CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: House Shines, But Knicks Win

Random Thoughts from Last Night's Game:
The 3 stars played a little more than they have in previous games but still were under 26 minutes for the game. Rondo played the fewest as he rolled his ankle in the 3rd quarter and left the game for good. It is a mild sprain but Doc hinted that he may keep him out of the rest of the preseason as a precaution. But, he should be fine according to post game reports. It is always a fear that a player will get hurt in these meaningless games. If you look around the league, there have been some serious injuries in the pre-season and you never want that to happen.

Bill Walker didn't play against New Jersey due to swelling and pain in the knee that he had surgery on right after the draft. He played just over 5 minutes in last night's game. I think his spot on the team is secure because of the way he has played, but if there is concern about the knee and whether it will be ongoing, he may be on the bubble. Hopefully it was just a minor setback and he sat as a precautionary measure.

Doc said that last night he was going to work into more of what he wanted as his regular season rotation. Cassell, Miles and Giddens didn't play in last night's game. If Doc truly is working into his regular season rotation, this could put Giddens in the D-League, Miles as the cut and Sam as the insurance policy/coach. Scal played only 2:17 and thankfully, that would put him on the inactive list for the regular season. I may be reading too much into it, though.

House was stellar last night with 27 points on 10-16 shooting and 7-11 from beyond the arc. He also had no turnovers. I like House coming in at the 2 guard as instant offense off the bench for the second unit more than I like him as the point guard. Pruitt has been up and down but he is showing enough poise to lead the team and I would like to see him back up Rondo, at least some of the time. Last night he went 0-5 with 4 assists.

Tony has also been up and down, but his ups seem to be getting better and his downs aren't near as low as they used to be. He followed up his 32 point effort with a solid 11 point, 3 rebound, 3 assist and 2 steal game last night. His defense is going to be a key for this team and he seems to be using his head a bit more out on the court and not zoning out like he used to at times.

Powe played only 8 minutes last night and as usual, made the most of his minutes. He finished with 4 points, 1 rebound, and 1 block. I can't see Leon getting sqeezed out of the rotation because he just adds so much with his toughness, energy and ability to rebound, even over bigger players. Big Baby played 25 minutes last night and finished with 4 points and 6 rebounds. On the post game show, they hinted that Danny may be shopping Big Baby and possibly Gabe Pruitt for a banger to back up Perk. Donny Marshall also shared that you never trade a big for a small so if Danny is indeed shopping Big Baby, it will be for a big with length who can get in the post and bang. Personally, I like what I have seen from Patrick O'Bryant. He has a way to go, but definitely isn't the scrub that he was made out to be in Golden State. Last night he finished with 2 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots in just 14 minutes. He can be a difference maker with his defense and ability to block shots.

It is never fun to lose to the Knicks, who actually looked pretty good last night. But, they did have some help from the men in stripes as the Celtics shot 19 free throws and the Knicks shot 43. The Knicks out-rebounded the Celtics 50-42 and that just shows that the Celtics weren't being as aggressive as they should have been. There is no reason that the likes of Zach Randolph and Eddy Curry should outrebound our bigs. But, even with the loss we are still seeing some good things from our bench and by the playoffs, this team may end up even better than they were last season.

[Box Score]
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