Logo
The Ticker
8 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
9 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
10 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 [...]

94
10 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
13 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
14 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
Browse Archives by:

Game 67: Celtics (36-30) @ Hornets (22-46) Open Thread

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2011/0406/nba_g_garnett_576.jpgBoston at New Orleans
8:00 P.M. ET
New Orleans Arena

CSNNE

Offensive Efficiency:
Boston: 100.5 points/100 possessions (22nd)
New Orleans:
102.6 points/100 possessions (15th)

Defensive Efficiency:
Boston: 99.4 points allowed/100 possessions (4th)
New Orleans:
 107.5 points allowed/100 possessions (28th)

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

Thumbnail: Not many fans think that the Hornets would have the second-best winning percentage of any NBA team against the Celtics over the last four seasons. Well, New Orleans, a bottom 10 team in the league since 2009-10, is 4-2 against Boston in that span. Earlier this season, the trend continued as Monty Williams’ squad went into TD Garden and upset the Celtics, 90-78. That remains tied for Boston’s largest home defeat in 2012-13. In that contest, the Hornets dominated the boards, 48 to 33. That rebound differential is the worst for the Celtics at home this calendar year. Now, the Celtics venture to New Orleans hoping to split the season series with the Hornets.

Fortunately for the Celtics, the Hornets own the worst record in the Western Conference. In addition, New Orleans has won just three of its last 15 games. On Monday, the Hornets fell to the Golden State Warriors by 21 points at New Orleans Arena, which tied their worst home loss since December. However, the only teams yet to beat the Hornets this season are the Bobcats, Pistons, Kings and Celtics. Boston does not want to stay in that group after Wednesday. With Kevin Garnett expected to play, the Celtics will have a good chance at winning their first game against the Hornets since March 2011.

One of the most important reasons that the Celtics have been successful since Rajon Rondo’s injury is their outside shooting. In six of their last 12 games, Boston has made double-digit 3-pointers. The Celtics were unable to make at least 10 shots from 3-point distance in any of their first 46 games this season. They enter Wednesday’s game having made double-digit 3-pointers in consecutive games for the second time in the last three seasons. With all the injuries that Boston has suffered in 2012-13, the team will have to live by the three and die by the three in order to have a chance at advancing through a few rounds in the 2013 playoffs. For now, the Celtics have to try to move up the standings to attempt to get home court. They are only 2.5 games behind the Brooklyn Nets, who are in the fourth seed.

Prediction: With Garnett back in the lineup, the Celtics get revenge against the Hornets.

Celtics 97, Hornets 89

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

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>