Celtics Central

You could call it three quarters of strong defense. But it was also a game of will and heart. And strangely, the Celtics came up short again.

It is really just too hard to tell right now how much the Celtics’ current problems are simply due to Kevin Garnett and Marquis Daniels being out or are beyond that.

Normally it is the Celtic defense that has suffered the most. In this contest, they played good enough defense to win most games. It was the Celtics offense that struggled.

I make sure to mention Daniels because he is the forgotten man right now. Everyone knows that the Celtics are a different team with Kevin Garnett. But Daniels is very important to what the Celtics do at both ends of the floor. He does a lot of little things and those things don’t always make the stat sheet. He is expected back after the All Star break. Garnett returns Friday against Portland.

The Celtics lost last night to the now 15-26 Pistons. Boston drops to 27-13.

Pistons Defense Picks Up, Celtics Give Up lead

Watching this team score just 30 second half points, while losing to the depleted Detroit Pistons (missing Ben Gordon, Tayshaun Prince, and Will Bynum) after leading by 8 at the half gives cause for concern.

It was another third quarter collapse as the Celtics could only manage 13 points to the Pistons 21. It took a 5-0 run to close the quarter to even reach 13. They continue to come out and blow leads in the third quarter.

After shooting .583 in the first half, the Celtics made just 9 baskets in the entire second half, shooting 9-34 for 26%. After starting off 3 of 6 from the three point line, they shot 2 for 13 in the second half.

Pistons Bench Scores 43 Points

The Celtics energy faded and the Pistons energy grew. While the Celtics’ bench was outscored 43-12, that is a deceptive number. The Pistons bench played many of their minutes against the Celtic starters and outplayed them.

No doubt, Eddie House leading the bench rebounding with 3 tells you the bench was remiss as well. Glen Davis played 15 minutes without getting a rebound. Tony Allen scored 4 points with one assist in 16 minutes. Again, somewhat deceptively, the bench players were either neutral or had a plus in the plus/minus stat.

Led by Rodney Stuckey, Charlie Villanueva, Jason Maxiell and even rookie Austin Daye, the Pistons came alive in the second half.

Charlie Villanueva Unchained

In a rare show of protracted determination, former UConn star, mild mannered Charlie V. appeared to wake up and catch fire (after a few choice words?) embracing a little duel with Rasheed.

After Sheed knocked a pass away from Villanueva from behind, the Pistons picked it back up. CV was now behind Wallace and immediately cut to the basket for an alley oop that Wallace didn’t read until far too late.

Wallace came down court, got the ball on the left block, looking to return the favor, and immediately backed CV down into the blocks. Villanueva aggressively held his ground (yes, aggressively) and forced Sheed to miss one in his wheelhouse. Davis was there to grab what would have been his only rebound but Charlie fought the ball loose and flung it at Glen’s leg as he was falling out of bounds. Pistons ball.

I mention this sequence because, if Charlie played this way all the time, he would be an all star. As Chris Webber observed recently on NBA TV, Charlie gives you one strong game in about every four. This must have been game number 4.

Villanueva scored 19 points, blocked 2 shots, and hit a huge three pointer with 54 seconds left, to give Detroit a 88-81 lead. Granted he only grabbed 3 boards himself. But the rest of the Pistons did better.

Out Rebounded…Again

Detroit out rebounded Boston 45-35 overall and 13 to 5 on the offensive boards. It was a major factor as the Pistons scored 12 second chance points to zero for the Celtics. Even the 5 o-boards the Cs grabbed were futile.

You could see the Celtic energy and lead slipping away and Boston made a few last ditch efforts to save an other game that should have been theirs all along.

After Rasheed hit a three pointer to make it 88-84 with 45 seconds left, Richard Hamilton hit a huge jump shot to make it 90-84 with 20 seconds left. Ray Allen was forced off the three point line and drove to make it 90-86 with 14 seconds left. Ray then had to foul Rip Hamilton with 9 seconds left in the back court, and he made both foul shots to end the scoring at 92-86.

The Celtics are now 4-8 over the last 12 and have lost three in a row for the second time this season. They are 5-6 without KG.

No Team Too Easy, No Lead Safe

The Pistons just had a 13 game losing streak and were still down three key players. Someone mentioned that a game against a team like Pistons might be just what the doctor ordered. Paul Pierce was prophetic when he said that the Celtics are struggling themselves and you can’t count on that.

How true that would be. The pattern is the same. The Celtics played a strong first half and led 56-48 at the break.

Paul opened strong with 17 first quarter points. Rasheed Wallace had 3 first quarter steals and a blocked shot. Rondo added 8 points and 2 steals, as the Pistons turned the ball over 9 times and the Celtics led 30-21 heading into the second period. The Pistons would only turn the ball over 8 more times in the game.

The Pistons played the Celtics about even in the second quarter (27-26) while the Celtics shot .583 for the first half to the Pistons .452.

The Rondo and Stuckey Show

Rondo and Rodney Stuckey engaged in a offensive duel with Rondo scoring 14 first half points on 6 of 9 shooting to Stuckey’s 13 points on 5 of 13 shooting.

Both players carried it on the whole game, with Stuckey putting on a sensational show, leading the Pistons with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. Rajon was nearly as impressive at that end of the floor, finishing tied for team honors with 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals in a team high 42 plus minutes.

There was one point where Rondo and Perkins were fighting each other for the same rebound and they almost lost the ball, before Perkins recovered it and threw it down court.

Perkins finished with 8 points, 4 boards, 3 blocks (including a great one over Ray Allen to stop a Rip Hamilton shot) and 4 turnovers in 35 plus minutes.

Rasheed Wallace contributed 16 points on 5 of 13 shooting, 7 rebounds, no assists and 3 steals.

Paul Pierce finished 21 points on 6 of 12 shooting, 7 of 7 free throws, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 4 turnovers.

Ray Allen added 8 points on just 10 shots, going 3 for 10, with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and a team high 5 turnovers.
The question remains whether just getting back Kevin Garnett and Marquis Daniels solves all problems. It could solve most of them.

The question remains as to why we don’t seem to see the iron will to win that we saw the last two seasons from this team, even with out Garnett.

The Celtics come home to play Portland, another team hit hard by injury, on Friday night. As Paul Pierce said, nothing can or should be taken for granted in this league, especially when your team has its own problems.

This is the rest of Jay’s King (Celtics Town)  running commentary on his first night with press credentials, behind the scenes at a Celtic game.

(To pick up where Jay left off – he is in the room used for press conferences and Paul Pierce was having his say with the press.)

My sweating had ceased to a few drips at a time rather than the downpour it had been prior to the game. I wouldn’t want to say I was comfortable yet with being behind the scenes, but I was getting closer. Baby steps.

I have to say, though, Pierce’s press conference was far from the coolest thing that went on in that teeny, tiny room. That award goes to Bob Ryan, for his chat about Oscar Robertson. Ryan was vehement in arguing how good Robertson was, saying only one guard in the NBA today is in his class. (I’ll let you guess the guard.)

To hear Ryan argue, passionately, about a subject, I felt I was in a real-life version of ‘Around the Horn. I never got the opportunity to see Robertson play, but Ryan’s insights stem from decades of covering the sport and his deep knowledge of the game, so I trusted him.

Doc Rivers came on next, but I didn’t stay. I had to choose between a group media press conference or a chance at one on one player interviews. The team transcribes quotes from the press conference, so I wouldn’t need to be there to get the information. But I’d have to be in the locker room to get the quotes from the players. So I left Doc’s press conference and strolled into the locker room.

(Can you believe I said no to an opportunity to sit in on Doc’s press conference? For something even better? This night was becoming more than I’d ever bargained for.)

I walked into the locker room, where other reporters had already congregated in their natural perch — the middle of the room. Watching reporters wait to interview clearly dejected players was one of the strangest things from my night. They tried to find the right time to interview guys, knowing full well there is no right time to interview somebody after the second-half butt-whooping the C’s had just been administered.

They sat there like a crew of tigers waiting to pounce, looking for an opportunity — any opportunity — to swoop in and ask some questions. Vultures. All of them. And, for the night, I was one of them. Cha-ching.

Big Baby was the first they — we, I guess — attacked. While he was screaming and hollering before the game, the Big Baby I saw after the game was down in the dumps. His voice that had been so loud and enthusiastic prior to the game had dimmed to a barely audible level. I guess mine would be, too, if I had to answer questions about getting torched by Dirk Nowitzki.

Ray Allen was next. Classy Ray. He answered every question thoughtfully, but I don’t think he was in any mood to talk either. By this point, I’d almost gotten used to jamming my audio recorder into a player’s face to listen to him speak. It annoyed even me to see all those damn recorders stuffed in players’ faces; I can only imagine how the players felt. I wondered if I was the only one holding a recorder who wanted to ask Ray for his autograph. I thought probably.

I took a couple steps to the left of Ray Allen’s locker and joined the growing heap of audio recorders around Rasheed Wallace. Rasheed was completely calm, but talked about how “bull—-” some calls were. He knew he’d be probably be fined for the comments, but didn’t quite care. He just wanted to let the officials know he thought he’d been screwed. There was no venom in his voice, nor did it even raise. He was completely even-keeled, and simply thought the calls were bad.

By the end of Rasheed’s interview, the reporters had already gathered around (aka started to prey on) Kendrick Perkins, but by the time I went over for my belated hunt, Perk was already done answering questions. Damn it, I thought. My first — and maybe only — chance to interview Perk and I’d blown it. Oh well, maybe next time. (Wait, there isn’t a next time? At least not in the foreseeable future? *Bashing head into wall.* *Repeat head bash.*)

After they were done with Perk, most reporters left. But I wasn’t going anywhere, not yet. No way. I was staying right until the end. I was going to soak in everything the Celtics’ locker room had to offer. There was no stopping me. By now, the only player left in the locker room was Brian Scalabrine, and he was eating a serving of some pasta that looked like it might be chicken alfredo. (Note: Yum.)

He sat at the locker and just shot the shit with the remaining reporters, still wearing his jersey. (My brother hypothesizes that he was scared to change in front of anyone else. He didn’t want anyone to see his “bro.”) He talked about politics, NFL football games, and what it’s like for him to defend Dirk Nowitzki. It was weird to see that NBA players are regular guys. I always thought they were super-human. Even Scal.

But there I was, watching Scal eat and talk about things my friends and I would talk about. It wasn’t on the record, but it sure was cool.

I finally exited the locker room, thinking my unrealistic night was just about done. I was one of the last — maybe the very last — to return to the media room, where I once again took my seat among all the Celtics writers so very much better than I am.

I sat down, poured over all my notes, and began to write my recap. As I was typing, I floated on air. I’d just done something I never could have even dreamed of. I’d gone into the Celtics locker room, and I’d survived. Even held my own, I thought. Now it was back to writing, something I’ve done so much of recently, but something I still couldn’t do as well as anybody else in the small room.

My fingers pounded the keys, just like William Forrester suggested, and I was in my own little zone thinking about all the thoughts going through my head and how I was going to focus it all into one piece.

I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder, and turned around. It was Bob Ryan. He put his hand out to shake mine. I shook back. He told me it was very nice to meet me. Very nice to meet ME!? I thought. Your Bob F—ing Ryan. It’s not supposed to be nice for YOU to meet ME!! He told me he hoped he’d be able to see me again soon. I almost feinted. I muttered an inaudible thanks. (Or something like it; I barely remember my own response.)

I’d come into the night hoping I wouldn’t make a fool out of myself in front of the Boston Celtics. For the most part, I thought I succeeded. I thought it would be one of the best nights I’d ever experienced, to meet and even speak to all the Boston Celtics.

And it was. It lived up to every expectation I had, and then some. Being in the Celtics’ locker room was surreal. It was majestic. It was magical.

But if I learned one thing from the night, it was this.

For an aspiring sportswriter, nothing can match having Bob Ryan seek you out just to tell you it was nice to meet you. Nothing.

Not even meeting all your other heroes.

Not even seeing Rasheed Wallace and Big Baby pretend to be spartans.

The following article was written by Jay King (Celtics Town) who recently represented Celtics Central at the Celtics/Mavericks game.

Jay is a former player at Skidmore College and is a senior there. Jay has fueled his love of the Celtics by starting an active and credible fan website called Celtics Town. Jay has been assisting Celtics Central with a little writing of late.

As a writer, and as a fan of basketball and the Celtics in particular, Jay shares his thoughts and experience going behind the scenes. I think you will enjoy sharing in his experience.

A couple nights ago, I had the surreal experience of having press credentials to a Boston Celtics game.  Today, I share my experience.

After spending about 10 minutes trying to find the media entrance to the Boston Garden, I finally spotted a security guard who let me know where it was.  My heart raced as I walked through the entrance to media security.  I had always been the biggest Celtics fan in the world.  Now, I was going to get the chance to be in their locker room, to talk to the same players I’ve idolized for years.

One of my biggest dreams had always been to meet a Boston Celtic.  Suddenly, I was going to get to meet all of them, to see them in their comfort zone, to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at life in the NBA.  I’d always wanted to talk to an NBA player; now, it would be inevitable.

I got my press pass from the table, and proceeded to pass through security.  As my bag was searched, I heard my heart do a little pitter-pat.  And my hands?  They weren’t just sweaty, they were like Michael Sweetney’s body after an hour-long sauna.

I walked down a hallway to the media room, which was on my left.  A hallway to the right led to the Celtics’ locker room.  I looked down the hallway and, chatting it up, stood Kevin McHale.  Just another day at the office for him.  The day of my life for me.

I walked into the media room to find a spot to put my laptop down, and saw a room full of some of my biggest idols.  The most easily recognizable was Bob Ryan; the legend has been writing about the Celtics for quite a bit longer than I’ve been alive, and I’ve admired his work since I became able to comprehend it.

Behind me were the rest of the Globe’s writers, and the Herald’s writers were also in the room.  Sadly, I couldn’t recognize some of them.  I’ve read enough Frank Dell’Apa that I could recognize one of his columns if I read only two or three sentences, but I didn’t know what he looked like.  It wasn’t until later in the night, when Ray Allen called him by his name, that I realized who he was.

As I sat at my table, Ryan took a seat across from me and began reading the newspaper.  I tried to tell myself to go make an introduction, but I couldn’t.  He’s Bob Ryan.  For someone who wants to get into sports journalism, that’s like meeting Larry Bird or Bill Russell.  As far as Celtics writers go, he’s the best of the best.  The single greatest Celtics writer.  Ever.

Finally, after watching him read a couple pages of the newspaper, I gained the courage.  As I put my hand out and said, “Mr. Ryan, I’d just like to introduce myself…”, I wondered how he would react.

But I never thought he’d be so welcoming, so gracious.  I told him how much I admired him, and he gave me a heartfelt thanks.  He asked me a bit about myself, and we had a little bit of a conversation.  After I was done bumbling my way through talking to one of my inspirations, I staggered back to my seat.  That didn’t go too badly, I thought.  What a nice guy.

After meeting Ryan, I had to go to the bathroom. (It’s amazing I hadn’t just peed my pants.) So, after asking a reporter where to go, I headed off to do my thing.  There was already somebody else in the bathroom.  Wouldn’t you know it, as I waited there Mike Gorman was two feet away from me prepping for the night’s telecast.  There was no denying it, my life was sweet.  Even if I knew it would only be for the night.

Then I walked onto the court, to sit courtside as I watched the Celtics warm up. Rajon Rondo took jumpers with his iPod headphones in his ears.  Brian Scalabrine worked up a sweat while he shot jumpers.  Bill Walker sprinted the sidelines, either trying to rehab his still-healing knee or to stay in shape during a season full of DNP-CD’s.  Shelden Williams stroked free throws.

And I, who hadn’t even been to a Celtics game this year as a fan, was sitting courtside with a media press slung over my neck.  Can you believe my lucky stars?

I wanted to soak in the experience, to savor it for everything it was worth, and I was.

But it would only get better.

I left courtside to go listen to Doc Rivers’ pregame interview. As 20 or so reporters circled around Doc in the hall, with their audio recorders thrusted in his face, Rasheed Wallace came strolling by. “Fire hazard,” he shouted about the hoard of reporters clogging the hallway, as Doc laughed.

After the interview was finished, I wandered into the Celtics’ locker room. Are you kidding me? I thought. If you told me six months ago that I would be reporting from a game in the Boston Garden, I would have laughed in your face. Good joke.

But sometimes in life, unforeseen events happen. I started a blog, wrote up a storm, and before I knew it I was in the C’s locker room interviewing the players, living my absolute dream. Okay, maybe not my absolute dream, but my second option. My number one choice would have been to play in the NBA, but as a 6′2″, slow whiteboy without much of a handle, that dream never materialized. I wonder why.

I walked into the locker room and saw a crowd of reporters around the middle as some players sat at their lockers. As I stood awkwardly for a few seconds, wondering what to do, I realized the reporters were just waiting for an interview to break out. But it was my first day and, as anxious as I was to talk to the players, I wasn’t about to wait for something to happen; I was going to make something happen. Carpe diem, baby.

I walked over to Shelden Williams, who was sitting at his locker writing a text message. Shaking on the inside while I tried to maintain a calm exterior, I introduced myself and asked if he would answer a few questions. After he said yes, I not-so-calmly ran through the questions I’d prepared for him. Coming into the day, I had questions prepared for everyone. I figured you never know who you’re going to get the chance to speak to, so when it happened I told myself I’d be prepared.

And I was… except for the stutter in my voice I’d never heard before and the waterfall coming off my palms. I battled through the unexpected obstacles and finished the interview, thanking Shelden for his time and rejoining the rest of the reporters in the middle of the room.

Shelden Williams may not be widely considered a star in the NBA, but — to me at least — he is. I’m the type of guy who would be star-struck meeting a Division Three All-American, never mind a top-five NBA draft pick playing for my favorite team, who used to star for my favorite college team. But he was more than willing to speak to me, to offer me his thoughts. I almost pinched myself when it was over.

Then it was on to Ray Allen, who was next to answer reporters’ questions. He was giving thoughtful answers to all the questions, no matter how lacking in originality they were…

Until Big Baby announced his presence with a loud scream. Talking to nobody in specific, he yelled that he was a beast, the last beast off the court in pregame warmups. He had a sandwich in his hands and sat in front of his locker room to eat it, calling the sandwich “The Last Meal.” Then Rasheed Wallace followed him into the locker room, and hilarity ensued. It was my first trip to an NBA locker room, so I had no idea what to expect.

What I didn’t expect, though, was Wallace and Big Baby doing a full-fledged comedy act, pretending to be spartans from the movie “300″. (Which Big Baby accidentally called 3,000.) Ray Allen half-jokingly said we should conduct the interview in the locker room; Sheed and Big Baby were too wild for him to focus.

After the interview, I briefly returned to the media room and transcribed quotes from the interviews. Then, off to the game. The person who told me where I was seated said I might not like my seat. It was ten rows away from the court. I’m used to the nosebleeds. Let’s just say I liked the seat.

For a guy who goes to one game a year, usually sitting in the uppermost area of the arena, to experience a game ten rows away from the court was unbelievable. Not only did the players not look like little dots on the court, but I could even sometimes hear what they were saying.

As you know by now, the Celtics blew the game, letting Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd combine to tear their defense apart in an extremely one-sided second half. But for maybe the first time in my entire life, I didn’t care that the Celtics lost. I was just glad the game was over so I could check out the postgame scene.

I returned my laptop to the media room, almost running into the room. I didn’t want to miss a single thing that happened in the postgame interviews. I speed-walked my way to the room where Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce would hold their press conferences. I don’t know what I really thought the press conference room would be like, but I thought it would at least be a little bigger.

This room was the Earl Boykins of all rooms, and there were 20-25 reporters stuffed in, to go along with three or four camera crews. Talk about a tight squeeze. I stood on the far wall, afraid to take a seat for fear of making one of the (far) more established writers stand up. Still, I was only eight or ten feet away from Paul Pierce as he conducted his presser. (By the way, I only used presser to say I hate that word. Can’t we just call it a press conference?)

As he talked about the game, I thought to myself, Can you believe this? I’m in Paul Pierce’s press conference. I watch this on t.v. every night, but now I actually get to be here. This can’t be real.

But it was, and I was there.

Part Two…later.

Here is another solid article from Jay King, who represented Celtics Central at the game.

Through this dark spell, the Celtics remain optimistic.

The last few weeks have been bleak.  Marred by injuries, poor effort, and underwhelming performances, the Boston Celtics have suffered through an 11-game stretch more fit for the Minnesota Timberwolves than one of the NBA’s elite.  The 4-7 drought that has followed Boston’s gutsy Christmas-Day performance in Orlando has even left some declaring the Celtics window of opportunity closed.

Count the Celtics unconvinced.

“I’m not worried about it at all, man,” said Rasheed Wallace, “because each team in this league goes through some pitfalls at some point during the season.  No one has a perfect season where everything goes right for them on defense or offense.

“It’s not like that.  You know you’re going to have some pitfalls and some trials and tribulations throughout the season.  But the key of a good team is [to] focus on the main goal and make it better.”

For the Celtics, the main goal is to win an NBA championship.  Anything else, and this season will be considered a failure.

As it is right now, the Celtics aren’t ready to compete for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.  With three home losses in a row, they’re playing more like a team destined for an early-round playoff exit.

One could blame some of their struggles on the absence of Kevin Garnett, but they’ve had success without him in the past, and now shouldn’t be any different.

“We’ve been without Kevin; we won games last year,” said Paul Pierce.  “That’s not an excuse.”

While Garnett’s return will likely help solve — or at least hide — the problems, Boston needs more than the Big Ticket; it needs focus.

That focus hasn’t been there in recent losses, but Ray Allen believes this bump in the road — extended though it may be — will only help the Celtics in the long run.

“Kevin’s been out, Paul’s been out, Sheed’s been out  little bit,” Allen said. “I think, for the long run, that’s ultimately what’s the better thing for this team.  I think we’re building a lot of resilience.”

Allen noted that everything a team experiences helps shape it as the season goes on.

“Losing [three games] to Atlanta in the first round of the [2008] playoffs, I think it helped us in Detroit later on in the playoffs.

“You know, those things, we don’t forget.  Those are lessons that we learn throughout the course of the season.”

Lessons that will ultimately make Boston a better team.  Even if, right now, it’s hard to see the benefits of losing seven games in just 24 games.

“When we get into March, and April, and then May, we think about everything that we went through,” Allen said.

“Our bodies still remember it.  You remember those things, and it does help you push forward and deal with the circumstances that are in front of you.”

To Allen, one thing stands out as what the Celtics need to change.

“Consistency in what we’re doing is the ultimate objective.”

The Celtics drop their third straight home game and are now 11-7 at home and 27-12 on the year. The Celtics are slumping at 2-4 over their last 6 games, and are 4-7 over their eleven games…all without Kevin Garnett.

Last night’s game had its ups and downs. But the second half it was Dallas. Jason Kidd dished 17 assists and Dirk Nowitzki score 37 points on the night. Paul Pierce led Boston with 24 points and Ray Allen supported in a losing effort with 21.

The following recap and quotes are from Jay King, who was at the game credentialed for Celtics Central. Thanks to Jay for his efforts. He will have another article for later today, as well. Here is Jay’s recap:

It’s tough to beat a good team without following the game plan.

Unfortunately for the Celtics, the Dallas Mavericks are a good team and, for the second half of the game at least, Boston certainly didn’t follow the game plan.

“[In the] third quarter we came out and we didn’t have great energy,” said Ray Allen. “We’ve got to put together 48 minutes if we want to be good and successful for a longer period of time.”

Explained Doc Rivers,

“[In the] second half, I thought our defense was horrendous. I didn’t think we got back at all on defense. They had numbers every single time. We had our guards crashing the glass, trying to get to the offensive glass.

“All of a sudden it became a walk-the-ball-up-the-floor, slow-down basketball game on one way. And then on the other end they were running it back down our throats.”

Long story short, ’twas a tale of two halves.

The Boston Celtics emerged from their locker room after halftime with a comfortable nine-point lead. They returned after the game with their heads down, their tales firmly between their legs, and a nine-point loss.

On the surface, the game should have been very winnable. The Boston Celtics were rested, playing at home, and matched against a struggling Mavs team having lost three out of its last four games. (Not to mention playing the second night of a back-to-back that started with last night’s 22-point shellacking in Toronto.)

But if you’ve seen some of the C’s home performances and knew some of their injury problems, you understood it wouldn’t be that easy.

Even though — for a half — it looked like it might.

Boston was every bit the better team in the first half, shooting 55.0% and — more importantly — even getting an occasional defensive stop.

In the second half, Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks were simply too tough for the suddenly listless Celtics to compete.

“I thought we came out relaxed and we thought Dallas would just go away,” said Rivers.

But Dallas, and especially Nowitzki, had other plans.

Dominant Dirk

Dirk Nowitzki has had a hell of a season. In fact, if had he not once received a Most Valuable Player award some regard as one of the most undeserved in NBA history, Dirk might even be garnering some attention as this season’s MVP.

But even in a season as special as Nowitzki’s has been so far, few games have seen him be so dominant as he was in scoring 37 points at the hands of the Boston Celtics. Glen Davis….

“Dirk’s a great player. He did some great things today, hit some big shots. He got going in the third, hit four or five straight.

“The fourth foul with Rasheed really hurt us because Rasheed was doing a great job playing defense on him.”

To be fair, Rasheed had already given up six third-quarter points to Nowitzki before exiting with 3:56 remaining in the third.

But after Brian Scalabrine subbed in for Wallace, Nowitzki erupted for nine straight points, scoring on each of the Mavs’ next four possessions.

Kevin Garnett’s absence no excuse

Kevin Garnett is the heart and soul of the Celtics’ defense. He’s the anchor who’s always talking, always moving his feet, and always active and ready to make a play.

But Doc Rivers refuses to use Garnett’s absence as an excuse for their porous defense of late.

“Even if [Garnett's return] does fix problems, everybody has to have a better mental focus,” Rivers said. “It can’t be one guy.”

Rivers explained…

“[Garnett's] not in right now and everybody else is. And they know their jobs. You know, they know their jobs.

“The voice of Kevin, yeah, it always helps. Because he holds everybody accountable.

“But that voice isn’t there right now and somebody else has to do it.”

Mavs in transition

In the first half, Boston won the battle in transition. Rajon Rondo was flying up and down the court, disrupting the Mavericks offense and creating scoring opportunities at the other end.

The second half was a different story. Dallas was hungry, getting stops and pushing the ball the other way down Boston’s throats.

“I think offensively, we put them in transition,” said Ray Allen.

“There was a stretch we didn’t get back at all and they had us playing on our heels. One side of the ball affects the other.”

Dirk Nowitzki thought the Mavs’ transition offense was a key to their success.

“If we get stops then we can play the kind of game we want to play and that’s a fast-paced game. Get the ball to J-Kidd on the break, get everybody on the move, get Marion on the run, get Josh on the slice and dice, get Jet on the move and I think that’s the way we want to play.”

In the second half, the Mavs’ played just that way.

Nowitzki said, “We finally got some stops in the second half and we were running, we were moving the ball, and it was fun to watch.”

Isn’t Jason Kidd supposed to be old?

The Celtics are an old, aging bunch; nobody would dispute that.

But none of them are as old as Jason Kidd, the point guard who torched them for 13 points and 17 assists.

Kidd, who hit all three of the three-pointers he shot, limited Rajon Rondo to only 2 points and 4 assists in the second half while running his own offense to near perfection.

“Dirk putting the ball in the basket helps,” said Kidd. “But just running the pick and roll, running the offense, knowing who is going to be there and guys putting the ball in the basket.

“I had the ball today and I felt comfortable in making the right decision.”

Perhaps Rick Carlisle said it best…

“Kidd was spectacular.”

This was going to be a tough game for the Celtics. The Celtics were down their two most talented and longest big men against a team that has active, young big men of their own. The Bulls are 7th best in the NBA in ‘points in the paint’ defense.

The Bulls’ now famous 35 point second half collapse to Sacramento immediately brought out every NBA fan’s lawn chairs, much like the old colosseum spectators, expecting blood in Chicago. Everyone lined up along the NBA road, waiting for Vinny Del Negro’s head to roll by.

The Bulls then lost to the Knicks. But to the surprise of everyone, they then went on a 4 game winning streak. They lost the next three straight and now have won 3 straight. What does all that mean? It means the Bulls are 7-3 over their last 10 games with this win. They are a game better than last year at the same point. Vinny Del Negro’s head is still attached.

To be sure, only 3 of those wins are against teams over .500, including the weakened the Celtics, but still.

The Celtics drop their 6th game over the last ten and are now 27-11.

It goes to show that you can just never tell in the NBA. How safe Del Negro’s job is, I don’t know.

What I do know is that this Bulls team is the leading shot blocking team in the NBA (3 way tie), has the 4th best field goal defense, 9th best defensive rating, 5th best rebounding differential, and is generally playing their best ball of the year.

They beat the shorthanded Celtics last night, 96-83 after leading almost the entire game and blocking 10 Boston shots. I guess the Celtics were short armed, too.

The Celtics played catch up all evening and managed to get within 4 points at the 8:06 mark of the 4th quarter. After receiving a pass, Eddie House quickly bounced a nice interior pass to Kendrick Perkins who was moving underneath from left to right. Perkins caught the pass in stride and continued under the basket for the right side lay-up to make it 75-71.

The Celtics could only close to within 6 points after that and did that numerous times. With Paul Pierce and Ray Allen missing shots, the Bulls pulled away to their biggest lead at the end.

Boston’s offense was constantly taking too long to find something. They had multiple 24 second shot clock violations and many shots were taken late in the 24 second count.

Luol Deng was the main Celtic nemesis with 25 points on 8 of 13 shooting. Deng was 5-5 in the first half with 16 points total.

Paul Pierce was looking a step slow, but led the Celtics with 20 points on 6 of 18 shooting. Pierce added 8 rebounds and 6 assists.

Rajon Rondo appeared to tire late in the game as well, allowing Derrick Rose to penetrate and add 9 big fourth quarter points. Rondo finished with 15 points on 6 –14 shooting, 7 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and 5 turnovers.

The Celtics were terrible at the foul line, hitting just 15 of 28 attempts. They were even worse from the three point line, shooting 4 of 17.

The Bulls had 13 more shots on basket, out rebounded the Celtics by 50-39 and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds to the Celtics 8. The Bulls converted 16 second chance points, while the Celtics could only convert 2 second chance points on those 8 offensive boards.

Pierce was blocked five times. Perkins was blocked three times and Davis and Rondo once each.

It was a wonder why the Bulls only won by 13.

This was a game you could question the strategy three ways.

1) With Wallace and Garnett out, on the second night of back to back games, wouldn’t it have been a good time to have given seldom used Bill Walker and J.R Giddens a real chance to help and to develop?

The Celtics were slower to rebounds, loose balls, and eventually tired in the 4th quarter. Walker or Giddens could have brought some energy, individual offense, and possibly rebounding to a Celtic team that was hurting for scoring.

2) Wouldn’t it have been a good time to set a strategy to get Ray Allen as many looks as possible?

Ray Allen had ten shots on hoop all night. Unless he is nursing an unmentioned injury, that was no where near enough. Often, the picks didn’t look that strong in this contest either.

Ray was largely uninvolved, grabbing just one rebound, no assists, but had three turnovers in 35 plus minutes.

3) Eddie House and Tony Allen could have seen more action, too. House was the only plus/minus on the team (+8) and… while Tony had two unnecessary turnovers, he could attack the rim better than anyone else on the Celtics in this particular contest and did have energy to burn.

House started off 5-5 shooting and finished 5 of 6 in 19 minutes. He started the 4th quarter off with a jumper, a huge steal, making the lay up, and making the score 70-65.

Of course, the response to those criticisms would be that the Celtics almost pulled out the win with the strategy Doc used.

Honestly, it didn’t appear that the energy was there to maintain a lead, even if they got one. Fresh legs might have helped.

Kendrick Perkins did battle as best he could with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots of his own.

Glen Davis grabbed 8 rebounds, but had only 6 points on a night they could have used more from him.

Brain Scalabrine started again, got in early foul trouble and stayed there all night, finishing with 5 personal fouls. He played 20 minutes, scoring 7 points, including two clever drives for lay ups in traffic.  They play him for the three point shot and it was good to see him effectively add to his repertoire with the drives.  The down side with Brain is rebounding. He was only able to grab 3 rebounds and missed 4 straight three point shots.

The Celtics played their best defense in the second quarter when they held the Bulls to 5 of 18 shooting for 28%.

Unfortunately, the Celtics could only muster 39 first half points and a paltry .417 shooting against an active Bulls defense. 7 of the Chicago blocks were in the first half.

The Celtics get to regroup over the weekend and play Dallas in Boston on Monday.

‘Net Zero’ had a whole new meaning in the first half of this contest.

That was the combined effort of the entire Net team in the first half.

First Half Demolition

The Celtics ran up a 30 plus point lead and went to the break more than doubling the Nets score at 71-35.

Rajon Rondo finished the game with more assists than the entire Net team (14-13), as the Celtics had their way with the Nyets.

Paul Pierce, who led all scorers with 24 points, made a three point jump shot to start the game and the Celtics never trailed as they destroyed the hapless Nets 111-87. It was never even that close. The lead was as high as 36 points. Pierce added 6 rebounds and 3 assists.

This game was so ‘in-the-bag’ that little used J.R. Giddens logged 16 minutes and the invisible man, Bill Walker, saw 6 minutes of daylight.

The Celtics simply got whatever they wanted.

Rajon Rondo continues his superior play, making his case for an All Star bid by continuing to direct the offense masterfully and with unselfish, smart play through out.

First Half Demolition

Ray Allen was a perfect 3-3 shooting with a three pointer and 4-4 from the free throw line for 11 half time points. He finished with 15 points in 25 minutes.

Glen Davis scored 11 points in 7 minutes off the bench in the first half, including corraling his own missed foul shot and hitting a jumper to amend the miss. Five Celtic players were in double figures by the break.

The Celtics shot .684 from the field and were 5 of 10 from the three point line. They were out rebounding the Nets by 25-13 and had 21 assists on 26 baskets.

Kendrick Perkins led the Celtics’ defensive effort with 3 first half blocks, finishing with 5 on the game. Perkins finished with 12 points on 6 of 9 shooting and 8 rebounds.

Play of the game (and NBA.com number play of the night)
Paul Pierce saw Tony Allen getting behind the defense and lofted an alley oop to a spot Allen came out of nowhere to collect and twist it into an authoritative slam, making the score 48-25. Tony finished with 11 points on 5 of 10 shooting, with 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 turnovers.

The Nets shot .306 in the first half on 11 of 36 attempts with 5 assists total.

This was as much of a contrast of two teams with opposite realities and destinies as you will see. The Celtics are all about right now. Even depleted of two of their best players (Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace) and Rondo and Pierce playing with assorted bumps and bruises, they are focused on another run at the NBA title.

The Nets are young and inexperienced and trying to avoid NBA history for having the league’s worst record ever and get to next year when their financial prospects do a complete turnaround as the Russian Mark Cuban gallops in on his shining white horse with rubles aplenty. They will be a completely different club next year.

As bad as their now 3-35 season has gone, the Nets totally embarrassed themselves and the league with a first half performance that an intramural league crowd would be ashamed of watching. They didn’t compete in the least. It was truly a pathetic performance.

The blame should start with Kiki Vandeweghe, General Manager turned reluctant coach, for allowing that to occur. If it had continued through out the entire game I would calling for him to be fired and someone…anyone else to take over.

The second half was credible enough to withhold my fire, but not my disgust.

The Nets finally did come out and ‘at least’ compete in the second half, outscoring a Celtic combine that was in ‘conserve-the-lead-mode’ at that point. The Nets ‘won’ the second half 52-40 as the Cs rested the starters for all of the 4th period.

On the Celtics side, there were some nice performances by Giddens who score 6 points on 3 of 5 shooting. Those points included a highlight reel reverse dunk and Giddens grabbed 7 boards.

Bill Walker showed that individual offense is never a problem for him as he hit a jumper and drove for vicious dunks twice and scored 6 points with 2 boards and 2 assists in just 6 minutes.

Brian Salabrine started strong with 8 first quarter points on 3 of 6 shooting with 2 three pointers finding their mark. Brian finished with 11 points, 4 boards and 4 assists in 28 minutes. If you get a chance, go over to Celticsblog and check out Brian Scalabrine’s dance after a Bill Walker dunk. Hilarious! (It is near the end, you have to watch a few other plays first)

Davis managed to foul out but added 13 points and 4 offensive boards. Shelden Williams grabbed 6 boards in 17 plus minutes, but took just two shots, coming up empty.

Eddie House was off, ending up 1-9 shooting, but had 2 steals.

If anyone was left in Izod Center after half time to witness it, it would be a miracle. Getting home to watch High School Reunion on TVLand would be a compelling reason to dismiss them selves after such a first half travesty.

The Celtics came out and made 12 of 18 first quarter shots and they must have been completely surprised at how little resistance the Nets’ defenders gave them. The Nets pretended to defend and the Celtics had a field day sharing the ball and taking it to them. I’m sure that Celtic practices are harder.

The Celtics ended up with 56 points in the paint, as Brook Lopez stood alone trying to stop the swarming Green. He finished 4 blocks and 18 points. Yi Jianlian had 2 points at the half but added 17 garbage time points. In 33 plus minutes Yi grabbed just 3 rebounds and had no assists. Yi has just 6 assists in 12 games this season.

Devin Harris had one point and was 0-6 at the half, while Rajon Rondo had 10 assists and 7 points on 3 of 4 shooting. Rondo’s plus/minus was +32…at the half. Harris? His was –36 at the half.

Harris has been plagued by tendinitis in his shooting arm all year and a shift from a pick and roll offense to an isolation and post up offense featuring the Nets shining new center Brook Lopez. Rumors are that even Harris, previously untouchable, is now available for the right trade.

Boston is now 27-10 overall, but just 6-5 with at least one starter out.

The Celtics get no rest as they come home to play the Chicago Bulls tonight at 7:30.