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5 hours ago

5 Questions With Josh McRoberts

I talked to Los Angeles back up big man Josh McRoberts prior to the Celtics-Lakers game Thursday night at the Garden.  Here is what the former Duke Blue Devil, who is averaging 2.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in his first year in LA, had to say. 1. How have you guys been able to deal [...]

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6 hours ago

5-on-5: Predicting All-Star Reserves

I was a panelist on the 5-on-5 today at ESPN, choosing reserves for the Eastern and Western Conference all-star teams. I took two Celtics, as noted below. Hit the link to read the rest. 1. Which East and West point guards should be chosen as All-Star reserves? Ryan DeGama, CelticsHub: East: Deron Williams, Rajon Rondo [...]

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2 days 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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Report: Perk “Done,” Bynum Hurting

The depressing news comes via ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan:

Perkins was hopeful, saying: “I’m going to try to give it a go [on Thursday].” But a team source told ESPN.com’s Chris Sheridan: “He’s done.”

Perkins underwent X-rays during the Lakers’ 89-67 win that tied the series at 3. He suffered sprains to both his medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligament, sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher. The team said that Perkins will be re-evaluated on Wednesday, which likely means an MRI to ascertain the extent of the damage.

More than anything, I feel for Perk. With all the irate talk—from fans on both sides wearing green and gold-colored glasses—about which team has the worst floppers, the series now loses one player who is indisputably not a flopper. He’s nasty, he gets too many technicals, he complains too much, but Kendrick Perkins is one bad mother, and I’m proud he’s a Celtic. It is always sad when a core player has to miss a crucial game, the sort of game for which he has prepared his entire career.

And guess who has the best unadjusted plus/minus on the entire team in the playoffs?

That would be Perk, according to Basketball Value. The team is about 8 points better per 100 possessions with Perk on the floor versus with him on the bench, and it is performing better on both sides of the ball with Perk in the line-up.

Giant caveats: The sample size is small (23 games now), and Perk’s adjusted plus/minus (which seeks to adjust for quality of teammates, opponents and other factors) is basically neutral. But the trend is the same in the regular season numbers. The team was loads better offensively and defensively with Perk on the floor, but his adjusted plus/minus is neutral.

Get well, Perk. The team will need you next season, too.

The Lakers are dealing with their own ailing center, Sheridan reports.

It sounds like Bynum will give it a go in Game 7, but his best moments in this series may be behind him:

“[Bynum] wasn’t able to move very fluidly the second half,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. “He had some tightness in the back of his leg. He just said, ‘You’ve got to take me out. I can’t run.’ And it was obvious at that point that he couldn’t. He had some swelling in the back of his leg, and we’ll have to work on that and see if they can’t ice it down and control that.”

Also: Rondo got four stitches to his chin after the shot he took from Artest.

Bottom line: Both teams are banged up, and there’s one game left in the season to determine the NBA champion. The C’s are underdogs now. Do they have one special effort left in them?

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