Indiana couldn't keep up the pace against the Celtics

In an impressive offensive display, the Celtics got revenge on Indiana last night, one of two teams to beat Boston so far this season. Rajon Rondo showed some very impressive play, achieving his first career triple-double, with 16 points, 13 rebounds, and in another career-first 17 assists. At times, Rondo just seemed to be everywhere. If he wasn't swooping in for a crucial put-back, he was hassling defenders, or throwing some amazing alley-oop passes. In the 2nd half, Rondo had two truly memorable almost back-to-back alley oop passes to KG, who slammed them home with Authori-tah!

The Celtics surged to a Gino-fied 114-96 victory, their 10th win in a row (current NBA season high) leaving them at 18-2 for an NBA-best record. Their closest competitor in their division now is NJ (at 9-8) and in the conference, Cleveland sits at 15-3, behind the C's.

Tomorrow, Greg Oden and the Portland Trail Blazers come to the Garden, for an 8:00 pm game . . .

Too Busy for the Celtics?

The Celts have 3 home games this week, but I will only be attending one of them :(

I had to sell tonight's game against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic, due to a class conflict. (thankfully the semester is almost over) And, I gave my tickets to Friday's game vs. Greg Oden and the Portland Trail Blazers to a couple as their wedding present. Both look to be good games, but I am most interested in the game I actually AM going to this week: Wednesday vs. the Indiana Pacers. The last time the Celtics played the Pacers they got beaten 79-95, so Boston will have to step it up at home to come out better in the next meeting.

Post-game updates to come after my class later tonight . . .

Daaaaaaaaaaaaamn

The Celtics completely schooled the Sixers last night. In every way, the C's dominated Philly, and coasted to an easy Gino-accompanied win.

It wasn't a terrible first quarter for the Sixers, scoring 16 points to the Celtics 22. But, nothing went their way in the second quarter. The Celtics started with 11 unanswered points to open the second, and finished the half 46-28, holding the Sixers to only 12 points off of only 4 made FGs. The Celtics pushed the lead even farther, ending the 3rd 73-47. By this point, it seemed that the Sixers were behind an entire quarter's worth of points, BECAUSE THEY WERE!

The bench finished off the Sixers in the fourth, pushing the final score differential to 102-78. Every Celtic who stepped on the court scored, Scalabrine suffering a vicious Flagrant Foul from Speights late in the 4th, but still contributing 4 points to the Celtic effort. A 180 degree turnaround from their last game, the Cs dominated defensively tonight, and made Philly feel the pain of the Championship spirit in Beantown.

Warriors Defeated

In an impressive comeback, the Celtics defeated the Golden State Warriors. The Celtics came out strong in the first quarter, leading 35-28 after one. But, things looked shaky after that. Golden State went on a big run, tying the game at 43, with just over 6 minutes left in the second quarter. Then, the Warriors just exploded on the Celts, ending the half leading 67-54. It was the most points allowed in the first half by the Celtics so far this season.

Late in the 3rd, the Celts brought the game back to single digits, eventually ending the quarter with an 86-83 lead. The game stayed close throughout most of the 4th quarter, both teams tied at 102 with just under 7 minutes left in the game. The Celtics pushed hard, and opened a 6 point lead, that the Warriors never came back from. On the strength of some impressive Celtic scoring, they finished the night 119-111, the highest scoring game in the garden so far this year.

The starters were especially impressive tonight, combining for 98 points and 38 rebounds between the 5 of them. Not a great defensive night, but the boys pulled a win out nonetheless . . .

No Tommy Points for the holday week

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2008/11/helen_heinsohn.html

Helen Heinsohn, wife of Celtics commentator and former player and coach Tommy Heinsohn passed away on Monday, after a battle of several years with cancer. Tommy said that he will take at least the nest two games off to grieve and be with family.

Donny Marshall who has filled in for Tommy on road games (Tommy doesn't travel with the team anymore) will join Mike Gorman in the Garden for tomorrow and Friday's games.

No Dice for the Celtics

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/11/24/agent_confirms_mcdyess_to_re_sign_with_detroit/

Not really a surprise to anyone, McDyess has expressed his intent to resign with the Pistons, and will rejoin them in December. (He is not allowed to resign with them prior to 12/7 per NBA rules)

In the same article, there is an interesting section regarding Perk having picked up half of his season-allowed 16 technical fouls already. As best as I understand it (feel free to check the NBA rules for yourselves here) after Perk receives 15 Ts in the regular season, every consecutive T earned means he is suspended for the following game (IE: He gets his 16th Technical on 12/23 and misses the next game on 12/25. He comes back in the 12/26 game and gets T'd again, and is then forced to miss the 12/28 game) This COULD impact Perk, as Technicals don't reset until the playoffs, when a player gets suspended after reaching 7 playoff T's (Rasheed Wallace anyone???)

I don't necessarily see Perk as getting screwed because of this, but you never know - we could see some interesting starters at Center later in the year if he doesn't learn to control this . . .

Big Sunday

Well sports fans, today is a big one for Boston. Celtics tip-off in Toronto is @ 12:30 PM, and the Patriots/Dolphins kick-off is @ 1:00 in Miami. Celtics post-game info to come later today . . .

In other Celtics news, Bill Walker has been sent to the D-League Utah Flash, joining JR Giddens. Pruitt gained some valuable experience in the D-League last year, and the hope is that both of the Celtics rookies can achieve the same.

http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/press112108-walker-flash.html
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UPDATE: The Celtics have ousted the Raptors in their own home, 118-103. It was an offensive explosion, with every starter hitting double digits. The team shot .616 overall, and .588 from beyond the arc, with 10 3s on the day.

The next game will be the day before Thanksgiving at the Garden, versus the Golden State Warriors. Photos to be posted sometime on Turkey Day . . .

KG and the C's enter the Wolves' Den

In KG's first return visit to Minnesota as an active member of Celtics, the team rallied to shut the Wolves down. Off the strength of a 25-point differential in 3rd quarter scoring ( the Wolves added 10 to the Celtics 35 in that quarter), the Celtics skated to a 95-78 win. KG led Celtics scoring with 17 points, as well as 4 rebounds and two assists. Pierce, Ray, and Rondo also contributed 36 points, 20 rebounds, 15 assists, and 5 steals between them. As before, every active member of the Celtics got in on the game (not all of them scored) TA, Powe, and Scals led the bench with a combination of 14 rebounds and 29 points off of 11-18 shooting (TA and Scals both hit a 3).

Overall, the C's did a great job of holding down the Timberwolves. Big Al Jefferson turned in 23 points, but the Wolves were held to .313 shooting on the night, and the abysmal 10 points on only 2 FGs in the 3rd quarter.

The Celtics will take on the Raptors in Toronto next, on Sunday afternoon . . .

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod]

Big Win over Detroit

Damn!

Just like last time they met, the Celtics shut the Pistons down HARD. The same team that handed Kobe and the Lakers their first loss of the year was held under 43% shooting tonight. The Celtics won by 18 points, but held a lead as large as 29 points during the shellacking at the Garden.

Rondo led all scoring (Celtics & Pistons) with 18 points and 8 big assists. In total, the starters contributed 56 of the team's 98 points. TA, Powe, and House contributed 31 points and 14 rebounds between them. In fact, every Celtic that stepped on the court scored points, including Pruitt and O'Bryant. Even Scals got in the book, with a 3 point shot beyond the arc.

Regarding photos: I forgot to charge my camera battery before the game, and I ended up having to keep the camera off for most of it to preserve the little power there was. Most of the shots that ended up coming out were of scores and shots from the jumbotron. Still an interesting time line collection, but nowhere near as many shots as the previous games . . .

Mobile Blogging from here.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod]

Preview of Celtics/Pistons

Detroit has had some impressive wins in their most recent series of games, shutting down both the Lakers and the Cavaliers in the last week. The Pistons gave the Lakers their first defeat of the season, and they also ended Cleveland's recent 8-game winning streak. As scary as the prospect of a reinvigorated New-Look Pistons might be, we should remember that the Pistons got spanked with a double-digit loss the last time the played the Celtics . . .

Photos and info to come after tonight's game at the Garden!

Looking ahead to Thursday

Last night's win has pushed the Celtics to a 3 and a half game lead in their division, and a half game lead over the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. Sounds like a good start to a Champion repeat season to me :)

The Celtics have the day off in an otherwise chock-full day of NBA action. Their opponents for Thursday, the Detroit Pistons, must face Lebron and the 9-2 Cavaliers (who are on an 8 game win streak) tonight at The Palace.

This should be a fun game to watch, and I personally hope that taking on the Cavs and then having to travel to Boston for the next night will soften up the Pistons. Looking at the post-trade team, Detroit are only 3-3, the Celtics having given them one of those losses. With a fired-up KG looking to come back huge after his one-game suspension, here's hoping I see some magical playing at the Garden tomorrow . . .

Holy Crap

Talk about weird. Scal DID end up starting the game at PF. And he wasn't completely shitty. Granted he contributed only an assist and a foul in under 5 minutes of play in the first quarter. But, Scals came back to contribute 5 points in under 90 seconds, in the closing minutes of the 3rd quarter, pushing the Celtics lead into double-digits. Then finally, when the Knicks had cut the 15 point Celtic lead down to just four (on the strength of Duhon and Chandler contributing 5 points in under 30 seconds) Scalabrine was called back in. At 1:14 left in the 4th quarter, Scals drained his second 3 point shot of the night, off a Rondo assist.

#44 Recorded 8 points on the night with 3-5 shooting and 2-3 shooting from the beyond the arc, as well as 3 rebounds, an assist and a block, in just under 21 minutes of play.

Overall, every member of the Celtics contributed for the win. Pierce led with 22 points and 8 rebounds in 35 minutes. Perk also had 8 rebounds and 16 points off of 7-9 shooting. Ray and Rondo each contributed 15 points, Rondo racking up 8 rebounds and 7 assists also. Powe had 14 points off of 6-9 shooting and 7 rebounds. House, TA, and Davis accounted for 20 combined bench points and 10 rebounds between them.

Pictures from the evening, are linked below. There are considerably more compared to last time, and i think they do a pretty good job chronicling the game from pregame to post-win. Let me know what you guys think . . .

Scally to Start???

So, now that we know KG is out for tonight, who is in to start at PF?

The Celtics.com game preview lists Brian Scalabrine as the starter for tonight, and that worries me. I love Scal as much as many at the Garden seem to, but starting? I would rather see Powe or Davis get the nod. Scal may have height, but I'm not so sure he is a good choice against the Knicks who "have become the highest scoring team in the league @ 105.7 points per game"

And, on another Scalabrine-related note, what is the deal with this?
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/11/17/no_chants_for_success/
In the words of Aloma, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Scally?

I guess I'll just have to see who starts at PF when I get to the Garden in a few hours . . .

Tuesday may have just gotten more interesting ...

According to the ESPN website: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3707297

"The league office will look further Monday at the fourth-quarter incident, according to NBA spokesperson Maureen Coyle, with any fines or suspensions to be announced before both teams play again Tuesday."

Bogut saw an immediate penalty, in that he got hit with a 2nd technical and ejected. KG also left before the end of the game, fouling out later during the overtime period. I'm not saying that Bogut's ejection cost his team the game, but the Celtics were able to overcome in OT after he left . . .

On the other end, if KG is forced to sit out of Tuesday's game, how will the Celtics stack up against the Knicks? NY is dealing with both injuries and Marbury's impending buyout, but could one of the big 3 being forced onto the bench be what they need to overcome against the defending champs?

I certainly hope not, and will be there taking pictures either way . . .
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UPDATE: It's official - KG will have to sit out Tuesday's game against the Knicks, and Bogut's foul has been upgraded to Flagrant 1 status. I wonder who is getting the start in KG's place. I'll have to see when I get to the Garden tomorrow . . .

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3709281

Busy Upcoming Week

Yo-

Two home games coming up this week, and on a Tuesday and Thursday no less!

Tipoff is @ 730pm against the NY Knicks on Tuesday, and 800pm against the New-Look Detroit Pistons on Thursday. Normally I would count the Knicks out on principle, but based on their recent playing trend (they've won 5 out of their last 6 games and are currently battling the Mavericks in overtime at MSG) and the way the Celtics almost had the game stolen out from under them in Milwaukee, the Tuesday night matchup might be interesting . . .

And, on Thursday, it will be the second time the Celtics have played the post-trade Pistons. In their first clash, the Celts gave Allen Iverson his first taste of home defeat, and held the team to under 35% shooting at The Palace. Admittedly, the team HAS gone 3-0 since that night, but are currently fighting an 11 point deficit in Phoenix right now. I think a certain amount of the last win was due to the fact that Iverson was then so new to the lineup, but am still confident that the Celtics will triumph on Thursday, regardless of how long Iverson has to prepare . . .

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UPDATE: Both the Knicks and Pistons lost their Sunday games, the Knicks falling by 10 points to the Mavs in that OT. The Pistons got spanked by the Suns by 18 points, even after Shaq got ejected during the first half. Maybe there isn't anything to worry about this week?

First Shots from Celtics/Nuggets 11/14

Just got a new 10mp digicam and wanted to try it out at last night's Celtics game, against the Nuggets. I ended up playing with settings all night, so not all of my shots came out well, but I did get a handful that I think are quite good. You'll see a continuous shot function I tried out successfully (ch-ch-check out Paul Pierce's free throw skills) and I was quite pleased with how it was able to capture the jumbotron as well, but I unfortunately couldn't get a shot of when I made it on there for my dancing ;)

Anyway, the game might have been a loss, but Ray Allen played spectacularly early on, and Eddie House stepped up big from the bench. A lot of things went well, but a lot didn't, and the team wasn't able to hold on down the stretch in the final minutes of the game.

Keep your eyes on this blog, as I will add new photos from each upcoming home game I will be attending . . .