Celtics Central

This game had more big shots in it than a Mafia wedding, a politician’s birthday party in the Virgin Islands sponsored by lobbyists or, for the more genteel, a round of Masters golf.

In what turned into an exciting contest to watch, the Celtics came back from 11 down in the 4th quarter to beat the Miami Heat in overtime, 112-106.

Bookmark this game as another important move forward and milestone of growth for the Celtic’s mercurial point guard, Rajon Rondo. Let notices go out to all star voters everywhere. A(n) (All) Star is Born.

Returning to the line up after resting his sore hamstring for a game, Rajon Rondo led the Celtics in scoring with 25 points on 9 of 12 shooting while making multiple big shots.

Rondo is making strides as a true leader, including scoring leader, and is reducing his weaknesses as he goes. Of major note, Rondo was 7 for 8 from the free throw line in this closely contested game. Dwarfing even the significance of that, Rajon scored 6 huge points in overtime, including a couple of teardrops and a lay up that looked like Rondo was already by the hoop.

To me, Rondo has crossed the Rubicon. After a game like this, there is no turning back. He can now take what he did here and build on it. There will still be games and moments when he won’t come through and he will miss foul shots and jumpers. But it won’t seem so impossible any longer. His success is becoming more frequent now. You can see the progress.

His efforts secured a Celtic win after rescuing the Celtics with .6 seconds left in regulation. Those who saw it were watching the birth another reliable option in crunch times.

Moments earlier, it appeared that a Celtic victory had been stolen away. And before that, Celtic strategy and Paul Pierce’s decision could be questioned.

With time running down, Doc put the ball into Paul Pierce’s hands as he is want to do. Paul held the ball at the top as time ran off the clock. With the offense spread flat, so Pierce could work one on one, Paul attempted to go middle, but was defended fairly well and he got off a weak version of finger roll that didn’t even make the hoop. Hardly the best strategy for a game deciding sequence.

Stolen Moment
With 3 seconds left and the score tied at 99, Ray took the in bounds pass. He stumbled as he tried to make a move around Dwayne Wade. Wade, who scored 44 points in the night, stole the ball and drove for a quick dunk, leaving just .6 seconds left on the clock.

All appeared lost. That is to everyone but Rondo. From Yahoo Sports….

“We’ve been working on that play for a long time, actually since last year,” Rondo said. “As soon as Wade stole the ball, I knew exactly that was the play we were going to run.”

‘The play’ was a side in, in bounds pass to Rajon at the far side of the rim. Paul Pierce throws a perfect ‘alley oop’ lead pass to Rondo. Rajon catches and shoots a lay-up at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime 101 all. That had to be the biggest single shot of Rondo’s young career. But he didn’t stop there.

Ray Allen scored nine 4th quarter points, including two huge three pointers and a technical foul shot moments earlier, aiding a Celtic 11 point comeback to take the lead.

Quentin Richardson’s ill-timed tech
With 1:35 left and the Celtics having just regained the lead at 95-93, Richardson was called for a foul against Pierce that shouldn’t have been called, or called against Pierce. Richardson’s anger against the call resulted in a technical foul that Ray Allen hit, making it 96-93.

Shortly after, Pierce who appeared okay in the game but a bit rusty, made a big block on a Mario Chalmers lay up attempt, preserving the lead.

In the overtime, with Ray Allen and Paul Pierce missing consecutive shots, Rajon Rondo stepped forward to hit a jumper and a tear drop and a lay up. Ray Allen also made a driving lay up to go up 106-103 and with 16 seconds left, then made two foul shots for the final points of the game, putting it out of reach.

It should be noted that Kendrick Perkins got 4 critical rebounds and hit one of two foul shots in overtime. Kendrick scored 17 first half points and finished with 20, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks including one on Jermaine O’Neal late in the fourth.

You just never know when a great game will break out. There were enough shooting stars to make an astronomy club giddy. Rasheed Wallace, Dwayne Wade, Udonis Haslem, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo all made a number of clutch shots resulting an adrenaline saturated 4th quarter and overtime with multiple clutch performances.

In the big shot category, Rasheed Wallace hit two big three pointers and had a Kendrick Perkins assisted dunk in the Celtics 4th quarter surge to the lead. His last of three three pointers tied the score at 93 with 2:54 left . Wallace fouled out with a minute left in regulation, but not before scoring 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting and grabbing 9 rebounds.

Udonis Haslem had eight 4th quarter points as Miami built their 11 point lead.

Ray Allen scored 22 points and besides scoring so many big points, he added 4 steals, 2 blocked shots and 3 rebounds.

Paul Pierce had a tough time finding the hoop, going 4 for 12, but added 8 of 9 free throws as he was aggressive in getting to the line. Paul added 6 rebounds and 5 assists as he filled in wherever he could.

After giving up 35 first quarter points, Wallace and Perkins and the rest of the Cs settled down, though the Celtics gave up 56 points in the paint. Miami shot just .408. for the game. With 14 offensive rebounds, the Heat had 16 second chance points to the Celtics 6 on six offensive rebounds.

It wasn’t one of Glen Davis’ better games. He couldn’t seem to get untracked. He scored one point with 3 rebounds in almost 20 minutes.

Tony Allen played somewhat better with 9 points in 19 minutes but had 3 turnovers.

Dwayne Wade had 18 first quarter points while being guarded solely by Ray Allen and with little help. The Cs changed things up after that.

This was a game that neither team could take control of and keep. The Celtics had 24 turnovers led by Rondo with 6 and Pierce with 5. That factor alone kept the Heat in the game. The Heat had only 11 turnovers.

So the Celtics pull one out with some clutch play making and shooting. They mostly pulled it out because of Ray Allen’s clutch shooting and the emerging scoring ability of Rajon Rondo.

And in this game we get a glimpse of what Rasheed Wallace can do as a starter and in the absence of Kevin Garnett. Except for almost getting another very untimely technical at the end when he drew his 6th foul, he shows he can still produce at key times over the course of a game.

The Celtics are now 25-8 and they have won two straight games.

The Celtics next game is Friday in Atlanta against the Hawks.

It was day two of the new year. While other parties had wound down, the Beantown Ballers had finally found something to celebrate by putting their northern neighbor on the rocks.

With Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo all out with injury, the Boston Celtics stopped the 5 game winning streak of the Toronto Raptors 103-96.

A surprisingly tenacious team defense got the Celtics the lead for good early in the second quarter and they held off a Raptor 4th quarter run to hold on to win # 24 against 8 losses. They limited the Raptors to just 40 points in the middle 2 quarters, building an 11 point lead at 78-67.

Ray and ‘Sheed Lead the Way
Ray Allen led with 23 points and Rasheed Wallace started, adding 16 more as the two of them hit most of the big shots in the game. But they also got nice support from Glen Davis (15 pts), Kendrick Perkins (14 pts), Tony Allen (14) and Eddie House (12) to stop the Raptors in the Garden.

Giddens For the Defense
J.R. Giddens got the first start of his 2 year NBA career and played small forward taking Paul Pierce’s place. Giddens did a credible job defensively against Hedo Turkoglu in 20 minutes of play. Helping to set an early defensive tone, Giddens deflected a pass from Jarrett Jack to Tony Allen in the first quarter. JR scored just 2 points on three shots, but added 2 rebounds, an assist, a steal, a block and 2 turnovers.

Tony Allen Contributes Again
Tony Allen started again and, playing point guard, distributed 7 assists to lead the team and tie for game honors. He contributed 5 rebounds, a steal, a block, and 3 turnovers in 35 plus minutes.

Glen Davis Solid
Apparently recovered from a sprained ankle, Glen Davis played a solid supporting role, providing energy, 5 rebounds, 5 of 9 shooting overall with 5 of 7 free throws for his 15 points in 19 plus minutes. Glen was able to put in a number of contested lay ups, while also drawing numerous fouls against the Raptor bigs.

It was a game that the Celtics could have put in some false effort, played ugly, and after three quarters said ‘oh well’ and folded their tents to head off to a three day lay off. The ‘shortage of man power’ excuse was there.  But that would have meant a 4 game losing streak and a lingering bad taste in their mouth.

Instead, the Raptors are a team that the Celtics choose to abuse. They scored 68 points in the paint on them once this season and added 48 more in this contest. Boston’s depleted line up shot a crisp .514 and they out rebounded the Raptors 36-28.

Need for Sheed
This was a game where having a player of Rasheed Wallace’s caliber made a big difference, especially in comparison to Andre Bargnani. With out much effort Wallace shot 6 of 11 on the night and generally manhandled Andre Bargnani.

Wallace added 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. There aren’t too many big men with the versatile inside/outside game that Wallace has that can put up those kind of stats. His effort was huge in winning this game.

Wallace helped get things started in the first quarter with 2 three pointers. In the critical 4th quarter, he scored a turnaround bank shot over Bargnani making the score 86-81, and then stole a Marcus Banks pass.

Toronto Closes with a Kick; Celtics Respond
Celtic defense faded towards the end of game as the Toronto made a late 4th quarter run to cut the lead to 5 or 6 points a number of times. They did with open three pointers by Marco Bellinelli, Jack and Bargnani along with a Bosh hook shot and dunk.

The Celtics answered with 3 baskets for 7 points by the constantly moving Ray Allen, a ‘Sheed dunk around a stuck-in-cement Bargnani, and a clutch Tony Allen lay up right into the defending Chris Bosh.

A Ray Allen lay up made it 101-94 with 48 seconds left. After a Chris Bosh banked hook shot made it 96-101 with 35 seconds left, the Raptors would not score again.

Paint Protectors
Perkins, and Wallace did a good job of protecting the paint, allowing just 30 points. Toronto averages 41 points in the paint. This was even with some addition pressure on the Celtic bigs. There was one sequence where Perkins appeared a bit upset when he had to foul an uncontested Jack to stop a lay up. The very next time down court, a Marcus Banks driving lay up attempt was snuffed by Eddie House with a solid foul.

Eddie shot 4 for 11, including 2 for 6 from the three point line, adding 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 28 plus minutes.

Since Jarrett Jack has been inserted into Toronto’s starting line up, they were 7-4 until last night. Former Celtic point guard, Marcus Banks, has also found some daylight with the Raptors during their recent run after languishing of the bench for three different teams for the past few years.

While Celtics defense was good enough to keep the offensive minded Raptors (8th in the league in scoring at 103.3) at bay, a porous Raptor defense (they are the second worst in the NBA points allowed) could not do the same.

Ray Allen Active on Offense
Ray Allen often lost his defender on 180 degree screens and pin downs underneath the basket and then split interior defenders Bosh and Bargnani for well timed lay ups.

Perkins led the Celtics with 10 rebounds and shot 5 of 8 with a steal and a blocked shot but had 4 turnovers.

Brian Scalabrine played 15 scoreless minutes, while Shelden Williams added 2 points, an assist and a steal in 11 plus minutes.

‘Les’ Gives More
Rookie guard Lester Hudson acquitted himself well in 12 plus minutes, scoring 5 points on 2 of 3 shooting, while adding 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers. He played reasonably good defense as well.

The Celtics gave up just 3 fast break points to a Raptor team that averages 13.4. The Celtics had 13 fast break points of their own.

All things considered, this was a solid win for the Celtics. They had been losing games they should have won. This time they played with effort and purpose. No doubt Toronto is one of the league’s softer teams. Their 5 game winning streak including a win over New Jersey, a win over Charlotte and two over Detroit. The lone quality win was against New Orleans if you want to call it that.

Still, I have to think they will start to play somewhat better as the season goes on. Their lack of effort and execution on defense is glaring. Celtic fans should be thankful they are what they are.

Boston plays again Wednesday in Miami against the Heat.

We will start the new year with some holiday meditations on the recent state of the Celtics from Celtics Town‘s Jay King. Another Celtic starter gets some unplanned but necessary rest. Jay gives his thoughts on the situation. Be sure to check out Jay’s site when you get a chance.

What’s that sound? Could be opportunity knocking for some players buried deep on the bench.

by Jay King

Rajon Rondo has now joined the long list of Celtics down with injury.  Against Toronto on Saturday, he’ll sit the game out along with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Marquis Daniels.

With the injury list growing longer every day, it finally looks like the young guys might get their chance (J. R. Giddens is apparently slated to start against Toronto).  If you ask me, though, their opportunity should have come a long time ago.

With four of their rotation players out with injury last game, including two of their stars, I thought Doc Rivers would finally give Bill Walker, Lester Hudson, and J.R. Giddens an opportunity to play.

And he did… for a combined 16 minutes of garbage time at the end of a blowout.

So why is Doc still not giving the young guys a chance, even with an old, injury-ravaged roster?  It comes down to one of two things:

1) Doc might not have any faith in the young guys on this roster, or…

2) Doc might not have any faith in any young guys, period.

I think it’s more likely answer number two.  For years, Doc has kept young players glued to the bench.  Ryan Gomes, Glen Davis, Leon Powe, Rajon Rondo… the list goes of players who have paid their dues earning splinters on the bench before finally earning the role they deserve goes on and on.  Doc has been set against using young players ever since… well, ever since a group of predominantly young players helped lead him to a 24-58 record.  (Wouldn’t you be against young players, too, if you had watched Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green and co. almost get you fired?)

Still, it’s time the young guys get a shot.  If you’re like me, you want to see the young ‘uns get a chance for a couple reasons:  First of all, they can give the vets a rest.  How many times have you seen Ray Allen register a 40-minute night, as you sit at home wondering, “Doc, why is Allen still in the game?  There are five minutes left, the Celtics are up by 30 points, and he’s already played 43 minutes…”

I know Doc wants to keep his veterans in rhythm by playing them at least a certain amount of minutes every game, and I understand that completely.  But it isn’t like I’m asking for Ray to play 20 or 25 minutes a game… I just want him to play a few minutes less than the 36.1 mpg he’s played so far this season.  Maybe it’s just me but, if I’m Doc, I don’t want my 34-year old shooting guard leading my team in minutes.  I just don’t.

The second reason for giving the youngster’s a chance?  They might actually be good.  If Doc’s string of keeping good young players stapled firmly to the bench holds true, Hudson could be the next Rondo, Giddens could be the next Gomes, and Walker could be, well, hopefully anybody but Gerald Green.  (On the other hand, Hudson could be the next J.R. Bremer, Giddens could be the next Kedrick Brown, and Walker could be the next, well, Gerald Green.)

The point is, we don’t know.  Granted, I don’t know what happens in practice.  I don’t know how poorly or how well the young guys play when I can’t watch on t.v.  But with injuries mounting like snowflakes during a Nor’easter, it’s time to give them a chance to prove during a game situation whether or not they deserve minutes.

If Doc plays the young’uns, who knows?

Maybe he’ll unearth a diamond in the rough.