Celtics.

He played 28 minutes and was the Hornets second leading scorer with 14 points, while grabbing 5 rebounds, with 2 blocks, and an assist. He started in place of the injured Tyson Chandler.

6′ 11″ Hilton Armstrong was the first round (12th) pick of the New Orleans Hornets in the 2006 NBA draft.

Just two years before that, he was a bench player for Jim Calhoun’s Connecticut team. His rapid development and solid senior season catapulted him to the national forefront of talented college big men.

Since then, as happens for many who make the NBA, it has presented its own learning curve for the soft spoken young center.

One early vote of confidence was that the Hornets traded another young big man, Cedric Simmons, and kept Hilton with the idea that he is worth spending the time to develop his game.

Before the last game the Hornets played in Boston, I caught up with Hilton, his coach and a team mate to talk about his progress.

I asked coach Byron Scott about Hilton’s progress….

He’s made it at this level. He just has to understand what he has to do every single night. So…if he made it as a senior (in college), he’s in his junior year (as a pro) right now. So he’s got one more year before he really blossoms again.

But I think he’s made big time strides this year compared to last year. He’s getting better. He’s getting more confidence in himself. I think I’ve had more confidence in him these past two years than he’s had in himself.

But he’s starting to get it. He’s starting to come of age. He’s playing better at both ends of the floor. But I think at the end of the season, we’ll all look back and he’s going to have a great year this year. I truly believe that. He is developing into a very, very good back up center.

When he’s been able to play major minutes, he’s been able to take advantage of it so…

The little things he has to do right is to play a little bit smarter and stay out of foul trouble. Sometimes he gets himself in a bad position, so sometimes he has to anticipate better and get himself in a better position. Other than that, he’s doing a pretty good job for us.

Hilton says to get more playing time….

Coach just told me to try to make the easier play offensively. Just to harness the energy and make good plays. I’ve been working hard in the off season. I feel in time, my talent is going to be used.

If this team wasn’t such a good team, do you feel you’d want to play more?

To be honest, I’m looking to get in regardless. At the same time, I’m not going to wish anything (bad) on my players. (I want them) to do well.

It’s a long season. I can’t sit around waiting for coach to get me time. That has to be on me. My time will come. In the future, you never know when your time is.

Spoken like a prophet, and as happens on many teams each year, Hilton has been given his chance when starting center Tyson Chandler went out 11 games ago with an ankle injury.

Though the Hornets lost last night’s game, it was a high point for Hilton. His highest scoring game of the season was on Jan.3rd against Denver when he scored 17 points in a close loss (100-105)

team mate and power forward David West…

I think he’s coming along good. Obviously, this is a different level of play. He plays well when he’s out there. Hilton’s biggest obstacle is his own confidence. Sometimes he gets too down on himself.

In the NBA season there’s going to be alot of ups and downs, but you’ve got to be able to maintain a certain level of confidence in your self, to know that you always have another game.

He brings a winning pedigree from college. That’s something that you don’t lose. He has to work on everything. He’s a great defender. He can block shots. He to be able to catch the ball, make a couple of moves and score on guys….be a threat when he gets the ball.

By being second on the team with 14 points on 4 of 8 shooting, it looks like Hilton is making the most of his time as coach Scott said.

I sometimes I wonder whether confidence creats accomplishment or vice a versa. In this case, it looks Hilton’s confidence will go up as he accomplishes things. He just doesn’t know how good he can be. But his coach and team mates do

Maybe last night’s game will convince Hilton, the soft spoken center from UConn.
It looked pretty good to me.

One of the things that makes the Celtics so good is that they have three stars to rely on in any given game. At least one and often two are on most every game. Last night it was Paul Pierce.

But the Celtics defense is their signature and it was in top form against a team that wasn’t. They beat the Hornets by 89-77, for the second lowest scoring game by a Celtic opponent of the year. Detroit had 76 points on November 9th.

They held the Hornets to .406 shooting on just 64 attempts (season low by a Celtic opponent), while shooting .443 with 79 attempts themselves.

When Chris Paul is out for the Hornets, they are a different team – a .500 team to be exact. CP3 was back…kind of.

The Celtics won tonight on the back of Paul Pierce. He got them started with 15 first quarter points and finished with 30. No other player had more than 15 on either team.

Pierce was clicking from the start and it was one of those games where he was making it all look so easy. He shot 6 of 9 in the first period, 10 for 19 from the field for the game and was 10 of 12 from the free throw line on the night. He scored on Peja almost at will.

While Chris Paul played after a 4 game lay-off due to injury, he wasn’t himself. he finished with 13 points and 5 assists. There is really no one else who can carry the Hornets against a top team like the Cs, especially when your next best player is a power forward being guarded by Kevin Garnett, the Defensive Player of the Year last season.

So the Celtics played a solid game, avenging a loss here in New Orleans last season, after they had swept the Texas Triangle.

After jumping out to a 17-10 lead, the Hornets closed to within 23-21 by the end of the first quarter. The game remained close with New Orleans gaining the lead for the first time at the 6:10 mark of the second period on three David West free throws. One was for a technical foul on Glen Davis after he was called for a shooting foul on West.

The Celtics tied it up four times but Hornets did not relinquish the lead and was up 44-42 at the half. The game remained closely played through the third quarter, ending tied again at 64.

Rondo and Bench Take Over
Rajon Rondo got active dishing with 6 fourth quarter assists, mainly to Eddie House and Leon Powe who scored a combined 15 points in the quarter, while holding New Orleans to just 13 points to win the game.

Rondo opened by dishing to House for a three and to Davis for a 15 ft jump shot. Rajon assisted on three of the Celtics first four baskets of the quarter and the made one himself, as the Cs jumped out to a 79-67 lead with 7:26 left in the game. Rondo had 5 assists in the first 6 minutes of the quarter.

The Celtics were never challenged again as the Hornets finished by shooting just 2 for 10.

Peja Stojakovic injured his shoulder in the third quarter and tried to play a few minutes in the fourth, but was clearly in pain.

Hilton Armstrong Plays Strong Game
Hilton Armstrong of University of Connecticut fame got the start in place of injured Tyson Chandler and had one of his most productive games of the year. He finished with 14 points (second highest of the season) and tied his season high with 5 rebounds. He added 2 blocks and an assist in 28 minutes.

Ray Allen Out for All Star Contest?
It got a bit more interesting when Ray Allen scored just one point and did not return after half time with a hyper-extended thumb. X-rays were negative. It puts in question whether Ray can play in the All Star contest. He was named as a replacement for Jameer Nelson, who also has been injured.

Kevin Garnett supported with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while shutting down David West, who had 15 points, but shot 3 for 12 to get there. West scored 23 points but shot 8 for 21 in the Hornets loss in Boston earlier in the season.

Rondo Being Rondo
Rajon Rondo had 11 assists, 8 rebounds (3 offensive), 6 points, 3 steals, and 4 turnovers in a Rondo-esque game. Kendrick Perkins started the game with a three point play, and finished with 9 points, 6 boards (3 offensive), and a block.

Strong Bench
Eddie House scored 12 points in 20 minutes, while adding 2 steals. Leon Powe added 11 points and 6 rebounds while playing very well of the the bench. Glen Davis was solid with 3 boards and 4 points.

Gabe Pruitt was asked to play off guard to start the 3rd quarter, making one shot, with two steals and a rebound in the game.

Next up: Dallas tonight at 8:30

Boston begins a six game road trip interrupted by All Star Week-end. The Cs won’t play at home again until February 27th (Indiana)

The road trip looks like this:

Wednesday, Feb 11: New Orleans
Thursday, Feb 12: Dallas
All Star Week End Break
Thursday, Feb 19: Utah
Sunday Feb 22: Phoenix
Monday Feb 23: Denver
Wednesday Feb 25: LA Clippers

First up the New Orleans Hornets:

The Chris Paul-less Hornets are reeling since a solid home win against Denver (94-81) on Jan 28th. While possible, it will not be decided until game time whether Chris paul will play tonight.

New Orleans is 4-6 over the last ten with a four game losing streak mixed in. Chris Paul played in three of those game, but has been out for four straight games with a strained groin. The Hornets 2-2 in those games. Tyson Chandler is healing an ankle injury.

The Hornets will have David West back from suspension, Tyson Chandler is not expected to play tonight.

The Hornets are last in rebounding in the league, and without Chandler it only gets worse. Tyson’s absence hurts their interior defense even more. Look for the Celtics to take it to the rack hard and often tonight.

Though the Clippers are a poor team they have everyone back except Chris Kaman. So this game against the Hornets may actually be the easiest game of the trip for the Celtics. The rest of the games are all against plus .500 teams and playoff contenders all (save the Clips).

If the Hornets score 100 or more tonight it will be the first time ever in the Celtic Garnett Era that the Celtics have allowed 100 or more in four straight games. Don’t expect that to happen.

Sharp shooting Peja Stojakovic becomes a prime scoring option until Chris Paul returns

Tony Allen is out with a thumb injury and will not be available.

This would a good opportunity to start using Sam Cassell. Signed to a player contract, Sam has been in coach mode all season. Now is a good opportunity to start getting him into playing shape, though Doc Rivers probably won’t consider it until after the break.

Home Court Race
Boston is tied with Cleveleland with 11 losses after the Cavs lost to Indiana last night. They are one better than the Magic (38-12). The Lakers have the best record in the league at 42-9.

The Celtics were down 95-93 with 20 seconds left at home with the ball. This is the kind of game that the Green Machine has pulled out a number of times.

This time Manu Ginobili stole the ball, almost right out of Ray Allen’s hands on the inbound play, and Paul Pierce fouled him for a clear path foul. Manu made both shots for a 97-93 lead and essentially the game.

Pierce on the steal…

“I was going to come out to get the ball and there was going to be like a screen and roll. They jumped at the pass, Bruce and Ginobili, and I think Ray kind of hesitated and the ball slipped out of his hands. It just put us in a position where we had to foul.”

Paul added…

We turned the ball over, but the key to the game was our inability to get stops throughout the game. That’s what it boils down to for us as a defensive team….when you allow teams to come in and shoot 50% and score over 100 points.”

Even after the highly unusual botched throw in, the Celtics would not give up. Eddie House, then Kevin Garnett made three point shots with 9 and 5 seconds left. The Spurs’ Roger Mason made 2 foul shots and Michael Finley made 4 foul shots to keep the Celtics at bay and preserve the win.

The Celtics were led by Kevin Garnett’s 26 point and 12 rebounds. Paul added 19 points, and Ray contributed 18. Rajon Rondo delivered 16 assists, his second best production of the year. (He had 17 against Indiana)

The Celtics defense gave up 60 points, and the Spurs shot a blistering 58.5% in the first half. Matt Bonner scored 16 first half points. Matt drilled 14 of those in the Spurs 38 point second quarter and finished with a season high of 23 points. Tim Duncan had 23 as well.

Doc Rivers said that defensive assistant coach Tom Thibodeau was livid at half time. The Celtic defense was better in the second half, giving up just 14 third quarter points and 45 for the half, while cooling off the hot shooting Spurs to 38%.

Execution and Missed Shots
It was a case of poor execution and just plain missing shots that did the Cs in, in the end.
a) With the Celtics down one at 90-89, Rajon Rondo missed a lay-up with 2:27 left.
b) Looking like his old self, Garnett hits two straight jump shots to reclaim the lead at 93-90 with 1:36 left
c) Ray Allen misses a lay-up
d) Bonner hits a jumper to pull San Antonio within one: 93-92
e) KG misses a jump shot he usually makes
f) Roger Mason, JR. (they kept calling him that, so I guess I will, too) then hits a huge three pointer to put the Spurs up 95-93

Doc Rivers…

We had a one point lead with Kevin Garnett with a great shot. The ball went all the way down and out. I’ll take the execution on that shot anyday.

I was more concerned really about giving up the three point shot. That was more troubling than anything.

After a Celtic time out, the Spurs stole the inbounds and that was the difference maker.

This was a highly competitive game and a game of runs. Just when you thought the Celtics would take control, the Spurs would make a run of their own and regain the lead. Then the Celtics would fight back.

2nd Half
The Celtics came out blazing with a 12-0 run in the second half to take a 64-60 lead. They did it with some great play and great plays and concentrated on getting Garnett involved. He scored 17 second half points.

A few that got the Garden crowd roaring…
1) Rondo rebounded a KG miss and got it to Perkins for an emphatic dunk.
2) A Tony Parker miss ends up a Kevin Garnett fast break dunk and roar of the crowd to make it 64-60.
3) A Rajon Rondo severe angle pass inside to KG for a dunk tieing it at 87

The team’s mood after these two recent losses?

Kevin Garnett…

I don’t think, as a team, that we’ve hit a panic button or nothing like that. But it shows that we definitely have some room for improvement, Coming down the stretch, execution can be one of the things we stress.

Against those two teams (Lakers and Spurs)…we didn’t really put together a rhythm or a series of stops that we’re happy with and we gotta do that.

The defense was clearly problematic in the first half and was only good in spurts in the second half.

KG claimed most of the blame for Matt Bonner’s offense…

I’m sitting here looking at Matt Bonner. He played exceptionally well, shot the ball really well tonight. Knowing this is on all of us as a team, but individually, I gotta step up a little bit better and play better defense.

The Rested Spurs
In an unusual move, Greg Popovich rested all of his three stars, Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili, in their previous game on Tuesday against Denver. That gave them almost a week’s rest. His response seemed to clear up why…

It was a beautiful win for us against the NBA Champion, and on the road makes it sweeter, so obviously, we are thrilled with it.

Though the Spurs are playing very well right now (8-2 over ten games), this was the kind of game to boost a team that might be wondering if they really could compete for an NBA title.
Needless to say, the Spurs locker room was very upbeat, while the Celtics’ was very subdued.

The Numbers
Kevin Garnett led with 26 pints, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, a block and zero turnovers
Paul Pierce added 19 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, a block and 2 turnovers
Ray Allen dropped in 18 points, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers
Rajon Rondo had 6 points, 16 assists, and a steal
Kendrick Perkins had 10 points on 5-5 shooting, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and 3 turnovers

Tony Allen helped with 11 points in 18 minutes, while the rest of the bench was kept largely in check.

Unusual Stats of the Night
The Celtics shot 50.6% and lost. I think that is a first this season.
Tony Parker scored just 7 points, and the Spurs won.
All of Garnett’s 12 rebounds were defensive.
The Celtics out scored the Spurs in the paint 58-38

The Celtics now embark on a 6 game road trip. Their next home game isn’t until February 27. There is the All Star break in there as well.

Next Game: New Orleans on Wednesday Feb. 11th

Before there was ubuntu, there was Bunta.

Before there was number 33 – Larry Bird, there was Steve Kuberski – number 33.

Bunta?
Luther Rackley, a 6′ 10″ reserve Knick center had a bit part in a terrible old made-for-TV movie called the Last Dinosaur. His name was Bunta in it. (I bet Luther is glad I dug that fact up.)

Steve was the last Celtic to wear number 33 before Larry Bird.

Due to the notable absence of running trash talk last night, I bring you a memory from the rivalry from yesteryear. The time April 21, 1972. The place – Madison Square Garden.

The fourth game of the second round of the play offs was winding down. It was near the end of the game. Kuberski took exception to a Rackley elbow that hit the Celtic’s guard Artie Williams and Steve went after Rackley.

This is how the Watertown Daily Times of April 22, 1972 recorded it…

The New York-Boston game was marred by a fight near the game’s end that emptied both benches and sent inactive Knick team captain Willis Reed on a rescue mission.

Luther Rackley, New York’s 6-11 reserve center, and Steve Kuberski, a 6-8 substitute Boston
forward, slugged it out with1:25 left in the game and the Knicks leading, 114-95.

What was unusual was that it almost spilled into the dressing room.

I was able to track down Steve Kuberski and interview him about that moment:

Steve Kuberski: I was in the locker room and here comes Luther with Willis Reed right behind him. (Laughing) I was more afraid of Willis. I was wondering what was he mad about.

But then he (Willis) grabbed Luther, and pulled him away and kind of redirected him back to the Knicks locker room. I figure I could’ve taken Rackley. but Willis was another story.

The game was already decided as the Knicks were beating the Celtics by 116-98 to go up 3 to 1 in the series. Newest Knick Earl Monroe scored 26 points and Dave Debusschere added 23. The Celtics were led by John Havlicek with 27 points, and Jo Jo White with 23. Dave Cowens had 12 points.

Watertown Daily…

Both were ejected, but Rackley followed Kuberski into the Boston dressing room and Bill Bradley urged Reed, sitting at the press table, to keep tabs on their teammate.
As Reed limped toward the Celtic, quarters, he. heard the two players shouting and persuaded
Rackley to leave for his own dressing room.

It sounds like you swung at Rackley first. How did that come about?

Kuberski: It started when Rackley threw an elbow. I think he might have meant it for me, but he hit little Artie Williams, so I went after him to protect my team mate.

WaterTown Daily…

“I don’t know what started the fight.” Rackley said. “I was just trying to protect myself.”

Kuberski said it wasn’t fair that “a 6-11 guy like Rackley should take a swing at a 6-1
guy like Art Williams.”

I guess they didn’t have trainers in those days like today. Kuberski’s arm was injured.

Daily…

Kuberski’s right bicep was swollen after the scuffle. He was advised to keep ice on it during the plane ride to Boston and have it X-rayed today.

Another interesting bit of travel info from the days before the NBA was big business…

Kuberski: In those days, teams took the same charter flights together. Whenever we played the Knicks back-to-back, we would all get on the same plane to fly to Boston or New York for the next game, but the losers would have to sit in the back.

It was always a split series. It was rare that either team would win both games. Almost never happened. But we would be sitting on the plane together between games.

How times have changed.

Baby Boomer and loyal Celtic fans should remember 6′ 8″ Celtic forward Steve Kuberski.

For some reason this altercation has always stuck in my memory. Why? I don’t really know other than the unusual reason that it spilled into the locker rooms after the game.

The league was comprised of just 17 teams and four divisions then. The Tommy Heinsohn coached Celtics won the Division with a 56-26 record. The Red Holzman Knicks finished 2nd with a 48-34 record. But this was season of the 69-13 Lakers. The Knicks beat the Celtics 4-1 to advance to the title series. The Lakers won the title by dispatching the Knicks 4-1.

In the first round, the Celtics had finished off the Atlanta Hawks, who were led by Sweet Lou Hudson, Pistol Pete Maravich and Walt Bellamy. The Knicks beat the Baltimore Bullets (4-2) who were lead in scoring by Archie Clarke, Jack Marin ,and Earl “The Pearl” Monroe.

The Celtics and Knicks were in the midst of a rivalry close to that of the Celtic/Laker rivalry. Perhaps it was more intense because the Knicks were in the same division, they played each other far more often, and were right up the road from their Boston neighbors. With only 17 teams you played within your division more often. The Cs played the Knicks 6 times in the regular season.

Both clubs had great teams then and were battling it out every year at that point. After a down year when Bill Russell retire, the addition of Dave Cowens brought the Celtics back to contending status.

Steve won two NBA titles with the Celtics in 1974 and 1976.

That 1972 season, the Knicks were coached by Red Holzman and were led by Walt Frazier and a balanced scoring unit that would make the Celtics proud. They had Jerry Lucas, Dave Debusshere, Willis Reed, Earl Monroe, Bill Bradley, Dick Barnett and Phil Jackson. Luther Rackley was a 25 year old, end of the bench 220 lbs, 6′ 10″ center.

The Celtics were led by John Havlicek, Jo Jo White, and some young undersized center named Dave Cowens. Don Nelson, Don Chaney, and ‘Satch’ Sanders were still playing over 20 minutes a game.

Steve Kuberski was a 24 year old 6′ 8″ 215 lbs, forward and in his third year as a Celtic. He was drafted the year after Bill Russell retired. He was there for one terrible year before they drafted Dave Cowens. Steve was playing 16 minutes a game averaging 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds that year.

So..in the absence of Quentin Richardson trying to get Paul Pierce’s goat, KG getting into anyone’s ear or ongoing dialogue between Eddie House and Stephon Marbury, or Marbury and Sam Cassell…

A blast from the past, with some gracious remembrances by the Celtics’ own Steve Kuberski.

I actually have some other thoughts by Steve and will try to put them in a separate article soon.