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The Ticker
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
7 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
8 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 [...]

93
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
12 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 [...]

9
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Too Much Melo: Knicks 106 Celtics 104

ESPN Box Score • Knickerblogger • Posting and Toasting

After a ragged first half marred by fouls and turnovers (and atrocious Boston defense), the Celtics and Knicks kicked it into gear in the second half. Carmelo Anthony capped a brilliant day with two final-minute free throws to put the Knicks ahead. Kevin Garnett had a baseline jumper to tie on the final possession of the game, but it caught the back of the rim and the Knicks walked off with the win.

Paul Pierce’s absence was felt not only as an offensive option on that final play, but as a check on Melo, who hit eight jumpers between 17-25 feet to go along with 15 free throw attempts on his way to 37 points (and 8 rebounds).

Rajon Rondo (31 points, 13 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals) played like a megastar today. He consistently attacked the basket, took jumpers when he was open, found guys for open layups and created havoc for New York all over the court. It’s safe to say that if Rondo can even approach this kind of performance every night, the Celtics will be thrilled at the non-trade for Chris Paul.

The Celtics also got a remarkable debut from Brandon Bass, who stormed the paint to register 20 points and 11 rebounds (including 5 offensive rebounds, each one more encouraging than the last. What kind of Celtics team gets second chance points?).

From a rotation-watch perspective, Avery Bradley saw 9 minutes of ball-hawking duty, Marquis Daniels played 30 minutes and tallied 4 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Sasha Pavlovic played 15 largely ineffective minutes but don’t expect a repeat. When Pierce and Mickael Petrius suit up later this week, Pavlovic will find himself nailed to the bench.

That’s it for now but Hayes will be back later with the full breakdown of this one.

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