Celtics Central

Paul Pierce was right. The world did reopen for business again today.

After Friday night’s heartbreaking loss to the Lakers at home, Pierce said…

The thing we’ve got to realize is the world didn’t end.

It was called Dream Week in New York. They hosted the league’s three best team consecutively….and played competitively, but loss to all three.

No Kobe for 61 points, no LeBron for 52 (and a triple double) on this night, though Rondo flirted with one himself. This night was about a team effort. Unlike Cleveland and Los Angeles, it would never be any other way with Boston. Even Knick announcer Al Trautwig made that distinction.

Paul Pierce led the Celtic balanced scoring with 26 points, with Ray Allen supporting with 22. The Cs were three points away from having seven players in double digits. They had five.

Boston shot .513 for the game. The Knicks shot .413. The Celtics had 51 rebounds to the Knicks 43.

After being down by 4, the Celtics shot a blistering 14 of 18, including 5 of 7 from from downtown, to KO the Knicks in the final period.

For three quarters it was the Decaffeinated Bowl for both teams, but especially for the spent Celtics.

Celts Get Rich at Powe House in 4th
The Celtics found money when they went to Leon Powe and Eddie House. Both put in solid games off the bench. Leon contributed 13 points and 7 rebounds, while Eddie heated up the ‘House Blend’ in the 4th fourth quarter for 8 points on solid outside shooting.

With New York having taken the lead 76-72 after three quarters, the Celtics caught fire for 38 fourth quarter points behind 11 straight points from Ray Allen, 9 from Pierce, and 8 each from Powe and House.

The Knicks defense fell apart and the Celtics started the quarter on a 13-4 run to forge an 85-80 lead behind a Glen Davis jumper, Pierce three pointer, and Ray’s three straight three point plays, the first of which was done the old fashion way.

The Knicks fought back to within 86-88, before Ray completed his 11 point outburst with a lay-up. Then the Powe/House combo kicked in for 14 of the final 18 Celtic points as the Celtics went up by as many as 13 and cruised home to victory.

The Celtics fought through the emotional letdown and mustered up enough to put the Knicks away. There is no rest for the weary as home court advantage throughout the play offs is at stake. Every game counts.

In addition to the Celtics precision shooting, the game featured some fine play from each team with Rondo, Perkins and Pierce all displaying nice behind the back passes for easy buckets for team mates.

Wilson Chandler showed why the Knicks are so high on him with a driving dunk between Kevin Garnett and Perkins. David Lee was a rebound machine with 18 to go with 18 points. The Knicks were led by Al Harrington with 27 points, many of which were wide open looks.

The Numbers
Besides Pierce’s 26 points, he added 4 rebounds, an assist and a steal with 3 turnovers
Ray’s 22 were supported by 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and a steal.
Garnett had a double double with 15 points, 11 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks
Rajon Rondo contributed 12 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 4 turnovers
Kendrick Perkins added 9 points, 7 rebounds (3 offensive), 2 assists, a block and 2 turnovers.

Leon Powe had 13 points and 7 rebounds
Eddie House added 3 steals, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers to his 8 points.

Summary
The Celtics were shooting only .433 and running on cruise control for three quarters. They looked drained. They woke up for the final quarter to put away a win they knew they needed. Ray Allen got them going, Pierce supported, and House and Powe finished it up.

Though the Knicks did not shoot a high percentage, the Celtic defense was wanting. The Knicks missed numbers of open shots all night. Ray Allen fouled out for the third time all year.

The refs did not let this game get physical by calling incidental contact all night. That might actually be a good thing for the Celtics as they head into a day off. It was not a hard fought win. It wasd a soft fought win. They could use one of those, after last night when refs let the Lakers play a very physical game against them.

Next up: The Spurs in Boston on Sunday

I just rewatched the game, complete with slow downs, pauses, and replays.

A few things stand out:

1) Even if the Celtics pulled this game out, it was not a confidence builder in the team’s long term chances. They’ve been swept by LA and beaten by the Cavs handily. This team could win it all, but the chances are far less than last year, at this point.

3) Why the Lakers won (from their side)- two reasons: Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol. Make that three reasons and add Kobe’s defense.

Hate to say it, but Odom played about as well as I’ve seen him play against the Celtics. He was criticized by Coach Jackson for being ‘bashful’ and not exploiting the middle more, but the Lakers did just fine in the middle with 48 points in the paint. Odom got a few big rebounds and the poor foul shooting forward scored 20 points while making foul shots when they needed them most. He played very well. The question is if that an aberrant occurence or not. Most likely it is. It was certainly abhorrent.

I address Pau Gasol a bit later.

4) Bryant made a number of outstanding defensive plays.
a) block from behind of KG at the hoop for what was a gauranteed two,
b) great block on a Rondo drive that was also money if not blocked
c) and the biggest of all – the knockaway from Pierce at the end.
d) Kobe was just very solid on defense for most of the game.

5) Foul Calls –

a) Yes, the game wasn’t called as the Celtics would like it to be called. As Bob Ryan suggested, bad calling went both ways. A natural game flow was never established.

b) But the Lakers just view it as ugly Celtic style ball. They stepped up and played it pretty well. Two teams. Two opposing views. I can’t really argue with Kobe’s perspective.

c) The Celtics possibly lost the game because of the referees on two counts. the foul is called on Fisher at the end and Ray makes those foul shots in his sleep. Game over. Yes, most likely the Fisher hand checking is a foul any other time. And it did impede Ray from getting a much better look.

d) KG going out could also be the difference. Yes, the call that fouled him out was wrong. It is even more wrong at that time of the game, in a game as big as this one was. To add fuel to the fire, replays show that Pau Gasol clearly fouled Kevin on the arm on the knockaway and that wasn’t called.

e) Last year, Doc would never let the team use bad foul calls as an excuse. That doesn’t appear to be the case this season. Both he and the team were sidetracked by calls or non-calls they disagreed with. Last season, Doc would have told them to focus and play through it.

The only thing that makes sense about Doc making a big deal about it, is that the politicking might affect how the game is called when it matters in the play-offs, should they meet again. In that case, I understand his verbocity, but the team needs to play focused ball and let Doc take care of the rest of it.

5) Reasons Why the Lakers won regarding the Celtic side of things -

a) Offensively, the Celtics did not aggressively play Celtic ball for long stretches of the game. Though the assist to made shot ratio was good (26 of 42). The Celtics threw too many interior passes into the hands of waiting Lakers. They relied on Pierce a bit too much, and there were times that the ball wasn’t moving. At times, Pierce was looking to shoot without exploring the options first. Perkins was neutralized very well. It is fair to ask why Leon Powe did not play more.

b) Though Davis will get a fair amount of heat for what looked like a lackluster performance highlighted by poor shooting, he actually did much of the non-boxscore stuff right. He set some very good picks offensively, and played decent man to man defense. That blocked shot and subsequent foul at the end were both back breakers. He probably should have driven and dished more than he did.

But he has had a number of big games against top teams. Unfortunately this was a tougher game for him at the offensive end.

6) Rondo actually had a very good game and did his best to activate the offense with his drives. As he does a few times most every game, he got caught underneath without anywhere to go. But by and large he played a solid Rondo game offensively. Defensively, he wasn’t as aggressive as he can be.

7) Pierce Missed Opportunities
Paul Pierce could have won this game, four different times. Two missed foul shots and two missed jumpers are plays that Paul has made many times in the past. But Pierce shot line drive misses on two straight open shots that are normally money for him. He also missed two free throws that could ahve won the game. You make some, you miss some. This time they didn’t drop. Pierce’s clutch ratio is extremely high and even moreso this season. He gets a pass for that reason.

Pau Gasol

I think it’s time for Celtic fans to adjust their thinking on this guy. He is a talented big man. He played great basketball in this game and has been for much of the year from what I read. He is moving away from the soft label that he has had for years. Being pushing by Kobe, Pau is stepping up big time when it counts.

I never felt he was soft as many believed he was, though he did disappear a bit too much. He is gaining aggressiveness and that’s bad news for the Celtics and the league. Even as a ‘soft’ addition, he made the Lakers a far better team than they were without him.

His length makes him a tough defender. Yes, you read that right. Even last season, when people wanted Garnett to step it up more against the Lakers, Garnett himself said that Pau was an under rated defender. Many don’t want to recognize this fact. Pau gives Kevin trouble, especially around the hoop.

There is more, but that is enough to chew on for now.

It certainly made the rest of the season more interesting, didn’t it?

If each game in basketball, is a sentence in a season long story, then the Lakers had the final word or put the period at the end of the sentence twice now against their biggest obstacle to a championship. But the story will continue.

The last time LA came to this building, they were beat down and knocked out and ‘humiliated’ in the words of Phil Jackson.

In a hard fought game, neither team played their best basketball. But the Lakers played better than the Celtics and toughed out a win at the scene of the crime.

Both teams knew it was an important game, even though not all players would admit it. Players from each side saw it a bit differently afterwards.

Eddie House said it was just another game and that the Celtics weren’t allowed to play their game. Fouls played a big role in the game. Eddie House felt the Celtics weren’t allowed to meet Laker physicality with their own.

“This was game 51. They felt like they won the Finals, they way they were celebrating out there.”

Were they more physical?

“No way. They were allowed to play more physical. We definitely were more physical, but we weren’t allowed to be more physical. We’re definitely more physical than them. But we weren’t allowed to be.”

Kobe Bryant’s response when it was mentioned that some Celtics thought they weren’t allowed to be as physical as they were…

“This was their game. It was an ugly game. This was a physical, grind it out game. Our style is up and down, move the ball…we didn’t play our style at all.

We matched their physical play, matched their intensity. That’s what you have to do if you want to beat Boston.”

Two regular season wins doesn’t make up for the Finals?

“I’m still (ticked). Yes.”

It looked a little chippy between you and Rondo, Could you share a little of what that was about?

“No. That’s one of our codes. What’s said on the court stays on the court. It was nothing. There was nothing there.”

What was the team’s mood after the game?

“Pretty quiet actually. For us that’s very different, because we’re not a quiet team at all

.”

After shooting 5 for 10 in the first quarter, Kobe Bryant was 5 for 19 the rest of the way. But in the last 5 minutes of regulation, he made three huge three pointers with Paul Pierce gaurding him. The last one grabbed the lead for the Lakers for the first time since the first quarter at 101-100 with 1:30 left.

Garnett Fouls Out
Flu ridden Kevin Garnett fouled out with 4:22 left on an offensive foul. Glen Davis replaced him in the line up, and made a jump shot with 1:06 left in overtime to give Boston it’s last lead at 109-108. Shortly after, Davis was blocked by Gasol on another outside jumper, and fouled Lamar Odom at the other end. Odom’s foul shots were the final points of the game. Davis was 1 for 6 in the game.

The Celtics jumped out to a 9-2 lead behind a Paul Pierce three pointer, a Garnett dunk and lay-up, and Pierce fast break lay-up off a Perkins steal.

From there the Lakers went on a 17-5 run to take the lead 19-14, on a Kobe Bryant driving lay-up. Ray Allen answered with his 7th straight Celtic point on a pull up jumper making it 16-19. The Lakers maintained that lead through the period ending 23-20.

The Lakers got their biggest lead of the game, 35-26, when Sasha Vujacic made two foul shots. After Doc Rivers called time out, the Celtics responded with an 18-10 run to tie it up at 44.

The Lakers regained the lead and held it until the final shot of the half, when Rajon Rondo made a lay-up, giving Boston a 51-50.

The Celtics maintained a 3 to 5 point lead for most of the 3rd quarter, on the shooting of Ray Allen (9 pts), Eddie House (8 pts), and Paul Pierce (6 pts).

The Celtics extended the 4th quarter lead to 91-85 with 8:10 left, on a Rondo to Garnett alley oop dunk. Lamar Odom responded with 5 straight points to bring LA back at 91-90.

Pierce – Almost a Hero
Paul Pierce scored the last 6 Celtic points of regulation, but missed two big free throws, in that span. With 29 seconds left, and down 101-100, Paul missed his first, but made the second to send the game to overtime.

Overtime and Controversial Non-call
Pau Gasol (5) and Lamar Odom (4) scored all of the Laker points in OT. Ray Allen had 4 and Rondo and Davis each made a basket. Pierce missed a quick hit line drive jumpshot in the final 38 seconds. Then Ray Allen missed badly from the top of the arc as time expired.

Replays show Derek Fisher impeding Ray’s movement with a hand check as he tried to set up for the shot. No foul was called.

House and Powe Strong Off the Bench
The 2nd quarter run was fueled by a Leon Powe put back after a Davis miss, followed by a House steal and three pointer. The Celtics started to get better interior passing with a KG pass to Tony Allen underneath and capped by a Garnett fast break dunk on a pass from Tony after an LA miss.

Leon played a solid game, particularly on the offensive boards, garbbing 5 of his 8 rebounds there and getting two put backs in the second quarter. In just 16 minutes, he finished close to a double double with 10 points

Eddie House had yet another big scoring game with 16 points, 8 in each of the middle two quarters. He was 4 of 6 from the arc. He is 28 for 45 for a blistering 62% from the arc over the last 8 games.

Summary
The Celtics did not look like themselves. Garnett was obviously impacted by the flu. But this is the second time in a row they didn’t look themselves against the Lakers. Maybe the Lakers have something to do with that. Kobe Bryant shot 5 for 19 after the first quarter. Other than that, this game was about as good as you will see from the Lakers. Minus Kobe’s 10 for 29, the Lakers shot 32-59 (54%) for the game.

If somehow the Lakers end up winning it all this season, this game, far more than the Christmas Day game, will be pointed to as a pivotal moment. They were not intimidated by physical Celtic style ball, and won with Pau Gasol stepping up big when their scoring leader had a bad game shooting.

If they don’t, it will be because they will not get a series of games like this from Gasol and even more likely Lamar Odom.

The Numbers
Ray Allen led Boston with 22 points, and had 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
Paul Pierce followed 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Rajon Rondo almost had a triple double with 16 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds
Kevin Garnett add 16 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists before fouling out with about 4 minutes left.
Leon Powe chipped in with 16 points and 8 rebounds in just 16 minutes off the bench.
Eddie House had 16 points, 3 rebounds and a steal in 20 minutes.
Perkins had just 4 points, but had 9 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Kobe led the Lakers with 26 points, Pau Gasol added 24, and Lamar Odom had 20.

The Celtics have another game tonight against the Knicks in New York. It is important they don’t have an emotional let down, as every game counts in the home court race, this season.

Can the Lakers snuff out another Celtic winning streak? Or is Boston ready to deliver pay-back and make the Lakers victim number 13?

Last time they broke a 19 game streak. They rejoin the battle in Boston tonight in hopes of doing it again, this time to a Boston 12 game win streak. And to put some salve on a 6th game Finals humiliation that occurred the last time they came to town. The memory still stings from that one. But I digress…

It was Christmas Day and the Celtics got coal in their stockings as a reward for a league record run to 27-2 and 19 game winning streak. The Lakers got a 92-83 victory.

That began a 2-7 stumble from the Boston Celtic pedestal of invincibility.

The Lakers found their stockings filled with gifts and something called legitimacy. Their 24-4 record coming in didn’t mean anything, unless they beat the Celtics that day. They were able to redeem a bit of last season’s Final’s loss and show that they were a better team this year. Who’s afraid of the Celtics?

The addition of 7′ Andrew Bynum, missing in last season’s Laker play-off run was supposed to be the difference maker. Instead it was a last quarter wake up call by Pau Gasol that put the Lakers over the top, as they finished strong for the nine point victory.

The Celtics have recovered from their mini-slump only to become a better team than it was before, if you can believe it. They have been playing far better basketball overall than during the 19 game winning. They are an efficient unit of team basketball at both ends of the floor.

Only the recent two game absence of Kevin Garnett has put a damper on their dominance. But it hasn’t stopped their 12 game winning streak.

The Lakers would love nothing better than to do it again. They are back to playing without Bynum (out 6-8 weeks), but are still a somewhat better team than last season. Trevor Ariza provides defense and an energy off the bench they didn’t have last season.

The Benches
The Lakers bench substantially outplayed the Celtics bench in the last game. Now Odom will be starting, and the Celtics’ bench is playing better. It will be a factor to watch tonight. Glen Davis, in particular, is playing his best ball of the year, and possibly of his young career.

Rivalry Revived
Sahsa Vujacic won’t wear green this season because of his hate for the Celtics. Ariza just says that he has always disliked the Celtics with a passion. Coaches Doc Rivers and Phil Jackson have taken shots at each other.

Kobe loves the limelight more than anyone. Garnett and Paul Pierce, in particular are standing in his light (he thinks), and casting a large shadow on him. His redemption will only come when he can say he won a title without Shaq. The Celtics stand ready to throw more cold water on that dream.

Tonight is the re-match of arguably the two best teams in the league. And they don’t like each other very much. Sounds like the making of a good ball game. Catch it if you can. I’ll be there for ‘complete coverage’ as they say.

Kevin Garnett is expected to play tonight.

Game time: 8:00 pm on TNT

The Celtics make it an even dozen wins, thought they were outplayed for much of this game.

Celtic fans are spoiled by truly excellent basketball. Even when the Green Team doesn’t play its best, even when they throw the ball away 20 times, even with calls favoring the other team, even with Kevin Garnett out sick…. they find a way.

It’s getting to be routine, these Ray Allen game winning three pointers. With Jameer Nelson out with injury, maybe now Ray will get the call that he deserves for the All Star team. He has been on fire most all season. He hits big shots with such regularity now, you’re surprised when he misses.

No surprises from the league’s deadliest jump shooter this evening. We all dreamed of these kind of nights when we first learned of Ray Allen coming to the Celtics. We are all living the dream now. Man, is he good.

Cold. Cold. Ice.
Cold outside. Cold in his head. Ice in his veins. Ray, who has the flu, made Philly sick with 23 points including two straight ice blooded three pointers in the last 30 seconds. The last one won the game with .5 seconds left on the clock. It came on a pass from Paul Pierce, who was double covered, after probing the defense in the middle.

Andre Iguodala thought he won the game with a clutch jump shot over Paul Pierce with 6 seconds left. But giving the Celtics six seconds is like giving Tiger Woods an extra stroke. This team is so good under pressure, that you are no longer surprised when they close deficits and win games with final shots.

Pierce got the Celtics back in it with 9 points in 4 minutes before passing the baton to Ray with 1 minute left.

Glen Davis capped off a double double (11 rebounds and 12 points) performance in Garnett’s stead with 2 big offensive rebounds and a clutch jump shot that brought the Celtics within three at 92-95 with 1:37 left.

Rajon Rondo got it all going with 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting in the first period as the Celtics built a twelve point lead after one. The game looked like a blow out coming. The Celtics shot 15 of 23 (.652) to the Sixers 7 for 23 (.304)

The Celtics pushed the lead to 38-23 on a Patrick O’Bryant hook shot with 9:02 left in the half.

Shortly after that, Reggie Evans, of all players, gave the 76ers a sustained jolt of life and the Celtics trouble. With Boston leading 42-29, Reggie hit two foul shots that began a 15-0 run over 3 minutes. His energetic play revived a lethargic Philly team and disrupted the Celtics enough to take the lead away at 44-42. Evans finished with 8 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and numerous caused turnovers.

The Celtics managed to regain lead at half time on another Rondo driving lay-up, 50-49.

The game would be up for grabs for the rest of the night, as neither team would lead by more than five until the Sixers made a strong move to go up 92-85 on a Speights dunk with 3:52 left. Pierce scored the next five points on a lay-up and foul, and a jump shot to close within two points.

Louis Williams made a three point play, before Davis, Pierce and Allen finished the difficult comeback.

Elton Brand is back but played only 7 first half minutes as they try to figure out how to incorporate him into their faster pace.

The Numbers
Paul Pierce led with 29 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists
Ray Allen added 23 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists
Rajon Rondo drove for 20 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, 7 turnovers
Kendrick Perkins had but 2 points, and 8 rebounds

Iguodala led Philly with 22 points, while Andre Miller added 21 more.

Next up: The Lakers on Thursday night in Boston.

Kevin Garnett has the flu and did not play while Paul Pierce played 41 minutes and flew…through the Timberwolves to the tune of 36 points.

Paul…

I wanted to come out a little more aggressive, especially attacking the rim and try and get some points in the paint, knowing that the big fella was there.

We were probably going to need a little more scoring and that was my mind set.

Mission accomplished.

Pierce put on an offensive show to offset the Al Jefferson scoring clinic of 34 points.

The Celtics ran their new win streak to 11 games, but had to hold off a few runs by the suddenly feisty Wolves to keep the lid on this one.

After getting down by 18 points by half time, the Timberwolves came out much more aggressive in the third quarter, jumping on the Celtics 21-11, to close to within 8 points. The burst was fueled by 10 points on a confident array of jump shots by Al Jefferson. Ryan Gomes joined the comeback effort with 7 points.

The lead dropped to 6 points at 77-71 on two Randy Foye foul shots, before Paul Pierce responded with a fastbreak lay-up courtesy of Rajon Rondo.

It was somewhat of a duel between Paul Pierce and Jefferson as Pierce countered Al’s 14 points with 14 of his own in the period, including 8 in a burst in the final 1:38 to increase the lead back to 87-73.

But the revitalized Minnesota club, one of the hottest clubs on the new year (10-4 coming in) wasn’t about to cave in. They closed to within single digits, getting as close as 5 points with 5:20 left at 94-89 on an Al Jefferson dunk. Ray Allen responded with a jump shot and he and Pierce kept the Wolves at bay the rest of the game.

The Celtics started the game slow. They allowed 18 Timberwolf points in the first 5:35, before clamping down for only 6 more by quarter’s end. After being beaten off the dribble in the final seconds, Eddie House blocks Randy Foye’s shot from behind and Tony Allen converts a lay-up at the buzzer to lead 29-24 after one period.

Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 9 points and helped on the boards with 4. Kendrick Perkins rose to the occasion of playing his friend and former Celtic running mate, Al Jefferson. KP had 8 points and 5 boards after one period.

Jefferson had 16 points at half time, offset by Pierce’s 15 points, Ray Allen’s 14 points and another fine showing by Tony Allen with 12 half time points in just under 9 minutes.

Glen Davis played well in Garnett’s place with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Leon Powe also helped with 7 points, 3 boards, and 4 steals in just 19 minutes.

Pierce on Davis’ performance…

He did a great job of filling in for Kevin. He was aggressive defensively and attacked the glass and that’s what we ask Baby to do.

Even though Kevin wasn’t here, the initial thing is to say, ‘Hey, I get his minutes and I got to do the things Kevin does.’ But no. Glen stayed within his role and did the little things. He boxed out, played great defense, and rebounded.

The Numbers
Paul Pierce contributed 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 tunrnovers and a blocked shot in addition to his 36 points
Ray Allen finished with 22 points 3 reboundss, 4 assists, 3 turnovers
Rajon Rondo added 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block
Glen Davis finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals
Kendrick Perkins dropped in 8 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and had 3 assists and a block

Tony Allen led some strong bench play by House, Powe and himself with 14 points.

Randy Foy had 21 points and 9 assists while Ryan Gomes added 17 and 4 steals for the Wolves. Sebastian Telfair distributed 8 assists for Minny. Jefferson finished with another double
double with 11 boards

We just learned that Kevin Garnett will not play in today’s (12:05pm start) Minnesota Timberwolves game.

He is sick with flu-like symptoms. Doc Rivers announced that Glen Davis will get the start in his place.

Davis has been playing particularly well of late . This will be his first start of the year and second of his career.

Glen started one game last season against Sacramento on Dec 12, 2007.

Glen played 26 minutes and scored 16 points, including 10-10 from the foul line and grabbed 9 rebounds (5 offensive) in that game.