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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
6 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
7 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
11 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 37: Bobcats (9-27) @ Celtics (19-17) Open Thread

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

Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 100.8 points/100 possessions (18th)
Charlotte:
 99.1 points/100 possessions (27th)

Defensive Efficiency:
Boston:
 100.7 points allowed/100 possessions (9th)
Charlotte:
 108.3 points allowed/100 possessions (29th)

Probable Bobcats Starters:
Kemba Walker
 (PG), Gerald Henderson (SG), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (SF), Hakim Warrick (PF), and Bismack Biyombo (C)

View From The Opposing Bench: Queen City Hoops

***The following post was written by Adam Lowenstein

THUMBNAIL

Since we turned the page to the 2013 calendar year, the Celtics have been arguably the league’s best team. They have been playing their best basketball of the 2012-13 season and are riding a five-game winning streak, tied for the second-longest current streak in the NBA. On Monday, the Celtics will look for their first six-game winning streak in over two years.

Since Doc Rivers put Avery Bradley and Brandon Bass together into the starting lineup on Friday, January 4th, the Celtics have had a perfect record. They even beat the Eastern Conference’s second-place New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Monday, January 7th without Rajon Rondo. Recently, it has been a full team effort by this Celtics team. The bench his risen to new heights and is only improving.

Jared Sullinger has been a huge part of the Celtics’ success this season and could be the first player since Al Jefferson and Leon Powe in 2006-07 to play a full season in Boston and finish in the top 20 in rebounding rate. The Celtics also have Courtney Lee, who has turned around his season in his last nine games. Over that span, he is averaging 8.7 points per game and shooting 50% from three-point after having just 6.3 points per game and 28% three-point shooting in his first 27 games. In addition, Chris Wilcox’s return will only bolster the bench. He practiced on Sunday and is expected to begin playing within the next week.

While the Celtics have been firing on all cylinders in 2013, this could be the ultimate trap game for this experienced team. Boston is flying high after having a better field goal percentage than their opponent in five consecutive games, which is tied for the team’s longest streak this season. The Celtics have a 16-3 record this season when they have a better field goal percentage in 2012-13 and are facing one of the NBA’s worst shooting teams on Monday in the Charlotte Bobcats.

After matching their 2011-12 season win total in their first 12 games of this season, the ‘Cats have played like the league’s worst team since. They are 2-22 in their last 24 games and are double-digit underdogs in their first visit to Boston in 2012-13. The only bright spot for Charlotte is that the team is 4-0 when holding opponents to fewer than 90 points this season. While they are 5-27 otherwise, the Bobcats have a chance if the Celtics have a very cold night shooting. That is really the only shot for this struggling team.

PREDICTION

Charlotte puts up a fight, but Boston secures their first victory of 2012-13 on two-day rest (0-5 coming into Monday’s contest).

Celtics 98, Bobcats 85

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