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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 52: Bulls (30-21) @ Celtics (27-24) Open Thread

http://a.espncdn.com/media/gettyphoto/GYI0060705735.jpgChicago at Boston
7:30 P.M. ET
TD Garden

CSNNE/NBATV

Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 100.4 points/100 possessions (22nd)
Chicago:
100.8 points/100 possessions (18th)

Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 99.6 points allowed/100 possessions (8th)
Chicago:
 99.1 points allowed/100 possessions (4th)

Probable Bulls Starters:
Nate Robinson (PG), Richard Hamilton (SG), Luol Deng (SF), Carlos Boozer (PF), and Joakim Noah (C)

View From The Opposing Bench: Bulls By the Horns

Thumbnail: Yet another blow to the 2012-13 Celtics: Leandro Barbosa is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee. The team now has lost three important rotation players in less than a month. The relatively shorthanded Celtics need strong performances from their veteran leaders in the team’s final game before the All-Star break to make up for the absence of one of their x-factors.

Barbosa had done a lot for Boston this season. Although he had only recently begun to receive more playing time, the ‘Brazilian Blur’ has still made an impact. The Celtics were 8-1 this season when Barbosa was on the floor for at least 17 minutes. They were 9-2 when he scored at least 8 points. In addition, the Celtics were 8-2 when Barbosa dished out at least 3 assists.

On the night that Kevin Garnett will tie for the 11th-most games played in NBA history, he and Paul Pierce will have to get the starting lineup off to a good start at the beginning of the game. Luol Deng has been a very strong defender on Pierce in the recent years, so the captain may choose to be more of a facilitator against the Bulls. Doc Rivers needs his team to have a good shooting night in order to beat former assistant coach, Tom Thibodeau. When shooting better than 45%, the Celtics are 4-0 against Thibodeau’s Bulls, but are 0-7 when having a field goal percentage of worse than 45%.

Prediction: The Celtics step up after yet another injury and shoot well overall.

Celtics 93, Bulls 89

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

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