Celtics Central

Let’s try this theory.

The Celtics are bored.

The problem is… that thinking hurts them with better teams like Orlando, Atlanta, and Phoenix.

They (think they) are so good that they don’t play serious basketball until they have to, and only as long as absolutely necessary. You’ve heard of the ‘greening’ of the planet, conserving and recycling whenever possible, right? This conservation of energy must be Boston’s version of Greening the planet.

On top of that, Kevin Garnett is leading the Cs on a strict and healthy diet of low fat offense. After shooting an unreal .623 the game before, they shot .522 for this game. All without appearing to try that hard.

Kevin Garnett served up a superb, fat free 11 of 12 from the field for 24 points to lead the Celtics. He shot a lean and clean 6-6 the game before. He gets the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for his energy efficient 17 of 18 in his last two games. Besides knocking down that jumper of his in rhythm, he added some difficult makes in traffic.

It was only Kevin’s second game over 20 points and second highest total of the season.

With just 1:38 left to play, Ray Allen hit the game’s biggest shot, his only three pointer of the game. It gave the Celtics the separation they needed at 89-83 to ensure another win. He missed his first 5 from downtown. He ended up 1 for 7, but hit the only one they needed. This is too easy, really.

Taking up where they left off with Toronto, the Celtics shot a lofty .636 in the first half.

Rondo Key Again
Though Rajon Rondo scored 9 important first half points on 4 of 5 shooting, Rajon waited until the second half to become a driving force again, adding 7 of his 11 assists and his two biggest scoring drives. Many were of the ‘whoa, look at that’ variety, including two great passes to Perkins for baskets.

One was a ‘thread the needle’ pass down the middle between two defenders for a Perkins lay up. The other, started with KG scrambling with a Heat player as he fell, pushing the ball to Rondo who drove on the left baseline, drawing the defenders as he passed quickly to Perkins on the right for the score.

Two Different Halves
The first half the Heat shot .513 and were leading until the Celtics closed with a 17-7 run to go into half time at 55-48.

The second half the Heat shot just .325 and scored only 37 points.

Yet, the Heat stayed in the game until the final minutes. They held Boston to 12 third quarter points with defense of their own. With the Celtics’ second unit in, Michael Beasley went off for 13 of his 18 points in the first 4 minutes of the last quarter to give Miami the lead at 76-72.

Two spectacular driving lay ups by Rondo tied the game at 76. With scoring going back and forth, Rondo assisted on 4 of the next 5 Celtic made baskets, including Ray’s three pointer to lock in the 6 point lead. That was essentially the ball game.

The whole Celtic team waited until the second half to play good defense, and the second half of the last quarter to turn up the heat on the Heat. Right on script, Miami appropriately crumbled with minutes to spare.

Perkins on a Tear

Lost in the shuffle again, Kendrick Perkins put in another gem at both ends of the floor with a double double of 14 points and 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Two of those blocks were outstanding plays on Jermaine O’Neal, including blocking an O’Neal hook shot.

But Garnett isn’t the only Celtic zeroing in on the rim. Perkins is 14 of 16 shooting over the last two games. But he’s hot beyond that. He is 22-28 for 78% over his last 4 games and 24-31 over 5 games for 77%. Granted it is mostly lay-ups, but that’s great finishing by any standards.

On top of that Perkins got to the line a season high 11 times (making 6) and got two Miami bigs in early foul trouble. Jermaine O’Neal went out with 2 quick fouls in the first couple of minutes of the game. He was followed by Joel Anthony with three.

Paul Pierce started strong with 12 first half points on 4 of 7 shooting, but was capably defended largely by James Jones the rest of the way. Paul scored just 3 more points on 0-4 shooting, and just one rebound. Pierce did have 2 steals, a block and a number of solid defensive plays, but added 5 of the Celtics 14 turnovers.

Ray Allen finished with 11 points on 5 of 13 shooting with 3 assists, 2 rebounds, a block, and 2 turnovers.

Bench
The Celtic bench players had their third straight game of negative scoring while they were in the game. Beasley’s quick 13 points was a big problem for them.

Rasheed Wallace had 6 points on 3 of 8 shooting, but was 0-3 from the arc, while adding 6 rebounds as the Celtics out rebounded the Heat 41-38. He also got another tech for arguing about a non-call on an inside shot he made. He received a ‘phantom foul’ call on another play as well.  I guess it is all too late for anything to change with Rasheed’s dysfunctional relationship  and the refs.

Shelden Williams had a productive 7 plus minutes with a rebound, 2 assists, a steal and a solid blocked shot right around the hoop.

Eddie House had trouble getting open and took just two shots in 20 minutes, scoring 3 points, grabbing 4 rebounds, but adding 2 turnovers.

Marquis Daniels played 14 plus minutes, scoring just 3 points on his second made three point shot of the year and missing a couple of lay-up. He added 3 rebounds, an assist, and a blocked shot.

One thing noticed is that Daniels is not being used at the point guard position as much. Paul Pierce seems to move to that role when Rondo is out.

Brian Scalabrine came in and hit a three pointer. He is 4 of 5 this season from the arc.

The Celtics continue to be inconsistent from the three point line, shooting just 5 of 21. That means they were incredible inside the arc and in the painted area, hitting 70% and scoring 48 points in paint.

Miami’s Dwayne Wade led all scorers with 27 points, and kept the Heat in this game, though he was a mundane 11 for 23 shooting overall.

Shall we call these Celtics the Detroit Pistons v2?

Will this all come back to bite them in the their collective arses come playoff time, like it did the Pistons?

What I am talking about?

I’m talking about the Celtics 92-85 win over the Miami Heat tonight. I’m talking about…

• 4 straight close Celtic wins against poor to middling teams.
• a 13-4 overall with mediocre effort.
• playing defense only as long as necessary to pull out a win.
• veteran experience and the confidence of a team with major talent to outlast and outplay such teams whenever they want to.
• playing really bad defense for a portion of each game.
• playing very good defense for a portion of each game.

Like killer whales toying with baby sea lions they have caught before they eat them, the Celtics seem to be just having fun before the kill each game.

They simply don’t find the competition worthy of 48 minutes of play. They are getting good at it, too.

Everybody, including Doc Rivers knows what they are doing. Are they moving in the right direction?

I guess so. Thought flawed and limited to the second half, this was their best defensive performance in 4 games.

The Celtics scored 10 fast break points and gave up 2. The Heat assisted on only 12 of 33 made baskets. That is quite low.

The Miami Heat have surprised with their solid early season play. They drop to 9-7 and have lost 2 in a row. The Celtics are now 6-1 on the road, the best road record in the NBA.

How long will this Celtic team continue to play as if they have all the time in the world to buckle down? And how long will ‘just enough’… be enough?

No one seems to be interested in 72 wins, nor The Best Defense Ever anymore. How long ago was that? Way back in October. How about 48 minutes of your best effort?

Atlas Shrugged.

Next up:
Tuesday At Charlotte to play the Bobcats. The Bobcats always seem to give the Celtics and other top teams trouble.