As logically predicted in my initial report on the impact of Delonte West’s wrist injury, the Celtic’s spotlight will move to Von Wafer and Avery Bradley to fill the vacuum. Danny Ainge is reporting that the Celtics will not look outside their roster for help.
Ainge, in a phone interview from the Maui Invitational in Hawaii, said the club has no plans to make any roster moves to replace West. The Celtics have 15 players on their roster and only West and Von Wafer have non-guaranteed contracts. Ainge said the club will not immediately search for another guard.
“We like our guys, and Avery [Bradley] is starting to get healthy and Avery and Von are going to have to step up and play,’’ Ainge said. “In order to make a move we’d have to let someone go and we like our guys.”
The operative word in that quote is ‘immediately’ regarding searching for another guard. That means the Cs will take a long look at what they have in house. Wafer and Bradley would have to fail rather emphatically for the Celtics to explore the free agent pool and trade routes. So they are not ruled out, but are more of a Plan B.
I am more than okay with that decision. Von Wafer looks like he can contribute in short order. While I have not watched Avery Bradley play a great deal, he seems to have real potential and the only way to move his NBA learning curve forward is through actual live playing time. I am all for that.
As suggested in my last post, Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis was brought along in his rookie year and the Celtics won the championship. While things are different this season, there is no reason I can think of for not attempting to do the same with Avery Bradley.
Delonte will be out for an uncertain amount of time, but the Celtics are not expecting him back until April. That will give both Von Wafer and Avery Bradley ample opportunity to make their marks, and get more familiar with the Celtic sets as they do so. As regular season injuries can sometimes do, it may provide a hidden blessing if Wafer or Bradley, or both, develop into consistent role players.
So it becomes another trying season for Delonte West, a player with a history of all out play but a certain fragility. If the team gets him back and in shape for the playoffs, that too, may provide something in a positive way as he will not have been worn down by the 82 game schedule.
Each little crisis provides a challenge and an opportunity, So far, Danny and the Celtics have stocked the team deep enough and well enough to absorb the injury hits they have been taking.
A strong off season on paper is coming under pressure now.
So far, it looks like the Celtics have some solid answers to mitigate each situation.
From Paul Pierce, quoted in YahooSports…
“What’s new? We’ve been going through this for the last two years it seems. But we can’t hang our heads and get down. The next guy just has to step in and play well, and we think we have the guys to do that.”
So far, so good.
The Celtics resume play Friday night at home against the Toronto Raptors at 7:30pm.
The Boston Celtics head into Thanksgiving Week-end on top the Eastern Conference, but will lose Delonte West for a while because of a broken wrist he received from breaking a fall.
Let’s start this off right. Thank you Celtics. Thanks for giving us a win to go into Thanksgiving with.
You played without Rajon Rondo, your All Galaxy assists leader and top energy guy. Top experts in the field of experimental fuels are trying to figure what propels the bundle of energy called Johnny Rondo. DNA sequencing…and patenting, is not being ruled out. I think it has something to do with converting defiance, hubris, confidence, ultra competitiveness, contrariness and a Rubik’s Cube mind into usable fuels.
There is the wonder of chlorophyll. There is solar power. There is wind power. The newest phenomena is something called high octane Rondo power. It is important to note that you are learning to play reasonable basketball without him.
You sustained another season changing injury to another guard, Delonte West when he went out in the second half with a wrist injury that turned out to be what everyone knew it was but hoped it wasn’t…a broken wrist. Is that a bell I hear ringing? Mr. Von Wafer, your number is about to be called…and you are about to get your wish – playing time.
You Celtics played through what appeared to be a first half malaise. You scored just 38 points, were out rebounded by 20-14 and allowed the Nets to shoot 58%. All this while making Johan Petro look like scoring machine.
I wondered if the holiday for the Green Machine hadn’t started early. You didn’t look checked out but you didn’t look locked in either. Welcome to another half focused effort against another lower tier team. Then you checked your watches and turned it on just enough to head into your Turkey Day without being one.
But I’m left wondering if a win like the one you had tonight is worse than a loss. All this win did was vindicate playing at less than full effort and then turning it on when you needed to. It reinforced a bad habit. It is like running that yellow light and not getting caught. The very fact you won rewards such an effort. If that seems an unfair assessment to you the player, and you, the fans of Celtic Nation, I understand.
Shaq Dancing
There are other far more positive ways of looking at this win. Shaq had a huge, huge game. Amazing. He scored at will and was completely adept and at quite home around the paint. It was like his rocking chair was set up there and his team mates lobbed bunnies into him. That was how easy he made it seem. Did I even see him sprinting back up court after making a quick but skilled, difficult ‘hey nice one!’ block at one end, running down court and finishing the break at the other? After all that?
Shaq had his highest scoring game since the 2008-9 season with 25 points on 9 of 10 shooting and 7 of 13 foul shots to go with 11 rebounds to boot. While it wasn’t done against Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan or Pau Gasol, it appeared that Kris Humphries and Brook Lopez weren’t exactly pushovers in the paint in this game.
Humphries surprised me with a more aggressive and effective interior defensive effort than you might expect from him. He had 2 nice blocks and altered other shots. The effort was there and that Garnett had a difficult night (4 for 12 shooting, 8 points and 5 rebounds) was not completely coincidental.
So. Did the Nets play well, and did the Celtics also play well under the circumstances? Or was this another ‘do only what is necessary to win’ effort?
To be sure, sometimes it seems that whatever a team or person does, they can’t win – even with a win. This game could be one of those games. There are simply more ways than one to interpret this contest.
I appreciated the Nets effort. I understood the Celtics manpower shortage at point guard and center.
But I sometimes find it hard to differentiate between 48 minute patience, waiting for your spot and…coasting. With the Celtics, in contests against inferior opponents like these, it clearly looks like coasting. Call it ‘unmotivation’. They seem to be going through the motions. Then they make their move. Only sometimes it is too late and the other team has locked into playing hard and with confidence. The Celtics look surprised with the big ‘L’ that gets hung on them in those circumstances.
Luckily this was the Nets and they played their role according to the script. Play hard and then fold just enough under mounting Celtic pressure. A few dumb turnovers, a number of missed pressure shots, and a weakening defense is all the Celtics need to turn things around. That is because Ray Allen and Paul Pierce will make enough big shots and big passes to beat lesser teams, if you let the Celtics hang around.
So that was how it played out last night. In the second half Ray Allen went 4 for 8, had 2 big three pointers, a tough lay up, had 12 second half points and 7 assists overall. Paul Pierce had 15 second half points arrayed with a number of big shots that helped tame the Nets. Ray hit a huge three pointer on a pass from a heavily attended Paul Pierce to give the Celtics some spread.
So the Celtics beat the a Nets team led by 20 points from Devin Harris and Anthony Morrow’s 18 points and no assists in 39 minutes. They held the Nets to 83 points, but the Nets held them to 89 points. They allowed the Nets to shoot over 50% for much of the game. Then they shot 7 for 24 in the 4th quarter.
Whatever you want to make of this game, you can make. KG got all the defensive attention (double teams were quick, often and sometimes unexpected. Garnett would often turn right into one) so Shaq might have been more open than normal.
Pierce and Allen rose to the challenge. Nate Robinson did positive things. Glen Davis brought his energy. Marquis Daniels helped out.
Changes and Questions
But a few things do change going forward. With West now out for an extended period, that means Von Wafer should be getting a better look at what he can do for this team. It also means that Nate Robinson can’t wait any longer for West to help him be all he can be, and he must get himself going in a good rhythm while continuing to run the offense.
Before Delonte and Nate, it was Glen Davis and Nate. They had some emerging offensive chemistry with pick and pops. Can Von Wafer and Nate start to get something going together?
I am assuming that it is Von Wafer and not rookie 1st rounder Avery Bradley that gets a more substantial opportunity. Could that be wrong? Glen Davis got real PT as a 2nd round rookie in a championship season. Might Doc opt to look long and hard at that and start to develop Avery now with West out?
Keeping with the day
Let us be thankful that:
We get to watch such a talented and confident group of players.
Shaq has been such a positive influence on this team and in games, after much hand wringing on his announced signing.
Doc Rivers returned and seems up to the task of managing such enormous egos.
Kevin Garnett is healthier than last season.
Paul Pierce is healthier than last season.
Ray Allen stayed with the Celtics and hasn’t lost a step.
Glen Davis’ game has grown as much as it has.
Rajon Rondo has grown enormously as a player, even from his all star season.
That the Celtics are 11-4 and atop the Eastern Conference without playing their best ball, nor being completely healthy.
That we are complaining about a team that is 11-4 and atop their conference.
Okay, now go eat some turkey and complain about Uncle Ralph or Aunt Minnie instead.
After laying yet another egg Sunday against the Raptors and losing by one, the Rondo-less Celtics went after another raptor last night. This time they decided to get into the holiday spirit and, instead, found a turkey to eat. Well, it was really the Atlanta Hawks, but but they cooked this bird early…and there were plenty of leftovers. All 12 Celtics scored.
Did someone say stuffing? The Cs stuffed it to them from the start.
After continuing to surprise themselves and losing to a few teams recently they really should have added to the win column, the Celtics came out gangbusters in this one. Up by a crushing 26 points after one quarter, the Atlanta nerve was dead and the Hawks compliantly played the rest of the 48 minutes so everyone could play.
All 12 roster players on the Celtics played…and scored. I can’t remember anytime recently that I have seen that. Maybe the last time was on ’08 when the Green Machine blew out teams like they were winding their watch. Maybe it was just before that when the young, inexperienced Celtics were on the receiving end of a blow out like this.
Nate Robinson started again for injured Rajon Rondo. This time he generated a double double with 16 points and 10 assists before developing a limp in the 3rd quarter. Nate was a red hot 4 of 5 from the three point line. The bench was emptied in the 4th period and even rookies Avery Bradley and Luke Harangody played 6 plus minutes each. That is how lethargic the Hawks were.
The Hawks leading scorer was Mike Bibby with 11 points. Josh Smith scored 2 points. Joe Johnson had but 6.
The Celtics numbers were modest as well. But that was because no one played more than 30 minutes (Robinson). The Green Machine was led by their defensive rock, Kevin Garnett, who started off shooting 6-6 and finished 8 of 10 for 17 points while adding 11 rebounds and 5 assists.
Paul Pierce looked sharp while catching nothing but net with a few mid range jumpers over defenders and finished with 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting in 27 minutes.
Why the Hawks Wanted Shaq
Shaquille O’Neal played 21 minutes and put up a double double of 13 points and 11 rebounds and found little to impede him. Shaq was courted in earnest by the Hawks this past summer before deciding to sign with the Celtics. This game demonstrated why.
Al Horford is a talented and aggressive, but undersized center to begin with. Zaza Pachulia is a serviceable back up center but no match for the bulk of Shaq when O’Neal can plant himself down low. So, a good question is…how good would these Hawks be right now if Shaq signed with them instead?
The Hawks once again started fast at 6-0 and have dipped since then. They are now 8-6 and trying to figure what is wrong. It’s clear that Shaq or someone like him (okay, there isn’t anyone like him) would help considerably. The dearth of available big men who can make a difference has made such acquisitions difficult to say the least. Shaq pitched a tent in the paint, built a fire, cooked hot dogs and marshmallows and there was little the Hawks could do to stop him from shooting 6 of 8 around the rim.
Ray Allen defended Joe Johnson well and finished with just 9 points himself on 4 of 8 shooting with 3 assists. More was not needed on this night.
Even without Rajon Rondo, the Celtics defense locked in early, and the Hawks didn’t know what hit them. The first quarter ended 39-13.
I’m not sure but I think it was embarrassing. Let’s check.
“This was very embarrassing,” said first-year coach Larry Drew, who spoke with his team behind closed doors for more than 20 minutes afterward. “Very, very embarrassing. Very embarrassing. If I had one word to sum it up: embarrassing.”
Yes, it was… embarrassing…if you were a Hawks fan. The Celtics have been embarrassed a few times recently themselves, but not like that. Bad timing for the whatever team was playing the Celtics after the Raptor loss, making it 2 in row for the first time this season.
The Celtics are now 10-4 and play New Jersey on Wednesday. Another turkey the day before Thanksgiving wouldn’t hurt, would it?
It just wouldn’t be right for me to say ‘don’t count your chickens’. So I won’t.
The 9-3 Boston Celtics play at 1pm today in Toronto against the hapless 4-9 Raptors.
The Celtics continue to have trouble getting up for teams they expect to beat. After handling the talented OKC Thunder rather easily in Oklahoma over a week ago, the Thunder came into Boston a few days ago without their burgeoning superstar, Kevin Durant and their number 3 guy, power forward Jeff Green.
The Thunder then shocked the Celtics 89-84, and handed the Green Machine their first home loss of the year.
The Celtics, like most top teams, have trouble staying focused for games they think they should win. They often win anyway because of their veteran experience, talent and ability to close games out. They put on a clinic against the Washington Wizards who allow the 2nd highest FG% in the NBA and shot a ridiculous 64% on the evening.
The Thunder are a far superior team to the Wizards, but with Durant out the Celtics didn’t bring their ‘A’ game and when they tried to make up for it in the 4th quarter, it was too late. They should have little trouble disposing of the Raptors.
The Celtic troika of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen are all looking much more solid season together. With Rajon Rondo going berserk with assists, and either O’Neal (Shaq or Jermaine) doing well when they play, the starting 5 has been a formidable force when they are locked in.
With Jermaine out trying to get a knee healed, Shaq has been starting and they have been going right to him to start games. Shaq is showing he is still a force when he plants himself near the hoop. Rajon and the rest of the Celtics have been finding him with alley oops, lay-ups and dunks and that draws fouls and the defense in. The rest of the offense then opens up and Rondo has become masterful at finding his open shooters.
Paul Pierce accuracy at career highs right now. Ray right behind.
Paul Pierce is leading the Celtics with 20.6 points per game, at a career high 51.7% and is shooting a career high 47.5% from the three point line, and has a little of Sugar Ray’s magic foul shooting dust rubbing off on him with a career high 92.3% foul shooting percentage. Ray Allen is second in scoring at 17.3, with 47.8% from the floor, 43.9% from the arc, and an identical 92.3% from the foul line.
Kevin Garnett’s game and scowl have returned this season. Oh, the scowl was there last season, but the game wasn’t. Garnett is averaging 9.4 rebounds and 15.7 points a game, while shooting 52% from the field. The Celtics are the most accurate shooting team in the league at 50.5%. Credit that to the improved floor play of Rajon Rondo and a healthy starting unit that seems to know each other better every year.
Add in strong bench play from Glen Davis, Marquis Daniels and a returning Delonte West, you have a difficult team to beat and some say the deepest team of the KG era. Take the games seriously for the full 48 minutes has been an occasional problem.
We should see a more focused team in Toronto. But they may not be at full strength. Rajon Rondo has a strained left ham string injury picked up in the Thunder game, in addition to plantar fasciitis in each foot. He will be a game time decision.
If he doesn’t start, I assume Delonte West will get the nod at point guard and Nate Robinson will come off the bench in support.
The Chris Bosh-less Raptors are going to experience a long year without a solid go-to player, a continuing lack of a defensive mindset, and no strong second options for scoring. One thing they are doing better ‘apres Bosh’, is rebounding. They have a net difference of +2 per game. Reggie Evans has emerged as board eater and is 4th in the league at 11.5 rebounds a game.
The Raptor’s scoring is down to 99.9 per game from 104.1 a year ago. But their defense is somewhat improved at 102.8 points per game and rated 20th best in points allowed per possession. Last season they were at 105.9 points allowed (3rd worse and rated dead last by Basketball reference based on points allowed per possession.)
Andre Bargnani is the team’s top scorer at 21.2 points per game and is followed by a balanced array of young hopefuls in sharp shooting 6’6” Sonny Weems at 14, 6’7” DeMar DeRozen at 13, and 6’8” Lithuanian Linus Kleiza at 11.6.
Raptors Trade
The Raptors just completed a multi-player trade on Saturday. It is one that is meant to benefit the team financially going forward as the Raptors picked up a valuable expiring contract. Starting point guard Jarrette Jack was traded along with center David Anderson, and guard Marcus Banks to the New Orleans Hornets for guard Jerryd Bayless, Peja Stojakovic and his $14.2 million expiring dollars.
To satisfy demands of the league’s arcane salary cap, there are actually two separate parts to the transaction and the Raptors will retain more than $12 million U.S. of the “traded player exception” they got after the departure of Chris Bosh in July.
That means Jose Calderon will be handed the starting point guard position once again. Some thought that the Raptors were showcasing Jack for a trade and that looks more likely now. Calderon is not considered to be as good of a defender Jack is, but runs a team better and is a better outside shooter.
What to Expect
The Celtics usually manhandle the non-physical Raptors and this time should be no different. The younger players on the Raptors will put up a fight, but it will be to little avail, unless the Celtics hit the snooze button again, and wake up too late.
And yes, I am going to say it…that is why they play the games.
These Celtics play the game the right way and play it very well most of the time. They just have to pretend every game is against the Heat. With Halloween excepted, sometimes they aren’t so good at pretend.
Is it the year of the O’Neals, or the semi-year of the O’Neals, or the Semih year?
Jermaine O’Neal will now miss 2-3 weeks to heal his left knee. The Celtics say they won’t seek outside help unless it drags on longer.
It is possible that is all Jermaine needs to get things right. So I understand the Celtics showing patience. Jermaine can still be a force and he and Shaquille O’Neal can be something when they play… together or otherwise.
The Celtics are motoring along at 8-2 and atop the league standings, so they bought themselves some time. As time goes on, the question becomes at whose expense?
Glen Davis has proven to be durable so far, and is having somewhat of a break out season with terrific play at both ends of the floor, but has been logging major minutes to fill in for the O’Neals’ absences.
The team needs to monitor a now healthier Kevin Garnett to keep him right for 82 games. Semih Erden is showing his rookie inexperience and is nursing a tender shoulder himself.
The state of affairs for Celtic big men is rather precarious. I already suggested Josh Boone, who is playing in China, as someone who could help. Closer to home, Erick Dampier is without a home and has been adamantly looking. (Pickings are slim to say the least.)
There must be a reason why no one has picked up the experienced center as every team could use talent at that position. He has been rumored close to signing for a number of teams but has yet to consummate a deal anywhere. He would be a likely suspect.
In the meantime, Shaq had his best outing of the year recently with 18 points and hopefully can log about 20 minutes a game until Jermaine gets back. Otherwise, it will be Semih Erden taking his lumps as he learns the NBA game and Glen Davis moving over to center when neither 7 footer is in.
The Celtics knew full well that keeping the O’Neals healthy was not a likely occurrence for the year. But no one expected this much trouble this early.
Just throwing this out there for more wild speculation….
The Detroit Piston ship is listing in the water and experiencing some rough weather.
Detroit Piston Tayshaun Prince just had a very public heated exchange with his coach John Kuester on the sidelines and Kuester had to be restrained from Prince. Tayshaun was benched for the rest of the half. Things were apparently resolved and Prince did play in the second
half.
Prince is in the final year of an oversized ($11.1 mil) contract. More important, he is the type of defender that the Celtics need, long and tenacious, for Kobe, LeBron, and Carmelo. He may have slowed down a bit, but appears to be an upgrade to anything the Celtics currently have. While his shooting is off right now, he has been a reliable three point shot over his career, has tremendous playoff experience, and is known as a solid locker room guy. Hmm….
Oh that it were possible to get a Prince to defend a ‘king’. Highly unlikely, I know. And the Pistons still have hopes of righting what appears to be a distressed ship with minor mutinies already occurring. Kuester’s has had significant rifts with starting point guard Rodney Stuckey on more than one occasion. He ignored Kuester’s direction in at least one instance, and Prince has directed criticism towards his coach as well.
The Pistons, at best, seem like a .500 club to me. If things get much worse, would they look to make signicant changes?
In the mean time, the Celtics potential needs at center seem to offer limited options in the free agent universe.
Here is hoping for a healthy ‘Year of the O’Neals.’
Paul Pierce is leading the Celtics with 20.2 points per game, is shooting 48.5% from the floor and 44% from the three point line, while hitting foul shots at a Ray Allen-like 92.9%. Those are just excellent numbers. More important he is getting back his confidence and playing the ‘go-to’ role the Celtics need him to play at critical points in games.
Ray Allen on Paul Pierce in Julian Benbow’s article in the Globe…
“It’s great, and he’s taking great care of his body,’’ Allen said. “He’s slimmed down, he’s really focused on his body, and that’s big for the team because we need him on the floor.
Paul Pierce is one of those players who ‘plays bigger’ than he is. That is most of the time. Some times he has been bigger than he probably wanted to be. Paul brings a certain ‘weight’ and swagger to this team that few in this league can, but sometimes weight has been a challenge as well. It has been interesting to watch the Celtics’ newest 20,000 point scorer manage the battle of the bulge over the years.
It was never more evident than the year he sat out with injury while the young Celtics lost 18 games in a row. When Pierce came back just to stop the bleeding and beat San Antonio, he was doing a good John Bagley impression.
Pierce is definitely a guy with a kind of bulky build and he uses that size to his advantage, especially attacking the basket and going after rebounds. When he wants to be, Pierce can be the very best rebounding small forward in the league. Bar none. But it has been a while since we’ve seen that. Now he is back up to 5.7 boards a game, with a 14 rebound performance thrown in just to let us all know he can still be a force there when he needs to be.
His bulk and strength come in especially handy when defending and bodying up built and stacked players like LeBron James. It also helps on the offensive end when backing down opponents on a post up or shoulder bumping his defender back and turning away into a step back jumper or fade away.
But there is a fine line Paul has been walking over the years. Sometime he has been on one side and sometimes tilting a little on the other. He has always amazed me how he can manage to finally get into playing shape every year. But you can notice that he is carrying more weight in recent years than earlier in his career.
I have even said that is Paul’s ultimate enemy and biggest adversary – his own weight. More than any other player in the league, Paul’s body could become the ‘stopper’ than no one else could in the NBA could. It could affect his longevity and certainly his effectiveness as he ages.
After a tough season last year with multiple injuries, some of which may never be known, and an offense that now included Rajon Rondo increasing his shot attempts, Paul just didn’t look the same or play quite the same out there last season. It was hard to assess but his explosiveness seemed diluted. One wondered what the problem was, because you knew there was something missing from Pierce’s game. He just wasn’t that go-to player that the Celtics counted on him to be.
That is why Ray’s comments above enlighten us to a big reason for Pierce’s resurgence. Largely injury free, healthy and in better physical shape. It has been already written that Paul says he has changed his diet and doesn’t eat as much unhealthy food as before.
Whatever the reasons, it is good to see Paul getting back to being the dangerous player at both ends of the floor that the Celtics will need him to be for this crew to really challenge for another NBA title.
From the same article….
On Thursday night, Pierce scored 10 points in the third quarter, when Miami was making its run. He followed up with a postgame swipe at LeBron James, posting a tweet that read, “It’s been a pleasure to bring my talents to South Beach, now on to Memphis.’’
Rivers said it was “Paul’s first game where he was the go-to, takeover-the- team guy, and that’s what we want him to be.’’
Tonight Paul Pierce takes his talents to Memphis at 8:00. The Celtics are starting fast and are 7-2 as they finish this road trip.
The weight now is where we all want it to be and he carries it best…on Pierce’s shoulders, not his hips.
Ray Allen got hot and stayed that way, offsetting LeBron James’ 35 points with 35 of his own as the Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat in their own South Beach backyard in a nationally televised game on TNT. He and Paul Pierce provided the 1-2 punch as Pierce added 25 points on 10 of 16 shooting in support.
In a highly anticipated rematch of the 2 Eastern Conference powerhouses, the Celtics were clearly the hungrier if not the healthier team.
If anything, the Heat are having a hard time getting a positive chemistry going, or at least playing anywhere near their potential. They fall to 5-4 after this contest and have now lost 2 in a row, including a game they were up over 20 points to the Utah Jazz – also at home. That is hardly worthy of the word powerhouse as a description of this ‘ready made’ title contender.
Many expect Pat Riley to re-appear as their coach, as he once did by dispatching Stan Van Gundy under the guise of ‘personal reasons’, if this house doesn’t get itself in order soon.
Behind the hot shooting of Ray Allen, in a game that was a lot like their first encounter to open the season, the Celtics went up early and held a 20 point lead before the Heat made a concerted 4th quarter comeback. This time the Heat got to within 3 points with 13.3 seconds left before succumbing.
Miami did it by slowly crawling back into the game on the back of LeBron James and then found a hole in the Celtic defense in the second half. In the 3rd quarter, they continually had Udonis Haslem and even Chris Bosh open at the right elbow as Shaq and Glen Davis were planted in the middle to stop penetration by LeBron James and Dwayne Wade and were slow to rotate out to the jump shooting bigs. Miami exploited that by having James start to drive to the right and kick it out. The Heat made 3 straight baskets on open looks on the same play in the 3rd quarter.
The Celtics lead at intermission was 61-46 and the Green Machine was shooting 60% to the Heat’s 40%. The Heat could manage only 5 assists at the break. Things changes drastically after that.
Ray Allen did a nice imitation of his 2nd Finals Series game by making 7 straight 3 pointers before missing his last 2. The former UConn Husky star and Connecticut resident is now within 91 of tying Reggie Miller’s career NBA record. Ray constantly lined up on the weak side and Rondo found him most of the time. Ray also hit a number of other mid range jumpers along with a few clever lay-ups in traffic to complete a well rounded scoring night. It was vintage Ray Allen and a joy to see. It turned out that they needed every basket.
You would think that a smart defensive team would stop leaving the game’s best three point shooter so open. But the Celtics, known for intelligent and tenacious defense, did the same thing with Eddie House, allowing him to go off for open looks for 13 points in 18 minutes.
Kevin Garnett added 16 points on 6 of 8 shooting but grabbed 13 rebounds including 3 offensive boards. After drawing 2 defenders at the rim, KG laid off a beautiful interior pass to Shaq who was fouled. KG once again contained Chris Bosh, the 3rd member of the Heat’s version of the new big three. Bosh finished with 15 points, only 6 in the second half, and 7 rebounds.
Paul Pierce
Pierce looked quite his old self offensively, making a number of fall away and fading mid range jumpers and even had a nice scoop shot at the buzzer to end the first half. But he also looked like his old self defensively as well. Though he put effort into guarding LeBron, he was not as quick nor effective as he has been in the past.
Pierce was guarded or mismatched against Eddie House frequently in the second half and took advantage of it
Paul and Ray are supposed to be committed to rebounding more this season. Maybe Doc gave them the night off due to who they were guarding, as Pierce had zero rebounds and Ray added one. Another unlikely stat, they also had a single assist between them.
Rajon Rondo
Rajon Rondo continues his hot start in distributing the rock with 16 assists to go along with 8 points, 2 steals and defense that helped hold Dwayne Wade to 2 points in the first half on 0-6 shooting, with zero rebounds and 1 assist.
Rajon is in a class of his own when it comes to ball fakes. I don’t recall seeing any other player in the NBA, let alone a point guard, pull off ball fakes and misdirection feints of passes as much nor as well as Rondo does. The master of deception. He had two fantastic moves in particular in this game.
The first was in the 3d quarter. He ball faked to KG at the top and drew the defense in that direction before finding Ray in the weak side corner for an open three pointer. He did something similar in the 4th quarter when Pierce passed to Rondo, Rajon found Ray behind a few defenders again in that far corner for another open three. His court vision and anticipation is unbelievable.
Speaking of anticipation, Rondo had another spectacular play when he broke up an alley oop meant for Chris Bosh at around the 5:50 mark of the 2nd quarter.
Rondo Dunk
Using a Glen Davis screen near the left side of the foul line, Rondo drove and had an emphatic, crowd silencing dunk with Chris Bosh looking on in the first half. Rajon also had a sweet pass to Marquis Daniels to make the score 32-24.
Davis
Glen Davis added charge #15 to his league lead with Wade being the victim. Davis pulled down 9 rebounds and 6 points in 28 minutes, and defies his weight and size when he does his patented “almost 360” spin move to the basket. He even pulled it off against tough defending Udonis Haslem.
Davis added a one handed put back to make the score 39-29. This came right after Rondo passed to Glen who backed down his defender on the right side and then kicked it out to Pierce for an open three pointer.
The Celtics ball movement was awfully good in this contest and it was contrasted by the lack of same by the Heat.
Haslem
The chink in the Celtic armor was stopping LeBron and Wade but not rotating out to defend the elbow jumpshot by the Heat big men especially Haslem. He finished with a season high 21 points on 9 of 10 shooting – all of them open jump shots, mostly against Davis and Shaq.
Haslem, who signed for much less money to return to the Heat and help them try to get a title, played like he should be a bigger part of the team. He added 10 rebounds and blocked a Ray critical Ray Allen lay-up in the final minute. But as Reggie Miller noted, the ball should have been awarded to the Celtics, but was given to the Heat instead.
Haslem wasn’t done as he fouled Glen Davis out with 13.3 seconds left and hit two big free throws to make the score 110-107. It was the Heat’s final points.
Nate Robinson
This started as another difficult game for Nate but he ended up finding his scoring touch while adding 12 points in 11 minutes and dishing for 3 assists. You can clearly see the difference between Robinson running the offense and Rondo. I don’t fault Nate too much for this because he has to find his missing scoring touch to really help this team, but on 2 of his drives for lay-ups, there were two completely wide open three point shooters standing behind the arc each time in Allen and Pierce.
Jermaine O’Neal did not suit up. Shaq played while enduring residual effects from various ailments. Semih Erden continues to play with a shoulder injury. Rajon Rondo plays with plantar fasciitis in both feet.
The Miami Heat are not a balanced team offensively at all at this point. They also have issues at point guard and at center. But mostly they need to get Chris Bosh more involved offensively. Doc Rivers made sure each of the three stars got about the same amount of shot attempts each in each of the first 2 seasons for a reason. Bosh is being left behind as a second class citizen in that offense.
By contrast, I could not see Doc Rivers managing that team that way. They would never be running the kind of offense schemes they are running. Ball movement is sparse at this point. Bosh seems unaggressive, even lost at times at both ends of the court. It seems to me that that team does not move forward until he is utilized as more of a weapon, instead of as an afterthought. You build on those three pieces. From there you see how and where the other pieces best fit.
Celtic Improvements
Though the Celtics defense declined severely as the game wore on, and mismatches occurred too often (Rondo found himself matched against LeBron on a number of plays), they eked out the win.
Rondo missed two critical lay ups in the final minutes and took too long to get the team into the offense. On two plays in the final minutes, Rondo wanted to set up a certain plays but the team took too long in the shot clock to do it. The Cs didn’t get one play going until there were 8 seconds left on the shot clock. On another Pierce missed a turnaround jumper as the shot clock went off.
End of game execution has been less than perfect recently and cost them the game against the Mavericks.
After just 46 half time points and shooting 40%, the Heat added 63 second half points and finished at 50% shooting for the game. While not masterpieces, the Celtics are winning games and doing it with confidence. That is a good sign.
The Celtics are now 7-2 and play Memphis on Sunday.
Semih Erden kind of alluded to this in my interview with him on Celticsblog.com…about staying healthy himself. Maybe he knew then he wasn’t right.
“I have to make sure I’m not injured. I have to be ready. That is the most important thing for me. I hope we all have a healthy season.”
Hmm….
Anyway, Greg Payne at Celticsblog picked up Chris Forsberg’s article on ESPN about the Celtics’ big man situation and Doc Rivers said this…
“[Erden's] shoulder is what it is, it’s not in great shape,” said Rivers. “He’ll have to have something done on it eventually. We’re just hoping to get through the year, at least get through to [Perkins' return]. That’s basically what we’re thinking. We basically have to, somehow, get these three guys to survive until Perk comes back, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
So, three bigs, three players not healthy.
Who would go?
Luke Harangody and Von Wafer are the biggest suspects to go if they sign another big. Von Wafer would be cut free, I guess., especially if West returns and continues to look good Harangody would do the D-League thing for the Maine Red Claws. They may designate injured first round draft pick Avery Bradley for assignment, as well.
If the O’Neals can actually get healthy together this may all blow over. But methinks that is a doubtful supposition.
Ray Allen even was kidding Jermaine about it saying that they have more than one O’Neal jersey. They can both play at the same time. Shaq is expected to play tonight against the Heat. Jermaine may shut it down for the next 4 games.
