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5 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 [...]

16
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 [...]

92
7 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
10 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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No Rondo, No Problem: Celtics 99, Kings 81

Sacramento Kings 81 Final
Recap | Box Score
99 Boston Celtics

Five Things We Saw

  1. The democratization of the Boston offense. With Rajon Rondo out, the Celtics refashioned an offense based around pace, ball movement and floor spacing. They shot 53.4%, scored 14 points in transition and put 6 guys in double figures. Sacramento chipped in with a defensive no-show, allowing the Celtics all sorts of room to maneuver and plenty of open shots.
  2. Jared Sullinger left the game with back spasms after playing only 4 minutes. For any other player, this would be a non-story but Sullinger’s draft stock collapsed last spring after reports he had issues with his back. Doc, post-game: “It’s just something we manage. He may miss games from time to time.”
  3. More on the offense: in ways that were uncommon earlier in the year, the Celtics had multiple guys attacking the rim, both in transition and in the half-court. Love him or not, many of Boston’s offensive sets involved Rondo pounding the rock into the ground at the top of the arc while something developed off-ball. And if it didn’t develop, Boston often found itself manufacturing a mid-range jumper with little time on the clock. There will be problems as we go forward but every Celtic looked engaged tonight.
  4. Big minutes for Brandon Bass and the recovering Chris Wilcox. An unexpected 9 minutes (almost entirely empty, mind you) from Jason Collins. None of this is sustainable if the goal is winning games on a regular basis. It may also be unavoidable.
  5. A rare, solid shooting night for Jason Terry, who hit 5-7 shots and handed out 4 assists in 22 promising minutes.

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