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8 hours ago

Jason Terry’s 2012-13 Final Grade

  Acquiring any player, whether it’s via trade, free agency, or the draft, comes with an air of uncertainty. The NBA has no guaranteed covenant and all sales are final, no matter how talented, proven, or productive the player may have been in year’s past. But these memories—especially recent ones—often clouds the judgment of a [...]

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9 days ago

Painful Reminders (Part I): The Celtics Drafted JaJuan Johnson Instead of Jimmy Butler

On June 23rd, 2011, Brian Robb and I stood around a high top bar table in Tommy Doyle’s in Kendall Square.  Before us lay one of the biggest mounds of buffalo chicken wings I had ever endeavor to make disappear.  These 25 cent flappers- one of the few indulgences afforded to the participants of our [...]

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10 days ago

Chris Wilcox: 2012-13 Final Grade

There are a number of contextually-appropriate ways to craft this post. One would be to forgo words entirely, and represent Chris Wilcox’s entire season with a series of videos. That would involve one part of this: For every eight parts of this: Note the headline on that second clip. Someone was so amused/enraged by Wilcox’s [...]

12
11 days ago

Rajon Rondo’s 2012-13 Final Grade

Here’s a sweeping general statement involving super specific statistics that may or may not mean anything: In the 1423 minutes Rajon Rondo played this season, the Boston Celtics were outscored by 1.3 points per 100 possessions. When he sat (including all contests after he tore his ACL), Boston was better than their opponents by 1.8 [...]

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11 days ago

Avery Bradley Elected to NBA All-Defense Second Team

Avery Bradley has been a standout defender for the past couple seasons…in the regular season anyway. Now he has a trophy to prove it. The NBA announced this afternoon that the third-year guard has been elected by coaches around the league to the second-team all-NBA defensive team for the first time in his career. Bradley [...]

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14 days ago

Paul Pierce’s Contract: Dispelling The Myths and Stating The Facts

The first domino to fall this offseason is Paul Pierce’s contract. Until Danny Ainge figures out what he’s doing there, little else matters. As we wait for this decision, we also must face the rest of the offseason, which means it is also rumor season. With that time of year, comes plenty of information floating [...]

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Monday “Morning” Links

For your perusing pleasure:

Some words flying, too:The Celtics and Bulls nearly crossed some lines on physicality early in the fourth quarter of the Bulls’ 121-118 double-overtime win yesterday. The Celtics held a 73-72 lead as Glen Davis grabbed a defensive rebound, then lost possession to Chicago center Brad Miller. Davis was losing his balance and threw a pass directly to Miller, who attempted a layup and was fouled by Davis with 10:02 remaining. Miller reacted by appearing to forearm Davis in the head. [Boston.com]

Bulls’ Gordon awaits MRI on hamstring:Bulls guard Ben Gordon was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday after straining a hamstring in the first half of Sunday’s double-overtime victory over the Boston Celtics in Chicago. Gordon, who knocked down a 3-pointer to tie it with 4.5 seconds left in the first overtime, tweaked his left hamstring on a drive to the basket in the second quarter of the 121-118 victory. [ESPN.com]

Un-Celtics like lack of focus, execution causes trouble:Admittedly, the following sentence is as specious and unfair as it is true: If Paul Pierce makes two free throws, the Celtics’ series with the Chicago Bulls is over. That the set is 2-2 is more honestly a product of an overall failure to do as told in key situations, but the statement serves to point out just how fine is the line that separates victory from defeat, from sitting home and waiting for the end of the Orlando-Philadelphia series to a Game 5 tomorrow at the Garden and a Game 6 at the United Center on Thursday. [BostonHerald.com]

Game 4: Epic redemption:And to think, I was ready – several times — to dub this baby ”The Free Throw Game.” As in, “Missed free throws cost the Bulls the chance to tie this series at two games a piece.” It wasn’t just the nine misses (26-for-35). It was when some of those misses occurred. You know, at the worst possible times. First, Tyrus Thomas shanked a foul shot with 16 seconds left in regulation that could have given the Bulls a four-point cushion. Ray Allen responded by drilling a cold-blooded three-pointer to force overtime. Then, with 26 ticks left in the first overtime, Kirk Hinrich blew a freebie that could have tied the game at 107. After Paul Pierce pushed Boston’s lead to 108-106 (although he too missed a free throw), Ben Gordon got the whistle but was able to hit only one of two at the stripe, thereby failing to tie the game with nine seconds to go in that first OT. Joakim Noah had to foul Allen, who knocked down both of his foul shots to give the Celtics a 110-107 lead. [By The Horns]

Sometimes, Classics Go the Wrong Way:It might have been a bit hard to appreciate it amidst the haze of finding a series that sat tantalizingly close to 3-1 in the green’s favor suddenly tied at two games apiece, but the Celtics and Bulls played a great game on Sunday afternoon in Chicago. Yesterday’s double-overtime thriller at the United Center epitomized what playoff basketball is all about.[CelticsBlog.com]

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