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8 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
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
10 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 [...]

9
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Game 16/66: Magic (11-4) at Celtics (6-9) Open Thread

Orlando @ Boston
7:30 PM
TD Garden
CSNNE

Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 99.0 points/100 possessions (19th)
Orlando: 105.2 points/100 possessions (2nd)

Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 98.3 points/100 possessions (10th)  
Orlando: 99.3 points/100 possessions (16th)

Probable Magic Starters: Jameer Nelson (PG), JJ Redick (SG), Jason Richardson (SF), Ryan Anderson (PF), Dwight Howard (C)

Injury Report:
Orlando: None. Boston: Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen are both doubtful. Keyon Dooling and Chris Wilcox are probably out. UPDATE: MICKAEL PIETRUS IS OUT TONIGHT WITH A SHOULDER INJURY.

View From The Opposing Bench: Magic Basketball

THUMBNAIL
Boston’s list of 2011-12 victims isn’t impressive: they’ve beaten Detroit, New Jersey, Toronto and Washington (x3) this season. Tonight, they get another chance to take down a winning team as the improbably strong Magic ride into town. But, while Glen Davis will be on the court, Ray Allen probably will not, having injured his ankle in yesterday’s win over the Wizards. Rajon Rondo may give it a go but the C’s go into this one as underdogs even if they both suit up.

PREGAME ANALYSIS
The Magic are the second best three-point shooting team in the NBA at 40.1% (Boston is first at 42.7%) but unlike the Celtics who are only 26th in the league in three-point-attempts per game, the Magic capitalize on their proficiency; on average, they take 25 threes a game. As has been the case for years, much of Orlando’s success comes from being able to post Dwight Howard up underneath the basket and then spread the floor with shooters.

There are two keys for the Celtics on defense tonight. The first will be single-covering Howard, a near impossible task as he’s put up three 20-20 games in his last five and Jermaine O’Neal has struggled with foul trouble this season. However, you can still beat Orlando by limiting their looks from the arc. Hedo Turkoglu is shooting almost 48% from three this season, with additional danger coming from Ryan Anderson (41.9% on 7.8 attempts per game!) and JJ Redick (39.6%). If they see too much daylight, the Celtics are going to lose.

If Paul Pierce is fatigued after his all-world game against Washington yesterday, Mickael Pietrus could see longer minutes against his former team, and spend them racing around the perimeter challenging shots. With Allen out or limited, this could also be a good game for Avery Bradley to lock down someone on the perimeter (Redick, perhaps). Is he capable of doing that against an elite team? Or will he overplay his man and land in foul trouble?

On the offensive end of the ball, it’s a crapshoot. Unless it’s against a team like Washington, Boston is alarmingly dependent on Rondo for pace and shot creation. If he’s playing tonight, and playing well, the Celtics could score the ball effectively against an Orlando defense that has struggled this season. Or at the very least, Boston should be able to get the shots they want (they’ll get few second chance points, as Orlando is the best defensive rebounding team in the league). If Rondo’s out or off his game, Orlando is likely to cruise to victory.

PREDICTION

Orlando 101 Boston 89

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