Well so much for homecourt.....

Some Celtics fans are like Lakers fans last season, only 10 times worse. Geez… the other guys outworked us and scored more points. Kudos to them.

What I can not understand is how could we play the first half with so little urgency. It amazes me how horrible we were…

And what an atrocious game by Ray Allen! How is this even possible?

The only guy who played great was Rondo! Thank you Rajon for a brilliant game!

I feel numb right now; so much for the Finals miracle, we are going to struggle to get out of the first round. I’m obviously still going to cheer for this team with all my heart, but my expectations have been lowered considerably. I feel like I just got slapped in the face.

Bad ref job for sure but we are done. Stick a fork in this team. Bulls in six with no draft to look forward to and Garnett never coming back at near full strength.

It wasn’t just his shot. He couldn’t get away from a notoriously bad defender in Ben Gordon. I love him. He’ll come back but this loss was on him.
Please…complaining about refs is low class when the C’s got their share of calls

Well, you knew they were in trouble when Bennet Salvatore showed up.
The difference was that Gordon had a terrible game but got hot in Q4. Ray Allen had a terrible game, period.

I would rather have seen TA out there for longer stretches. They never even tried to get Gordon the ball when TA was guarding him.

And another typically crappy day for Stephon Marbury. What a waste of a roster spot.

Not surprised, really.

We weren’t playing well at the end of the season and we were just dealt the blow of KG not coming back. It’ll take them a few games to get their confidence back. This is the Bulls capitalizing on a mentally depleted team. How can I say that? Because our two HOF players barely showed it. Whether or not the Celtics will get their act together, I don’t know. But it’s frustrating to be the returning champs and lose home court for the first round that easily.

On a brighter note, I can’t wait for Ray to explode the next few games because it WILL happen.

So I can’t complain about the ref’s..

Just make both free throws and we win.

Hopefully Ray shows up this year at little earlier or the Celtics are in big trouble.

How can Pierce not torch Heinrich (sp)?

Nothing is going to be easy at this point.

were supposed to step it up with KG out, but instead they both choked big time.

In the next game, let’s keep giving the ball to Pierce and mid-court and hope that he can shake his defender and then beat two or three others to get to the hoop and score. Honestly, what the hell wsa going on with the offense today? If Heinrich is guarding Pierce, shouldn’t he be down on the block getting the ball. I still think the Celtics will squeeze out the series, but it will likely take 7 games. They then lose in the second round.

Paul and Ray, two All-Stars, outscored by a rookie !!!?? 1-12 for Ray in a playoff game at home?!

Of course I am not expecting a sweep; but it should not be that hard at home either. Now we need to win one in the United Center where the Bulls are 12-1 since the All-stars break. Come on, Celts. This isn’t funny.

That about sums it up

Bulls played very well, and should be pretty damn proud of there performance today…rose is a superstar

Was today’s game the “exception” in terms of Celts performance?

Or was today’s game closer to the “norm” for playoffs, 2008-2009 style?

I have to say that I am having trouble answering those questions. Celts looked lost after the news of this week, and the Bulls took the game (and deserved it).

…did his best to lose this game. And he succeeded. Let’s see: missed a wide open dunk, missed 11 out of 12 shots, kicked the ball out of bounds on a rebound attempt, missed the last game-tying shot, stunk up the place. And Doc puts him back in with :30 to go in regulation? And again for the entire OT?! Are you kidding me?!? Doc has lost his mind far as I’m concerned. Completely nutso.

It was not just Ray tho, of course. The D didn’t show up. Powe was invisible. Paul disappeared for the entire first half. Etc., etc.

If this happened because KG’s absence has gotten into their heads, then the fat lady is singing.

Wake up Doc, its our only chance Mikki & Perk 30 minutes a game

oh well, the bulls deserved the win. too many mistakes, turnovers and not being able to stop rose from getting to the hoop. the obvious absolute stinker from ray hurt and too much standing around at the end waiting for pp to be the miracle man. too many missing from action as well. we have to play 4 quarters of defense. and the bulls are young and hungry and on a roll. get ready to play guys.

Agree with most. Questionable calls for both sides. But if you are talking critical calls here that could have decided the outcome of the game, how bout how Paul Pierce simply tossed the ball out of bounds with 3.7 left and it was given back to the Celtics. Heck of a PG battle.

I’m not even going to get into the particulars except for this. If his teammates want KG on the bench and KG doesn’t want to be on the bench is that the end of Ubuntu?

But, we might be better off if the Bulls put us all out of our misery quickly.

KG is history until at least next year…and the Celts played as if they suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome! Their hearts are no longer in it.

The quicker this season ends {which turned into a nightmare starting in Feb.} the better.

I guess what he will say has more points than he has scored this afternoon.

I’d like to see Leon Powe in the starting lineup. I’m worried about Glen Davis’ lack of rebounding.

I think. Pistons has the same problem with the Sixers last year and still won the series in 6. Everyone other than Rajon played a mediocre to atrocious game and we still only lost by 2 in OT.

Well he is, but hes not going to sit on the bench, Kevin garnotonthebench.

Just a bad performance today, most if not all the credit goes to the bulls…the refs may not have "favored"" the home team, but they called the game even. thats what you want

I know KG has an intense personality and doesn’t mess around when it comes to playing the game, but why every time he is injured, he can’t suit up and he doesn’t even sit on the bench the whole game to support his teammates. You can argue that he can’t watch the game knowing he can’t play it, but don’t you think he should suck it up and stay to help out his TEAM, not just because he doesn’t want to stay out there. I was disappointed with that, but not with the loss. I said that you guys would have trouble without KG and it definitely was. You lost at HOME! Do you think it will just get easier on the road?!!! That’s not gonna happen. I would seriously be scared if I was a Celtics fan or player. The Bulls now know that they CAN beat you on your home floor, and now all their focus will be doing the same thing to defend THEIR home court.

almost funny.

The Cs didn’t have the right intensity to start the game, went long stretches without moving the ball on offense, and couldn’t stop Rose at all in the open court. It was terribly disappointing to say the least, especially the lack of intensity.

I thought the officiating was uneven at best. At the end of regulation, Hinrich tackled Rondo and ended up knocking the ball away (earlier, in a similar play, Baby was called for a foul for doing the same thing). Later, after the ball was given back to the Bulls, Rose elbowed and pushed Rondo to get the ball and Rondo was the one that got the foul, with only 10 seconds left. That was two bad calls in a row at the end of the game that allowed the Bulls to stay in it. Later, in overtime, Salmons clearly fouls Pierce on the way to the rim, but the officials just give us the ball out of bounds (after the ball clearly was out on Pierce).

I also thought it was an outrage the way Noah set illegal pick after illegal pick, moving and leaning into Rondo continuously and didn’t get called for a foul once in 53 minutes of basketball. And this after Perk was called for a cheap moving pick foul in the first quarter. Again, there was no consistency.

I’m not saying bad calls didn’t help the Celtics from time to time. I’m just saying that at big moments Derrick Rose was treated like D-Wade and meanwhile Rondo and Paul Pierce were treated like Gabe Pruitt and Bill Walker. I guess I was under the impression that you had to earn superstar calls, not simply be given them in your first playoff game. But maybe I’m crazy, since this game was officiated by Bennet Salvatore and Eddie F. Rush, and those two guys do their best to screw the Cs.

I still think we’ll win this series. I don’t think Rose will play as well as he did the rest of the series, nor will Ray Allen play that bad. We need to put the ball in Rondo’s hands and let him create; Rose cannot guard anyone and by putting the ball in Rondo’s hands, we’ll hopefully improve the ball movement. I ain’t scared yet, but this was a hell of way to start our title defense.

“As a player, he feeds off his emotion to an extent that no other human ever has…and now you want to come along and criticize him for having emotions when it’s the emotions that have carried him—and us—this far. Wise up, buddy. He’s hurting, physically and spiritually.”
You make KG sound like a little 3-year old girl…Oh he’s hurting emotionally…he can’t stand not helping his team. IF HE WANTS TO HELP HIS TEAM SO BADLY SUCK IT UP AND ACT LIKE YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THE GAME!!…AT LEAST FOR YOUR TEAMMATES’ SAKE. DON’T BE SUCH A BABY…INJURIES HAPPEN..YOU GOTTA LOOK AT THE BEST IN EVERYTHING. KG SHOULD BE LOOKING AT WHAT HE CAN DO RATHER THAN WHAT HE CAN’T DO. ACT YOUR AGE!

Rondo? Wow. If Ray showed up, we win that game. I wouldn’t expect another performance like that out of Tyrus or Rose. Rose is good, but Thib will make adjustments. Thomas had a career night.

I had no problem with your assessment of the officiating. That’s a fan right, and we all do it, and I get it. Nice blog. I clearly hope we win, but I also know you guys got pretty unlucky with KG and that’s a bummer, because as a basketball fan, watching a quality club play is a blast, even if they beat your team, and I’d rather see you full up. Keep up the good work, nice entertaining blog.

I had no problme with the calls at the end:

1) Heinrich ran into Pierce, bought the fake, good calll, Pierce on the line for 2, no question.
2) If ref #1 is screened and it didn’t see that a Celt hit the ball from the Bull player, than it is obviously not a double dribble. If ref #2 has the clear correct call on that type of play, good overturn. Just like the foot on the line for a 3 pointer, if ref #1 misses but they catch it, they correct it.
3) Noah walluped Pierce, no brainer, good call, Pierce shoots 2.
4) Rajon raked Rose across the face and caught him in the eye. Obviously Rondo got him in the face and Rose spent the next few minutes blinking continously. If it was reversed and Pierce got whacked in the face no call, we’d be griping. An unintentional foul by Rondo, but a foul nevertheless.

Refs were 4 for 4- A+ for this 4 play exam. Bulls beat us fair and square, no bellyaching about the refs at the end. in my opinion.

I know you are defending your team and that is respectable, but this Celtics team is NOT beating Cleveland. Cleveland’s bench is WAY too deep and the team chemistry is off the charts, especially in the Q. The dynamic duo of Mo Williams and Lebron is tough to stop and Lebron can find ANY of his teammates at almost any time, which needs attention. Without KG I don’t think the Celtics are making it any farther than the second round.

I don’t blame the refs for this Celtics loss. The Celtics appeared to be lost for too much of this game.
That said, after watching many bad calls and non-calls in NBA, MLB, NFL and NHL games, I have to say there is no group of officials in any of these leagues who miss or blow more calls (including many that go in favor of the teams I support) than NBA referees. I don’t claim to have the answer to the problem, and it may be just the nature of the game, but I can’t help wondering if the league wouldn’t be better off with no referees at all.

All right time for a reality check. Celtics are Raptors sans KG.

The series is over and Ray is done. Let the rebuilding begin.

cannot beat a .500 team at home, in the playoffs…you know the situation is way worse than any of us imagined.

I can`t stand to see the Celts go down like this, after they worked so hard this year to repeat. This is so damn unfair what happened to KG! They did not deserve to see injuries once again kill their championship dreams. Seriously, they would have 23 banners without this crap always happening to them!

Fate has already seen to it that they won`t repeat, so I just want this misery to be over with as soon as possible!

Just like the last time we lost to the Bulls near the end of the season, Rose killed us and we gave up too many rebounds. Aganist quick penetration guides such as Parker, Rose and not to mention Wade, we are clueless.

Since KG went out, our defense has never been the same; no where neear where we were last year. Whether Davis or Powe starts, our frontline are small and lack height.

Then Ray Allen looked so lost in the game, I guess he is still finding his way to the new Garden, W/O KG and Ray Allen, we are basically back to the 06 Celtics.

Derek Rose will be a Chris Paul like stud! Rondo will be a great player I’m sure but not a stud! Unless Paul picks up his game during games like this one he will never be mentioned in the same breath as Lebron and Kobe. He is still a sure fire hall of famer but LJ and KB are just in different leagues as of now.

Powe and BBD, well I think Powe deserves more criticism but BBD’s window is now starting close as fare grace periods. However, and without question? Ray deserves the most heat in my opinion. If you are 0-6 from behind the arc and 1-12 over all go to the flippin hole and try to draw a foul! Creat your offense! Manufacture points something that MJ was so good at.

As for the rest of the team. I think Marbury has got to be the leader of that second unit or it’s hopeless and Perk has got to be Mr. Double double with KG out. A lot will be learned from this and if we lose in this round or the next then Ainge( My wished to him and his family) is going to have a challenging off season.

Now, I may eat my words and they could win the next 4 in a row and go all the way to the ECF. However unlikely that now seems.

KG officially out for the playoffs…Ainge`s heart attack…Lose Game #1 at home to a .500 team?

We have to face reality…Chicago now smells Celtic blood in the water. They are 100% convinced that they will win this series, and confidence is half the battle. In hindsight, it looks like they knew KG would be out, given the way they tanked their last regularly season game at home vs. Toronto.

Who would`ve predicted this just a few weeks ago?
The Bulls actually wanted us as a first round opponent!!!!

Makes a gesture as if to take off glasses, since he doesn’t really wear any

My god.

As far as the game…knew we were in trouble when Pierce missed that second FT. Didn’t even know the Bulls had no timeouts, which makes it harder to think about. Maybe the fact the C’s didn’t luck themselves into a win will make them realize what it means to be in the playoffs, since for some reason they forgot, or they were just plain cold.

Or, of course, both.

They way the Celtics have played the last month, this game should NOT be a shock. Yet, for most of us Celtic fans we still maintained hope and believed that come playoff time they would crank it up.

Not happening. Even if they pull off this series, to have horrible performances by their starts at home, does not bode well for the remainder of the playoffs.

It’s easy to say that Perkins has to be Mr. Double Double, or that Powe and BBD need to step up. But they are not going to change their skill level, concentration, and mental adjustments overnight. This is why I never understood (or condoned) KG’s absence for all those games. He could have played the role of assistant coach and still helped guide the younger players.

I blame this game on Ray Allen, almost entirely. 1-12 is unacceptable. As a Super Star, h needs to vary his offensive threats when his outside shot is not falling.

PP is not Kobe or LBJ or Dwayne Wade. It’s not about the points or the turnovers (which were mediocre enough). It’s about the decision making, leadership and FOCUS down the stretch.

How many ‘off days’ are our stars going to have before we accept that they are not playing well. It’s not an off day. It’s an off year. Yes, we won 62 games. Yes, we had a lot of injuries. There is a LOT of context we can put on this season. For fans there will always be a footnote. For the record books, the next generation will only remember who won the Finals (and maybe the runner up).

It’s not happening this year. Ubuntu is not manifesting itself.

Well, I think you just out did me! That just about sums up what I thought I was trying to say but in a more concise fashion!

It really does make you look at Dwayne Wade and the rest and realize just wow are they that good?!

At home vs. Lakers….that was a major “revenge-statement” game from the Xmas loss. LA was playing their 3rd road game in 4 nights, without their starting center {Bynum}. KG`s injury was still 2 weeks away.

Conservatively speaking, Boston needed a solid double digit win in order for Celtic Nation to feel good. Instead, we got an OT loss!

That was a major eye-opener. From that moment on, it was clear that this was a very different year from last year. The Celts were now very vulnerable against the top NBA powers. Soon after, the injuries piled up.

can’t wait for game 2

NBA = Wrestling with a large orange ball. The superhero has to get pummeled by the villain so we can feel sorry for him, and then the superhero, now the underdog, rises from death’s door like a phoenix, and the win is so much more sweet.

I’ve seen this team, and especially Pierce, come back from more adversity than this. If they lose Monday night, than I’ve got the storyline wrong.

If the Celts fall behind in the second quarter, watch Doc get thrown out of the game over a non-call as Allen gets smothered by 3 Bulls. Take that move right out of Red’s motivational unwritten book, Chapter 3, Verse 4.

I just knew as soon as Marbury started talking about joining the celtics it was over. " it would be an honor to wear the green and white…..blah blah….." Whatever…. this guy makes every place he go to worse, Tech,( even the bucks who drafted him) wolves, nets, suns, knicks,. And the team that gets rid of him always get better the next year. The celtics now have the curse, there all done.

Rondo’s individual battle with Rose was one of the reasons we lost. Biggest was getting outworked on the boards.

When Rondo pounds the ball instead of getting us into our sets we are a stagnet team. Ray needs rondo to set him up on the break and get him the ball early in the shot clock so he can get into rythm. I believe that was one reason for his bad game.

Roles are important and Rondo being a scorer isn’t his role. He needs to get everyone invovled becuase only PP can get his. Everyone else feeds off Rondo and PP. C’s system isn’t set up like say New Orleans where CP dominates the ball. We depend on ball movement more then pick & roll or dribble drives. If Rondo drives with 5 or 6 sec on shot clock thats OK but early in like 12 or more it hurts becuase we loss our court balance. PP or RA can’t stop Rose in the open court.

Need Rondo to get back to running our team and presuring the ball full court. Bulls put a little inbounds presure on us early on it costs us a TO and took ball out of rondos hand. That changed tempo early on & we didn’t respond at the defensive end & rondo was at fault. He needs to apply ball presure on rookie from baseline to baseline, go back to to running our sets or drive/shoot late into shot clock,
and get back in transition to stop Mr Rose because PP & RA just can’t to it.

There was some play near the end of the game (I think it was about 30 secs to go in the fourth) that really bugged me.

Chicago went with their three guards, and Salmons, and one big man. Boston where playing defense, and Doc decided to match up with Chicago, fair enough … but then he choose to take Perkins out instead of BBD. Immediately the eyes start rolling because there’s no shot blockers and you know a layup is coming, or you’ll miss a valuable offensive rebound, and what do you know, Derrick Rose gets the ball, slices into the paint and easily finishes over the small Glen Davis. It took all of five seconds and was one of the easiest baskets of the night and it happened on a crucial possession.

Why wasn’t Perkins on the floor? Bad decision.

The Celtics lost this game because of three main reasons

(1) Ray Allen and Paul Pierce — Ray-Ray had a shocker of a performance. Pierce had a below average performance (by his standards).

(2) The Celtics starting big men where very poor on the glass. Glen Davis got 3 rebounds in 39 minutes (one every 9.9 mins) which would be fine if he was a point guard. Kendrick Perkins got 8 rebounds, but he played a huge 43 minutes, which meant he only got a rebound every 5+ minutes which is very poor for a big man. As a result, the Celtics got slaughtered on the boards.

Perkins can’t afford to have poor rebounding or defensive performances with KG out. The C’s can’t sustain them.

I also want to see Leon Powe play more minutes. He’s too productive versus BBD for there to be that large of a minutes difference, especially when Davis is having one of those nights where he is killing the team with his lack of rebounding.

(3) Derrick Rose had a career game

You could also add a fourth reason and be rightly negative over the defensive effort given by the C’s.
……………………………………………………………….

Anyone of those three things changes and Boston wins the game.

The only way Chicago wins this series is if Boston loses it’s nerve — and their confidence is surely shaken after the loss of KG, and then losing game one in this manner. So big test to the C’s mental strength right now.