Archive for the ‘Annoucements’ Category

3:30 p.m. EST
Quicken Loans Arena
CSN/WEEI

Opposing Viewpoint: Cavs The Blog

Offensive Efficiency:

Boston: 106.9 points/100 possessions (16th)

Cleveland: 111.5 points/100 possessions (4th)

Defensive Efficiency:

Boston: 102.1 points allowed/100 possessions (1st)

Cleveland: 103.7 points allowed/100 possessions (7th)

Probable Cleveland Starters:

LeBron James, Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, Anthony Parker, J.J. Hickson (or Leon Powe to make us all puke and cry at the same time)

Injury Report:

OUT: Shaquille O’Neal, Sebastian Telfair

PROBABLE: Antawn Jamison

Thumbnail: Is there such a thing as a “must win” in March?  In the NBA that is, as everyone knows right now College kids everywhere are eagerly awaiting the revelation of the Dance’s exclusive invite list.  Or you are like me, and your Alma Mater (Boston College) drastically under-preformed for an experienced team and you are hoping the three freshman coming in next year have enough fire power to put them back in the bracket….whoah, what happened? Sorry, I just blacked out for a second.

The Celtics have to win this game.  The script has already been written.  Two games ago, the Celtics were left picking up pieces of their pride as Memphis emphatically yelled “this isn’t your league anymore old man” in their faces.  The Celtics responded with a prodigious “we’re not dead yet” by trouncing the Indiana Pacers and forced star Danny Granger to shoot poorly from the field. The quintessential tune-up to today’s game.

Everyone knows what the Cavs can do.  Everyone knows what the Cavs have.  The Celtics did masterful job D-ing up a big swingman (Granger) and a stretch four (Troy Murphy) and they must do that again today.

» More: Game 65/82: Celtics (40-23) @ Cavaliers (51-15)

ESPN Recap  Philadunkia

It was an interesting night for the NBA, one which can best be described as “Twilight Zone-esque.” Detroit dominated Cleveland for a half.  Charlotte dominated the Lakers for a whole.  And New Jersey hung around with Orlando enough for Celtics’ fans to take a little solace home (lies!).

Luckily, the Celtics did not see the same type of unlikely result.  They also did not see any perimeter defense.  In fact, neither team played anything resembling perimeter defense.  Ray Allen spent the majority of the first half enjoying a healthy mix of three balls and wide open midrange jumpers. Unfortunately, he handed his hot-hand to Lou Williams in the second half, who proceeded to shred the Celtics for whatever they gave him- which was a lot.

The Celtics played extremely lackadaisical when it came it closing out on the Philadelphia shooters.  Shooters may be a bit of a misnomer.  The Celtics were extremely slow at contesting Philadelphia’s chuckers- probably for good reason  Philadelphia really doesn’t have very good shooters.  That being said, this is the NBA and players are going to knock down wide open jumpers regardless of what is written on the scouting report.  The Celtics did not allow themselves to take advantage of a poor shooting team.  For a poor shooting team like the Sixers, easy shots are made hard by a simple run out and tough shots are made damn-near impossible with a good contest.  Despite the poor perimeter D, the Celtics came out with the a nice, convincing win (“convincing” is said, of course, a bit in jest as this game was pretty close throughout).

» More: Celts Take a Boring One: 96, Sixers 86

Forum Blue and Gold

There are a number of reasons not to get too excited about this win if you are a Celtics fan. The C’s beat LA, but they didn’t have Kobe. They still had the 2nd half collapse and couldn’t score when it mattered in the 4th quarter. The C’s undoubtedly just got “lucky” tonight. That’s one assuredly fair assessment of this contest.

Of course, for every point, there is a counterpoint. Yes, the Celtics beat the Lakers without number 24, but this was the same Kobe-less team that crushed Utah, easily the hottest team in the league last week on the road. Yes, the Celtics collapsed in the early part of the 4th quarter but they did not fold altogether. Instead, they held the Lakers to just 2 points in the final 7:13, enabling them to escape Staples Center with a one point win.

They showed the mental toughness to handle the adversity that lay before them in the final 12 minutes.They battled hard on both sides of the floor until the bitter end, when Ray Allen stripped Derek Fisher, forcing him to throw up a prayer that had no chance in the final 2 seconds of this contest. 11 points on offense in the 4th quarter wasn’t pretty, but it was a better 11 points than we’ve seen in previous contests if that can be possible.

Sure, there were major problems on the offensive end, but the C’s maintained their aggressiveness and kept attacking the basket despite their struggles. In turn, they felt the repercussions of the officials swallowing their whistles (on both ends undoubtedly) at the end of this one, took some bad shots all the while, but also some good ones too that just didn’t go down. In the past few weeks, those kind of missed opportunities kept this team from victory. Tonight was a different story. » More: Turning Point? C’s 87, Lakers 86

That’s what Alan Hahn of Newsday has revealed on his Twitter….

Nate Robinson trade with #Celtics done, I’m told. Getting details now….. #Knicks #NBA

At least that’s what he did say, before he said this:

Let’s start over. Source says Nate-to-Celtics is “close” but no specifics yet can be confirmed. Everyone gets a free punch to my #P90X abs.

Who’s got first dibs?

Sactown Royalty • Cowbell Kingdom

What? You were expecting a blowout? Not with these Boston Celtics. Right now, you take what you can get with this squad and a road victory out west, where the team has struggled mightily against inferior opponents (0-2 in California before tonight) has not been a given. In fact, to be honest, nothing has been a given for this team in the last 2 months.

All that considered, you take the win if you are the Celtics, but while the defense stood its ground for the final 3 quarters tonight, holding the Kings to 60 points in those 36 minutes, it was the C’s offense or lack there of, when it mattered that made a lasting impression on this one. It was the kind of play that should make Danny Ainge think twice about deciding to hold pat on Thursday at the trade deadline.

It’s late so we will go rapid fire here with some bullets before dissecting this one more tomorrow morning…ahem later today.

* Let’s start with the good. The Celtics shot 37.5 percent on the road and won a game. That’s impressive, and it also means the defense had to be there all night, which outside of the first quarter, it was. There were lapses here and there, (Rajon Rondo giving Tyreke Evans an uncontested 3 with a minute remaining comes to mind) but all in all the effort was there throughout. While the offense may have stalled in the 2nd half, the D stood firm and gave the C’s the opportunity, along with some timely choked free throws by The Kings to pull this out. » More: We’ll Take It: C’s 95, Kings 92