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4 days ago

(Video) Rajon Rondo Continues To Dominate In Postgame Interview

Rajon Rondo is a tremendous player, but he tends to have a little bit of an issue scoring the ball late in games. I won’t go as far as saying he is scared, but he does pass up shots and defer to teammates in crunch-time….well a lot. Last night though may have been his coming [...]

2
4 days ago

Video: Full Kevin Garnett Reaction After Game 1

Garnett followed up his season-best effort against Atlanta in Game 6 with a new season-high in points and another sensational double-double, as well 60 percent shooting (12-of-20) from the field. Over his past two contests, Garnett is averaging 28.5 points, 12.5 rebounds, two steals and four blocks a game. After the game, KG was candid [...]

2
4 days ago

The Enemies List: Philadelphia, Part II

Before every playoff series this season, we’re doing some rundowns on the opposing roster for each team. Now that the Hawks have been dispensed with, we’re onto the Sixers. Here’s Part II. Players are listed in alphabetical order. Andre Iguodala: There are five guys in the league who have a claim on the title of [...]

4
4 days ago

NBA: Hawks Should Have Had Free Throw on Last-Second Foul

Mike Fratello had it right: the NBA announced today that Al Horford should have been given a free throw on Marquis Daniels’s off-ball foul at the end of Thursday’s game. At the time, ref Eric Lewis ruled that Daniels’s foul had occurred after the throw-in, making him probably the only person in the arena who [...]

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7 days ago

Game 6 Time Set For Thursday Night

Boston will face off with the Hawks on Thursday night at 8pm at TD Garden. The broadcast can be seen on TNT or CSN locally. There was a risk that it would be a 6pm tip for Boston-Atlanta, if the Nuggets failed to extend the series last night against the Lakers. That would have created [...]

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9 days ago

Atlanta Shakes Up Starting Five For Game 5

Desperate times call for desperate measures and after a blowout in Game 4, Atlanta’s head coach Larry Drew is going to shake things up a bit and add some bulk to his starting five at each position. Kirk Hinrich and Jason Collins will head to the bench, while Marvin Williams will be inserted at small [...]

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Celtics Lose A Squeaker: Celtics 85, Mavericks 90

Posted by on Jan 11, 2012 21 comments

Dallas Mavericks 90 Final

Recap | Box Score

 85 Boston Celtics
Kevin Garnett, PF 37 MIN | 4-11 FG | 8-8 FT | 10 REB | 3 AST | 16 PTS | +15
KG may have had the double-double tonight but he missed a wide open 13 footer and a point blank layup with under two minutes to play. He also looked completely over-matched by Dirk Nowitzki at times. Lots of players do but not everyone has the defensive reputation that KG does.
Paul Pierce, SF 30 MIN | 2-5 FG | 2-4 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 7 PTS | -7
Mickael Pietrus ended up eating up a lot of Pierce’s minutes in the third and fourth quarters. Was Pierce’s heel acting up? Did Doc just want to give Pietrus some extra run because he was playing well? We’ll find out soon enough. Weirdly enough, Pierce only attempted five shots all game.
Jermaine O’Neal, C 22 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | -5
The effort was there as JO looked pretty good on two blocks but he could only stay on the court for 22 minutes. Not what you want or need from your starting center.
Ray Allen, SG 33 MIN | 3-8 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 9 PTS | -7
Ray Allen was there when the Celtics needed a three but wasn’t really heard from when they didn’t.
Rajon Rondo, PG 38 MIN | 8-16 FG | 8-12 FT | 3 REB | 7 AST | 24 PTS | -6
The Celtics needed Rondo to step up in the worst way tonight. Even though he definitely did that but because the rest of the starters didn’t have it offensively, Rondo still had to force the action more than anyone should be comfortable with.
Mickael Pietrus, SF 18 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 5 PTS | +2
A three, a steal, and a transition dunk. Not to mention really tough perimeter D and holding his own on Lamar Odom in the post. This is the Mickael Pietrus the Celtics were banking on.
Brandon Bass, PF 31 MIN | 3-6 FG | 2-4 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 8 PTS | -6
Played 33 big minutes tonight and made his customary open shots.

Five Things We Saw

  1. Lineups. The Celtics had some interesting lineups tonight. At one point they trotted out Rajon Rondo, Keyon Dooling, Mickael Pietrus, Brandon Bass, Chris Wilcox. At another time they had JO, Pierce, Dooling, Rondo, and Bass sharing the court. It’s still early but it’s going to reach a point where Doc Rivers should really be settling in on a rotation and only utilizing some guys in injury situations.
  2. Fans. The 16th man was in full force tonight. Whenever the Celtics tied it up the TDGarden crowd got incredibly loud. There was even a point in the fourth quarter where the Celtics may have induced a shot clock violation but the crowd was so loud you couldn’t hear the buzzer. Luckily the C’s got the rebound, so no harm no foul.
  3. Foul! I tweeted during the first half that no one on either team was in foul trouble thus a player fouling out would be highly unlikely. The officiating in the second half was so wildly inconsistent that Ian Mahinmi fouled out and Mickael Pietrus had four.
  4. The Shot Clock is Real. The Celtics pressured the wings tonight so well that it forced the Mavs to violate the shot clock a handful of times. Seriously, I lost count at five. It may have been a byproduct of a lack of ball movement from the Mavericks but it was impressive nonetheless.
  5. Dirk is Dirk. I was just thinking right after the Pierce three to tie the game that the Celtics have kept Dirk Nowitzki really quiet tonight (4-10, 13 points till that point). Then the last play happened and well, you know, you don’t really get to be the Finals MVP by being lucky or just okay.

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