Not like other Celtics fans, I am quickly moving on from last night's meltdown and looking ahead to tomorrow's return of Ray Allen. This offseason Allen stupidly left the Celtics for the Heat for less money. I don't know if he wasn't thinking or if he's just one of those guys who doesn't understand common sense, but he looked bad. He thanked us in the Globe, which didn't really do anything. Don't worry though, he won't be a factor tomorrow when he's playing for a team who has Lebron and Wade. The Heat are pretty good and I don't have a good feeling about this one, but here's tomorrow's five things:
5. KEEP GETTING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM TERRY:
Jason Terry finally had a good game last night. Unfortunately, the team lost. Terry shot a nice 4/6 from the field for twelve points. Let's hope that that was a turnaround.
4. KEEP GETTING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM LEE:
Courtney Lee also had a very nice game last night. With 16 points in 25 minutes of play, there wasn't much to criticize him for. He seems to play well every night, it's just a shame the rest of the team can't too.
3. KEEP GETTING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM GREEN:
Jeff Green is a mystery. With yesterday's game, we saw another possible turnaround for this struggling player. Green had a great 17 points in 30 minutes of play, and I expect a game like this from him again tomorrow.
2. GIVE PIERCE LESS PLAYING TIME:
A comment was left on the site yesterday saying that Pierce should come off the bench, which I agree with. Pierce no longer helps the team the way he used to, it's time to begin moving on.
1. TRY?:
It's become frustrating for all sportswriters who covering this team when we watch our analysis fall apart. Telling them to rebound doesn't guarantee effort. If they don't try, they will not win. PLAY HARD!
Tip-off for tomorrow's game will be at 1:00 pm ET. It can be seen on ABC. Live Game Updates will be available here. Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
Tommy is such a treasure. I can't imagine him ever retiring. I'm reading Bob Ryan's book on the Celtics and reading about how he came up with a completely new strategy to coach the team has reinforced just how smart Tommy is about the game of basketball. When he speaks, we should all listen. Here are some gems from Tommy's twitter during last night's Hawks game. First, he addresses the trade rumors swirling and tells why that wasn't as much of a problem in his playing days.
"There were no trade rumors in our locker room because Red Auerbach believed the best trades you can make are the ones you DON'T make."
— Tommy Heinsohn (@CSNTommy) January 26, 2013
I know that Doc doesn't want them hanging around for offensive rebounds and wants them to get back on defense right away. But it sure is nice to see them fighting for rebounds and put backs when they do. It just gets old after awhile seeing the other teams grabbing all the rebounds.
Pierce with the offensive rebound: "We seldom see people going to the offensive glass. How effective that can be."
— Tommy Heinsohn (@CSNTommy) January 26, 2013
Well, that wasn't fun. It's becoming clear that the bench is finally coming around but now the starters are slumping. The second unit gave us that big lead in the second quarter and then it went away when the starters came back in. But there's progress. We at least got one great half of basketball. One thing that always strikes me is all the complaints by Hawks fans about Josh Smith. He's not the answer for the Celtics. My favorites are in bold. What are yours?
Perfect time to catch the Celtics, they're on a losing streak and not playing their best basketball
The Celtics are saying the exact same things about ATLANTA. Plus we have injuries across the board.
Wondering what not to do when leading by 27 points in a basketball? Play like your the Boston Celtics because the results can be deadly. Only the Celtics would be able to revive a fanbase's hopes in a single half only to destroy it with a thud ending like the one tonight in Atlanta. Besides Garnett no one on the Celtics wanted to close out this game with precision on the offensive end of the court. The passing was sloppy and good shots were hard to come by. Towards the end of regulation the Celtics began to walk up the ball and the offense suffered. Though Garnett was dominating in the post to many possesions were wasted by dwindling down the clock and then attempting to get a shot off. The loss keeps life in the losing streak and the play as a whole is picking up some bad traits.
The Celtics deserve to be kicked out of the league at this point in time. They were put in a situation where if they just had the will to win they would've won. I don't know how they managed to blow this one. They didn't even try in the second half. This game was handed to them and I feel bad for Doc Rivers.
Tonight's USOTN goes to the decent performance of Jason Terry. Terry had 12 points on 4/6 shooting. Terry has struggled recently but showed up tonight. I'm happy for him. As always, tell me your own USOTNs below.
They were up by nineteen at halftime. In the third quarter, they started off being outscored 21-2. That was not their best effort. Something needs to be done because this team is awful. I don't think they can compete on the NBA level anymore. How about they cut the whole team and start from scratch. Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
6:40: The Celtics, now a tough 20-22, will visit the Hawks tonight at the Phillips Arena. The Hawks are a solid 24-18. The Celtics are coming off yesterday's home loss to New York. Despite playing pretty well, they still lost 89-86. All I can say about that game is that if could've been a lot worse. Keep checking back here after each quarter for updates.
8:17: What just happened? The Celtics, who we(the media) have done nothing but rip on recently, have a 29-10 lead after the first quarter. The Hawks struggle with tough competition, but I expected more. This feels really good to write. Keep watching the game and enjoy it while it lasts.
9:03: The Celtics didn't dominate the second quarter, but still played well. They tied with Atlanta 28-28. They now lead at the half, 57-38. Good luck in the second half Celtics. Please win this one.
9:56: The Celtics played terrible in the second half. They are now heading into overtime tied at 98.
10:09: The first overtime has ended. The Celtics and Hawks are tied at 107.
10:25: The Celtics decided not to play the second overtime. They were outscored 16-4 in those five minutes as they lose tonight 123-111. This was pathetic. I seriously believe that this team is not trying to win and I am tired of having to say the same things over and over again. Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
The Celtics, after yesterday's loss to the Knicks, will head to Atlanta tonight to face the Hawks. The Celtics are not playing well right now and deserve to be where they are. They currently sit at a very disappointing 20-22. I really excepted more from them, but it's just not working out. Here are tonight's five things:
5. MORE CONSISTENCY:
The Celtics, obviously, were very inconsistent last night. They would go on a big run, and then they would give up a big run. This obviously needs to change soon so that they can get back to winning.
4. GET GARNETT SOME SHOTS:
Garnett got just nine shots last night. This was disappointing. He hasn't played well recently, but he still needs to take some shots. Get him the ball more so that he can contribute.
3. STOP LETTING TERRY SHOOT:
Terry has turned into an awful shooter. He shot just 1/6 last night, which is almost good for him. He has become sad to watch and I wish that they hadn't signed him. He is really bad.
2. HELP RONDO OUT:
Usually when a team has a guy with a triple-double, they win. However, that wasn't the case at all last night. If they could score some points, then they would win a lot more games.
1. GOOD EFFORT THROUGHOUT:
The Celtics are a pathetic road team. If they are to win tonight they will have to play like champions. The Hawks are pretty good and I don't that the Celtics will be able to beat them if they play like they did in Detroit and Cleveland.
Tip-off for tonight's game will be at 7:30 pm ET. Live Game Updates will be available here.
Boston Celtics (20-22) at Atlanta Hawks (22-18) Friday, January 25, 2013 7:30 PM ET Game #43 Road Game #21 TV: CSNNE, SPSO, NBA-LP 753(BOS)/754(ATL) Radio: WEEI, WCNN Philips Arena Referees: Not available The Celtics travel to Atlanta to take on the Hawks in the second of 4
meetings this season. The Celtics are in the midst of a 5 game losing
streak and after going 3 games above .500 and are now back to 2 games
under .500. The Celtics are playing in the second of back to back
games. The Hawks have a day of rest.
Boston won the series 2-1
last season but all 3 games were close. The Celtics won by 3 points
and by 2 points in overtime while the Hawks won their game by 5. Every
game between these two teams seems to end up being chippy. There is no
love lost between them, that is for sure. The Celtics won the first
meeting in Atlanta 89-81.
The Hawks have several players who
have been out injured. 3 are listed as game time decisions: Harris,
Horford and Pachulia. Morrow and Lou Williams are out. Williams
torched the Celtics for 28 points in their first meeting. It will
definitely be easier if Horford and Pachulia are out, but players have a
way of coming back just in time to play the Celtics.
The Hawks
are a good home team with a 14-7 record at Phillips Arena. The Celtics
have been the opposite on the road with a 7-13 record away from the
Garden. The Celtics are now 5-5 in their last 10 games while the Hawks
are 4-6 in their last 10, mostly due to a flurry of injuries.
Atlanta
is in the 6th spot in the East, 4 games ahead of the Celtics, who are
still in 8th, in spite of the 5 game losing streak. The Celtics effort against the Knicks was encouraging, but they still have a long way to go. Bringing effort on a consistent basis would be a good start.
Much better effort from the Celtics even if the result wasn't different. There is definitely something going on with Paul Pierce - just not playing well at all. The Knick fans weren't quite as bad as they usually are but as always, the stabbing jokes are disgusting. At least there weren't as many death and injury wishes as usual. And surprisingly, some Knicks fans admitted that the officiating was blowing calls on both sides and that they even got some on their side. Hopefully the Celtics build on this game to get a win tonight in Atlanta.
This is a big game. Chandler will decide to turn it on this game. Blowout win!
Fun fact: Pierce has been playing like moldy dog shyt since they won in MSG. Literally been terrible
Another fun fact: He will magically find a way to play with intensity like its Game 7 of the ECF on Thursday and drop 35 on us, then happily continue to play like a washed up 36 year old bum until the next game against the Knicks.
Boston is currently not playing well. I say we win by 15.
They will against us.
Not scared of the players so much.... It's the Refs that scare the crap out of me.
On Thursday night the Celtics faced the Knicks in their second meeting of the year. This marked Rajon Rondo's first game against the NY squad as he was suspended last game and also meant the rematch of KG vs Melo. This was the largest story line coming into the night as both teams emotions were high. The Celtics looked to return home and extinguish their four game losing streak yet Carmelo and the Knicks proved to be too tall a task. In a great game the Celtics fell short losing 89-86 the Knicks at home.
The Celtics and Knicks are an age old rivalry that continued tonight at the TD Garden. Both teams came into the night looking to make big statements. The Knicks came in looking for a revenge game as Garnett and the Celtics stole game one at MSG. The Celtics looked to stop the bleeding of a four game losing streak and get back on track.
The Celtics get a pat on the back for their performance tonight. They finally showed up and played like an NBA team. They lost, but it was to a good team. I would've prefered a victory, but this is a step in the right direction.
Tonight's USOTN goes to the defensive rebounding of the Celtics. Despite losing, they out-rebounded the Knicks 39-38. It was a light at the end of a tunnel. Thanks for the effort.
There is really nothing else to talk about. Good night.
8:00: The Celtics, coming off their tough loss to the Cavs, will host the Knicks tonight at the Garden. The C's currently sit at just 20-21 with a lack of hope in the fan base. If they win tonight, then I'll feel confident again. But I doubt that that will happen. As always, updates will be available here after every quarter. Enjoy the game.
8:32: The Celtics played up to their competition in the first quarter. They currently lead the Knicks, 24-20. Rondo leads the C's with 5. Sullinger and Pierce each have 4. Jason Kidd leads the Knicks with 7.
9:17: The Celtics seemed to fall asleep in the second quarter. They rebounded and are in this game, but I'm not particularly pleased with being down. At the half, New York leads 50-48. Pierce leads the Celtics with 19. Melo leads the Knicks with 13.
11:33: The Celtics have lost 89-86. This loss gets a high five. They put up a solid fight, but it didn't work out. Unfortuentaly, they are now 20-22. Stay here at CG, post game and USOTN coming soon. Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
The Celtics are all to familiar with
the emotions of "a day at the park"
Being a Celtics fan for a season is almost like going to Six Flags, or any other amusement park, for the day. The anticipation to get there is unbearable and all you can do is sit and think about the possible outcomes of a day at the park. You finally get there and reality hits you, theres a lot of people ahead of you and you've suddenly lost hope of having a good day. You wait in line and there's so many people ahead of you and all you can think about his how happy you'd be if you were just a little higher up on the totem pole. Just when all hope is lost the line starts getting shorter while you're almost at the top and near the best part. Then something magical happens and you get on your favorite ride and begin to go through the best experience of the day. You're having the best time and then suddenly it all ends, you get off and its over. On some days that's enough for you; you go home content that you enjoyed the ride you've been waiting for almost all your life, or for the C's a championship like 08. On most occasions though your left wondering why that was it, why it ended like it did and why the anticipation outweighs the true enjoyment you got out if it. You're left almost disappointed like something greater, bigger, or better should have happened.
The ups and downs bring you a different array of emotions and your never thinking the same thing twice until its all over and you get that nauseous feeling in your stomach. You wonder if it really was worth it, wether the sickness in your stomach outweighs the joys you had felt. Every time you've had just enough happiness that your forced to come back. Your mind rationalizes that it's worth all the pain and disappointment, all the waiting and confusion as to when your time will finally come. Basically even the worst of days will have you coming back for more and with the C's I don't think it can be more true.
New York Knicks (25-14) at Boston Celtics (20-21) Thursday, January 24, 2013 8:00 PM ET Regular Season Game #42 – Road Game #22 TV: TNT, TSN2 Radio: WEEI, ESPN NY TD Garden Referees: Joey Crawford, Dick Bavetta, Marat Kogut
The Knicks visit the Celtics for round 2 of 4 between these two division
rivals. Whenever these two teams get together there is always a
playoff atmosphere, even in the preseason. It seems that they are
always on the verge of a brawl. Every game is hard fought, that is for
certain.
There was no shortage of drama between them in their
last meeting as KG inspired Carmelo Anthony to chase him into the locker
room and then wait for him outside the Celtics' bus. Anthony has
said that he is fine with KG and that he's only looking forward to the
game. He blamed fasting for being so testy in that last meeting.
Hopefully he has his pregame meal before this one, but don't count on
KG not trying to get into his head again.
The Knicks lead the
Atlantic Division with the Celtics in 3rd, 6 games back. The Knicks
last won the division in 1993-94 but look to end the Celtics 5 year
reign over the Atlantic this season. The Knicks are also looking to end
an 11 game losing streak in Boston where they last won in 2006. They
would also love to win the season series since they haven't won a series
with the Celtics since 2003-04.
The Knicks are a good road
team with an 11-8 record. The Celtics have played well at home as well,
in spite of losing their last two games there. They are 13-8 at home
this season. The Celtics are 6-4 in their last 10 games and the
Knicks are just 4-6 in their last 10. The Knicks are looking to avoid
losing their second straight, while the Celtics desperately would love
to end their 4 game losing streak.
The Celtics can once again
get back to .500 with a win in this game. Doc called the team out after
the loss to Detroit but it didn't do any good as they lost to the 10
win Cavs in their next game. The Celtics have proved that they can
beat the top teams and they have plenty of motivation to play well and
win this game. The big question is whether they will come out focused
and put out the effort needed to do so.
The Celtics, now 20-21, will head back to Boston tonight to host the Knicks. On January 7, while in the middle of their six game win streak, the Celtics beat the Knicks at MSG 102-96. But that was then, this is now. Since then the C's have lost four in a row to the Hornets, Bulls, Pistons, and Cavs. All I can say is: they will win if they try, they will lose if they don't. Here are tonight's five things:
5. DON'T LET ONE PLAYER TAKE OVER EARLY:
We all watched in horror as Kyrie Irving scored 19 points in the first quarter Tuesday night. Irving finished with an amazing 40 points. It's obvious that if you don't let one guy score 90% of his team's points, your chances of winning increase.
4. MAKE SOME SHOTS:
The Celtics shot a pathetic 38.1% from the field Tuesday night. They've been doing this for a while now where they just miss everything. You have to make your shots in order to get points.
3. FINISH STRONG:
I know that the Cavs were a 10-32 team, but the Celtics did play pretty well in the first three quarters. Or, they had a 3 point lead. Either way if they would've won the fourth quarter, they would've won the game.
2. KEEP REBOUNDING:
Just keep rebounding. That was the only think they could do well in Cleveland. Just keep doing what you're doing with that but change everything else. But rebounding is still important.
1. BETTER EFFORT THROUGHOUT:
I get tired of writing these sometimes. I keep writing all these keys to victory knowing that they will still lose because of their lack of effort. To the Celtics, please try hard tonight.
Tip-off for tonight's game will be at 8:00 pm ET. It can be seen on TNT. Live Game Updates will be available here. Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
I'm not sure what to think about this team any more. They showed during the win streak that they can play the right way. But then they don't. Not even after Doc called them out. They have to get it together, starting with the defense. This losing stuff is getting old.
I want a W because I despise everything Buh-stun.
Will be interesting to see how Waiters plays against Bradley, one of the better perimeter defenders in the league..
Recipe for disaster. Waiters goes 3 for 16 for 9 points and the Cavs lose by 19.
Celtics are old and tired. Only a matter of time before they blow that team up.
We stand no chance in this. The 10th and 11th guys on the Celtics depth chart are more valuable than Rudy Gay and Avery Bradley is better than Lebron according to Celtics fans.
Barbosa for Miami’s big three is probably the only move they could pull off but even at that would they see minutes?
Maybe it's just me, but I don't think this team is trying that hard to win easy games. I think Doc said it perfectly, if you want to win easy, you'll have to play hard. The Celtics are acting like a kid who is fine with a D- in every class. They want an A, but don't want to try to get the A. I'm not even that mad because what'll I do? Will they read this? No. Do they care what I say? No. So why should I care about them? They have in some ways disrespected their fans with their poor effort. We sit at home cheering while they get the **** beat out of them in game 6 of the conference finals last year, so how do they repair us? With 21 losses through 41 games. Glad I cheered Doc. Your team is terrible.
Tonight'a USOTN goes to the Celtics performance on the boards. Despite playing like a pee-wee team in every other category, they actually showed up here. They were able to miraculously out-rebound the Cavs 48-39. Nice effort. Now how about you make some shots. Thanks for grabbing your own misses.
I don't know what this team's problem is, and I've already gone overboard here. So I'll just show this. Here were tonight's five things.
5. REBOUND:
The Celtics were horrible on the boards Sunday night. They were out-rebounded 50-42. It felt bad to see the Pistons get two shots on every possession, while the Celtics would just throw up a bad shot and then jog the other way. They need to improve.
4. GET RONDO TO MAKE HIS SHOTS:
Rondo, despite having a near triple-double Sunday night, was horrible with his shooting. He shot just 4/16 from the field. This takes no explaining to see that he needs to improve.
3. GET PIERCE TO MAKE HIS SHOTS:
Pierce shot slightly better than Rondo. Pierce shot a decent 5/10 from the field, but that's obviously not good enough when your the team's star player. He also needs improvement.
2. BETTER START:
Obviously, starting out down 13-2 to a weak team is not the best way to come out. What the Celtics have to do tonight is to compete in the first quarter. That was pathetic.
1. BETTER EFFORT THROUGHOUT:
If you saw the game, then you know that the Celtics obviously didn't play their best. They were lazy, missing shots, and not playing with their heads. This, above all things, needs improvement.
Now let's see what the Celtics did and didn't do on this list tonight. We know they did number five, so let's see how the other four went:
Rondo, despite a double-double made a ton of stupid decisions all night that costed his team. Example: taking a reverse layup when we're down three and missing it. He also shot just 7/17 so Rondo failed. If he could've just shot fifty percent, they would've won.
Only one word can decribe Pierce in these last three games: worthless. Yeah, 34 will one day be retired. But that doesn't mean that he can just give up now while he's still getting paid. Either contribute to the team or retire. Because honestly, option 2 sounds a lot better now.
I guess the Celtics sort of had a better start, but it's not worth talking about. They were still losing after the first quarter to a 10-32 team. We all that number one is wrong. Because nobody put forth effort tonight.
So, final scoring.
#5: YES
#1-4: NO
Good night and do not watch ESPN. Their Laker-biased ways will try to convince you that the Celtics are just as bad as their Lakers. That's not true. The Celtics suck right now, but they at least know what winning legitimately is.
On Tuesday night the Celtics played their second of two road games, this time in Cleveland against the Cavaliers. The Celtics came in off a bad loss to the Detroit Pistons that caused Doc Rivers to make some harsh statements. Following their loss Doc threatened that if this team didn't get it together big changes were ahead. The team looked to bounce back and stop their three game losing streak but once again we're denied losing 95-90 to the Cavs.
The Cavaliers have one of the worst records in the NBA at 10-32 and also just lost their standout Center, Anderson Varejao. This was deemed a must win for the team but once again they just couldn't get it together. The Celtics really struggled on the offensive end shooting just 38.1%. This was largely due to our veteran's Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett who were a combined 8-28 on the night. Rajon Rondo had a great game finishing with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists but it simply wasn't enough. Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
6:53: The Celtics, coming off their tough loss in Auburn Hills, will head to the Quicken Loans Arena tonight to face the Cavaliers. It seemed like just five minutes ago the C's had won six in a row, but obviously that is far in their rear view mirror. This team was crushed by the Hornets, couldn't hold off the Bulls, and was demolished by the Pistons. Sunday night we saw Doc threatening roster changes, which could mean that anyone could be out of Celtics Green soon. No matter what happens, we know that they're better than Cleveland. Let's hope they play hard in the first quarter tonight.
7:38: The Celtics played okay in the first quarter. In other words, they played better than they did Sunday night. Rondo leads the scoring with 10. Pierce has 7. Kyrie Irving has an amazing 19 points already for Cleveland. His Cavs lead, 31-27.
8:07: The Celtics controlled most of the second quarter, but eventually gave up the lead. But don't get too down, they are still very much in this game. After out-scoring the Cavs in the last 12 minutes 26-23, the Celtics trail at halftime 54-53. Rondo leads the Celtics with 13 points. And Irving leads the Cavs with 23 points.
8:49: The Celtics played very well in the third quarter. They gained a seven point lead at one point but immediately blew it. However, due to a three pointer from Lee at the buzzer, they now lead 73-70. Rondo leads the Celtics with 13. Irving leads the Cavs with 25. Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
The Celtics, coming off their embarrassing loss to the Pistons, will head to Cleveland tonight to face the Cavs. The Cavs received some horrible news yesterday when it was revealed that Anderson Varejo will miss the rest of the season due to a blood clot in his lung. It was just a case of bad luck. The Celtics have had their own problems recently. After their loss in Detroit, Doc Rivers went on a rant, saying that "he's not doing his job" and that "this team wants everything easy." But, they might just play hard tonight. Here are tonight's five things:
5. REBOUND:
The Celtics were horrible on the boards Sunday night. They were out-rebounded 50-42. It felt bad to see the Pistons get two shots on every possession, while the Celtics would just throw up a bad shot and then jog the other way. They need to improve.
4. GET RONDO TO MAKE HIS SHOTS:
Rondo, despite having a near triple-double Sunday night, was horrible with his shooting. He shot just 4/16 from the field. This takes no explaining to see that he needs to improve.
3. GET PIERCE TO MAKE HIS SHOTS:
Pierce shot slightly better than Rondo. Pierce shot a decent 5/10 from the field, but that's obviously not good enough when your the team's star player. He also needs improvement.
2. BETTER START:
Obviously, starting out down 13-2 to a weak team is not the best way to come out. What the Celtics have to do tonight is to compete in the first quarter. That was pathetic.
1. BETTER EFFORT THROUGHOUT:
If you saw the game, then you know that the Celtics obviously didn't play their best. They were lazy, missing shots, and not playing with their heads. This, above all things, needs improvement.
at Boston Celtics (20-20) at Cleveland Cavaliers (10-32) Tuesday, January 22, 2013 7:00 PM ET Game #41, Road Game #20 TV: CSNNE, FSO, SNET1, LP 751(BOS)/752(CLE) Radio: WTAM, WEEI Quicken Loans Arena Referees: Tom Washington, Courtney Kirkland, Kevin Scott The Celtics travel to Cleveland for the second of 4 meetings with the
Cavaliers. In spite of having just 10 wins, the Cavs are perfectly
capable of playing spoiler and would love to hand the Celtics a loss.
The Celtics won the first meeting in Boston 103-91 and I'm sure the Cavs
would love to avenge that as well.
The Celtics are facing a
fork in the road. Doc has called them out for their effort and for
their lack of chemistry. This will be a chance for the Celtics to show
that they want to stay together as a team and for the players to show
that they want to remain Celtics. This is as close to a must win as
you can get in the middle of the season.
The Celtics have lost 3
in a row after their 6 game win streak. The Cavs are trying to avoid a
2 game losing streak. The Celtics are 6-4 in their last 10 games while
the Cavs are just 3-7 in their last 10. The Celtics have struggled on
the road with a 7-12 record away from the Garden. The Cavs are just
4-12 on their home court.
The big news this morning was that the Cavs traded Jon Leuer to the Grizzlies for Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby. It was also reported that the Grizzlies would waive Jeremy Pargo to make room for the 3 new players. I'm going to include these changes in the lineup below, but as this is all just coming out, I'm not sure who's in and who's out and who will play.
It's doubtful that the 3 new Cavs players will play tonight, but stranger things have happened. As far as I know, the Celtics are still intact, in spite of Doc's threats after the loss in Detroit. The Celtics shouldn't let down their guard, thinking that the Cavs will be short handed. It wouldn't be the first time that a short handed team played like a wounded animal and surprised a much better team.
The Celtics have fallen back to
.500. They are still in the 8th spot in the East by virtue of the
Sixers losing even more then them. They are 1.5 games behind Milwaukee
for the 7th spot and 3 games in front of Philly. The Celtics are 5.5
games behind New York for the Atlantic division lead. Doc made it
clear. If players want to remain a Celtic they need to play team ball
and win games, starting with this game.
It's Monday again and Celtics Green looks to bring you the newest news from the rookie front. The Celtics as a whole continue to struggle to find their identity going 0-3 after their impressive 6 game win streak. Just when everyone thought the team took a turn for the best they regressed back to their inconsistent state. Interestingly enough as the team has struggled so too has Jared Sullinger at times while also sometimes being the only positive takeaway from games. Fab Melo rejoined the Red Claws after his concussion suffered from a door hinge and he has continued to show signs of improvement. Hit the jump for all Rookie news and reports. Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
The Celtics are just so inconsistent. Doc was right to call them out after this game. Hopefully that gets them going. They've proved that when they give the effort they're very good. I love the Bird/Laimbeer fight. My favorite part of that was afterwards when they told Bird that Laimbeer said he was just going for the ball and Bird said that he was just giving it to him. Classic. That Charlie V tattoo is just plain creepy. In spite of the loss, the comments were good. Enjoy!
Charlie V getting real minutes against the Celtics for the first time since the cancer incident.
I will predict a KG vs CV multiple-ejection, throw-down.
Actually, KG will hard foul CV...and Stuckey will collide with KG.......intentionally.
Villanueva and Daye have defined themselves as the enforcers on this team with their flagrants. We'll see if KG is man enough to go near them.
When Charlie takes down KG, the Laimbeer/Bird takedown will look like a touch foul.
In Laimbeer's mind, that wasn't even a shooting foul.
The Celtics again didn't play well against the Pistons and lost a game they deserved to lose. They came out with a terrible effort that made them fall behind by as many as 11. They never recovered from their horrible first quarter and lost with a fight. They came back to tie it late in the first half but it wasn't enough. During the third quarter, the Pistons started hitting their threes and the Celtics just couldn't keep up.
Tonight's USOTN goes to the performance of Rajon Rondo. Rondo's no stranger to credit, but tonight he was mostly ignored by the commentators. Rondo had 8 points, 9 rebounds, and 15 assists. He was much closer to a triple-double than it looked like. As always, if you have your own USOTN comment below. There wasn't a lot of them tonight.
Besides Rondo, plenty of other C's also had nice nights. Courtney Lee and Kevin Garnett were tied for the team lead with 16 points, while Green put in 15. Pierce again struggled with 10 points on just 5/10 shooting. Avery Bradley had just six points on 3/8 shooting while playing half injured. Chris Wilcox did not play due to his thumb injury. Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
7:30: The Celtics, now just 20-19, will visit the 14-25 Pistons tonight at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The first meeting between these two teams was on November 18, a 103-83 Pistons victory. The Celtics really underestimated Detroit that day and I expect an adjustment to be made for tonight. As for injuries, Avery Bradley is a game-time decision. Bradley's X-rays on his sore ribs were negative, meaning he can play if he feels ready. It is unsure if Chris Wilcox will play as he is currently listed as day-to-day. In his case as well as in Bradley's, we will just have to wait and see. The game can be seen on CSN-NE as well as FS-Detroit. Updates will be available here after each quarter.
8:12: That was sad to watch. The Celtics came out missing everything as the bottom feeder Pistons started the game on a 15-4 run. The C's improved after that but the damage was done. After 12 minutes, the C's trail 27-18. Green leads the Celtics with 9 points.
8:14: The Celtics killed what small amount of momentum they had in the first 2:22 seconds of the second quarter. They are jogging down court, not trying to rebound, not playing defense, and not seeming to care. The Pistons have started out on a 9-0 run to make it 36-18. My advice, turn off your TV now. This is men against boys.
8:43: The Celtics must've read what I said because they turned it around. After falling behind by as many points as they had, they came all the way back to tie the game at 48 with a minute left. At halftime, they trail 52-48. It easily could be worse, so I'm happy with this. Green and Lee each have 12. Garnett has 11.
10:57: The Celtics have lost. They just could never get a lead. The final score: Pistons 103, Celtics 88. Garnett led the C's with 16, followed by Lee with 16 and Green with 15. The Celtics are now 20-20. Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
at Boston Celtics (20-19) at Detroit Pistons (14-25) Sunday, January 20, 2013 7:30 PM ET Regular Season Game #40, Road Game #19 TV: CSNNE, FSD, LP 754(C's Feed)/755(Pistons Feed) Radio: WEEI, 97.1 FM The Ticket Palace of Auburn Hills Referees: Monty McCutchen, Gary Zielinski
The Celtics face former Celtics assistant Lawrence Frank and his Pistons
for the 2nd of 3 meetings this season. The Pistons won the series 2-1
last season. The Pistons won the first game between them 103-83 and so
the Celtics should be looking to avenge that loss along with getting
back on a winning track.
The Celtics have struggled somewhat
on the road with a 7-11 record away from the Garden. The Pistons are a
slightly better 10-11 at home. Both teams are 6-4 in their last 10
games and both teams have lost their last 2 games. The Celtics last
played at home on Friday while the Pistons last played on Thursday in
London. We can hope that they still have a bit of jet lag left from
the trip.
The Pistons are healthy with no injuries to report.
Avery Bradley's x-rays on his ribs were negative. His ribs were still sore this morning but he planned to try to go through the shoot around and is a game time decision for tonight.. If
he is unable to go, Doc will probably start Barbosa in his place,
although Lee might be the better choice against the 6'8" Kyle Singler.
We may get to see Chris Wilcox in this game. He has been cleared for
contact and has a couple of practices under his belt now and may get
some playing time in this game. He is also still listed as day to
day.
The Pistons are one of the teams that the Celtics should
beat but they are also a team that they shouldn't take for granted as
can be seen by their 20 point win in the first game between these two
teams. The Celtics have dropped to one game above .500 again after 2
losses at home and need to get back on track. This would be a good
time to do so.
at 
at 
at 
at 
