With the news of his suspension today I should probably talk about that, but it’s too depressing. We’ve already lost one team to heartbreak in the playoffs this month so I can’t really use any more depressing news. Instead, check out this compilation video of Rondo. Not going to lie, I don’t think I’ve ever paid attention to him during the tip but after watching this you bet all eyes will be on him now.
Last night the Celts took their talent to South Beach and dominated the Heat at home. Keep in mind they’ve only lost four games all year at the American Airlines Arena. The red hot C’s have now taken two games from the Heat in ten days, pulling three games ahead of Philly for the division lead. A few months ago the Celtics wouldn’t have even been a 
topic of discussion come May, but post All-Star break has been good to them. They’ve gone from a team presumed to be ousted first round to a team that has potential for a strong playoff run.
Life is good in Beantown right now. Hard to complain when we’ve got the Celtics picking things up in the second half of the condensed season, the Bruins heading full speed into another playoff run, and a hefty 157 game schedule left ahead for the 1-4 Red Sox to turn things around. Oh, and word on the street is that Gronk’s out of the running for the Madden cover so we don’t have to worry about any curse breaking both his legs. Knock on wood.
The Celtics (32-24) came up with another big win last night over the 76ers (29-27) as they won 103-79 in a game blew wide open in the second quarter. The Celtics had a balanced attack led by KG (20), Brandon Bass and Avery (18), and Pierce (17). Ray Allen came off the bench again and chipped in with 10 points on 4-9 shooting. Rajon Rondo had his 17th straight game with over 10 assists as he racked up 15 last night. The 76ers were led by Nikola Vucevic and Andre Iquodala who had 14 and 13 points. After Evan Turner exploded against the Celtics for 26 points earlier this season, they have held him to 16 points in the two games following.
Avery Alert:
Avery got the start over Ray for the second straight game, and had another solid start. He shot 6-12 from the field and made his only three. He also had 5 assists and 4 rebounds. It’s going to be interesting whether or not Doc ends up putting Ray back into the starting lineup in a few games or sticks with Avery. I’ve also heard that Pietrus may be in the mix to start when he comes back from his head injury but I find that very unlikely. In the past nine games Avery has started 8 of them. In the first quarter, when the starters play a majority of the minutes, the Celtics have given up 12, 15, 21, 20, 19, 27, 18, 19, and 22 points respectively. The only game he didn’t start was against the Spurs. The Celtics ended up giving up 27 points in that first quarter.
The Celtics take on the Heat tomorrow in Miami at 7 PM.
The Celtics are finishing up their season strong heading into the playoffs, the B’s start their playoff run Thursday at home, and the Red Sox open up at home Friday despite their subpar start to the season, yet the Pats still make headlines, all thanks to Gronk and his continuing quest to make the cover of Madden.
According to many sources, Kansas Jayhawks’ forward Thomas Robinson will announce his intent to play in the NBA later today. This is no surprise to anyone, and he is #4 on the big board for ESPN. Robinson has decided to not return to Kansas for his senior season. As a Junior, Robinson averaged 17.9 PPG and 11.8 RPG, before losing to Kentucky in the Finals a w
eek ago. Robinson didn’t even start his Freshman or Sophomore years, averaging at most 14 mins per game. Last year, however, he averaged over 31. He is a great defender and a force on the boards. Good luck Thomas!
If you look at the box score of last night’s NCAA Championship Game, you may see a kid that shot 1-10 and scored a total of 6 points has won the Most Outstanding Player award. However, if you watched the game, you would have seen a Bill Russell-like defensive minded player completely changing the pace of the game. Anth
ony Davis was not concerned about the offensive side of the game, he even told his teammates that he would just focus on defense and rebounding. He had 6 blocks and 16 rebounds. Doron Lamb was the games high scorer with 22 points.
The game looked to be over almost right away, until the last 5 minutes when Kansas put together a small come back. However, they could not make up enough ground and they lost 67-59. Thomas Robinson had a great game with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Tyshawn Taylor added 19 points of his own for the Jayhawks. The best team actually won this year, which you cannot always say at the end of the Madness.
Not a bad Monday for us those of us here in Boston reflecting back on this weekend in the sports world. The Celtics stretched their win streak to 5 games, topping off the weekend with an absolute clobbering D. Wade and the Heat. With a month left of games, the C’s sit at the 4 spot in a crowded Eastern Conference playoff race and one game up on the 76ers for the lead in the division. A 14 game April will make or break the C’s and set the stage for what could be the last playoff run of the Big Three era. On the ice, the B’s took care of business in New York, taking one a piece from the Islanders and the Rangers while clinching the Northeast Division with three games left on the schedule. The Bruins wrap up the regular season Saturday at home vs. Buffalo before gearing up for playoff hockey once again in Boston. As if a weekend of winning wasn’t enough, today brings us one day closer to baseball season. The Red Sox open up regular season play this Thursday in Detroit, starting off a 6 day, 6 game road trip before baseball comes back to Boston on Friday the 13th against the dreaded Rays. It’s a good week to be from Boston. Happy Monday!
Rajon Rondo must love playing on national television. I’m sure you’ve already heard but Rondo had his 18th triple double last night. Of those 18, 14 of them have come on national television. Rondo used and abused his way around the court against Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole for 16 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds. Pierce scored 23 for the Celtics, as all the starters had double figure points for the night. The Celtics won 91-72 to move to 30-22 overall and are in 4th place now with a full game lead over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Heat fall to 37-14 on the season, LeBron James led the way with 23 points and Wade was 2nd with 15. Chris Bosh had only 4 points on 2-11 shooting. The Heat were -30 while LeBron James was on the floor.
The Celtics are quickly looked upon as title contenders. After weeks of talk of throwing this season away, they are now in danger of becoming overrated by the fans and ESPN. Since the injury to Ray Allen’s ankle, they have been on a 5 game winning streak. The combination of Rondo-Bradley backcourt has been phenomenal so far, and I wouldn’t be mad at Doc if he stayed with the lineup when Ray comes back. Doc has to get a lot of credit for the team this year, rolling with the punches and just continuing on.
Extra Notes:
The Heat shot 7-17 from the line; compared to 20-22 for the Celtics. Rondo has 13 consecutive games with at least 10 assists. LeBron had 0 assists for the 2nd time in his career.
Avery Bradley Alert:
Celtics are now 5-0 since Avery came into the starting lineup after Ray’s troubling ankle issues. He played Wade even last night scoring 13 points when Wade only scored 15. But Wade took seven more shots. Avery’s cutting has been big in the past few games, keeping defenders honest by back cutting and then surprising them with his ever improving jumper. His confidence just keeps growing and growing. He went 5-10 from the floor last night and 1-3 from 3.
Avery had this monster block on Dwayne Wade last night. Pretty much summed up the night for the Heat. I’m telling you guys, Avery Bradley’s going to do BIG THINGS.
Boston Sports Blog 