The Celtics (15-13) look to take on the Chicago Bulls (24-7) in a rematch of last Sunday where the Celtics came on top 95-91. The Celtics are coming off of a surprising loss to the Detroit Pistons last night while the Bulls are coming off of an easy win over the Sacramento Kings. The Bulls are likely to be without both Richard Hamilton and Derrick Rose. Rose has missed the last four games with a back injury. With Derrick Rose out, C.J. Watson, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng have all taken over bigger scoring roles. The Bulls are 6-2 this season when Derrick Rose does not play. For the Celtics, Kevin Garnett, Mickael Pietrus, and Jermaine O’Neal are all day-to-day, while Brandon Bass is out until after the All-Star break with swelling in his knee. Both Pietrus and O’Neal played last night. Kevin Garnett sat out last night with a hip flexor, although Doc did say that he looked great in the morning shootaround. The Celtics are 4-5 on the road this season while the Bulls are 10-1 at home. If the Celtics are to win, expect Rondo to have another big night. He had 35 and 32 points in the last two games while pushing the pace for the Celtics to create somewhat of a new identity for the team.
Tune in at 8:00 tonight on TNT to watch the Celts take on the Bulls.
The Celtics lost for the third time in four games against the Detroit Pistons Wednesday 98-88. Ben Gordon was the difference as he came off the bench for 22 points, including a 4-6 effort from 3 in the fourth quarter to put away the Celtics. Kevin Garnett sat out the game with a sore left hip, Chris Wilcox started in his place. The Celtics were outscored 25-16 in the fourth quarter as the Pistons pulled away by going on a 14-4 run to start the fourth quarter on the backing of 3 quick Gordon 3’s. Rondo finished the night with 35 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals, but was held without a basket and only put up one shot during the 14-4 run.
Chris Wilcox shot 8-12 from the field and had 17-9 in his spot-start for KG. Jermaine O’Neal in his first game back from the injured shoulder had 1 point, 2 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Jujuan Johnson had 10 points in 25 minutes but seems to be a step outside his comfort range. Ray only had 8 free throws in the first quarter and one basket in the second, he finished with 10 points. Rodney Stuckey, Greg Monroe and Ben Gordon scored 69 out of the Pistons 98 points.
Extra Notes
Doc said that Kevin Garnett looked “great” in the morning shootaround; Bill Russell was in the stands for the game; Rondo and Wilcox had two more alley-oops last night; the Celtics play the Pistons again at Detroit this Sunday; from ESPN.com, the Celtics have held their last 26 opponents under 100 points. Other than Ben Gordon, the Pistons scored 7 points from their bench.
Avery Bradley Alert
Avery played nine minutes last night and was largely ineffective from the floor. He left Gordon wide open for a 3 and was immediately pulled in the fourth. Hopefully he’ll have a bounce back game against the Bulls.
The Celtics play the Bulls tonight at 8:00 PM in Chicago. Look for a preview later on today.
Linsanity is sweeping the nation, no doubt about it. Cliche “Lin” words aside, us here in Boston find ourselves with a soft spot for this guy from the Knicks. Who doesn’t love an underdog story? Even Doc Rivers had kind words for Lin, stating, “It’s a good thing; It’s a good lesson for everyone: If you want some attention, go win.”
Nons wrote an article on Lin yesterday (I know, surprise right?) titled “A New Tebow”, although he never really compared the two. But that’s my point. They shouldn’t be compared. They’re two completely different stories. The sole thing they have in common is that the media is going crazy over them, making them the topic of conversation every three minutes on every sports network in the country. Tebow won two national championships in college. Lin barely made the Harvard squad. Tebow’s form and mechanics in pretty much every aspect of the quarterback position have been in question from day one of his professional career, probably even prior. Lin has a mixture of speed, knowledge, and a court vision that makes him a great point guard. Not to mention a jumper that makes him a threat from the outside, leaving defenders on their toes at all times. You don’t see anyone complimenting Tebow on his skill set at the QB spot. Before last week, no one knew who Lin was. A true underdog. Now, he’s making national, even global headlines in the NBA. As a Boston fan I’m eager to see Lin’s progress moving forward against the likes of Miami and Chicago. And you might want to mark down March 4th on your calendar. Lin and the Knicks are shipping up to Boston.
The biggest move that will happen before the March 15th trade deadline, barring any unforeseen major deal, will be the signing of J.R. Smith. Since his team has been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, Smith will be an NBA free agent on February 16th. J.R. Smith has averaged 12.5 points per game over the course of his career as he has developed into a top 6th man in the league. Smith has been a member of the Denver Nuggets for the past few years, and when it looked like the NBA season would be cancelled Smith went over to China to play for the Zhejiang Golden Bulls. Chinese contracts have non-opt out clauses, so Smith was forced to play out the remainder of the season before he could return to the NBA.
Smith’s highlights from China are extremely impressive. He put up some ridiculous numbers in a few games (although against some less than stellar opponents, but nonetheless impressive). Playing against former Celtics draft pick Lester Hudson, Smith came off the bench to score 60 points while shooting 14-18 from 3. Just a few days later Smith would score 41 points as his team sneaked out a 122-120 win.
Most Likely Destinations
New York Knicks
Current SG’s: Landry Fields, Iman Shumpert
Ability to offer: Mid-Level Exception, pro-rated on Feb 10th
Analysis: The Knicks are in the lead mostly because they can offer him the most money. Instead of any of the other competing teams, the mid-level exception from the Knicks has been pro-rated since February 10th, not the start of the season. But the question that follows anyone who ever plays Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire is will there be enough shots? If they found a way to share the ball a starting lineup of Jeremy Lin, J.R. Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler would look as good as any other in the NBA. But there were enough problems for the Knicks finding shots for everyone before the emergence of Lin. It might not be in Smith’s or the Knicks best interest to agree on an offer here. While the Knicks are one of the top choices with huge potential, I think it would be too big of a risk for Smith to take.
Los Angeles Clippers
Current SG’s Randy Foye, Caron Butler
Ability to Offer: Veteran Minimum Contract, pro-rated from beginning of season
In my mind, this move makes the most sense. Smith can slide right in to the starting shooting guard role, which fits with his desire for a bigger role. Smith would be the perfect complement to space the floor for high-flyers Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan. He has a tight relationship with Chris Paul from their time on the Hornets and has played with Chauncey Billups and Kenyon Martin (Nuggets). The Clippers have only one other true shooting guard right now. If J.R. came to the Clippers he would make them immediate title contenders. If the Clippers do strike out with Smith, they are presumed to use one of their trade exemptions to find a shooting guard to fill their problem.
Just for Fun
Boston Celtics
Current SG’s Ray Allen, Sasha Pavlovic, Marquis Daniels
Ability to Offer: Veteran Minimum Contract, pro-rated from beginning of season
This is obviously a long shot, probably fantasy for me, but would be a great fit for the Celtics. They cannot offer him a starting role or a warm weather climate. But they can offer him a chance at a championship and a future starting role with the Celts young players such as Rondo, Jujuan Johnson, Avery Bradley, and Jeff Green. This would allow the Celtics to stay competitive past the years of the Big 3. He would provide a scoring punch off the bench, a unit which does not have a dynamic scorer. He would be able to ease the legs of Pierce and Allen so they could save themselves for the playoffs. With a bench of Avery Bradley, Smith, Pietrus, Johnson, and Wilcox, the Celtics bench all of a sudden becomes a strength and not a weakness. The best part about this move would be that Sasha Pavlovic would probably not see the court in important minutes ever again.
Surprise Teams
The Pacers and the Timberwolves are also said to be interested, according to Marc Stein from ESPN. The Pacers have the most cap room in the NBA, which would allow them to sign him to an even bigger contract than the Knicks. The Timberwolves have been the surprise of the NBA this season with new players such as Ricky Rubio, Nikola Pekovic, and of course their All-Star Kevin Love. The Lakers are the final team that is interested in J.R. Smith. I do not consider themselves as much of a contender but they could prove me wrong. While they are trying to make moves, getting a player to back up Kobe Bryant who needs the ball in his hands most of the time does not make the most sense to me. They are also working out Gilbert Arenas, who has been described as “slimmed down” and “explosive” by Dave McMenamin.
It’s great for me to watch the Lakers falling apart at the seams. Sure, the Celtics have been criticized of being in the same boat, but you can be assured that it has nothing to do with the players that are under Doc Rivers’ watch. Metta World Peace, formerly Ron Artest, is causing quite a panic in the locker room for the LA Lakers. He is shooting and scoring career lows, and is wondering why he is getting less playing time. Are you serious? It’s cause you suck and you have the worst name known to man.
Three Laker players who wanted to remain anonymous stated their displeasure with him already. They all seem to agree that without him there, they would be a much better team. I mean, he is even dissing his new coach Mike Brown. Give it a few weeks and he may be punching fans in the face again like he did when he was with the Pacers. I love to watch the Lakers lose, but I hate to see anyone put up with a player like him.
Now for a classic Ron Artest Clip. Below is a video of him pantsing Paul Pierce during a game while he was with the Pacers. Classic.
Celtics come up with a big win over the Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls as they win 95-91. Rajon Rondo led the way for the Celtics as he had 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 15 assists. His constant pace pushed the Celtics to 33 fast break points as he controlled the flow of the game. Rondo played with an attitude that hasn’t been seen for the last few games as he really took it at the Bulls. I couldn’t tell if either he had been ripped into by Doc after the last game or if he was really offended that Rose wasn’t playing. It almost seemed as to Rondo that playing against the likes of C.J. Watson and John Lucas was insulting to him and he was punishing the Bulls for it.
Celtics continued their 3-point shooting woes as they went 3-13 from the field, but hit two huge threes in the fourth quarter to keep the Bulls at bay. Maybe not in the best interests of the Bulls, but with Rose out Watson and Lucas shot the ball 32 times. After Luol Deng had 21 points and 16 rebounds in the first game he was held to 10 points and 5 rebounds.
The Celtics will look to make it 2 in a row as they take on the Pistons on Wednesday at 7:30.
Extra Notes: Derrick Rose missed his second straight game with a sore back; Brandon Bass is going to be out until all-star break with a sore knee; Stiemsma played only five minutes but had a major impact as his block led to a Rondo And-1,but he was shafted on the high five with Rondo; Keyon Dooling played after missing the last 9 games; Rondo tried to turn the Celtics into the east coast version of lob city last night by throwing alley-oops to both Jujuan Johnson and Chris Wilcox.
Avery Bradley Alert: Bradley played eight minutes, great defense on C.J. Watson who kept forcing up bad shots during the time Bradley was in. Bradley shot 2-4 from the field for 4 points, had 1 block, and two rebounds.
The Celtics look to rebound from their two game losing streak this past week when they take on the Chicago Bulls today. Derrick Rose has been limited the past three games by a sore back, even missing the past game against the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bulls are currently on a 5 game winning streak and have won 7 out of their last 10. The Celtics have also won 7 out of their last 10 but are currently cooling off as they have lost the last two to the Lakers and Raptors.
Even if Rose does not play the Celtics will have to work to control Luol Deng who went for 21 and 16 in the first game against the Celtics. The Celtics lost the first matchup against the Bulls 88-79 as Rose took over the fourth quarter and showed why he was the reigning MVP. The Celtics are going to need more from Pierce, Allen, and Rondo who had only 23 points on Friday night against the Raptors.
Just whatever you do, do not tell the world that Derrick Rose loves the Notebook.
The Celtics losing streak runs to two games as they found themselves in a 26-14 hole after the first quarter and could never recover. Tommy Heinsohn said during the game that this was the most mad he has ever seen Doc Rivers at his players. After the game Doc said, “I was really frustrated with our execution. We couldn’t even run a play out of a timeout. That’s just frustrating.” Doc later ended up adding “The way we played the last two games, we need to be in a gym running.”
For the second straight game the Celtics gave up double digit rebounds to the other team. They also had 17 turnovers which set the tone for the game as the Raptors got out into the break and had numerous dunks on the Celtics. Rondo had a poor shooting night only hitting 2 out of 10 shots. Avery Bradley played 7 minutes after missing the Lakers game with a sore Right shoulder, the Celtics were + 7 while he was in the game.
The Celtics are off until Wednesday when they play the Pistons at Home.
Extra notes: Kevin Garnett made the same amount of shots as the previous night, with fourteen less attempts; Pietrus was the only Celtic to make a 3; Rondo was the only Celtic to play 40 minutes on back to back nights; Both E’Twaun Moore and Greg Stiemsma did not play (Coaches Decision) and Jermaine O’Neal sat out with a sore left shoulder.
Tough loss for our guys last night as they had two chances to win the game, one at the end of regulation and one at the end of overtime. Comes down to the Celtics age-old question, is it OK to live and die by Pierce isolation as the clock winds down. It’s tough to keep giving it to Pierce on isolations if he is not healthy enough to get to his spot at the top of the key. Sooner or later the ball is going to end up in Rondo’s hand with him running maybe a pick and roll with Garnett or Bass and finding the open man. The stagnant offense is tough to look at end of games, especially since Doc is known as one of the games premier last second play coaches. Ray Allen again played great defense on Kobe, even though Kobe put up 27 points, Ray made him work for each bucket and the ones he had in the fourth didn’t come easy. The big Achilles of the Celtics all year has been giving up offensive rebounds to opposing teams. Last night the Celtics gave up 15 offensive rebounds with 7 to Bynum and 4 to Gasol, including two huge tip ins with 9 seconds left in regulation and then the game winning basket in overtime by Bynum. In the end it comes down to boxing out your man, something that’s taught from when you first start playing basketball. Gasol shouldn’t be able to snake his way in through four Celtics and get that tip.
Celtics shot just 6-19 from 3 and only 39.2% from the field. Allen led the team in scoring with 22 points as he was 9-22 from the field. Pierce had another great night as he had 18-9-7 with a big three in OT to put the Celts up with two minutes left in OT. The Lakers shot 1-15 from three and only 39.6% from the field. Derek Fisher was extremely ineffective as he went 0-7 with 1 rebound and 2 assists. Avery Bradley did not see the court in a game where I was interested in how he would be able to guard Kobe.
Celtics will look to bounce back today against the Raptors as the second part of their back to back.
Extra notes: Shout out to Paul Pierce as he was named to the All Star team. On this day last year Ray Allen became the NBA all team leading three point shooter passing Reggie Miller. Rondo, Pierce, and Allen all played over 40 minutes. Greg Stiemsma, Jujuan Johnson, and Avery Bradley all received DNP’s.
Big day for the Celtics. Kobe is in town. What better timing for the old school rivalry to reunite than after Kobe passes Shaq in scoring for LA and just days after Pierce passes Bird in all time scoring for the C’s. It’s only fitting the two key figures in the new school rivalry make headlines just days before they go head to head for the first of two matchups the teams have together this year. Everyone’s been ripping on the C’s and how they’re old and finished, but the boys in green have turned things around lately, winning their last 5 games and 9 of their last 10. Not too bad for an aging team huh? They’re sneakily only 3 games back of Philly for first in the Atlantic Division.
Kobe and the Lakers of course aren’t the same team as three years ago, but I think it’s safe to say Kobe hasn’t lost his touch. He hasn’t exactly taken the #7 pre season player ranking by ESPN too lightly, proving he’s still in a league of his own. And that’s coming from a Boston fan. Regardless, the Lakers have lost their last two and sit with a 3-9 record on the road, while an impressive 11-2 at home. The Celts have moved up to 14-10 and are 10-6 at home on the season. But let’s be real, we all know when it comes to these two teams, records don’t mean anything. They’ll be going at it like it’s the 2008 playoffs. For our sake, hopefully more like Game 6.
The Celtics (15-13) look to take on the Chicago Bulls (24-7) in a rematch of last Sunday where the Celtics came on top 95-91. The Celtics are coming off of a surprising loss to the Detroit Pistons last night while the Bulls are coming off of an easy win over the Sacramento Kings. The Bulls are likely to be without both Richard Hamilton and Derrick Rose. Rose has missed the last four games with a back injury. With Derrick Rose out, C.J. Watson, Carlos Boozer, Joakim Noah, and Luol Deng have all taken over bigger scoring roles. The Bulls are 6-2 this season when Derrick Rose does not play. For the Celtics, Kevin Garnett, Mickael Pietrus, and Jermaine O’Neal are all day-to-day, while Brandon Bass is out until after the All-Star break with swelling in his knee. Both Pietrus and O’Neal played last night. Kevin Garnett sat out last night with a hip flexor, although Doc did say that he looked great in the morning shootaround. The Celtics are 4-5 on the road this season while the Bulls are 10-1 at home. If the Celtics are to win, expect Rondo to have another big night. He had 35 and 32 points in the last two games while pushing the pace for the Celtics to create somewhat of a new identity for the team.
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