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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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Game 4: Miami (2-1) @ Boston (1-2) Open Thread

Game 4
Miami at Boston
8:30 P.M. ET
TD Garden
ESPN

Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 100.9 points/100 possessions (10th)
Miami: 109.3 points/100 possessions (3rd)

Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 97.7 points allowed/100 possessions (3rd)
Miami: 99.8 points allowed/100 possessions (5th)

Key Injuries: Avery Bradley and Chris Bosh are out.

Probable Miami Starters: Almario Vernard Chalmers (PG), Dwyane Wade (SG), LeBron Raymone James (SF), Shane Battier (PF), Ronny Turiaf (C)

View From The Opposing Bench: Heat Index

Thumbnail: Tonight is effectively a Game 7 for Boston. Maybe even more of a Game 7 than the actual Game 7 they just went through. The prospect of enduring three elimination games, two in Miami, is not ideal. So it’s tonight.

Look for, as Ryan addressed, KG to affirm his post presence. Look for Pierce to, for better or worse, put up 25 shots gunning for a huge bounce-back game. Look for Rondo to continue his transition from human to pure energy. Look for some minutes from Marquis Daniels, probably at the cost of Mickael Pietrus. Hope for some minutes from Terrel Harris.

And if Boston ends up with a lead in the fourth, look for them to keep attacking in transition and not hoard shot clock. This is easily the most maddening thing about this team: when they’re ahead by a small margin late, they stunt their own offense by initiating with four seconds left in the possession, in hopes they can just run the game out without having to actually play anymore. They did it two nights ago and let Miami back in. The Heat are intensely capable of ending a game on a 14-0 run, so Boston needs to play like they expect that to happen.

Prediction: Celtics win.

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