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1 day ago

Greg Stiemsma’s Contract To Become Fully Guaranteed

The C’s gave their 26-year-old rookie a vote of confidence before Tuesday’s game. By not waiving the seven-footer, Stiemsma’s contract will become fully guaranteed on Friday, allowing the shot blocker to breath a little bit and perhaps unpack some boxes for good in Beantown. Here’s Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston with some reaction from Stiemsma and [...]

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2 days ago

5 Questions With Kemba Walker

I had a chance to talk with Bobcats rookie Kemba Walker prior to the Celtics game against Charlotte on Tuesday night.  Here is what the UConn star, who is averaging 12.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game had to say. 1. How much communication have you had with Michael Jordan this year? Walker: [...]

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3 days ago

I Am Awesome!

Yes. This is a “pat myself on the back” post because a) I’m a jackass and b) I predicted something correctly. Back on January 8th, I predicted that the next ten games will tell us everything we need to know about this Celtics’ team. If they struggled, it was time to blow it up. If [...]

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3 days ago

Pierce Wins Eastern Conference Player Of Week

One day before he’s scheduled to pass Larry Bird for second on the Celtics’ all-time scoring list, Paul Pierce won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award. Pierce averaged 22 points, 6.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds in four Boston wins, playing point forward in Rajon Rondo’s absence. Pierce is only 9 points behind Bird [...]

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4 days ago

Garnett’s Wondrous 3-point Rant

Via ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg, who knows a great, playful rant when he hears one, here’s Kevin Garnett discussing his not-so-newfound aptitude for three-point shooting after the C’s took down the Grizzlies. “When I walk around the streets, y’all stop acting like y’all shocked that I can shoot 3’s. Everybody in Boston, everybody in the [...]

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4 days ago

5 Questions With O.J. Mayo

I talked with Memphis guard O.J. Mayo prior to the Celtics-Grizzlies, Super Bowl Sunday game at the Garden.  Here is what the 4th year man out of USC, who is averaging 12.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2 assists per game had to say. 1. You started every game your first two years in the league, [...]

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Frozen Moments: Games 1 and 2

In close playoff games, fans tend to remember plays during crunch time, but the the truth is that every possession matters in games as closely fought as these first two against Chicago. Throughout the playoffs, I’ll highlight one play in every close game that sticks in my mind as an overlooked basketball nugget. This is totally subjective; feel free to add your own in the comments.

Frozen Moment, Game 2: Perk’s Momentum Killing Turnover: First Quarter, 6:47 to go: The Celtics are killing it to open Game 2. Derrick Rose has two fouls, Rajon Rondo is in the middle of arguably the best quarter of his life and the C’s are up 20-8. Ben Gordon misses a long jumper, which Kendrick Perkins rebounds with Joakim Noah on his back. The crowd is on fire. Noah does a little stunt back toward midcourt, convincing Perk it’s safe to toss an easy pass to Rajon Rondo, who’s about 10 feet away to Perk’s right. Noah sees it coming, steals the ball and dunks it. 20-10, and the first Bulls play that slowed the C’s momentum and got Doug Collins talking about “withstanding the Celtics punch to the mouth.”

Frozen Moment, Game 1: Ray Allen’s missed dunk. I watched this game from a hotel room in Washington, D.C., so I haven’t been able to rewatch a recording of it–meaning I can’t remember exactly what led to Ray Allen attempting a slam dunk. It was 49-42 Bulls with 1:12 left in the second quarter. From what I remember, Ray was bringing the ball up on what might be classified as a slow/secondary break, and the Bulls defenders failed to stop ball or protect the paint. So Ray accelerated through the middle and rose for a lay-in…only he attempted a one-handed dunk and bounced it off the back rim. It looked like he decided to go for the slam in midair, perhaps figuring the Celtics needed an emphatic reminder that they were the Champs. 

I can’t remember when Ray Allen last attempted a dunk in any circumstance other than wide open fast break. I was so shocked I actually tweeted about it on the Twitter. Next time, just lay it up, please.

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