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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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Executed by a Lack of Execution: Celtics 90, Heat 98

ESPN Box Score • The Heat Index • Peninsula Is Mightier

The Celtics were right in their comfort zone.  After giving up a late game lead, they came roaring back to tie the game at 86.  Paul Pierce, after going toe-to-toe with LeBron James all game, forced James to mis-dribble and Ray Allen secured the loose ball.  With the ball and 20 seconds to go, you wouldn’t find a person alive that wouldn’t have bet on Boston to execute a play and get a good shot.  It was only one year ago that the Miami Heat saw this late game execution first hand when a Rajon Rondo alley-oop sent a game to overtime, an eventual Boston win.

Tonight was an anomaly, although a perfect punctuation to a contest that lacked offensive execution.  Coming off a timeout, Paul Pierce got the ball at the top of the key and began to dribble down extraneous seconds.  Then the Celtics began to make their move only instead of setting a pick on a Miami player, Allen and Kevin Garnett had done the unimaginable:  they set a pick on themselves.  Out of sorts and without a screen coming, Pierce is forced to go left and throw up a prayer that was not answered. Backboard, rim, out, overtime.

Both the Celtics and the Heat were playing unbelievable defense to that point.  Aside for Boston’s bullet-filled feet, the two team’s played each other to a standstill.  Something had to give and with the Celtics’ tired, old legs and the Heat’s all-game aggressiveness, a Boston loss was inevitable.

Now the Celtics are forced to go back to South Beach with their season, their title hopes, and their pride on the lines.  For the Cs, there are only two options: win or go home.  As tonight proved, the former will be extremely difficult.

Much more analysis to come….

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