CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Celtics in the Record Books with 14th Straight Loss

February 2, 2007

Doc shook up the starting lineup for this game starting West, Rondo, Gomes, Scal and Al but to no avail as the result was the same as the Celtics lost their 14th game in a row 100-89 to the LA Clippers.

Rajon Rondo was a bright spot in the starting lineup and with his play throughout the game. He is able to control the tempo and showed tonight that he can hit the open shots. He finished with 23 points on 10-16 shooting to go with 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals. The team just seems to run better with Rondo at the point. He brings energy to the starting lineup and I like him out there with West at the shooting guard. West wasn't hitting his shots tonight hitting only 2-8 but he was outstanding in other areas pulling down 11 rebounds and dishing out 11 assists. I like the West and Rondo back court and hope Doc keeps them in the starting lineup. Telfair played 5 minutes and came up with 2 rebounds and is obviously struggling.

One thing I question is starting Scal at the power forward. Yes, he does the little things and was 3-3 and scores 8 points, but especially against a team with Elton Brand and Chris Kaman, your power forward has to come up with more than 2 rebounds. On the other hand, Elton Brand had 20. I think we could have used Powe in the game for his rebounding and his toughness in the paint. Unfortunately he only played the last 10 seconds of the game. I just don't think Scal is aggressive enough on the boards to be a starting power forward. But then Doc loves bigs who camp out beyond the arc and shoot 3's and that drives me crazy.

Wally came off the bench and his shot was a little better shooting 5-10 but he still seems a step slow and doesn't have the lift on his jumper. At this point, a little improvement is a ray of light and hopefully he can get his jumper back soon. Green played only 13 minutes and scored only 2 points on 1-4 shooting. Allan Ray came in for just 1 minute at the end of the game and dished out 1 assist.

Al had a good game with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Perk played only 11 minutes and pulled down 2 rebounds and blocked 1 shot. Gomes once again had a solid game with 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 1 assist.

In spite of the loss, there was a very bright spot in the play of Rajon Rondo. In his first start he showed that he is clearly the point guard of the future. He played 42 minutes with only 1 turnover and showed that he can hit the jumper. He even hit 2 three's. He just brings energy to the floor and has a feel for the game you just can't teach a player. It seems every game we see a player take a step forward in their development and this is exciting in spite of the losing.

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