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16 hours ago

Rondo Replacing Johnson on All-Star Team

The Herald got it right from Rondo’s agent. According to his agent, Bill Duffy, the Celtics point guard has been named to the Eastern Conference All-star roster, presumably to replace Joe Johnson, the injured Atlanta Hawks guard. This would be Rondo’s third all-star appearance. Nice birthday present for RR, who probably should have been selected [...]

2
3 days ago

Comments Deleting?

We apologize if your comments are being deleted (provided that they are not offensive). We are looking into why this is happening. We also want to apologize for the lack of a game thread for last night’s game.  We had a premonition that the Celtics would play that poorly and thought if we pretended the [...]

2
7 days ago

5 Questions With Greg Monroe

I talked with Detroit star forward Greg Monroe prior to the Celtics-Pistons game on Wednesday night.  Here is what the 2nd year big man out of Georgetown, who is averaging 16.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists per game had to say. 1. Just your 2nd year in the league, but playing so well, were you disappointed [...]

3
8 days ago

Call for Responses: 5-on-5

Readers! Last week’s responses to the 5-on-5 questions were really, really great. We had way more qualified answers than we were able to use. So we’re going to keep doing it! FOREVER. Here are this week’s questions: 1. Are you concerned about Rondo’s media boycott this week? 2. The trade deadline is less than a [...]

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11 days ago

5 Questions With Ronnie Brewer

I talked with Chicago starting guard Ronnie Brewer prior to the Celtics-Bulls game on Sunday.  Here is what the 6th year man out of Arkansas who is averaging 7.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists had to say. 1. You guys have a lot of the same players back from last year’s team which was [...]

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13 days 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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Game 7/82: Celtics (5-1) @ Thunder (3-2) Open Thread

Boston at Oklahoma City
7 P.M. ET
Ford Arena
CSN

Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 105.7 points/100 possessions (17th)
Oklahoma City: 105.9 points/100 possessions (16th)

Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 99.3 points allowed/100 possessions (3rd)
Oklahoma City: 110.7 points allowed/100 possessions (27th)

Probable Oklahoma starters:
Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook, Thabo Sefolosha, Nenad Krstic

Thumbnail: The Celtics face their second toughest challenge this season as they take on a very good Oklahoma City team.  The Thunder are a young team that can really fill it up when they need to.

WHAT THE THUNDER DO WELL:

  • Matchup.  The Thunder are a matchup nightmare for any NBA team that is traditionally put together.  Kevin Durant at 6’10″ starts at small forward and Russell Westbrook is on the taller side for point guards at 6’4″.  They are also as athletic as they are talented.  They can outrun and outjump any team out of the gym, especially an order team like the Cs.

WHAT THE THUNDER DO POORLY:

  • Shoot the Three Ball.  The Thunder added shooters Morris Peterson and Daequan Cook this offseason and neither has produced much of anything.  Peterson has to yet to play and Cook has gone 3-for-13.  Why Cook has a job in the NBA is beyond me.  No one on the Thunder roster is shooting over 29% from deep this season.


PLAYER(S) WHO MAKE ME WORRY:

  • Kevin Durant.  How could he not worry you?  He’s still scoring the ball as prolifically as ever but this year he has also made a concerted effort to rebound the basketball averaging 6.1 boards a game.
  • Russell Westbrook.  On Friday, Rajon Rondo battled Derrick Rose on his way to point guard supremacy.  Tonight he takes on Russell Westbrook, the guy who arguably beat out Rondo for the final Team USA roster spot.  Westbrook has upped his scoring from last season averaging 22 points and 6 assists.

PLAYER(S) WHO DO NOT MAKE ME WORRY:

  • Thabo Sefolosha. For as good as this guy is offensively, he is just a “missing person” on the offensive end.  Right now, he’s shooting .333 from the field this season and has the lowest TS% (39.5%) for any shooting guard who plays at least 20 minutes a game (HoopData).

WHAT WE WAN TO SEE FROM BOSTON TONIGHT:

  • Hold on to a lead:  Presuming the Celtics lead at some point in this game they need to show that they can hold on to it.  Giving up leads was commonplace last season for the Celtics and they have let their opponents force overtime twice this season.  The season may be young, but the Celtics cannot continue to keep piling on the minutes.  They have shown that they want to win these games but with a better/deeper bench the Celtics should be able to put teams away when they have a lead.

PREDICTION:
The Thunder are not as good on the defensive end as they were last year.  Despite addressing their needs at the two guard position in the offseason, they have been worse from outside.  I expect the Celtics to exploit these weaknesses in a tight one.  Celtics 100, Thunder 95

(All Numbers Taken from Basketball-reference.com)

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