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8 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 [...]

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8 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 [...]

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8 days ago

Danny Ainge Expects Doc Rivers & Kevin Garnett To Return, Unsure About Paul Pierce

A long, challenging offseason awaits Danny Ainge this summer. Before he dives in head first, he joined Salk and Holley on WEEI-FM 93.7 to discuss the multitude of decisions facing him this offseason, as well as the progress of Rajon Rondo in his rehab from ACL surgery. A few of the notable highlights from the interview. Ainge [...]

11
8 days ago

Suns Hire Away Celtics’ Assistant GM Ryan McDonough

In one way or another, there will be change this offseason in Boston. That process started in the past couple days, with the first piece moving out coming as a name most C’s fans might not be familiar with. Yet, it was Celtics’ assistant general manager Ryan McDonough, one of Danny Ainge’s top lieutenants, who [...]

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10 days ago

Doc Rivers Finishes 13th in Coach of the Year Voting

It was a tough season for the Boston Celtics, and that includes for head coach Doc Rivers. The long-time coach battled to find the right fit for a lot of new pieces that were both underperforming and/or failed to pick up his schemes on both ends of the floor. Naturally, an unfortunate plethora of injuries [...]

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11 days ago

Overconfident Answers To Offseason Questions (Part 1)

It seems like every offseason since 2010 we’ve been through this: a myriad of questions and concerns about the Celtics’ roster that usually involve the possibility of the core of the team being dismantled. As we head into the summer of 2013, we’ve got a whole batch of questions, many of which will be familiar.  [...]

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Game 55: Celtics (28-26) @ Suns (18-37) Open Thread

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2012/0318/nba_g_oneal_gb1_600.jpgBoston at Phoenix
9:00 P.M. ET
US Airways Center

CSNNE

Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 100.1 points/100 possessions (23rd)
Phoenix:
99.0 points/100 possessions (27th)

Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 99.7 points allowed/100 possessions (6th)
Phoenix:
 105.2 points allowed/100 possessions (24th)

Probable Suns Starters:
Goran Dragic (PG), P.J. Trucker (SG), Jared Dudley (SF), Luis Scola (PF), and Marcin Gortat (C)

View From The Opposing Bench: Valley of the Suns

Thumbnail: The last time the Suns faced the Celtics, Jermaine O’Neal returned to TD Garden just to be posterized by Jeff Green. In addition, Boston held Phoenix to 79 points, tied for the Suns’ fourth-fewest points scored in a game this season. Green led the Celtics’ group effort that night with a team-high 14 points. Jared Sullinger accounted for 38 percent of Boston’s rebounds that night while Rajon Rondo had 35 percent of the team’s assists.

Unfortunately, now more than a month after that victory in early January, the Celtics look like a much different team due to injury. Speaking of looking different, Jordan Crawford is coming to Boston as a fill-in for Leandro Barbosa. Crawford will most likely be able to provide what Barbosa was able to before the ACL injury, but Crawford’s impressive per minute statistics could mean even more production from the Celtics bench. Crawford is one of seven players this season to average at least 18 points, four rebounds and five assists per 36 minutes, via ESPN Stats & Info. Those who are extremely high on the 24-year-old should remember he is a high-volume, low-efficiency scorer, so do not set your expectations too high on Crawford, who is expected to play on Friday.

However, Celtics fans hope that this trade with the Wizards as well as some free agent big men signings will turn around Boston’s road woes this season. Western Conference teams have especially magnified the Celtics’ terrible performance away from TD Garden. The Celtics are 0-7 on the road against the opposing conference in 2012-13, which is the second-worst record in the league. Moreover, Boston is the only current playoff team with fewer than 10 road victories. Luckily for the Celtics, they had a day off and play the Suns, who are on pace to finish below .500 at home for the first time since 2003-04.

Prediction: The Suns fair better against the Celtics this time around, but do not score more than 90 points. Phoenix’s record when scoring 90 or fewer points moves to 1-15 this season.

Celtics 96, Suns 90

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

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