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The Ticker
9 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 [...]

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9 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
10 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 [...]

94
11 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
14 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
14 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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Rondo, KG lead the way: Celtics 97, Heat 81

ESPN Box Score

If there was ever a single game to define Rajon Rondo, I think tonight was that game.

As a Celtics’ fan, you couldn’t help but be frustrated with Rondo during the first half. The Heat continued to expose the weaknesses in his game, and he seemed to be invisible for certain stretches of play.

But then Rondo reminded us all why we love him. Sure, common sense would tell you to sit a player with a dislocated elbow for the last few minutes of a blow-out victory. Heck, you could have made a legitimate argument that Delonte West, who had a very solid game for the C’s, should have played over the one-armed Rondo for the entire 4th quarter.

But Rondo wasn’t coming out of that game. His teammates were energized by him. The crowd was energized by him. And now the Celtics are feeling much better about themselves.

However, as inspiring as Rondo’s effort was, let’s not overlook the true star of Game 3. That would be Kevin Garnett, who was absolutely sensational on both ends of the floor.

Not only did KG put up 28 points and 18 rebounds, but he completely owned Chris Bosh in every possible way. He also poured in 14 points in the 3rd quarter, when the C’s outscored Miami 28-15 and never looked back.

Other quick notes:

  • Paul Pierce: 27 points on 5-7 3-point shooting, including 8 points in the first few minutes of the game that really jump-started the C’s tonight
  • Only 11 minutes for Glen Davis, but 21 for Jeff Green. Has Doc finally seen enough?
  • Jermaine O’Neal had 2 points and 4 rebounds, while counterpart Joel Anthony had 12 points and 11 boards off the bench. But I still love the way JO is making his presence known on defense.

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