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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
12 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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Game 36: Rockets (21-15) @ Celtics (18-17) Open Thread

Houston at Boston
7:30 P.M. ET
TD Garden
CSNNE

Offensive Efficiency:

Boston: 102.6 points/100 possessions (22nd)

Houston: 108.4 points/100 possessions (7th)

Defensive Efficiency:

Boston: 103.8 points allowed/100 possessions (10th)

Houston: 105.5 points allowed/100 possessions (15th)

Probable Houston starters: Jeremy Lin, James Harden, Chandler Parsons Patrick Patterson, Omer Asik

View From The Opposing Bench: Red94

Thumbnail: After a demolition in Houston a few weeks back, Boston gets another chance against the surging Rockets tonight. Winners of 10 of their last 13 overall, the mission tonight will be to slow down their pace (1st in league), defend the 3-point line against a plethora of shooters, featuring Carlos Delfino first and foremost. Perhaps most importantly though, James Harden needs to be stopped. The guy is averaging 28.7 ppg in his last 10 contests and has scored 25+ points in 14 consecutive games overall.

Luckily, the Celtics have a little trick they were missing out last time around in the form of Avery Bradley. The third-year guard will be unleashed on Harden, who with a little luck, should slow down Houston’s most valuable weapon from making the paint his second home. Rajon Rondo will need to show up tonight as well to keep Jeremy Lin out of the paint as well, or the rollers like Greg Smith will continue to have a field day.

The wildcard? Turnovers. It’s Houston’s biggest weakness (1st in league) and the C’s newfound tenacity on the defensive end would work wonders in slowing the Houston attack. Boston also needs to find their offense too, as the starters won’t be able to skate by with the duds they had against Phoenix Wednesday night.

Prediction: Celtics 95, Rockets 91

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