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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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Pleasantly Surprised: Celtics 85, Heat 82

ESPN Box Score • The Heat Index • Hot Hot Hoops • Peninsula is Mightier

The Celtics have officially won the season series with the Miami Heat despite being dealt some interesting cards.  The Celtics were forced to play today’s game with only eight semi-healthy bodies.  Adding insult to injury, Paul Pierce failed to get it going on the offensive end.  He may be suffering from an unknown injury, still feeling the effects of his reported bout with the flu, or perhaps he just had a bad game.  Still I cannot remember a game in which Paul Pierce was so ineffective on the offensive end.  In 40 minutes, Paul Pierce was 0-10 from the field and scored a total of one point.  Scary Bad.  On the flip side, Pierce played a masterful defensive game against LeBron James.

On the surface it seems odd that the Celtics can win a game against the Miami Heat when one of their big three is not playing well.  If you dig a little deeper, you’ll see why the Celtics were able to win.  Kudos go to the Miami Deep Threats James Jones, Mike Miller, and Eddie House as they shot a  combined 1-for-12 from distance.  That is not a figure you will see often, but then again, neither is Paul Pierce’s box score entry.

One last thing to note before Mike gets you caught up with some more substantial analysis:  the officiating was grotesquely bad today.  The flagrant foul call on Dwyane Wade, the numerous times LeBron James got hit on his way to the basket, and phantom calls on Kevin Garnett all make a strong case for league review.  I don’t think I want any of these guys officiating in the playoffs aside from Ken Mauer.  He’s not great, but he still had an emphatic “No Call” signal on the Garnett lean-in screen that precipitated Wade’s “flagrant” foul.  This type of differentiation from officials is necessary for the playoffs, especially when things get a lot more physical.

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