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The Ticker
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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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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Still Streaking: Celtics 99, Pacers 88

(AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)

ESPN Box Score • 8 Points 9 Seconds • Indy Cornrows

The Celtics caught a pretty good team on a bad shooting day as they extend their winning streak to 13 games.  On the surface, this game was pretty unremarkable.  The Celtics have grinded out another win despite Rajon Rondo being sidelined.

Paul Pierce was nothing less than spectacular.  His triple double was sorely needed with Rondo’s absence and Nate Robinson‘s inability to run the offense.  Pierce could have been easily outplayed by the younger Danny Granger, an explosive player who can score in bunches.  Instead, Pierce quietly displayed what (still) makes him an elite player in this league.  Pierce smothered Granger by keeping his arms up and staying in front of him.  Granger was also goaded into taking terrible shot after terrible shot.  While the Knicks are dying to get Carmelo Anthony, I would check on Granger’s availability if I were them.  He was made for a Mike D’Antoni offense.

Like I said, there was not a whole lot to this game.  However, one particular aspect to take note of is the return of the Celtics’ defense.  It’s pretty clear that the Celtics will play their smothering, sharply rotating, and ball deflecting defense when their opponents allow them to.  Today, the Pacers definitely allowed them to.   The Pacers finished the game shooting 35% from the field and 22% from distance.  Many of the Pacers easy points came at the expense of Nate Robinson, which should make Celtics’ fans feel pretty anxious excited for Rajon Rondo’s return.

More analysis and some video on the way…

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