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7 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
9 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 38: Hornets (12-26) @ Celtics (20-17) Open Thread

New Orleans at Boston
8:00 P.M. ET
TD Garden
CSNNE

Offensive Efficiency:
Boston:
 101.1 points/100 possessions (16th)
New Orleans:
 101.3 points/100 possessions (15th)

Defensive Efficiency:
Boston:
 100.5 points allowed/100 possessions (7th)
New Orleans:
 106.0 points allowed/100 possessions (27th)

Probable Hornets Starters:
Greivis Vasquez
 (PG), Eric Gordon (SG), Al-Farouq Aminu (SF), Anthony Davis (PF), and Robin Lopez (C)

View From The Opposing Bench: 
Hornets 247 <http://www.hornets247.com/>

**The following post is written by Adam Lowenstein**

THUMBNAIL

“With the 10th pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Hornets select Austin Rivers from Duke University.” Less than seven months after David Stern uttered those words, it is father vs. son in Boston on Wednesday night. While Austin Rivers may not start for the Hornets, he will hope to impress Doc Rivers who will be looking on from the other bench.

Interestingly, since Monty Williams removed Rivers from the starting lineup, New Orleans has played fantastically. Obviously, the return of Eric Gordon has coincided with Rivers’ benching, but the Hornets have won five out of their last six games (.833 winning percentage) after beginning the season with a 7-25 (.219) record. Gordon has the only positive single-player plus/minus on the team.

This young team out of New Orleans is looking to make strides after a horrendous start to 2012-13. While the Hornets have almost no chance of making the playoffs this season, they are looking to find how to make this extremely young roster compete in the future. Let us also not forget the number one overall pick, Anthony Davis. While he has suffered a concussion and an ankle injury this season, he has started 15 consecutive games and has averaged 12.0 points and 7.9 rebounds, including 2.7 offensive, per game in that span.

The Celtics will have to contain the Hornets starting frontcourt that can be an offensive rebounding machine at times. Boston’s defensive rebounding rate has dropped off over the last few games, so they will have to improve in that area on Wednesday. They will hope to not give up 10 offensive rebounds for the fifth consecutive game.

What will be even more important for the Celtics against the Hornets will be their shooting. Boston has had a better field goal percentage than their opponent in 6 consecutive games, which is now the team’s longest streak of 2012-13. The Celtics have a 17-3 record this season when they have a better field goal percentage. When the Hornets have a lower field goal percentage than their opponent this season, they are 2-21.

PREDICTION

Although the Celtics have lost three of their last four meetings with the Hornets, the Celtics take advantage of the Hornets playing on the second night of a back-to-back.

Celtics 96, Hornets 90

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