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10 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 [...]

3
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 [...]

19
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 [...]

94
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 [...]

13
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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Miami Is A Nice Place To Visit

Both games were dicey late but ended as expected tonight: Atlanta beat Milwaukee on the road and the Heat squeaked past Philly. 

Which leaves us with this:

3) Atlanta 52-29 (Games left: vs. CLE)

4) Boston 50-30 (Games left: @CHI, vs. MIL)

5) Miami 46-35 (Games left : vs. NJN)

6) Milwaukee 45-36 (Games left: @BOS)

The Celtics aren’t locked into a first-round series with Miami, but it’s getting close. There are only two scenarios I can see in which the C’s would face the Bucks in the first round. Both are unlikely.

Scenario #1: The Celtics win out and Atlanta loses to the Cavs in the Hawks’ season finale. 

This scenario would push the C’s into the 3rd seed, where they’d face the Bucks in the 3-vs-6 series. 

Why It’s Unlikely: The Hawks will be facing Cleveland’s B-Team in the season finale. They should win that game if they need/want it. Boston, meanwhile, figures to get Chicago’s best effort Tuesday, since the Raptors hold the tie-breaker over the Bulls. Milwaukee will play hard in the season finale. 

Scenario #2: The Bucks beat Boston and the Heat lose to the Nets on the final day of the season. 

Why It’s Unlikely: The Nets have won 12 games this season. 

Interesting Possible Twist: If the Bulls beat the Celtics on Tuesday, the C’s will be locked into the 4th spot with one game (against the Bucks) remaining. They would have no way of catching the Hawks. The C’s in that scenario would almost certainly rest key guys and give the Boston fans one last chance to cheer Brian Scalabrine as he earns a larger paycheck this season than those of Rajon Rondo, Tony Allen, Marquis Daniels, Shelden Williams and Glen Davis. 

In other words: That game would be there for the Bucks to take. 

Of course, the Nets would still have to beat Miami in order for Milwaukee to jump back into 5th. 

In other words: Get out the sun screen, rent a car that’s nicer than the one you own and make your reservations at Le Tub. We’re going to Miami.

Oh: And for the love of Diana Taurasi, DO NOT LEAVE UDONIS HASLEM OPEN ON THE LEFT BASELINE.

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