Celtics Central

In honor of ‘spring forward’ day with the clocks, the Celtics hope to spring another loss on a contending opponent, the Orlando Magic, this afternoon.

After upending the Lebron James led Cavaliers, things don’t get too much easier for the rejuvenated Celtics.

The Garnett-less Celtics raised their game and scored 105 points against the league’s best defense. That is 15 points better than the Cavs leading leading average of allowing 90 points. I did the math. They won by 11 points and that is an accomplishment after the way they had been playing of late.

Either I have expected too little from the Celtic role players or Doc managed to get the team to overachieve in that game. We will get that cleared up today against the other top team in the East, the Dwight Howard led Orlando Magic. Right now, I think I’m wrong, and Doc is right.

Glen Davis, who was ejected on Friday night for a flagrant2 foul on Anderson Verajeo, will not be suspended for this game, according to Marc Spears of the Boston Globe. That is a good thing, as Glen has played Dwight Howard rather well defensively in the last few games.

According to Paul Pierce this could be a critical week-end if they get the win against Orlando…

Definitely. I mean Orlando is right up our back too. I mean, they are only two games behind, with 20 games left. Like I said, anything could happen. This is even a bigger game coming for us, coming up this Sunday, because, if we win this game, we win the season series on Orlando.

According to Doc Rivers, it is still another week before Kevin Garnett returns. So the Celtics must hold the fort and hopefully maintain the pressure on Cleveland for home court advantage. That only happens by winning each game.

Win or lose, I’m in the camp that says this is a good experience for the team and the players are who are asked to step up. Logging more minutes than they normally would and with increased expectations will only big character in them and make them ready for the play-offs.

The Celtic defense was noticeably better in the game against the Cavaliers. That type of effort will be needed again today at 1:00pm.

Things just got a whole lot more interesting in the Eastern Conference.

The shorthanded Boston Celtics laid it on the Cleveland Cavaliers with a decisive third quarter and held off the Cavs from there. The Celtics needed everyone to contribute with the absence of Kevin Garnett, and that is just what they got. Paul, Ray and Leon led the way.

In spite a foul shooting disparity of 38-12, the Celtics overcame the unfavorable foul calling and the loss of two more players for portions of the game to burst the Cavaliers’ bubble.

Rondo and Davis Go Out
Along the way, the Men in Green lost Rajon Rondo with a twisted ankle with 4 minutes left in the first period. After going into the locker room for treatment, Rondo returned with 5:36 left in the second quarter. Then with 3 minutes gone in the third, Glen Davis left as well with a flagrant foul call. Without a doubt, and without exception, the Celtics as a team answered the bell.

Cavs Coach Mike Brown…

“It started with Doc Rivers. He did a better job of preparing his team than I did. I thought they got contributions from everyone in their starting five, plus guys off the bench. Their two young guys, leon and Big Baby…they were terrific tonight.”

There were many stand out games from the Celtics, but none more so than Leon Powe’s. Leon was just about unstoppable. Leon Powe had a season high 20 points on 9 for 11 shooting in 23 minutes and played one of the best games of his career.

Glen Davis was having a very productive game when he was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul on Anderson Verajeo as Verajeo was going up for a lay-up. Glen left after 17 minutes of play with 10 points on 5 of 8 shooting.

Pierce and Allen step it up in the Second Half
Paul Pierce had 21 second half points and Ray Allen scored 17 after being held scoreless in the first half. Paul was 8 of 14 with 3 of 4 from the arc in the second half. Ray was 6 of 9 with 2 of 4 from the arc.

Rajon Rondo played a gutsy game with 10 assists and 6 points after twisting his ankle. Kendrick Perkins played big with 10 points all in the first half, 8 rebounds, and two blocks. He and the rest of the bigs controlled the paint most of the night.

Wally Szczerbiak…

“We wanted this one real bad. I’m not gonna deny it. We felt like it was an opportunity to steal one and win the series. We’ve gotta give them credit. They played well.”

With all the talk about home court, before the game, it was all the same to Rondo. Is that a big issue with you?

“I don’t think so. We’re a veteran team. We proved we could win on the road. Whatever happens in the regular season, the play-offs start zero-zero. Regular season doesn’t mean that much.”

New guys Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury also contributed strong performances. Moore showed a deft and reliable shooting touch, going 3 of 3 from the field, including one emphatic dunk in traffic. Marbury was 1 for 5, but added 3 assists.

Stephon…

“I’m not used to getting this open (for shots).”

Besides the scoring from the two Celtic stars, Ray Allen summed it up well..

“I think we played a pretty good game for 4 quarters and the underlying theme is that KG wasn’t out there and Glen played a great first quarter, first half. Then Leon got in there and played well and Perkins played great and then Mikki came in and played well. So I have to give credit to our bigs. They did a great job for us tonight.”

Shooting a combined 17 of 22, they did indeed. Besides keeping the Celtics in the hunt for best record for home court advantage, this game breathed new life into a team that was not playing up to its potential in recent games.

A game like this should help plant a seed of doubt in the Cavaliers and a bit more confidence in some of the newer Celtics.

The Celtics did a strong job of containing the LeBron Train once again. While he scored 21 points, he shot just 5 of 15, but had 9-12 from the free throw line. Mo Williams did play a great game in support with a team leading 26 points, including 4-5 from the three point line.

The Numbers
Paul Pierce led with 29 points, 9 assists, and 4 rebounds.
Leon Powe followed 20 points on 9-11 shooting in 23 minutes, 11 rebounds, and 2 assists
Ray Allen had all of his 17 points in the second half, adding 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal.
Kendrick Perkins contributed 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
Rajon Rondo had 6 points, 10 assists, 2 boards, 2 steals and a block.

Glen Davis added 10 points, 2 boards, and an assist.

Complete boxscore here

Summary
This was an exciting game and a surprisingly strong win for a team fighting injuries, uneven foul calling, and a player ejection. This team was ready to play and play without excuses. It harkened back to last year, when the team wasn’t as absorbed in arguing with referees every game. The results indicated that is a good way to go forward.

Next up: Another big game. This time it is Orlando (45-16) on Sunday at home.

The conference leading Cleveland Cavaliers come to Beantown tonight in one of the more significant games of the season.

In Yahoo Sports, by Mike Lipka, Delonte West says….

“It’s going to be a big heavyweight bout.”

The Cavs lead the Celtics by a game, and are 48-12. The Celtics are 48-14.

Home court advantage looms large in this battle between these two teams. The Celtics beat Cleveland in Boston in a very close 7th game in the second round of the play-offs last year. Everyone remembers the duel between Lebron James and Paul Pierce. It will go down as an NBA Classic.

The teams have split home games this season. Boston is without its spiritual and defensive leader, Kevin Garnett. As aptly laid out in this article by Kevin Henkin, they are not the same defensive team without KG as they are with him.

And Cleveland is even stronger this season, Delonte West and Mo Williams have taken some of the scoring burden off of LeBron’s shoulders. They have played together longer now and that means even better chemistry.

Joe Smith returns to Cleveland for an encore performance. That one hurts, as the Celtics were hoping to bring Smith to their team this season. Instead he now returns to the team that gave the Cs the most trouble in last year’s play-offs.

Meanwhile, the Celtics are incorporating two new players in Mikki Moore and Stephon Marbury. If the Celtics are to pull this game out, it will have to be with toughness, heart and hustle.

With a 21-11 road record, the Lebron Train is very tough, but beatable. The Celtics biggest problem will be stopping LeBron without leaving the rest of the Cavalier team open while they triple team James’ relentless drives to the hoop, where he is unstoppable.

If they can make the Cavs take semi-contested jump shots, and keep Lebron out of the paint, the Celtics will have done their job. The Cavalier defense is to be feared as well.

The Cavaliers have the best defense in the league. They are first in points allowed (90.3), first in field goal defense (42.7), and first in three point shooting defense (33.5).

The second place team in all three of those catagories? The Boston Celtics. The recent slippage without Kevin Garnett does change things. But now is a good time to see who steps up in dire circumstances.

I’m a believer that the Celtics will have to win road games to win the championship no matter what. I did think the Celtics would be coming out of the east with the best record though. The Cavaliers step to the front this season has been less of a surprise to me than to some. But I never expected a Celtic-like season from them. They are playing just dominant ball.

This should be a very good game to watch. A Celtic loss will bring out all of the worry monsters in the morning. More important is what it would do to the Celtic team psyche.

Things to watch:
A) Ray Allen. The Cavs have bottled him up pretty good since last year’s play-offs.
B) They also do a good job on Paul Pierce. If Pierce has to guard Lebron, and he will, will he have enough energy left to be a significant factor at the offensive end?
C) Rajon Rondo - He will need to use his driving ability to the best of his abilities. Yet the Cavs have a very solid interior defense. Can they contain Rondo and make him a jump shooter?
D) Kendrick Perkins - He will be critical in containing the Cavs bigs. Big Zydrunas has given Kendrick big problems in the past.
E) This is a pressure game for Glen Davis. Can he step up and give the Celtics enough scoring and defense to help them win?
F) The bench is under reconstruction. Will they be a positive or a negative?

Unless it is a blow out, I’m not sure a win or loss makes much difference, either way. Mostly, this is a measure of the ‘will’ of the two teams. The fact that the Cavs have been nearly perfect at home (27-1) would argue against that statement. So, maybe I’m underestimating the importance of this game. (Is that me hedging a bit? Hmm…..)

I’ll be there for ‘all the action’ as they say. Let’s watch this game with more care than usual.

I just (re)watched the whole New Jersey game. Why? I was distracted (company) when it was first being played and I only saw parts of it. Hey, that’s the truth.

The Celtics played well enough to keep the Nets at bay for most of the game, thanks to Paul Pierce’s precision shooting and 18 first half points, followed by Rondo’s 9 straight 3rd quarter points (14 in the period).

As described in the previous post on the game, it took some clutch shooting at the very end by Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to get back the lead and win the game.

Pierce scored most of his team high 31 points on drives. He also hit two threes and a few short jumpers, and was 5 of 7 from the line.

Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins stepped up their offensive production to offset the loss of the injured Kevin Garnett’s. Rondo drove relentlessly and at will in the 3rd quarter, resulting in 14 points. I am amazed at how easily he can continue to get by Devin Harris. This is the third game in a row where he has outplayed Harris decisively. Devin simply cannot stay with Rondo.

Perkins scored 17 points in the first three quarters on 6 of 8 shooting as the recipient of solid passes from Rondo. Glen Davis threw one nice inside pass to Perkins for a dunk as well. KP also created a few shots on his own. Perkins did the heavy lifting with 13 rebounds for a solid double double.

Perkins, Davis and the rest of the Celtics frontline did a solid job of keeping Harris and the Nets out of the middle with only 26 points in the paint by the Nets, including fastbreaks (7 pts.) The Celtics also out rebounded the Nets by a decisive 39-26.

Besides the steady work of Perkins, Glen Davis’ defense, in particular, looked pretty good most of the night around the hoop. There were a few missed assignments, to be sure. Largely, it was an acceptable performance around the hoop sans KG.

The area the Celtics got burned was at the arc during the 4th quarter run by the Nets. The Celtics over play the strong side (ball side) of the court much of the time. If the Nets were able to notice that and get a pass cross court, they would have an open shooter on the weakside arc all night. There were open shooters there regularly.

They finally figured that out early in the fourth quarter. Anderson, Jarvis Hayes, Carter, and Harris all made three point shots on weakside ball swings after first drawing the Celtics attention on the strong side.

When the Celtics responded with better court defensive balance, Harris was able to penetrate for 5 straight points to tie the game at 105 with 2:25 left. Paul Pierce then went back to work, hitting a jump shot while getting fouled by Hayes on his elbow for a three point play to make the score 108-105 with 2:12 left.

Glen Davis couldn’t avoid contact with Hayes on a three point attempt and Hayes made all three foul shots to tie it back up at 108 with 1:55 left. Pierce and Hayes both missed shots, before Vince Carter set up at the arc with Pierce guarding him. He faked a drive, backing Pierce off, and went straight up, drilling a three to give the Nets the lead for the first time in the second half at 111-108 with 1:14 left.

It was at that point that Ray Allen and Paul Pierce took over with back to back jumpers, giving the Celtics an 113-111 lead with 20 seconds left. Perkins got a huge rebound of a missed Carter lay-up.

The Celtics were in a fortuitous situation because the Nets fouled Perkins, a poor foul shooter, but it was only the first team foul in the last two minutes resulting the Celtics retaining the ball out of bounds, instead of Perkins shooting foul shots. The Nets then had to foul Ray Allen, a league leader in foul shooting, on the inbounds. Ray hit the two foul shots to ice the game 115-111 with 7 seconds left.

Though the Nets came back to retake the lead, this time the Celtics executed well in the last few minutes to gain the win.

The Numbers
Paul Pierce led with 31 points, while Rajon Rondo was second with 20 points on 9 of 14 shooting with 5 assists, and 5 rebounds. Ray Allen added 16 points, including 3 of 5 from the arc. 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

The Celtics shot a hot .612 on 41 of 67 shots. New Jersey was pretty good themselves with .494 shooting. The Celtics were 8-13 from downtown. Eddie House helped with 3 of 6 from the arc for 10 points, and 2 steals and 2 rebounds.

Marbury Watch
Stephon Marbury failed to score but had 4 assists in 15 minutes, including a drive and kick out to Eddie House for a three pointer that had Marbury emphatically pumping his fist under the hoop after it went in.

The Celtics continue to let teams get back in the game in the fourth quarter, but consideration must be made for Garnett being out and new players getting used to playing with the team.

The next big game is tonight in Boston against the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers hold a two game lead over the Celtics in the all important record for home court advantage. This should be a good one.

The Celtics beat the New Jersey Nets with two clutch shots by Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

I’ll break down the game and mention another lost lead in the 4th quarter later on Thursday.

Right now, all I want to do is say how sweet it is to watch Ray Allen be that assassin he was hired to be and to watch Paul Pierce do what he does so very well – break other teams hearts with clutch shooting.

We are so spoiled in Celticland these past two years….I just love it. Those last two shots were basketball excellence by two pros who have done it so many times before.

If they are not cold blooded killers, then they are workmanlike maestros of efficient beauty. Of course, I am talking about the final two shots of the game.

The Celtics just lost the lead for the first time since the score was in the 40s. Vince Carter hit a three pointer that gave New Jersey the lead at 111-108 with just 1:14 to go in the game. Nine seconds later, Ray Allen takes a pass from Paul Pierce and drains a pressure three pointer like a lay-up. Like a lay-up. Ray is just so good at doing that. suh weet.

Kendrick Perkins then blocks the shot of a driving Devin Harris. It is the Celtics only block of the entire game. How is that for timing? Perkins was having a “I better step it up” game to help replace the missing Garnett. He had a double double with 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting and 13 rebounds.

Glen Davis gets the rebound. Time out with 25 seconds left. The ball comes in to Paul Pierce near the top left of the key. He fakes a pass and drives left on Jarvis Hayes. Making that kiss off contact, Hayes backs away thinking Paul is going to drive by him.

That is exactly what Pierce wanted him to do and steps back as Hayes moves inward, creating a world of space. Hayes tries to recover, but…alas….this is Paul Pierce, my friend. The shot is cleanly off. You are cooked and there is nothing you can do but watch as you lose control of your team’s destiny.

Pierce takes control of the game as the shot drops through the net. wham. Vince Carter misses a lay-up with 10 seconds left and Kendrick Perkins gets the rebound, effectively ending the game. Celtics win:115-111

It’s a beautiful thing.

Here is the link….CelticStuffLive

Justin Poulin and Jon Duke had long time Celtic TV play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman on the show this past Sunday night.

It is alway a treat to listen in to the show, and Mike Gorman is a great guest with an extensive knowledge of all things Celtic.

Other guests also included Eric Weiss of BBIQ and Jon Jennings who is responsible for establishing a new D-league team in Portland, Maine. This team will become affiliated with the Boston Celtics, much as a minor league team is with a parent club in baseball.

Check it out. Interesting stuff, with something for everyone.

I’ve had a bit of fun with all the recent news involving the signing of Stephon Marbury. I couldn’t resist. Far better informed writers than myself have as well. Like a Rasheed technical, it is to be expected.

Deeper questions about the Celtics that have arisen and are being debated among fans and the media as this year has worn on. I’ve stood by without comment.

Now is a good time to do it. Why? Because the question marks seem to be growing. After Sunday’s far too familiar 4th quarter collapse against the Pistons, the Fear Factor just notched up a bit in many minds.

1) I have to frame everything first by saying…..I never expected the Celtics to equal last year’s regular season record.

The funny thing? No one else did either – in the preseason. If this team finishes with 58-60 wins now, many will be disappointed. I won’t. It will be far more important that the team is healthy and playing well as the play-offs draw near.

2) I did expect them to have a tremendous opportunity to repeat anyway.

Am I concerned? Two answers.

3) Depth is a definite concern. I haven’t written off a repeat because of the Celtics’ inability to replace Posey (more on him later) and Brown. With arguably the best starting five and short play-off rotations…. this dog will be in the hunt.

4) If Paul Pierce is concerned, then I have to be concerned. The recent spate of injuries is stressing the core group. They must do all they can to make adjustments until KG gets back. Remember ubuntu? This is when it is supposed to kick in, off the court as much as on.

A) – Doc Rivers and his assistants will have to work harder to pull something things together that counteract some of the team’s weaknesses. Are they are up to the challenge? They seem like a pretty smart group to me. We will find out.

5) James Posey. For the record – I thought the chances of surviving without him were good. I bought what Danny was selling. But I also agreed that they would have to do it a different way. I valued Posey’s unique contributions much higher than some. For a smart fan base, I believe some were fooled by his lack of stats. No matter what his role is now in New Orleans or was before, he was perfect for this team.

The recent signing of Mikki Moore when Joe Smith, and now (out of nowhere) Drew Gooden, were in fact released in time to be picked up for cents on the dollar will only lend to more second guessing. Let the opinions fly.

6) Though I kidded a bit, the signing of Stephon Marbury was a smart, calculated move for Danny and Doc. Even KG knew that the talent of Marbury would help this team. It was a solid risk to take. Marbury will help this club.

7) All the past few games have proven is that Glen Davis is not Kevin Garnett. It is safe to say that we knew this. Nor is Leon Powe. The system without Garnett is not the same as the system with him.

One of the best and worst things that happened this season involved Brian Scalabrine. He was really helping this team when he went out with his third concussion. I hope he can return.

9) If the Celtics win it all – I fully expected from the start that they probably have to do it without home court advantage in the finals. I thought they could and I still do. If you can’t, do you deserve to win it all?

10) The chances are definitely slimmer this year, but there is a toughness about this Celtic team that keeps them in the mix to win it again, as the underdog…again.

“The opinions expressed here are solely mine and subject to revision as the season draws to a close.”

Feel free to differ

The Pistons came into Boston feeling good about themselves for the first time in a long while. They left feeling even better.

With Rip Hamilton reinstated as a starter, at Allen Iverson’s expense, the Detroit team has broken a 4-12 losing funk with two straight wins over top teams. They beat Orlando with Hamilton leading the way with 31 points and followed that up with Sunday’s win in TDBanknorth Garden over the Celtics. Hamilton led once again, with 25 points.

Doc Rivers called them the “old Pistons” in the pregame interviews and reconfirmed it after the game…

“This is the old Pistons we are playing now. The ball is hopping. They are playing together. They had a lot of fire tonight. They didn’t want to get swept by us.”

The Celtics are going through some adjustments of their own with defensive anchor Kevin Garnett out for a few weeks. Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine are also down with injuries.

Paul Pierce…

Shoot, we got issues everywhere with out depth, especially at the wing. With Tony being out, with Scal being out, we’re definitely thin at the 2,3 position. You got me, Ray, and now we’re asking Eddie to guard bigger guys, Stephon Marbury to guard bigger guys. So it definitely, definitely puts us in a bind.

Marbury was guarding 6′ 9″ Walter Hermann at a few points in the game.

Hopefully in these next couple of days we can work in Bill Walker or J.R. Giddens to give us some spot minutes and help us out. But that’s on coach. We still gotta find a way to close these ball games”

Paul Pierce led Boston with 26 points, but had to play 47:41 minutes. On the strength of Eddie House’s shooting, the Celtics fought back from 7 down when the quarter started to 85-81. House had all eight of his points in that spurt.

From there the Pistons went on an 13-4 run to retake the lead at 94-89. Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess and Jason Maxiell started things off. Wallace hit a 3 pointer and a turnaround jumper. McDyess hit a deep jumper, Maxiell had a put back, and Wallace hit another jumper.

Turnovers
Though the Celtics turned the ball ‘only’ 12 times, two critical turnovers, a regular bugaboo for this team, gave Detroit the daylight they needed to hold off the Celtics the rest of the way.

1) A steal by Hamilton on Ray, resulted in House fouling Maxiel to prevent a sure two. Maxiell hit both free throws to make it 94-89.
2) After Ray Allen made two foul shots, Tayshaun Prince stole the ball from Pierce. Glen Davis tried to stop an easy two but was assessed a clear path foul, resulting Prince making one of two free throws, with Detroit retaining possession with the score 97-91 with 2:11 left.

The lead widened as the game drew to a close, with Prince and Hamilton hitting consecutive three pointers to open it up to 103-94. Detroit capped the game with another 11-6 run for the final margin.

UConn Rivalry
There is always a tough battle between Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton when their two teams play.

Doc Rivers…

“They got something going every night…..number one, Rip takes it very personal when he plays Ray. Clearly, there is some UConn stuff going on.

Pistons’ Coach Michael Curry….

We did a great job an Rondo and I think he is the one that usually makes all of the plays. Containing Rondo tonight gave us a better chance to win.

Guard Play
Always a guard oriented offense, the Pistons’ backcourt outscored and outplayed the Celtic guards in this game. Besides Hamilton’s 25 points, he had 9 assists. Rodney Stuckey added 5 assists and 10 points while diminutive Will Bynum energized the Pistons with solid ball hawking defense and 3 steals against Marbury and Rondo, two of the better ball handlers in the league. Bynum added 9 points to the Pistons’ cause.

Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, and Stephon Marbury combined for 18 points total on 4 for 20 shooting. Eddie House was able to contribute that critical 8 point burst in 17 minutes.

Unusual Stats of the Night
If the number we got was correct, the Pistons only had 18 points in the paint. That low of a result usually means your team lost. But, according to Doc Rivers, a main reason for the loss was that the Pistons controlled the pace and the Celtics couldn’t get a transition game going

Doc Rivers….

We rarely got any fast breaks…it’s early offense we didn’t get into, because either they were shooting free throws or making shots. The fact that they got to the line and the forty free throws I thought was even bigger than the shots they made because it allowed them to set their defense almost the entire game.

Defensively, the Celtics had only one block (Pierce), and caused only 6 Detroit turnovers.

The Numbers
Paul Pierce 26 points on 11 of 20 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, and a block
Glen Davis added 18 points on 7 of 13 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and a steal.
Kendrick Perkins produced 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 assists,
Ray Allen manufactured 10 points on 2 of 10 shooting, 2 rebounds, and an assist.
Rajon Rondo contributed 8 points on 2 of 7 shooting, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, and a steal.

Leon Powe added 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in just 15 minutes.