The Celtics, coming off their really tough loss to the Bulls, will play another central division team when they visit the Pistons Sunday night. Friday night's loss to Chicago was excruciating to fans. It was, in my opinion, the toughest loss to endure since game 7 of the 2010 finals. But, life(and the schedule) must go on. So here's tomorrow's five things:

5. GET SOMEBODY TO FILL IN FOR BRADLEY:
Avery Bradley, due to his rib injury, is listed as doubtful for tomorrow's game. This comes as no surprise, but it must be reported. Last night, Barbosa started and failed. Leandro scored just 5 points on 2/6 shooting in 14 minutes. Get somebody else to start and put Barbosa back on the bench. I don't have much confidence in him.

4. GET PIERCE TO PLAY WELL:
Paul Pierce played one of the worst games I have ever seen him play Friday night. He just looked lost. Yeah, he had 13 points, but his play had no quality. Late in regulation, Pierce made no attempt to get open and took very highly contested shots, most of which resulted in misses. Let's hope he plays for all four quarters tomorrow.

3. GET GARNETT TO PLAY WELL FOR THE FIRST THREE QUARTERS:
Kevin Garnett had an overall pretty good game Friday night. But, he only had success in the fourth quarter and overtime. He had just 3 points the entire first 36 minutes, which looked really bad in the box-score. If the Celtics are going to win tomorrow, they will need better consistency from him. He is relied on too heavily to fail.

2. STAY OUT OF FOUL TROUBLE:
Rajon Rondo was easily the Celtics best player Friday night. With a team-high 30 points, Rondo arguably kept his team in the game. He made a ton of big shots and was very consistent. His only flaw, foul trouble. Rondo was a little too aggressive on defense and ended up fouling out midway through OT. Don't tell him not to play hard, but tell him to be a little smarter.

1. MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS:
The Celtics would've easily won Friday night if they would've made their free throws. Throughout the fourth quarter, the Celtics seemed to always miss 1 free throw out of every trip. This ended up having a huge effect as they ended up losing in overtime. Garnett and Rondo were the heart of this problem, but still had good games. My advice: practice your free throws in tomorrow's shoot-a-round.

Tip-off for tomorrow night's game will be at 7:30 pm ET. Live Game Updates will be available here at Celtics Green.
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As you might imagine with some of the bad calls last night, Tommy was fairly upset with the officiating. But then again, when I saw Marc Davis calling a Bulls game that we'd be in for a long night. We've know since that 2009 series that he and all of his family are Bulls fans. He's also given the Celtics fits ever since. Tommy's first tweet during the game was about a terrible call on KG.

Foul on KG: "Aw, that's bogus. That is absolutely a TERRIBLE call by the officials!!!"
— Tommy Heinsohn (@CSNTommy) January 19, 2013

In every game, Tommy talks about 2 things: the need to run and the need to take the ball to the hoop. Maybe Doc should have Tommy in for a guest speaker because he is spot on with both of those. When the Celtics run and when they go to the hoop instead of jumpers all game, they are tough to beat.

"More of that, we need! Paul Pierce going to the hoop!!!"
— Tommy Heinsohn (@CSNTommy) January 19, 2013

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Bulls fans sure do hate KG and Rondo.  I think it comes from having their own center and PG out played by them so many times.   It was great that even the Bulls fans realize that they were given that game by the refs.  That was a horrible call on the jumpball.  Pierce was clearly fouled. No call.  Rondo also signaled for a time out in Marc Davis' face and wasn't given one.   Of course, we knew before the game started who Davis was cheering for.   I've highlighted my favorites in bold.  What are yours? 

Easy win

F*** Rondo

Ever since that 2009 playoff series we have outplayed the Celtics. Especially with Derrick, he absolutely owns rondo to the point where I look forward to their meetings.

Beat "Boston PierceFakes"!

When we lost game 7 to the Celtics in 2009, the first words out of my mouth were, "We'll get them next year." God, I hope that we play them in the first round.

I'd have trouble liking rondo if I was a Celtics fan.

Noah will show why he deserves to be an All Star over KG. KG should not even be on the roster.
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The Celtics have lost. This one really sucked. We had a lead with a few seconds left in both the fourth and in OT, yet we couldn't catch a break. Rondo played amazing: putting in 30 points, 2 rebounds, and 7 assists. Unfortunately, he fouled out mid-way through overtime. This one stings and I just want to move on, but I won't.

Tonight's underrated stat of the night goes to the poor free throw shooting of Kevin Garnett. Garnett just didn't get the job done. He shot just 6/10 from the line, many of the misses coming late in regulation. If he could've made those, they definitely would've won.

I got plenty of stuff to say here, so I'm gonna say what I'm sure plenty of people are thinking. What was wrong with tonight' officiating late in the game? We all saw what I think was an absolutely pathetic call. The Celtics, with a 88-86 lead and 12 seconds left in regulation, inbounded the ball to Paul Pierce. Pierce was immediately cornered by Joakim Noah and and Jimmy Butler. Butler and Noah appeared to be blatantly fouling Pierce, with Butler simultaneously grabbing the ball late in the play. Now the correct call here was to call a foul, as Chicago was in fact intentionally fouling Pierce. Yet, the refs had to have other ideas.

The refs appeared confused and had no idea what to call. Apparently, they lack common sense. Then Bulls head coach and former Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau seemed to make the call for them. He began screaming and jumping for a jump ball to be called while Noah continued slapping Pierce like a mad five year old girl who just had her doll decapitated by her older brother. The refs, still confused, looked at Tom and just did what he did. They very stupidly called a jump ball and the Bulls had possession. They ended up tying it on the last play, and then winning it on another last play in OT.

Now, that call was pathetic. If these refs put up half as much effort as they think they do, we would've seen a nice game tonight. If the Celtics would've won tonight, it could've been compared to last week's Knicks game. When Rondo was suspended just before game-time for virtually no reason, the Knicks appeared to be set up to win. The Celtics won, and my CG co-writer FLCeltsFan called the game "a victory over David Stern." Well, tonight Stern got his revenge. I am furious about this and I am sure many of you are too. We need to start asking the league "why don't you like us?" Because it really seems like the NBA(the business part, not the basketball part) really hates the Celtics. You never see Lebron getting suspended for indirectly touching a ref, or a foul not being called when a player is intentionally fouling Kobe. So, why us? Somebody please ask David Stern and his army of officials that question.

As always, leave your comments below. It could be a USOTN, an opinion on the game, a rant of your own, or what you had for dinner. I don't care what you say, but say something. This isn't over. I'm not going to be a wimp and just "move on." I hope you guys won't either.


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At hafltime at the Boston Garden, Boston was experiencing on one of the chilliest days of this young winter and the Celtics somehow found a way to make their shooting percentage lower than that of the temperature outside the arena. Mike Breen made a comment about cold it was inside the building but I couldn’t figure out if that was because of an open back door letting a draft in or the Celtics woeful shot attempts. (Don’t judge me for choosing ESPN’s broadcast I have a soft spot for Mike Breen) 1-6 from behind the arc and a combined 3-14 between the Ticket and the Truth was no way to come out the gates against this energized Bulls club and made the offense as a whole look sluggish.  The Celtics defense was able to force 11 first half turnovers but yet allowed Chicago to shoot nearly 50%, 47.4, while hitting almost half their three point attempts. 

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7:10: The Celtics, after their loss to the Hornets, will host the Bulls tonight. Avery Bradley will not play due to a rib injury. Barbosa will start in his place. The game can be seen on ESPN. Keep checking here after each quarter for updates.

7:39: The first quarter has just ended, and the Celtics trail 23-19. It could very easily be worse. They trailed at one point by the score of 17-9, but made a mini run to get back into it. Rondo has 6 points, Bass has 4 and Lee has 3. Keep checking here.

8:23: One word to describe the Celtics' second quarter: OK. The Celtics and Bulls were never able to shake each other off as the Bulls outscored the Celtics, 22-20. At halftime, Chicago leads 45-39. Rondo leads the Celtics with 12 points. Boozer leads the Bulls with 13.

8:58: The Celtics again played decent in the third quarter. They are still really struggling to make a comeback. In the quarter, the Celtics and Bulls each scored 23 points. Rondo still leads the C's with 21 points. He and Brandon Bass(10) are the only two Celtics in double digits.

9:48: The Celtics and Bulls are tied. They are now going into overtime tied at 88.

10:17: Bulls win 100-99 on go-ahead shot by Belinelli with 3.1 seconds left. Courtney Lee misses 3 pointer from half court at buzzer.
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The Celtics, after their tough loss to the Hornets, will play the final game of their current home stand tonight against the Bulls. The Bulls currently sit at 22-15. Despite their loss to New Orleans, the Celtics have still looked good recently. With a 20-18 record, the Celtics are tied for seventh place in the conference with the Bucks. The Celtics could use a victory tonight to break that tie-breaker. Here's tonight's five things:

5. GET GREEN INVOLVED:
Jeff Green got just four shots Wednesday night against the Hornets. With the four shots, he got just four points. You can't complain that he's not helping if you're not passing him the ball. Give him a chance.

4. GET LEE INVOLVED:
Lee, like Green, was also ignored a lot against New Orleans. He got just five shots, making one. He scored just four points due to his amount of shots. Someone needs to give him the ball.

3. HOPE PIERCE MAKES HIS SHOTS:
Against the Hornets, Pierce had just 12 points on 5/16 shooting. This team relies so much on Pierce to put points on the board, so he really needs to be successful. He needs to show up tonight.

2. REBOUND:
The Hornets out-rebounded the Celtics Wednesday night 48-33. This was a huge problem for Boston. They lost because they didn't play hard on the boards. Get the big guys to play better.

1. SCORE:
In order to win in the NBA, you have to score points. KG led the C's in scoring against the Hornets with just 15 points. 78 points as a team isn't much better. They must score tonight if they are to beat this tough Chicago Bulls team.

Tip-off tonight will be at 7:00 pm ET. Live Game Updates will be available here. It can be seen on ESPN.
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Congratulations to Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett for being voted in by the fans as starters.  Between KG and Melo in the frontcourt and Dwyane Wade and Rondo in the back court, this may be one of the more dysfunctional starting lineups for an All Star game ever. 

 The reserves will be announced on TNT on January 24 before Round 2 between the Celtics and the Knicks.  

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 Steve Bulpett is reporting that Leandro Barbosa is denying having made the statements reported in the ESPN Brazil article.  Here are Steve's tweets on the subject.

Barbosa strongly denies report of trade request: "No, I want to play. I want to be here. That's it."

— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) January 17, 2013

Barbosa was shown both the translation and original story and denied ever making the statements.

— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) January 17, 2013

As for uneven playing time, Barbosa says, "I knew it was going to be like this when I came here."

— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) January 17, 2013

He doesn't just deny them, he strongly denies them. So, either someone at ESPN Brazil made these quotes up or Barbosa said them, regrets them, and is trying to do some damage control. It wouldn't be the first time that ESPN has made things up. And, it wouldn't be the first time that a player was misquoted or said something he later regretted saying.

As for Barbosa, several times he has tweeted how much he likes being a Celtic. It just doesn't fit that he would be that unhappy to be asking for a trade or release. When he signed, he already knew about Rondo, Terry, Bradley and Lee and so I don't see him souring so quickly.

I don't speak Portuguese, but if someone does, Gustavo Arruda on Celtics Brazil has the recording of Barbosa's interview and from the rough translation I got from Google, it seems that he agrees that Barbosa is wanting a trade. You can listen to the interview on Celtics Brazil and read the transcript and make your own conclusions. Where there is smoke there is fire. I'm just not sure which direction the smoke is blowing.

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I was browsing through Twitter a few moments ago and saw this bombshell from CelticsBlog.

NBA Trade Rumors: Leandro Barbosa has requested trade, expects one soon sbn.to/10hmgr1
— CelticsBlog (@celticsblog) January 17, 2013

They quote this artcle from ESPN Brazil. In it, he expresses his frustration with lack of playing time and the fact that he has tried several times to get out of his contract with Boston but Danny won't let him. Barbosa also suggested that in a little while we will get a surprise. Perhaps there is a trade already in the works.

Barbosa has shown an ability to contribute offense off the bench and put up some quick points. It's nice to have a player like that on the bench and so I can see why Danny wouldn't want to trade him. But if Barbosa is unhappy, it may be in the best interest of the team to try to trade him to a team that needs a guard and could give him more playing time, since on the Celtics he has Rondo, Bradley, Terry and Lee all ahead of him in the rotation. Still, that instant offense off the bench sure is nice. At any rate, we may be in for a surprise one of these days.
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The Celtics really lost focus last night and just played terribly.  I mean there's now excuse for a pro team to shoot 37% from the line.  That's lack of focus.  Maybe they all subconsciously were trying to make Austin look better because he's struggling so much and that was their gift to their coach.  Hopefully they get it together for Friday's game.   37% from the line is inexcusable, no matter what else is going on.  My favorites are in bold, what are yours? 

Over under on how many times Austin's relation to Doc is brought up? 10.

Over. Unless Austin's minutes are very miniscule. Actually no still over

I hope Gordon doesn't play so Rivers can take his spot. It would be nice to see our team fair against Boston without Gordon

You must want to see a loss if you want Gordon to sit in favor of Rivers.

Bradley is a tough matchup for anyone. I don't think we really matchup too well with these guys.

Bradley's defense has been overstated. Boston has just been playing real well as a team. They aren't really stopping guards from going off.
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On Wednesday night the Celtics faced the New Orleans Hornets looking to extend their win streak to seven games. This also marked the first match-up between the Rivers father and son. Austin Rivers was drafted fifth this past year to the Hornets yet has struggled to find his game in the NBA. The Hornets came into the night on their second of back to back games coming off a strong win in Philadelphia. The first game against father and son when to the young gun and the Hornets as they came away with a win 90-78.

Coming into the night the Celtics had a strong home stand winning six in a row and were expected to extend it against a young, inexperienced team. Doc came out with his typical starting line-up of Rondo, Bradley, Pierce, Bass, and Garnett. The team as a whole out shot the Hornets 45.9% to 43.7%. However, they were dominated on the boards allowing 11 offensive rebounds and losing the battle 48 to 33. The Celtics also really struggled from the free throw line shooting just 6-16 on the night, just 37.5%. All of the starters struggled from the field except KG who had a bounce back game finishing with 15 points on 7-12 shooting. Rajon Rondo started off hot but really struggled down the road totaling just 7 points while adding 11 assists in 33 minutes.
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To make it simple, the Celtics played badly. The last few games weren't great either, but at least they won. Rondo didn't score or rebound at all, Bass followed a great first quarter with nothing, and Bradley scored just four points the whole game. I guess they had to lose eventually, but couldn't it be like I predicted and not be until next month in OKC? It sucks now, but we'll get over it by tomorrow.

Tonight's Underrated Stat of the Night easily goes to Leandro Barbosa. In today's 5 things I said that he deserved more playing time. It seemed like they didn't read that because Barbosa again didn't get off the bench. Barbosa, after getting 4 minutes of play against the Bobcats, got just 2 tonight. However, in those two minutes Barbosa scored a nice 7 points on 3/4 shooting. His 7 points was tied for the fourth most on the team. So, a good night for him and a bad night for everyone else.

The Celtics just didn't score enough points. That's really the only reason they lost this. They played nice defense but didn't score anything. When KG led your team in scoring with 15, you know you have a problem. The guy who leads your team in scoring should have at least a good 25. Anyway, there isn't anything else to say. I, after every loss, move on immediately. So that's what I'll do. Remember to leave me your USOTNs below.
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7:49: The 20-17 Celtics will host the 12-26 Hornets tonight at the TD Garden. Austin Rivers will be playing against his dad tonight in a highly publicized matchup. The Celtics will probably get a good test tonight, but I think they'll win. The Hornets just aren't good enough. Tip-off is at 8:00 pm ET. Keep checking here after each quarter for updates.

8:34: After one quarter in Boston, the Celtics lead the Hornets 25-20. It's been close all the way but the Celtics still look good. Brandon Bass leads the team with a surprising 7 points. Piece leads the C's in rebounding with 4. Austin Rivers has just 2 points so far.

9:09: The Celtics completely underestimated the Hornets. They haven't played terrible, but the Hornets have played better. At halftime, they trail New Orleans 44-43. Bass and KG lead the Celtics with 9 points each, while Austin Rivers has 4 for the Hornets. Rondo has put in 7 points and 5 assists.

9:47: The Celtics may really have to earn this win. They are competing, but not winning. After three quarters, the C's trail 67-63. Pierce and Terry lead the Celtics with 12 each. Austin Rivers has 7.

10:26: The Celtics just looked tired in the fourth quarter. I hate to have to say that for the first time since January second, the Celtics have lost a game. The final score: Hornets 90, Celtics 78. It was a tough game to play and a tougher to lose. The Hornets have improved, but I don't think that this was all good play from them. The Celtics had just 78 points. It's disappointing, but they had to lose eventually. They are now 20-18. Garnett lead the scoring with 15 followed by Pierce/Terry with 12. Rondo had just 7 points yet managed 11 assists. Austin Rivers had 8. Stay here, post game and USOTN coming soon.
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The Celtics, after six straight wins, are riding high with a 20-17 record. Tonight, they will play the fourth game of a five game home stand when they host the New Orleans Hornets. The Hornets, along with Doc's son Austin, have struggled so far this year. As of now, they sit at a tough 12-26. Their record is the worst in the western conference. But they can still be good so the Celtics must be ready for them. With that, here are tonight's five things:

5. GET BARBOSA SOME PLAYING TIME:
Leandro Barbosa is a solid shooter with a lot of NBA experience. I didn't understand why he was given just 4 minutes of playing time against Charlotte, because he really is starting to look like wasted talent. I just think that they should either play him more or cut him.

4. GET COLLINS SOME PLAYING TIME:
Like Barbosa, Collins is an experienced veteran. His rebounding skills earned him a lot of playing time earlier this season, but it seems like he's not getting that anymore. He played just 8 minutes against the Bobcats. Get him more.

3. HAVE RONDO AND BRADLEY DO WHAT THEY DO:
Rondo and Bradley appear to have things completely figured out at this point of the season. If the Celtics have a dynamic duo, then these two are it. Rondo just had a triple-double and Bradley had a nice 16 points. Keep this up.

2. KEEP REBOUNDING:
As always, you have to rebound. Against the Bobcats, the Celtics had a nice night when they out-rebounded Charlotte 42-34. They already have three solid rebounders in KG, Sully, and Rondo. Why not find some more?

1. PLAY HARD:
If the Celtics don't play hard, they will lose. The Hornets are a professional team who knows how to win. The Bobcats gave the Celtics a good test, and I expect the Hornets to do the exact same.

Tip-off will be at 8:00 pm ET. Live game updates will be available here.
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A Garden technician holds a sensitive mic at Sunday's game to eavesdrop on what Carmelo Anthony and is opponents say. James Dolan ordered two of them to be used at each game to avoid more "he said, he said" situations like the one that arose between Anthony and Kevin Garnett.

 There has been a lot said about KG's trash talking since something he said to Carmelo Anthony set him off to the point where he lost all reason and followed KG to the locker room and then to the bus.  There were reports that KG's comments were about Melo's wife, but KG and Doc both said that those rumors were false and that KG never said anything inappropriate about Melo's wife.

Now,  there is this report out of New York.   Since Melo proved to be so fragile that he completely came unhinged after some trash talk by Kevin Garnett,  it appears that others are trying to exploit that very same glitch in the Knicks' armor.  But the team's owner has taken it into his own hands to protect his fragile star's ego.

Two audio technicians were stationed at two corners of the court — one a few feet just behind the Knicks bench, the other diagonally opposite — and they were holding those umbrella-shaped contraptions known as parabola microphones, which fed the audio into a DAT recorder on the truck on the loading dock.

These guys had one directive from Dolan: Record every syllable Carmelo Anthony utters and absorbs while he’s on the court and on the bench, the Madison Square Garden CEO ordered them, and send the tape directly to me.

The purpose of this command was unclear, but Dolan must have had a good reason to eavesdrop on Melo’s interactions. Was it to luxuriate in the poetic musings of his most valuable player, even though he is far from his most voluble player? Was it a teaching tool, so his coaches could school Melo on the potential hazards of courtside misconduct?

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I didn't think the officiating was that bad against the Bobcats.  They missed calls both ways but Charlotte did take more free throws than the Celtics.  I really have to hand it to Bobcat fans.  They've been through a lot of tough times but they are still loyal to their team, and they have a sense of humor about it.  I've highlighted my favorites in bold.  What are yours? 

What kind of comment will KG make to Tyrus about his wife ? !!!

Probably that she looks like she got hit with a box of cereal.

KEYS TO BEATING THE CELTICS
 1. Break the leg of Rondo.
2. Trip KG while rebounding and make him sprain himself.
3. Tell tyrus to punch pierce in the balls so that they can brawl and automatic ejection.
 4. Every time a Celt player drives to the lane, the cats must draw blood if they want to foul.

And God help you if you're stuck watching the Celtics feed tonight

Free throw defense, don't fail us now! Third best in the league, BABY!

Oh, to be a fly on the court for KG's trash talk to Biyombo.

I'm feeling it. Tonight is the night we turn the corner.

And as soon as we turn the corner, we realize we're in a dark alley with just KG

Tough team to turn the corner, against
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The Celtics, behind another triple-double from Rondo, defeated the Bobcats 100-89 at the TD Garden Monday night. Yes, it was just 11 points. And I know that all non-Celtic fans will send me e-mails later calling me an idiot for praising them. But they had this game in control pretty well from the very beginning. Charlotte made a slight dent in the third, but I would still be proud if I was Doc Rivers.

Tonight's USOTN goes to Jeff Green. I found this one to be easy. Rondo and Bradley had too good of games to be underrated, Sullinger didn't have very many rebounds, and everybody else didn't do enough. Green had a pretty good night that will be overshadowed by Rondo, along with everyone else. He had 11 points on 4/8 shooting, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. As always, tell me your own USOTNs below.

Rondo's triple double featured 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists. With a lot help from him, the Celtics completely controlled the first half, leading by 11 at intermission. The Bobcats came back and outscored Boston in the third quarter, 25-20, but the C's regained those five points in the fourth to end it. While the Bobcats fall to 9-28, the Celtics improve to 20-17 with their sixth consecutive win. They have not dropped a game since January 2 against the Grizzlies. They will take the court again on Wednesday when they will face the Hornets. Tip-off will be at 8:00 pm ET. Live Game Updates will be available here.
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7:13: The Celtics will face the 9-27 Bobcats tonight at the TD Garden. The Bobcats are third-to-last in the conference and don't have a very bright future. Every good player they get they either trade away or that player loses his edge. They've been like this since Larry Brown left. But they're still an NBA team who can compete, so play hard and put them away early. There are no injuries to report.

8:08: The Celtics did exactly what they should've done in the first quarter. From the beginning, the C's looked focused and ready. The Bobcats just looked like themselves. Rondo leads the scoring with 9 while Pierce has 5. Stay here.

8:51: The Celtics' second quarter can only be called decent. In it, they outscored the Bobcats 28-27. At the half, they lead 56-45. Paul Pierce, Bradley, and Green each have 11 points. Rondo still has 9.

10:35: Like the Suns game, this win was harder than expected. But, I'll take it. This game may not have been a blow out, but I still saw a great performance from Boston in tonight's 100-89 win. The Bobcats just, sort of, played well. Pierce led the Celtics in scoring with 19, followed by Rondo with 17 and Bradley with 16. Jeff Green put in a nice 11 and Rondo completed a triple-double with 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
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The Boston Celtics embody and represent a lot of different things, people throw around terms like "hard worker" or "passionate" along with many others when associating this fabled franchise with common terminology but there's much more to the story. People argue daily about their respective teams and what it means to be part of their fan base but nothing comes even remotely close to the Celtics and only recently was I reminded of that.  The seasons struggles have been well documented for the C's and  the team was burdened with many difficult obstacles that helped them plummet down the standings. Things looked bleak with players being suspended, the offense sputtering and worst off the defense wilting under pressure. Most teams fold at that point, most teams bicker and point fingers while coaches get fired and players get relegated to the bench; the Celtics aren't most teams.

The Celtics don't have other teams' players and don't carry themselves in any other fashion than that of a true champion. Great players have come through many different franchises but there's always something  special about a talent in Boston. A true Celtic is a special thing and at that player's heart is everything the Celtics truly are; the underdog, the little guy that was doubted but pulled through and the hard worker with a motor for a heart. The Celtics aren't just talent or a vertical or a jumpshot their a culture a way of life, their Ubuntu.


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Due to five straight wins, the Celtics have overcome their negative side and gotten to 19-17. You can still probably say that they've started seasons better, but I'll take it. I would rather they be here than 17-19 if they had lost those two road games. Tonight, they host the dreadful Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats stand at 9-27 and 2-8 in their last 10. Maybe they'll be good tonight, but I have to be honest. I doubt it. Here are tonight's five things:

5. DON'T REPLAY THE SUNS GAME:
The Suns game last week was supposed to be routine and easy. They were supposed to cruise all four quarters. But something just wasn't there. Don't let this happen again. When you should blow out a team, do it.

4. DON'T BE AFRAID TO MISS A SHOT:
Jared Sullinger has been unstoppable recently. He had 11 rebounds last week and that'll probably continue tonight. If someone like Green misses a three, you can know that Sullinger will clean it up.

3. KEEP REBOUNDING:
This won't be a big problem tonight, but it's still important. We can assume that Sullinger and Garnett will likely get 10 each, but get the rest of the team involved. The best way to get the Bobcats out of it early is by getting second-chance points.

2. KEEP GETTING GREAT DEFENSE FROM BRADLEY:
We've already seen Bradley's defense called Garnett-like. We know he can play great and we'll need more of it. Charlotte does not have amazing ball handlers. If he wants the ball, he will get it.

1. DON'T UNDERESTIMATE CHARLOTTE:
This basically falls under the same category of #5. If the Celtics come out with bad effort and stupid play, they may have a tough time. The Bobcats are a professional team who will capitalize on the Celtics' mistakes.

Tip-off for this one will be at 7:30 pm ET. Live Game Updates will be available here.
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