The Celtics are in stitches and no, this isn't from Big Baby and Pollard's antics in the locker room. Kevin Garnett is still sporting a bandage over his eye from the win over the Lakers. He and Kwame Brown had a collision and Kwame got free throws and KG got stiches.
In the Grizzlies game last night, James Posey and Rudy Gay collided in the third quarter and Gay headed to the locker room with a broken tooth and Posey got stiches in his arm.
Ray Allen got tackled by Lamar Odom in the Laker game where KG earned his stitches and thankfully he was ok without any injuries but he could have been hurt. Games are getting more and more physical as teams seek to bring down the team with the league's best record. The Celtics have their own enforcers on the team, but have tried to play above the physical play that teams have been throwing at them.
Much of the problem goes back to the refs who have been allowing the Celtics to be mugged while calling them for ticky tack fouls. This encourages the other teams to get more and more physical as they realize they can get away with it. I really hope that they get a handle on the situation before someone really gets hurt.
The Celtics seemed out of sorts all game. Doc said in his post game interview that this was the worst game as far as focus they have had. That lack of focus could have had something to do with their next opponent with the Detroit rematch up next.
The Grizzlies stayed with the Celtics through the first half, leading by 2 at the end of 1 quarter and trailing by just 2 at the half. In the third quarter the Celtics finally showed some cohesion and pulled out to a 14 point lead only to have the Grizzlies to come back and battle the Celtics down the stretch to a 100-96 final score.
I was amazed when I looked at the box score to see that Paul Pierce had an incredible game. He did it within the team concept so that you didn't notice it but he finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal. Tony Allen came off the bench to have his best game so far this season. He finished with 20 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals in 25 minutes of play. And most importantly, he brought a spark off the bench to a team that very badly needed one.
Ray Allen had a very disappointing game, going scoreless from the floor with his only 2 points coming on free throws at the end of the game. He finished with 2 points, 2 rebounds. 5 assists and 1 steal. Rondo also seemed to struggle in this one, finishing with 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist. Eddie House finished with 8 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist off the bench.
KG had another excellent game with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block. Perk had a solid game with 6 points, 6 rebounds and 1 steal. Big Baby had some big hustle plays and finished with 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal. Pollard played almost 4 minutes with just 1 foul to show for it.
The Celtics pulled out a win in this game, but didn't play well. They shot 46% from the field and held the Grizzlies to 43%. They out rebounded the Grizzlies 36-30 but had 14 turnovers to the Grizzlies' 14. They got the win, but didn't play well for the most part. Hopefully they will regroup and come out with a lot more energy against the Pistons. The bench played a big role in this win and hopefully will continue that strong play in the Pistons game.
The Celtics won their 7th game in a row as they beat the Houston Rockets 97-93 in the Garden. They got off to a fast start and led by as many as 20 before the Rockets came back and took the lead with just under 9 minutes left in the 4th quarter. From that point on, KG willed the Celtics to the win. He played with incredible intensity and put the team on his back, literally as at one point after a big shot, Paul Pierce jumped on his back as he walked off the court. His intensity is absolutely amazing. He is so much fun to watch and when he pulled out his jersey pointing to the Celtics on the front, it just shows that he loves being a Celtic, too.
Kendrick Perkins and Scot Pollard both played great defense on Yao Ming as they used up their 12 fouls. Ray Allen and Eddie House hit some big shots. It was a team effort and after giving up the big lead, they didn't lose their composure and tightened up the defense while finding the hot hand down the stretch.
This was a game that they could have given excuses to lose as it was the first game after a grueling road trip and it was the first game after the holidays. But they tightened up down the stretch and pulled out a win.
Allow me to start by wishing all of the Celtics faithful a belated Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year! Deciding on December’s Big Dawgg was an easy one. Averaging 21.2 ppg in December, and 26.8 ppg over the last 5, to go with 5.1 rpg, 4.8 apg and 1.5 spg to go with Eastern Conference player of the week honors for the second time:
According to NBA.com, Lamar Odom has been suspended for 1 game for his tackle of Ray Allen.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom has been suspended one game without pay and assessed a Flagrant Foul, Penalty Two for flagrantly fouling Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics by throwing himself into Allen and knocking him to the floor, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations. The incident occurred with 2:56 remaining in the fourth period of the Lakers 110- 91 loss to the Celtics at Staples Center on Dec. 30. Odom will serve his suspension on Jan. 4 when the Lakers host the Philadelphia 76ers.
Personally, I don't think one game is enough. He tackled him for no reason with no intent to make a play on the ball. They should make an example of him because plays like that could easily end a season or even a career for a player. We are fortunate that Ray wasn't hurt but he certainly could have been. A one game suspension isn't enough.
LOY's Place and Celtics Green would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! From New Year's Day 2007 to New Year's Day 2008, the Celtics have gone through an amazing transformation. I am sure it is some kind of record, but the Celtics have already won more games than they did all last season.
I have seen a lot of new Celtics fans since Kevin Garnett landed but it sure gives me a lot of satisfaction to know that I stuck through the low points with this team along with the good ones and never gave up loving this team or cheering for them. They were my Celtics for good or bad. Last year's team was better than their record. They lost 312 man games to injury and that would devastate any team. I saw a lot of potential there.
Then, we got Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett and I was skeptical at first but after hearing them speak at the press conference I was on board. But like most fans, I never expected them to come together this quickly. This season has been so much fun so far. After 20 years of "wait until next year," next year is finally here. The 2007-08 season is going to be something special and whether you have been a die hard Celtics fan for years or are a new fan who will be hooked on this team for years to come, Happy New Year. Here's to #17 in 2008.
The NBA has named Paul Pierce the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Pierce led the Celtics to a 4-0 week averaging 27.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals including a season-high 37 points at Seattle on Dec. 27. He helped lead the Celtics to their first undefeated four-game West coast road trip since the 1992-93 season bringing the Celtics to eight straight wins on the road, the longest such streak since the 1980-81 season.
In the 4th quarter of last night's blowout win over the Lakers, Lamar Odom made one of the dirtiest and most bizarre plays I have seen in an NBA game. To set the stage, there was 2:57 left in the game and the Celtics were up 103-84. Doc still had the starters in. KG just had a big block on Odom and Ray Allen tracked down the rebound and turned to go back up court. Odom came flying across the court and tackled Ray Allen out of bounds. From the replays, Ray didn't go after him or retaliate but yet Ray was assessed a technical foul on the play. Odom was called for a flagrant foul but it should have been a flagrant 2. There was no play on the ball and no doubt that Odom was going directly at Ray with intent to hurt him. Odom should be suspended for this unprovoked attack and the refs should be disciplined for their ineptitude in calling this game.I mean Perk got a T for just glaring, Ray got a T for getting tackled and Odom just gets a flagrant 1 for a full body tackle with no provocation, not to mention the plethora of terrible calls and non-calls on both sides. If you missed Odom's tackle, check it out.
In a game where everything was stacked against them, the Celtics showed what they were made of and came up big with a 110-91 win over the LA Lakers. The Celtics were playing in their 4th game in 5 nights and in the second of back to back games after a tough game against Utah. They were missing their starting point guard as Rondo sat out with a pulled hamstring. The refs were terrible with plenty of bad calls going both ways. In spite of all that, the Celtics dominated from start to finish with the Lakers only lead coming at 2-0.
The game was very chippy with 6 technicals called. 3 were on the Lakers and 3 were on the Celtics. Of the 3 on the Celtics, one was on Perk for glaring. Don't the refs know that's his game face? He never said anything, just glared after being fouled on a dunk with no call. The second was on Doc for complaining about a no call where KG was mugged. And the third was on Ray Allen for being tackled by Odom. That one was one of the dirtiest plays I have ever seen. Odom had just gotten his shot blocked by KG and Ray had gotten the rebound. Odom then blind sided Ray with a hard tackle that threw him out of bounds and into the first row. From the replays, Ray didn't retaliate but was called for a technical nonetheless. Odom was given a flagrant foul. It should have been a flagrant 2 as it was a body tackle with no intent to go for the ball and could have caused serious injury.
The Laker's biggest lead was 2 on the first shot of the game. The Celtics built several leads as high as 17 during the game but the Lakers would always come right back. AT the end of the first period, The Celtics lead of 11 was cut to 32-23 on 2 Kobe free throws. In the second quarter, KG and Bynum were battling for a rebound and KG came away with a nasty gash above his eye. He was incredulous that while he was going to the locker room to get stitches, Bynum was shooting free throws. While KG was out, the Lakers cut a 17 point lead to just 5. KG came back in with a bandage over his eye and the Celtics pushed the lead back to 53-42 before Fisher hit a 3 at the buzzer to give the Celtics a 53-45 lead at the half.
The Lakers had come out to begin the game with throw back short shorts but changed back to their regular shorts at the half. But, that didn't help them as the Celtics came out shooting and pushed the lead to 82-66 by the end of 3. KG and Pierce began the 4th period on the bench but came back in when the Lakers started to make a run and stayed in until there was just under 2 minutes to go. One funny sight was when they showed KG and Pierce high fiving the players on the bench and KG poked Big Baby in the eye. The final score was 110-91.
With Rondo sitting out, Tony Allen started at the point and did a good job filling in even though he still looked tentative at times going to the basket. He finished with a season high 16 points to go with 3 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal. House came off the bench and shared time at the point with Tony finishing with 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. Ray Allen sat out the last 6 minutes of the first half with foul trouble but was very efficient in the second half while Pierce and KG were on the bench to finish with 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist in 28 minutes.
Pierce once again took over the game making tough play after tough play. He finished with 33 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 big steals in the 4th quarter. KG played only 30 minutes as he went to the locker room to get his gash stitched up but he came back in with a vengeance and finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks. Perk played solid defense inside, closing down the middle for Bynum who fouled out with only 8 points and 2 rebounds. Perk also contributed 7 points and 7 rebounds.
Posey brought energy off the bench and played great defense. He took one very hard charge by Kobe, hustled after loose balls, and finished with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal. Pollard added 1 rebound and 1 steal. Scal, Powe, Pruitt and Big Baby all played limited minutes.
The Celtics won this game with defense. They shot 46% from the field and held the Lakers to 35%. The Celtics won the battle of the boards 49-41. The last time the Celtics went 4-0 on a Western road trip was in 1986 and that puts this team in some very good company. I considered this a must win game because there was no way Phil Jackson should pass Red for regular season victories with a win against the Lakers. It will happen, but not against the Celtics. With a 4-0 road trip, beating two of the West's top teams, this should quiet some of the critics who pointed to the lack of tough competition. The Celtics swept the season series with the Lakers in impressive fashion and have proved that they can face adversity and still win. This team is for real. 26-3. Who would have thought it possible?
Rajon Rondo won't play tonight against the Lakers. What was originally thought to be cramps last night has been diagnosed as a hamstring injury and he will be out for tonight's game. Pruitt has been activated and Tony and House will see more time at the point as well. This is a tough break for the Celtics as the offense is much more efficient with Rondo running the point.
Photo courtesy of Laker Nation Today has been declared Purple and Green Sunday by NBA TV and they will be running shows and games from the classic Celtics-Lakers rivalry of the 80's all day. I remember all of those great matchups of the 80's. It was always something special when the Celtics played the Lakers. Both teams always raised their level of play a notch when facing each other.
Today's game is special not only because the rivalry is back again after 20 years, but because Red's record is on the line. Phil Jackson tied Red's regular season total for wins in their last game and one more win will put him ahead of Red on the list. Red never had much use for Phil Jackson. It may be because Phil was the one closest to his records or maybe he just didn't like the guy. Here is a quote from Red about Phil.
"Phil obviously is a good coach, you don't win that many games without being a good coach. One thing, though. He's been very fortunate. He picks his spots. That's all I can say. Larry Brown doesn't pick his spots. He's a great coach," Auerbach said.
Now, Phil Jackson has a chance to overtake Red on the all time wins list with a win over Red's beloved Celtics. If the Celtics needed more motivation to win a game, I don't know what it would be. This is a must win game. Not because of the record, not because of standings, not because it is the hated Lakers, but because it is one for Red. Yes, Jackson will probably win the next game, but at least it won't be the Celtics letting him do it.
On Purple and Green Sunday, here is a reminder of one of the better moments in their rivalry.
This also reminds me of the mugging KG got at the hands of the Kings. Hopefully today's game will be a nice clean one with no injuries or intent to injure and the Celtics will uphold Red's honor for one more game as they beat the hated Lakers. My two favorite teams have always been the Celtics and whoever is playing the Lakers. Today, they are one and the same. Go Celtics!!!
