Incredible! I imagined Pierce running around doing the bit from “Gladiator”. “Are you not ENTERTAINED?! ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?!?!”
Great, great win.

pierce is slowly turning into larry birdesque!

Atlanta needs to sustain it all year. If they keep it up they will be a contender.

The box score and seeing pierce have to sink a 2 to beat this team doesn’t bother me as much as looking at the quarter by quarter score. Tony is proving me wrong and Rondo if this kid thinks he’s getting 8-10million after next season he should think again. How many PGs only shoot 51% from the line? Granted he’s shooting a 51% click for FG’s but he’s only taking 8shots a game or some where in that vicinity. I like the thrilling wins but I mean do they all have to seem like come back wins. In my head at the beg of the year I thought Rondo would be a different player he has disappointed me thus far and forget about last years final game,,,he has got to at least make bloody layups!

To veer off topic for a moment, Rudy Fernandez isn’t a rookie. He was one of the best players in Europe before coming to the NBA. He is an experienced blue chip guard. It’s not fair to compare him to guys like Walker and Giddens.

I did not like the way the Celtics played. Oh sure, Pierce made a great shot to bail them out, but the offense was too passive. They settled for jumpers. Rondo showed that he could get to the rim on Bibby at will, yet he stopped doing it in the second half. Why?

They also did a poor job of defending the three point line. Atlanta’s high percentage was due in part to the passive way the Celtics played. On several occasions Marvin Williams was camped out in the corner with no Celtics defender in the same time zone.

The bench did not play well either.

They looked to me like an older team that needs three days off. Had Josh Smith been available, the Celtics could not have won the game.

Does winning a championship negate the 20 game rule? I agree that this team has much to work on, but what I’ve seen from the last three games in particular is that, when appropriately challenged by opponents, the Celtics begin to lock it down. No one wants to see them wait until midway in the 2nd quarter (or later) when they’re 15 points down for it to click, but it’s a very young season and they will continue to improve. When they do click, though, they’re very good.

There’s no panic from me, just an objective evaluation of what they did wrong. It’s not the composition of the team or the talent level of the players. It was poor execution and lack of focus.

Pointing out the flaws of an 8-1 team with fresh championship rings beats the hell out of agonizing over mounting losses, mediocrity, whether young talent will pan out, whether Marcus Blou…ah, you get the picture. The more things change, the more they stay the same, but the same feels so much better these days.

As much as this is not a good habit for the team to have, and as much as I want to see then start getting a little bit more dominant, and as much as I know these guys are veterans used to hitting big shots, you can see the comfort level this team has. We are starting to see a team that is so confident, that even the fans are starting not to worry about being down early in games. I was pulling my hair out when we gave up a big lead in Houston, I was bummed and worried when we were down against the Bucks, But I realized how casual I was watching the Toronto game and how unworried I was when with last nights game. Last year, I would change the channel already (I missed the Ray Allen shot against Charlotte). This year, I’m getting a bit spoiled. Man, what a great team.

The Celtics aren’t playing their best basketball yet, and surprisingly, they beat a highly motivated Atlanta team that shot 59% from beyond the arc. House, Allen and Allen stunk it up last night, and the Celts still won. So whaddywant?

Sure, I’d like to see a few changes, or at least, experiments. But what they have is shaping up pretty well.

I think that some part of me just wanted us to crush all of the Hawks hopes and dreams last night and beat them by 20 so of course I was definitely disappointed a bit at some of our game play.

BUT I have to give credit where credit is due. Atlanta was on on last night…they ‘re proving themselves to be contenders this year for certain. And even though we were down we did turn it on, and that last shot by Pierce??? I’m still breathless. I had my latop in my lap and it almost died a painful death from me jumping up so fast.

So we’re starting slow and we’ve got some work to do but the bottom line is that we’re 8-1 right now. I can’t be mad at that.

they have flaws, but who doesn’t? they have a good rotation and they will work others in. it’s a long season.other teams are not twiddling their thumbs-they’re improving. we have a small window with kg and ray but they know how to play.

great, great basketball games. W’s. We are all so used to watching the process as to whether this team executes well or not, because they lost for so many years. Now, it’s back to counting the W’s and L’s. It’s too early to take any team, or win, for granted. Back in the championship years, the Garden would get so quiet we could hear the rats scampering in the rafters, because the team was expected to win, and the W’s would pile up.

I think we should be thrilled that they continue to win through various types of adversity. This team knows how to finish of games. Hooray.

KG – He’s had 2 great games, which have been overshadowed by Pierce’s heroics. Bosh was a complete non-factor in the Raptors game. Last night, KG contributed more stats (net of turnovers) than Pierce in 11 fewer minutes. The Hawks had very little inside game. KG arguably has more positive impact when he’s in than any other player in the league. He seems to be getting into form. I think the off-season was a bit too short for him.

FT shooting is getting better, perhaps because Pierce and Ray are taking more of them and Rondo and Powe less.

The team can’t shoot any worse, so FG percentage should improve. 3-point field goal percentage is near league low. With any better 3-point shooting (better spacing, more inside-out play), the Celtics would be winning games much more easily. Last night the Hawks shot 60% and the Celtics 20% from the 3-point line. That’s +4 FGs above average for the Hawks and -4 FGs below average for the Celtics, which is a 24-point swing (potentially). With a few tweaks, the game might not have been that close. It’s something that the team should be able to fix.

The next few games (Nuggets, Bucks, Knicks) are a good chance to work in other players. Scal offers nothing at this point that Leon, BBD and Walker can’t provide. No reason to dress him. I may be the only person on the site who thinks POB can contribute minutes. He’s not effective with the second unit. Play him a few minutes with the first unit (3 minutes end of 1st/start of 2nd, 3 minutes end of 3rd/start of 4th). He has a more varied offensive game than Perk, and should be able to throw a few passes out of the low post (which helps the inside out game). It would vary the routine for the 1st unit, which might help. Six minutes a game against most opponents is not going to hurt the team and may help. (Also, Perk is really slow to rotate against driving guards. Flip Murray had 4 successive 3-point plays (two in the lane); and JJohnson went around Perk with ease. I think POB might be a bit longer, possibly quicker and might shut down some of these drives.) Second, the team is completely mis-using EHouse and it shows in his shooting percentage and defense. If Tony or Eddie aren’t getting it done on a particular night, get Pruitt in the game. When Tony misses going to the basket, it starts a fast break for the other team with EHouse back on defense. (The TA drive with 9 seconds left at the end of the 1st quarter resulted in a Hawks’ 3. Not smart.) Pruitt is probably a better long-range shooter than TA, helps with spacing and can defend the point. That’s what the Celts needed against Calderon, Bibby, and Flip Murray. There is no reason for another team to be stretching the lead from 6 to 16 with their backup PG going right by our second unit. Again, we don’t have to play Pruitt major minutes. But there are spots where he could contribute. I like the fact Doc is letting Ray and Paul create a bit more to get their shots going. Ray in particular needs touches to get going. If the offense is bogging down, maybe consider a simple triangle offense with Ray, Paul and KG on the strong side. It forces KG into the low post. Opponents can’t double-team all three; and Rondo can cut to the basket from the weak side with Perk following. This gives Rondo and Perk their best look at the basket (from in close). It’s better than a skip pass to Ray on the weak side for a contested three (because he isn’t knocking them down right now). It should continue to generate a lot of foul shots for Ray and Paul going to the basket. It’s a change-up. The team needs variety to stay fresh. I don’t think they can win another championship just by doing exactly the same things they did last year. Teams will make adjustments, and the Celtics need to anticipate this and show some different looks.

Exciting game. Way too early to know how good the Celtics could be or whether there is cause for worry versus Lakers and other top contenders come April.