Celtics Central

This is a late recap of Saturday night’s game for a number of reasons. I wasn’t around and had technical difficulties recording. Luckily I was able to get it on the Sunday re-play. But, as the Celtics’ second straight loss, it bears commenting on.

Be Wary of Blaming This One On the Zebras

Though the fouls and free throw attempts were almost even, it would be inaccurate to say the game was called evenly throughout.

Rasheed Wallace was called for a phantom foul on a driving Pacer in the 3rd quarter and Kendrick Perkins (Perkins is challenging his) and Doc Rivers both got technical fouls in the 4th quarter. That is one of the Cs unwritten rules – no 4th quarter techs.

While foul calling, especially by Joey Crawford was difficult to deal with and the Celtics did seem to unravel after the techs, it wasn’t Crawford who beat the Celtics. They beat themselves, simply by not playing Celtic-like defense. They scored enough to win if they had.

When watching, I replayed a number of plays. But instead of using individual sequences, it is safe to make a few generalizations:

1) The Celtics didn’t have the needed energy – in spite of the rebounding advantage (43-34).
2) The defense was pretty uninspired as evidenced by

a) 27 fast break Indiana points
b) Indiana shooting 52% from the field
c) Indiana shooting 50% from the arc

3) The Celtics had more turnovers, 14 to 8, and the Pacers made better advantage, 17 to 9, in points scored.

That Dahntay Jones had such a great game (25 points) was largely due to poor defense. Even when Paul Pierce played up on him it wasn’t with much pressure. That Pierce didn’t respect Jones, with a career reputation as a poor shooter, was part of it, but so was the fact that Paul was playing with a slightly injured knee from the night before. Paul didn’t look all that mobile, though it is hard to tell with him sometimes. He covers injuries well.

But Jones is averaging 16 points a game this season – by far, a career high. He is the second leading scorer on the Pacer’s team, so it’s not really something to be surprised about. It looks like this is the year of ‘the defensive player going for Big O” is in, with defensive-minded Trevor Ariza doing much the same thing for Houston.

Trash Talk gets Jones’ Goat; Jones Gets Even

Jones, a player that has earn his NBA playing time as a defensive cog, and was a Celtic for the preseason the first year of the KG trade, said he was inspired by the first half trash talking by former play mates Kevin Garnett and Pierce. After starting off shooting just 1-6, he went 6 for 9 the rest of the way. Give him credit for responding. But if the Celtics can’t stop Dahntay Jones from scoring, then they have bigger problems than we could ever imagine.

Without playing all that well, Boston led 61-52 at the half. They were still up 76-70 with 4:03 left. That was when the floor caved in. The Pacers went on a14 to 3 run, with 8 unanswered points to end the quarter up by five 84-79.

From there, the Celtics made runs in the fourth period, taking back the lead at 88-86 on a Shelden Williams dunk off a Ray Allen assist. After the Pacers ran off 5 straight points, Williams made two free throws to get within one point at 91-90 with 8:16 left.

After another Jones jump shot, the Cs got within on again on two Daniels free throws before the Pacers made the two technical free throws sandwiched around a Dahntay Jones foul shot and jump shot to open up a 98-92 lead. The Celtics would get no closer than 4 points from there on. That seemed to do the Celtics in.

Kendrick Perkins from Boston.com and Gary Washburn….

“At the end of the day, they played harder than us,’’ he said about the Pacers. “I thought down the stretch we didn’t hold our composure as we should. We broke down in the end.

Summary

The Celtics finally rebounded well (43-34). Starting the game dead last in the NBA, they hit the offensive boards (14 to 6). They shot well enough (.476). So what was the problem?

Three games in four days?

Is age finally showing it self – especially in the second half of back-to-back games?

That is a comment that can get you excommunicated for from of the Church of the Green Jersey. Monsignor Rivers and the Church Elders don’t seem to appreciate talk like that.

But we are early in the season. Even a heavy early season stretch of games isn’t the sole reason for the unCeltic-like performances…is it?

Has defensive coach Tom Thibodeau gone on vacation and taken the plans with him?

Should they go back to being sleep deprived?

I think the Celtics need to re-think Rasheed Wallace’s role just a bit. I was hoping for more than a 6’ 11” three point shooter, as good as he may be at that. And he has always been streaky with that skill. Live by and die by it. The Celtics’ are too talented to be doing that.

Wallace played 19 minutes without a rebound. That just ain’t right.

The Offensive Numbers

The Celtics score 52 points in the paint to the Pacer’s 32. That is an amazing number, considering that the Pacers had 27 fast break points (which are almost always points in the paint). That means they were drilling jumpers for the rest of their 113 points.

The Celtics were led By Ray Allen’s 24 points, on 8 of 18 shooting. He contributed 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals and…. a partridge in a pear tree. bumbum

Pierce had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and had the worst plus-minus (-13) on the team. He was hurting for certain. Paul also missed three of four foul shots in the final 4 minutes, though he did hit a three pointer to make it 101-107.

Garnett followed with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and no steals and no blocks for only the second time this year. KG had to guard Danny Granger, a tough cover for him, for most of the game because Granger played power forward with Troy Murphy out. Granger led the Pacers with 29 points on 8 of 16 shooting.

Kendrick Perkins responded to the call to rebound with his first double double (13 rebounds 11 points) of the year. He also had two blocks.

Rajon Rondo had 10 points, 4 assists, and 2 rebounds and was blocked three times.

Shelden Williams had his best game in a while with 10 points, 9 rebounds, and a block in 18 minutes. Marquis Daniels added 9 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds in 20 plus minutes.

Rasheed Wallace was 2 for 4 shooting for 4 points in 19 minutes. Eddie House two basket in 16 minutes for 4 points.

Each team had 6 players score in double figures with the Celtics missing having 7 players by one point (Daniels).

The Celtics again have three days off to figure things out. The problem is about more than rest. They need to tweak their game plan a bit. Rebounding has suffered this season and there is little reason that it should be that way.

Garnett is not as athletic as before the injury and Wallace has been asked to space the floor probably more than he should. Other Celtics have not filled the space left by those openings.

The good thing is that rebounding is a problem that is very fixable. Team energy and team defense is another story. Let’s see what Doc Rivers and the Celtics come up with by Wednesday night’s game at home against the Golden State Warriors.

The Warriors just announced that they traded their malcontent small forward, bad boy Stephen Jackson, along with Acie Law, to Larry Brown’s Charlotte Bobcats for Raja Bell and Vladimir Radmanovic.

That should help settled that team down a bit, though there are still issues with other players (see Monte Ellis and Anthony Randolph) and coach Don Nelson on that team.

The Celtics have a few issues to resolve themselves.

An aggressive Hawks team got an 0-9 TD Garden monkey off their backs with a hard fought win over the Celtics. They did it with energy, physical play, rebounding and second chance points.

Doc Rivers…

I think they just kicked our butt, honestly. They came in with a game plan. They ran it to perfection.

Indeed they did. So far this season, with everything the Cs have been doing right, and they are among the league leaders in many categories, rebounding numbers have been lackluster compared to the previous two years. Last night it was a contributing factor.

The refs let them play and the athletic Hawks did more than hold their own. Kendrick Perkins received a questionable technical for swinging his arm underneath after a basket. There were a number of uncalled fouls going both ways. No hometown discount was had by the Celtics as they shot 19 free throws to the Hawks 23.

The Celtics were led in scoring by Paul Pierce with 24 points. Pierce, who was shooting 50% from the three point line, went 0-4 from downtown tonight. With scoring a problem for the Cs in the fourth, Pierce tried to get things going, but could only manage 6 points on 2 of 5 shooting.

Kevin Garnett added 14 points and 5 rebounds. Kendrick Perkins also had 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds. Ray Allen took only 8 shots, making 5 for 10 points, while adding 5 assists. Rajon Rondo had 9 assists but was held scoreless until the final quarter, when he made two baskets.

Rasheed Wallace missed a wide open three near the end that would have gotten the Celtics within striking range, but had 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocks on the night. Marquis Daniels had 9 points, but only one assist and zero rebounds in 19 plus minutes. He had only three turnovers in the previous 6 games.

Shelden Williams had a tough night against his former team, going just 1 for 4, trying to get shots off inside in traffic, and grabbing just 2 rebounds in 11 minutes.

The Celtic bench players generally outplayed their counterparts on the Hawks, save Jamal Crawford who score 18 points in 28 minutes. But the Hawk guards were getting inside or open with regularity.

The Hawks starters out played the Celtic starters most of the night. Joe Johnson led them with 21 points on 9 of 21 shooting, but they had 5 players in double figures. They were able to penetrate the Celtic defense and kicked to open shooters in the corners. Mike Bibby had 10 third quarter points on 3-4 shooting, including two corner threes.

Fourth Quarter Was the Difference

Jamal Crawford dropped in 9 fourth quarter points, along with Johnson’s 5, and Joe Smith’s 3 boards and 4 points on 2-2 shooting. They out rebounded the Cs 11 to 6 in the final stanza to cement the win. They converted 3 of 3 second chance opportunities for 6 points while the Celtics had none.

Though the Celtics shot 49% overall, they were just 1 for 15 from the arc. They were 35-58 for 60% shooting otherwise.

Pierce had 6 points on 2-5 in the crucial 4th quarter. The Celtics were outscored 25-16 and no one else could muster more than 4 (Rondo).

The Celtics held the Hawks to just 4 of 15 from the three point line on the evening, but couldn’t hold them off the boards as they were out rebounded on the offensive glass 16-6 and 47 to 29 overall. The Hawks had 22 second chance points to the Celtics 4 for the game.

In spite of the rebounding disparity, it was a close game throughout. Each team took turns leading by as many as 8 points, but ended each quarter nearly even…until the final period.

So, the Celtics absorbed their second loss, and the Hawks took another step toward becoming a team that might be a bona fide contender.

The Celtics get no rest as they head to Indiana for a game against the Pacers at 7 pm tonight.

Call it the Mike Woodson Contract Tour.

Or is this Woodson’s version of  the ‘This is it’ Tour?

The 6-2 Atlanta Hawks are visiting TD Garden tonight to try to stop the 8-1 Boston Celtics. In the course of doing so, they are trying to enter the conversation as true title contenders. Are they this year’s version of last year’s Orlando Magic, the team that few took seriously?

It is one of those situations that leaves you scratching your head. Over a 6 year period, 51 year old Hawk Head Coach Mike Woodson has taken a 13 win team of infants through the toddler era and they are now walking and running just fine. Their win total has moved up every single year of the Woodson era. They have gone from 13 wins, to 26, to 30, to 37, to  47. It only gets harder from here. Are they ready to take on the league’s big boys?

This year’s NBA has spawned a group of what can be called ‘super teams’. They all were top teams last season and only added to their arsenal in the off season. They are the NBA Champion Lakers, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, and last but certainly not least, the Boston Celtics.

You can sneak up on people for awhile. The Hawks are right at that stage where they are noticed. Can Woodson get this talented and now deeper team to play toe-to-toe with those top 5 teams? And you might want to add the Phoenix Suns if they can keep up an early season burst.

The Hawks played the Lakers and lost 118-110. Recently they had an impressive win over the Denver Nuggets 125-100. They also beat a solid Portland Trailblazer team that is experiencing some problems getting out of the gate. Other than that, their other 3 wins have been over Washington, Indiana, and Sacramento – all middling teams. The Hawks were drubbed by Charlotte 83-103.

Still this is a team on the cusp. They have the talent to make another jump forward and the bench with the addition of PF Joe Smith, SG Jamal Crawford, rookie PG Jeff Teague and the resigning of C Zaza Pachulia is stronger than it ever has been under Woodson. The Hawks made the commitment to surround this starting unit with solid role players to see how far they can go.

It may tell us how far Mike Woodson goes. Rarely has a coach that has been so successful been asked to play out their final year of a contract before discussing a renewal. Welcome to Mike Woodson’s world.

Some feel that he isn’t getting the utmost out of this team. Josh Smith has been out of control at times. Josh has finally buried his three point shot. It is a good thing because he rarely buried them when he shot them. He shot a mere 29.9% last season and was a career 27% three point shooter.This year …zero three point attempts. Congratulations, Josh and Mike. The obvious has been recognized and dealt with.

In a quirky stat, Josh Smith is the Hawks leading assist guy with 4.4 per game (tied with Bibby and Joe Johnson is right behind at 4.3). He is also second in the league with 2.6 blocks per game, while averaging 16 points and 7.2 rebounds.

On top of that, the Hawks only true star, swing man Joe Johnson will not re-sign an extension with the Hawks. He is going to see what the market will be bear for his services this coming off season. That can’t be a good thing for the Hawks.

So a team that has come a long way together over the last 5 years could look markedly different next season – depending on what happens in this one – or maybe not even depending on that. What would keep Joe Johnson around? A trip to the Conference Finals? or would it take a trip to the NBA Finals to get him to re-consider staying?

Anyway, it is an interesting season for the Hawks for that reason. Check out the game tonight for what should be a good contest. The Hawks have yet to win Boston since the Garnett trade and that includes the playoffs. They are 0-9 at TD Garden over that period.

The Celtics will been rejuvenated with their recent rest and will have to contain one of the league’s top offenses in the Hawks. They are fourth in the league with 107.8 points per game.

Kevin Garnett has come alive in recent games and is getting more aggressive at both ends of the court. He is averaging 17.7 points over the last three games and 13.4 on the year.

Rajon Rondo is the NBA steals leader with 3.0 per game, way ahead of Kobe Bryant,who is second at 2.3.

Game time is 8:00pm

One of the NBA’s oldest rosters showed what it can do when it gets to take a beauty rest. Its next game was….a beauty…and the bench took care of the rest.

The Celtics move to 8-1.

Facing a tough Utah Jazz team that gives the Cs trouble in the TD Garden, Kevin Garnett led the way with 18 points in just 26 minutes, while Rajon Rondo registered his third double double of the season with 14 points and 11 assists.

Garnett (and Perkins) also turned in a stellar defensive job on Carlos Boozer, holding him to just 10 points, on 5 of 7 shooting,  two rebounds, and 4 turnovers.

Because back-up point guard Ronnie Price is out, Deron Williams played 33 minutes for the Jazz with a troubled back.

Once again the Celtics’ second unit played a solid role. As the second quarter began, Marquis Daniels made a reverse lay up and Rasheed Wallace dropped in two straight three point bombs giving the Celtics their biggest lead (nine points) to that point at 36-27. The Jazz would get no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Just as amazing as the results, was watching a four man second unit playing with just one starter (Ray or Paul) running plays like a first unit, and reacting defensively with solid help defense. That just doesn’t happen very often in this league.

The starters came back in later in the quarter, got the lead to 12 and cruised into half time up ten 54-44.  They started the third quarter blazing from the outside, with Paul Pierce hitting two straight three pointers. Ray Allen followed those with a jumper and a three of his own. Then Garnett hit two free throws and Rondo made a  lay up off of the best sequence of the evening, giving the Celtics 14 points in the first 3:40 of the second half. It was a 14-6 run leading to a 19 point lead (69-50).

Passing. It’s a beautiful thing.

The Rondo lay up, making it 69-50, started with Kendrick Perkins stealing the ball in the middle at the other end. Rondo brings it up and throws it to Ray Allen cutting through underneath the hoop. Ray’s momentum brings him out on the other side and while in the air, Ray passes it to Kendrick Perkins cutting down the right side of the paint. Perkins immediately goes behind the back with a pass to Kevin Garnett setting up at the top left inside the arc. Garnett spots Rondo heading to the hoop on the left. The Jazz defense is completely confused at this point. Rondo drops in an easy lay up before Utah knew what hit them. The whole thing took about 3 seconds.

It was a thing of beauty. Basketball played at its best.

The Celtic lead got as high as 23 points in the fourth quarter on a Marquis Daniels driving lay up. Daniels was 3 for 5 shooting and appeared to be a little more active in looking for his shot. Eddie House scored all 5 of his points in the fourth quarter, but was just 2 for 7 shooting with 3 turnovers.

Against Boozer and the Jazz bench players in the fourth, Shelden Williams played solid defense, picking up a few fouls and corralling 5 boards along with his 6 points.

The rest and extra practice helped.

Off for three days, the Beantown Ballers practiced defending the pick and roll among other things, a staple of the Jazz offense. The rested Celtics took it to the unfortunate Utah Jazz, shooting .532 for the game while holding the Jazz to 0-10 from the three point line and just 86 points total.

The Celtics gave a clinic in sharing the ball all night, as 7 Celtics scored in double digits. All 12 Celtics played and 10 players scored. The Jazz never led in the game, as the Celtics jumped out on top, though Utah tied it up twice in the first quarter, at 16 and again at 23 all.

The Celtics final point total and shooting percentage won’t indicate it, but they faced some excellent defensive stands by the Jazz. An energetic and mobile Utah defense caused the Celtics to make multiple passes that either did not produce a solid look at the basket, or required extra patience to find the open shot. The renewed Celtics were up to the challenge.

Some Celtic passing sequences were simply brilliant, eventually dissect the defense for the easiest shot.

Correspondingly, the Celtics set the standard for an active defense, generating 7 steals and causing 21 turnovers, resulting in 25 points, while maintaining solid help defense all night. In spite of that, the Jazz scored 46 points in the paint, 12 points higher than what the Cs were allowing this season.

If you want to find fault with a solid defensive effort, (nit picking, I know) the Celtic were a bit slow in closing off the middle at times. The Celtics are the fourth best in the NBA in that category. The Jazz shot a credible .468 on the night for that reason. It was the distance shooting and turnovers that did the Jazz offense in.

An 18 point third quarter lead allowed Doc Rivers to rest most of the starters for the entire 4th quarter. The second unit (playing with Paul Pierce or Ray Allen) continued to play well, holding, and even extending the lead it was given. There were even Lester Hudson, J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker sightings in the final minutes.

Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were both 4 of 5 shooting with ten points at the half. Kendrick Perkins had 8 in the second period when the Celtics started to break away and ten total at the half way point. Kendrick led the Celtics with 8 rebounds.

Paul Pierce had an efficient and productive game with 13 points on just 4 of 7 shooting, but 3 of 5 from downtown, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and led both teams with three steals. Ray Allen finished 6 of 8 shooting for 15 points and 4 assists. Garnett added 4 rebounds, an assist and 2 steals.

Rasheed Wallace added 12 points on 5 of 12 shooting, with just one rebound in 21 minutes. Marquis Daniels hit double figures in scoring at ten points for the very first time as a Celtic, adding 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 21 minutes.

Shelden Williams added 6 points and 6 rebounds in 19 plus minutes as he continues to play a solid game.

Rebounding
Paul Millsap came off the Utah bench to lead all rebounders with 13 in 23 plus minutes. In fact, the Jazz had 17 offensive rebounds and beat the Celtics in rebounding overall 39-33. It is another area that the Celtics need more work, but it wasn’t enough. Last season, the Cs had the second best rebounding differential in the league at +4.5. Right now they are only +0.9.

Deron Williams and Ron Brewer led the Jazz with 13 points apiece. Williams was held to just 4 assists, his season low.

The Celtics play the 6-2 Atlanta Hawks next on Friday in Boston.

The Celtics will try get back on track with their 7-1 record against the Utah Jazz tonight in Boston.

They will be well rested after three days off since playing 8 games in 12 days (most in the league).

The Jazz have started slow (3-4) and again are with injuries.

Historically a poor road team, they seem to find motivation in Boston and have won two of the last three game they have played there.

For the Celtics, Bill Walker has returned to the team from a knee injury, and has practiced twice.

Bench marks

The story of the Celtics early season has been their bench. They have held or increased leads in all but one game. According to Hoopstats they are 2nd in the NBA in defensive efficiency. The Utah Jazz’s bench, on the other hand , are rated 25th.

The Jazz have two hurting point guards in Deron Williams (lower back pain and shin) and Ronnie Price (sprained big toe). Both are questionable for tonight in Boston. That would leave rookie Eric Maynor (3rd on the depth chart) as a possible starter. If Williams is at all able he will play, I’m sure.

Paul Millsap will provide strong support for Boozer off the bench at power forward.

The undrafted Utah rookie from Marquette, 6′ 5″ shooting guard, Wes Matthews has been getting playing time and making the most of it. He is playing almost 15 minutes, scoring 6 points per game on a solid 55% shooting.

Boston:

Paul Pierce leads the team in scoring with 18.8 points per game.

Rajon Rondo leads in assists with 9.0 per game.

Kevin Garnett has wrestled the rebound lead from Shelden Williams with 8.3 boards per game.

The Celtics nearly have 6 players scoring in double figures. Besides Pierce, Ray Allen =14.8, Kevin Garnett= 12.9, Rajon Rondo= 10.9, Rasheed Wallace= 10.6, and Kendrick Perkins at 9.5 points per game.

Though they have hit a drought recently, The Celtics are still shooting a healthy 40% from the three point line, led by Pierce’s .516% and Eddie House’s .444%.

Celtics #1 status categories:

The Celtics lead the league in points allowed at 84.4 per game.

They lead with a 14 point average winning margin spread.

They have the biggest differential in assists at 7.7 more than their opponents.

They lead with 3.5 steals per games more than their opponents.

They lead in field goal accuracy vs. their opponents with a margin of 7.7% more. (49.8% – 42.1%)

Number 2 in:

Steals per game at 10

Steals differential at -3.2 less per game than opponent

Utah:

Deron Williams leads the team with 21.7 points per game, and 10.7 assists (2nd in the league).

Carlos Boozer leads the team with 11.6 rebounds, and is second in scoring with 16.7 points per game

They have five players scoring in double digits.

Tonight’s game starts at 7:30pm

The Chris Mullin Publicity Stunt

Back in 2004 when Warriors owner Chris Cohan and Robert Rowell promoted Gary St. Jean “protege” Chris Mullin to VP/ GM it was nothing more than a silly little publicity stunt. Over the course of his 4 years at the Warriors helm his best move was getting saved by his former mentor Don Nelson. Despite what the media would like you to believe partly because of their bizarre vendetta against Nellie, Mullin was 1) not improving as a GM and 2) is a major reason for the Warriors current disarray with his silly trades (giving the New Jersey Nets a 1st round pick for a fringe NBA player in Marcus Williams) and odd obsession with constantly getting younger and rawer with a lot of b-rate talents, but never building a team to win in the present.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s hard not to root for Mullie. He’s a nice guy and wanted to create an atmosphere that players (regardless of how overpaid or untalented) would want to be a part of. Those are both commendable qualities.

But the media at large and the average Warriors or NBA fan blew Mullie’s dismal way out of proportion. He should’ve never been hired. He deserved to be fired. The problem is that the two guys who fired him (Chris Cohan and Robert Rowell) also deserved to be fired.

This is a strange situation.  We’re talking about a 19 win team here, but on paper, they look really strong.  I think you’d have to characterize their biggest strengths as depth and versatility.  With the addition of Telfair and Butler, both of whom were full time starters last season, and first overall pick Griffin, joining essentially five returning starters (Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman), you’ve got a team of eight starter-quality players.  (You can certainly dispute whether or not Telfair should have been a starter last season in Minnesota, but the simple fact of the matter is that he was, if only by default.)  In addition to those eight, Craig Smith has looked great in pre-season, and second year center DeAndre Jordan, the 35th pick in the 2008 draft, has made a huge step forward in his development.  So the roster goes ten deep in quality.  Obviously that depth will be tested right away in Griffin’s absence.

In addition to being deep, it is a versatile lineup…

2. What are the team’s biggest strengths?

Offense. The running mentality has been restored. There will be consistent emphasis on continuing to be a team that wants to run and score a lot of points thereby playing to its strengths.

Motivation. Amare Stoudemire is out to show that he is healthy and worthy of a maximum extension. The team acknowledges the low expectations from fans and media alike and are looking to play with a chip on their shoulder.

The Phoenix Suns have also been through coaches after coaches, this time, Alvin Gentry remains the coach. He was the assistant coach under Mike D’Antoni, then after D’Antoni was let go, Terry Porter came in, and in kind words, messed things up. Or even better, couldn’t get things right, but he only had 50 or so games with the team. Alvin Gentry also preaches a bit of defense. He is a man who wants the best of both worlds. Alvin Gentry has only been head coach of the Suns for 31 games.

“We’re going to be a running team,” Gentry promised. “We’ve got to go back to the culture we’ve always had here since I’ve been here and that’s to be an attack team on offense, and we are going to get better defensively.”

1. What significant moves were made during the off-season? The Kings went cheap and young, building through the draft with Tyreke Evans (No. 4), Omri Casspi (No. 23) and Jon Brockman (No. 38). The Kings also added Sean May on a one-year deal, and Sergio Rodriguez (by trading down from No. 31 to No. 38). The Kings should see a big upgrade on the sidelines, having hired Paul Westphal to replace Reggy Nattheus.

Basketball Fiend…

1. What significant moves were made during the off-season?
The Kings added a tremendous talent in draft pick Tyreke Evans. Evans is like one of those soldiers you see in the movies trained for one purpose: taking lives. Think Jason Bourne. Or Kurt Russell in “Soldier.” Except Evans wasn’t trained since birth to kill, he was trained to dominate the game of basketball. And he will. Eventually. But first he’s going to go through some growing pains. Forced shots, turnovers, silly fouls, that kind of thing. It’s a learning process, so hang with him Kings fans. He’ll be worth the wait.

I don’t consider Sean May and Desmond Mason key additions as much as I consider them cheap roster fillers. (Sorry, just being honest.) They’ll add something of value, I’m sure. I just haven’t figured out what it is yet.

Cowbell Kingdom…

3. What are the team’s biggest weaknesses?
Other than defense, rebounding and ball movement, I really can’t pinpoint any weaknesses with this team. They were one of the worst defensive and rebounding teams in the league last year and on top of that, they were terrible at moving the ball in the preseason. But other than that…

It was a bit of a strange game.

Down by two points (61-59) to the 0-6 Nets starting the fourth period, Brian Scalabrine sparked a lethargic Celtic offense with a three pointer, followed by a two pointer that was a toenail away from being another three.

After scoring just 4 points on 1 of 7 shooting to that point, Ray Allen then caught fire. He scored 8 points, mostly on quick hitting jumpers, in the final stanza, to carry the Celtics to victory. But he did it with the support of the Celtics’ bench once again, as Rasheed Wallace, Shelden Williams, and Kendrick Perkins all added 4 points each in the game changing quarter.

After the bench players helped establish a lead, the starters came in to close it out. After Nets’ center Brook Lopez‘ jump shot to get within 82-76, the Celtics held the Nets scoreless over the last 2:57 of the game as Perkins added a basket and hit 2 of 4 foul shots to ice it.

Suffice to say, it was the third straight game that the Celtics were unable to control the game, twice against inferior teams.

Rondo 4th Quarter No Show

Rajon Rondo tied with Paul Pierce in leading the Cs in scoring with 16 points, and added 5 steals. But Rondo didn’t play in the critical fourth quarter. Pierce led the Cs with 7 assists, but had no rebounds. Pierce, House and Allen all brought the ball up in the 4th.

Kevin Garnett led both teams with 13 rebounds, adding 3 steals, but shot only 3 of 13 for 9 points. Kendrick Perkins added 9 points and 8 rebounds.

Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce kept the Celtics in the game in the first half with 12 and 8 points respectively.

It was a game that could be viewed a number of ways.

• The Celtics were playing their 8th game in 12 days.
• The Nets were depleted of their star, Devin Harris, and two other starters in Courtney Lee and Yi Jianlian.
• The Celtics made a ridiculous 20 steals.
• The Nets were careless with their passes, committing 23 turnovers.
• The Celtics were tired. But they had 12 fast break points to the Nets 5.
• The Net’s Josh Boone felt that the Nets defended very well.
• As a depleted team, the Nets rose to the occasion and played even harder.
• The Celtics haven’t had a practice in a while to fix ‘slippage’ that Doc Rivers said was there.

The Difference
Ultimately, beyond the scoring outbursts from Brian and Ray, two things stand out:

1) The Nets were far better than the Celtics converting turnovers into points. They made 15 points off of just 12 Celtic turnovers. The Celtics could only convert 19 points off of 23 turnovers. That statistic kept the Nets in the game.
2) The Celtics’ bench came through in the 4th quarter and Scalabrine, Eddie House and Shelden Williams brought the Celtics up double digits while they were on the floor. Once again, the Celtics have gotten solid play from their bench.

At this point, it would be wise not to make too much out of the last three games the Celtics have played. But they have clearly struggled against two teams that you would assume to be easy wins. And they were unable to keep up with the Suns.

Of the three stars, only 34 year old Ray Allen played 40 plus minutes in this game and has played ’40 plus’ minute games three times this year already. But he came into camp this season in even better shape than he usually does and came alive in the 4th when fatigued would normally show.

After shooting just 40% for the game, the Celtics shot 10 of 17 in the fourth quarter to finish at .449%

The Nets started Josh Boone at PF along side Brook Lopez and that turned out to be a good move. Boone had 12 rebounds (4 offensive) as the Nets grabbed 9 offensive rebounds to the Celtics’ 3. The Nets out rebounded the Celtics 40-37.

The Nets also started Rafer Alston, Trenton Hassell and Bobby Simmons. Alston’s 20 points were second to Brook Lopez’ 23.

The Celtic defense was good enough to hold the Nets to 76 points on .431%. It seemed that Rondo was a step slow in defending Alston a number of times, allowing Alston to penetrate for 7 assists, though he did have 6 turnovers. Rondo, at times, appeared to be late coming around screens and was attempting the poke away from behind, as Alston went by.

Rasheed Wallace added 9 points on 3-10 shooting (0-4 from the arc), 4 rebounds, 4 steals and a block. Brian Scalabrine joined the Celtic theft ring with 3 pocket pickings.

Shelden Williams had another solid game with 8 points on 2 of 3 shots made with 4 of 4 foul shooting and 3 rebounds while having a +15 while he was in, to lead the team.

There was a J.R. Giddens sighting early in the second quarter for almost three minutes, with zero points, a steal, and a turnover.

The Celtics will now have 3 days to rest and work out the bugs of a 7-1 start that is not as impressive as the record would suggest. The Nets drop to 0-7, their worst start in the history of the franchise, according the Nets’ announcers.

The Celtics were without Marquis Daniels, who was excused for personal reasons. The Nets Chris Douglas-Roberts is out and has been diagnosed with swine flu.

The Celtics next play the Utah Jazz at home on Wednesday night.

The Celtics lost their first game.  But give them the Heinz Award for playing ‘catch up’ for most of 48 minutes.

The high flying Suns are back. They had the Celtics backing up all night. In a tremendous, highly contested 48 minutes of basketball, Phoenix put the pedal to the metal from the start and never stopped.

The Celtics gamely gave chase throughout, hitting back with a series of runs, getting within two points a few times in the second half, as they tried to wrestle control, but could never quite overtake the speedy Suns. Poor foul shooting all night didn’t help. They finished 9-18 in FTs.

Close Throughout
The lead stayed between 4-8 points for much of the game. The Celtics could not get the stops they needed whenever they got close. The Suns opened up an 11 point lead in the fourth that the Celtics methodically cut into. They managed to cut it to 4 points four times, once on a Ray Allen three pointer (96-92), once on a Rondo lay-up (98-94), once on a Garnett reverse lay up (104-100), the last time on a Rondo lay up (107-103) with 22.5 seconds left, but could get no closer.

Rondo Lay Up
The Rondo lay up at 98-94 was a thing of beauty as he rebounded a missed Ray Allen jump shot and started to bring the ball out again on the side. Rajon saw that everyone was covered and quickly reversed direction back into the paint, making a twisting lay-up around Nash and drawing the foul. He missed the foul shot and was 0-3 on foul shots on the evening.

The Biggest Plays
With the score at 104-100, Grant Hill missed a jump shot, and Ray Allen got the rebound. Paul Pierce’s three point shot missed but Rasheed Wallace got the rebound and passed it to Rajon Rondo. Rondo’s lay up attempt was blocked by Amar’e Stoudamire.

Steve Nash followed that with a three pointer, using Kevin Garnett to screen off Rondo, making it 107-100 with 50.9 seconds left.

The Celtics closed again to 107-103 on one of foul shots hit by Pierce and another Rondo lay up.

Amar’e Stoudamire then made two foul shots and Rasheed Wallace’s three point attempt rimmed in and out with 12.9 seconds left.

After a time out, Eddie House fouled Jason Richardson underneath, and he hit one of two making it 110-103, essentially ending the game. Garnett got the rebound with 8.5 seconds. Eddie House missed an inconsequential three point attempt with 2 seconds left.

Numbers
Thanks to Richardson, the Suns shot a blistering .542 from the three point line and .500 overall. The Celtics shot an equally hot  .517 overall thanks to their rim attacks, but just 4 of 18 from downtown.

In an effort to cut the Suns lead, the Celtics began the second half trying to pound in to the paint every chance they got. It almost worked as they scored 60 points in the paint.

Richardson led Phoenix with 34 points on 6 of 7 from the three point arc. Jason was on fire from the get-go with 14 first quarter points. Amar’e Stoudamire played a forceful game around the rim and even dunked on Garnett a few times.

The Celtics went to Kevin Garnett early and often as Kevin Garnett led the Celtics with 26 points on 13 of 20 shooting. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen supported with 16 points each. Allen shot well at 7 of 11, but Pierce was off and shot just 5 of 15 on the evening.

Nash beat Rondo in the game of assists 12-11, and outscored Rondo 16 to 14. He also out rebounded Rondo 3-2. Rondo had three steals. Nash had none.

Garnett’s Declining Hops
It was clear that Garnett does not have the hops he had before the surgery. Amar’e dunks right in front of him, plus numerous alley oop attempts to KG that Kevin managed to parlay into acrobatic lay ups show us the current Kevin Garnett. The lift just is not there. Will it ever be restored or is this the new repaired KG?

Talking Defense
Doc Rivers said at the beginning of this season that transition defense needed improvement. We saw why tonight against one of the fastest teams in the league.

What was more amazing was the competitive defense the Suns played. The Suns were closing out on the perimeter shooters quite well most of the night. Eddie House did not get a shot off for his first 8 minutes in the game. Was that ‘no defense’ Amar’e hitting the deck for loose balls?

The Amar’e Stoudamire block of a Rajon Rondo lay up combined with a Steve Nash three pointer near the end were the two biggest plays in a game that saw a myriad of big plays.

Both teams came to play, but Boston was just not ready for the speed, competition, and shooting  the Suns threw at them.

Boston gets the Heinz Award for playing catch up for most of the game as Steve Nash pushed the Suns quickly up court on every single possession.

Suns Bench
When Nash was out, second year PG Goran Dragic did much the same thing. The Suns bench outscored the Celtics bench in the first half 16-6 and helped out played the Celtics the whole game.

The Suns bench of Lou Amundson, Jared Dudley, Earl Clark, and Goran Dragic proved to be extremely feisty. They played very well and extended the Suns lead, even out playing many of the Suns’ starters against the Celtics. Dragic was particularly aggressive and hit the deck a few times going after rebounds, including of his own missed shots.

More Numbers
Rasheed Wallace was 0-6 from the arc and just 4 of 12 overall. He did make some big shots in the fourth quarter. Marquis Daniels was active offensively with 9 points on 4 of 7 shooting with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, but 3 turnovers as well.

Kendrick Perkins added 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. He and Channing Frye got into it going into half time and both received technical fouls. Perk also missed four foul shots going 4-8.

The Celtics are now 6-1 and head to New Jersey for a game tonight. They then have three days off before taking on the Utah Jazz at home.