CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Random Thoughts on a Fun Win Over the Jazz

This was a very fun game to watch. For one thing, the Celtics were clicking on all cylinders and it's fun to watch when they play like that. KG looks better with every game. Shelden Williams is settling into his role very nicely as is Marquis Daniels. Hearing Paul Pierce before the game saying that a lot of the credit for the Celtics' play goes to Perk because he is the backbone along with Kevin really was great to hear.

There were a few things that caught my attention last night. The best possession of the season so far came in the 3rd quarter. Rondo passed the ball to Ray who sent it to Perk who passed it to KG with a nifty behind the back pass. KG then found Rondo under the basket for a layup. It was thing of pure beauty. When your center is doing behind the back passes and your point guard is driving in for a layup, you know things are going well.

I love it when Rondo drives baseline and on a dime changes directions and completely fakes out the defender. It was a very nice sight to see Bill Walker out there, even if it was just for a few minutes at the end. I still think he is ahead of Giddens. JR just looks lost out there at times and I don't see that from Walker.

Another great moment in the game was at the end of the 3rd quarter. Doc put Ray and Eddie into the game with Deron Williams at the free throw line and just a little over 3 seconds left in the third quarter. Rondo took the inbounds pass and as all the Jazz defenders rushed at the 3 point shooters on the court, Rondo simply drove the length of the court and laid it in at the buzzer. That word from the Kia Rondo commercials came to mind: Giddyupedness. For sure!

Then there was the Rondo alley oop to KG who finished it with a monster dunk over 2 defenders. He went to the floor but jumped right back up and ran up the court. I have to say that KG looked the best he has looked this season so far. Hopefully plays like that and the way he was stroking the ball last night should put to rest all the "gimpy" KG talk. He looked good, not like he was coping, but good!

There was a funny moment where a Jazz player was chasing the ball up the court after a pass had been deflected trying to keep it from going out of bounds. If he reached it, it would have been Jazz ball and if he let it go, it would have been last touched by Boston. Sheed was there and instead of joining chase and running after the ball, he reached over and batted the ball off the guy out of bounds so that the Jazz couldn't grab the ball to save it and so that the Celtics would have possession. What a crafty player.

Perk had another good outing with 10 points, 8 rebounds (3 offensive) and 2 assists in 26 minutes. KG had 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals in just 26 minutes. Rondo posted 14 points, 11 assists and 2 steals. Shelden Williams continues to make the most of his minutes with 6 points and 6 rebounds, with 4 of those on the offensive end. The Celtics had 7 players in double figures, which shows great balance on the team. They held the Jazz to just 47% shooting while shooting 53% themselves. They had 30 assists on 41 field goals. The only negative would be the fact that they were out rebounded 39-33 but with all the other positives, that's ok.

It was nice to see them taking the ball to the basket and not settling for just 3 pointers the entire game. They still shot 19 3's but weren't relying on that shot as much as they had in the past couple of games. Rasheed had 7 of the 3 point attempts and was just 2-7 from beyond the arc. Ray had a couple of really nice drives and layups along with his 1-3 from long distance. All in all it was a very fun game to watch and nice to see what a couple days rest and practice can do for this team.

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