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6 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
6 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
7 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 [...]

92
8 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
11 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 [...]

42
11 days ago

Final Grade: Avery Bradley (C+)

In his third year in the league, in which promising players often make brash leaps from benchwarmer to starter, from starter to star, Avery Bradley took a big step back. But his regression might be deceptive. When he returned to the Celtics’ lineup on January the 2nd after two in-season months recovering from offseason shoulder [...]

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Game 3: Celtics (2-0) @ Knicks (0-2) Open Thread

Boston @ New York
Madison Square Garden
7:00 PM
ESPN, CSN

Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 104.0 points/100 possessions (t-17th)
New York: 108.3 points/100 possessions (5th)

Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 97.8 points allowed/100 possessions (2nd)
New York: 106.9 points allowed/100 possessions (21st)

Probable NY starters: Toney Douglas(PG), Landry Fields (SG), Carmelo Anthony (SF), Amare Stoudemire/Shawne Williams (PF), Ronny Turiaf (C)

Probable BOS starters: Rajon Rondo (PG), Ray Allen (SG), Paul Pierce (SF), Kevin Garnett(PF), Jermaine O’Neal (C)

View from the opposing benchKnickerblogger

***UPDATE: Chauncey Billups will NOT play tonight

Game 3 thumbnail:

The Celtics look to go up 3-0 and take commanding control of this series. If you haven’t heard, this will be the first playoff basketball game played at Madison Square Garden since 2004. Apparently a lot of important people are supposed to be in attendance.

The update on Stoudemire and Billups: the Knicks are hopeful for Amare’s return, but they remain pessimistic that Billups can be ready by tip-off. Both will be game-time decisions. I’d be shocked if Amare doesn’t at least try to play, though. He’s been working toward this moment all season, and even if his back isn’t fully cooperating, I can’t see him sitting this one out completely. As for Billups, we saw the effect that his absence had on Game 2, as Rajon Rondo got to the rim whenever he wanted. If Billups isn’t able to play, Rondo’s scoring instantly becomes an important factor in this game.

And finally, the rebounding numbers from Tuesday’s game again: Knicks out-board the C’s 53-37, including 20 on the offensive glass. And that was without Amare for most of the game. Surely, the Celtics know they have rebounding concerns, but that hasn’t yet led to any dramatic improvements. So we’ll see if anything changes tonight. I wonder if Doc will call for double-teams against Carmelo down the stretch, because the Celtics showed they had a lot of trouble boxing-out when they abandoned their traditional defense.

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