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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 [...]

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
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 47: Clippers (34-14) @ Celtics (23-23) Open Thread

http://assets.espn.go.com/i/eticket/20090511/photos/billups_080_412.jpgLos Angeles at Boston
1:00 P.M. ET
TD Garden

CSNNE/NBATV

Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 99.8 points/100 possessions (24th)
Los Angeles:
106.3 points/100 possessions (5th)

Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 99.8 points allowed/100 possessions (6th)
Los Angeles:
 99.0 points allowed/100 possessions (5th)

Probable Clippers Starters:
Eric Bledsoe (PG), Willie Green (SG), Caron Butler (SF), Blake Griffin (PF), and DeAndre Jordan (C)

View From The Opposing Bench: ClipperBlog

Thumbnail: What a crazy run it has been for the 2012-13 Celtics, who now stand once again at .500. Recently, they dropped six consecutive games. Then since losing Rajon Rondo for the season, Boston has won three straight. Add in a season-ending back surgery for Jared Sullinger and this team is losing their depth at a rapid rate. However, the Boston’s current three-game winning streak, which is the second longest in the Eastern Conference, has coincided with them returning to TD Garden. At home this season, the Celtics are outscoring opponents by more than four points per game. Although they are slotted as the eighth seed, they have a better home record than both the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks.

Now entering Boston: the Chris Paul-less Los Angeles Clippers. While the Celtics may have had a relatively deep roster coming into this season, the Clippers have easily been the deepest team in the league. Even without Chauncey Billups and Paul, they still have a strong 10-man rotation. However, they are only a top team in the NBA with Paul. The Clippers this season are an astounding 11.8 points worse per 100 offensive possessions without him on the court. Their defense does improve with Paul on the bench, but it does not make up for the offense that they lose. In addition, the 2012-13 Clippers are 5-4 without Paul playing while they are 29-10 with him.

If the Celtics want to put themselves in a good position to win, Paul Pierce will have to continue this impressive rebounding stretch. Coming into Sunday afternoon, he has recorded double-digit rebounds in three consecutive games for only the fifth time in his regular season career. Pierce has also tied Kevin Garnett and Rondo for the longest streak of at least 10 rebounds by a Celtic this season. Pierce hopes to make it four consecutive games, which would tie his longest career run of double-digit rebounds when he did it in 2002.

Prediction: The Celtics take advantage of the absence of Chris Paul and move their winning streak to four games.

Celtics 95, Clippers 93

For more Celtics coverage and pertinent statistics, follow Celtics Hub and Stats Adam Lowenstein on Twitter: @CelticsHub and @StatsAdam

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