Celtics Avoid Sweep

by Jeff Clark on Jan 25, 2010 10:15 PM EST in Boston Celtics Games

Nice to finally get a win against the Clippers. (Gotta be honest, never thought I'd have to write that sentence)

They had me worried a bit in the 2nd quarter when the Celtics were down 9. But they went on a run, took the lead, took control of the game, and held the lead the rest of the way.

Another day, another 20 plus game for Pierce.
Rondo had another great game with a double double.
Another rough night for Ray Allen, just 2-7 from down town but he still managed to contribute 15 points.
Odd moment in the 2nd quarter where there was condensation on the floor that caused a delay.
Nice defense for most of the game tonight. Which is refreshing to write.
Did anyone notice that the CSN broadcast's Legal Seafood trivia question sounded mighty familiar? The 40 or so people that went to the game tonight would have gotten it right.

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Nice to get back to back wins

But boy does this team still have a long way to go to become a contender. And, the good news is there still is a long way to go until the playoffs. Ray can’t find the ocean, 5-14 tonight, and I am a little concerned that KG only had 2 rebounds. Obviously we need to see those numbers go up. Still, a win is a win, even though this team continues to not dominate on its home court.

And of course, the Cavs win without two starters on Lebron’s 2 free throws with 4 seconds left.

by vinnie on Jan 25, 2010 10:19 PM EST reply actions

Edit: Already are contender, I meant a "real" contender -- ie make it to the finals

by vinnie on Jan 25, 2010 10:20 PM EST reply actions

I don’t know why I feel like this but outside of Sheed the second unit bothers me!!!

by wingate on Jan 25, 2010 10:23 PM EST via mobile reply actions

It bothers me WITH Sheed as well!

by 34green on Jan 25, 2010 11:28 PM EST up reply actions

Recappy

Rondo had another great game with a double double.

Did you just copy paste that for the 41st time? :]

Rondo’s been awesome this season. It’s amazing to see that his big contract actually seems worth it. He’s not CP3 yet, but he’s certainly raising his consistency, which was a huge problem earlier.

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KG was great for us.

You can tell that KG is more than just a defensive presence. There were a couple of possessions where we passed the ball around at such an amazing pace, about twice or maybe thrice in that 3rd quarter, where it looked as though we were back in our no.17 season.

It’s great to have a big that gets us spacing, tons of passing and generally amazing energy. He’s really more than just our defensive anchor; he’s a floor general and he’s making it happen for everyone.

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Pierce was great too, 11-11 from the FT line, which is great where the rest of our team went 12 – 23 today. Also, 5 for 10 is just fine, for 22 points. Would like to see him get some more assists though.

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Perk could’ve done a bit better on offense (4 of 8 is actually uncharacteristic for him, though not all that bad) but he had a great night on the boards. 15 boards is amazing.

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The bench had a horrid stretch in the second, but the starters really played well. 14 turnovers is still a tad high, would rather see it below 12, but that’s just Celtic Basketball I guess :]

ps.: Ray Allen is still slightly missing in action. Where areth thou, oh 3 point master!?

- Dirk van Boxtel, the wandering Celtic fan.
Twitter: @4Hoopz

by Kiorrik on Jan 25, 2010 10:28 PM EST reply actions

nice job

gonna have to have you do one of these recaps next time

and yes, Rondo is boringly exciting, I love it

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V

by Jeff Clark on Jan 25, 2010 10:32 PM EST up reply actions

Thanksies.

Tried to write about the bench as individuals btw, but man, they were transparent today. None of them had a particularly good/bad game.

- Dirk van Boxtel, the wandering Celtic fan.
Twitter: @4Hoopz

by Kiorrik on Jan 25, 2010 11:05 PM EST up reply actions

Agreed good recap

Also would have like to see you mention all of the new protective paraphenalia being worn by teh C’s. What is that all about?

by vinnie on Jan 25, 2010 10:34 PM EST up reply actions

Oi, still too close for my tastes.

USG

by Ben Buchanan on Jan 25, 2010 10:29 PM EST reply actions

KG

That guy Garnett is pretty good, isn’t he?

IMHO they need to bring Sheed in for Perkins at the end of games. Perkins can’t make his free throws.

by Brickowski on Jan 25, 2010 10:29 PM EST reply actions

good call

but Sheed may give up fts at the other end.

by reggie35 on Jan 25, 2010 10:30 PM EST up reply actions

It was great to see

Garnetts emotion and activity out on the floor tonight.

Ray Allen’s poor shooting again tonight and overall this season is a concern though.

Nice overall win though.

by fordescort on Jan 25, 2010 10:30 PM EST reply actions

"overall this season" ???

Doesn’t anybody check the stats before they make statements like that?

Ray’s field goal percentage “overall this season” is 45.6 . Yes, that is down from last season’s 48.0 (tied for his career best season!). But it is still well above his career average of 44.8%.

So, ‘overall this season’ he’s shooting better than his own Hall-of-Fame worthy career shooting. Is that what we call ‘poor shooting’?

Ray HAS been down from beyond the arc, shooting only about 34% for the season. That’s sort of average for the NBA, but well below his career average of 39%+. But does that qualify as ‘poor shooting … overall this season’ ?

Let’s be real. Ray has been shooting poorly for the last 5 or so games. That’s definitely a slump. But we are 40+ games into the season and shooters are bound to slump once in a while. Through most of this season, Ray Allen has been the most productive player on this team. Not only has he put in the most minutes, but outside of KG, his minutes are the most efficient on the team.

He’ll come out of this slump. I am not concerned.

by mmmmm on Jan 25, 2010 11:56 PM EST up reply actions

Agree (surprised?)

Agree that Ray’s going to come out of his slump. Saw the start of that in this game… more confidence. It’s just a matter of time… he will snap out of his slump. Soon, I think.

by DRJ1 on Jan 26, 2010 2:14 AM EST up reply actions

Paul

was borrowing Patrick Ewing’s old kneepads….

Good game all around. Sheed has gotta start hitting some threes, though.

by agh on Jan 25, 2010 10:33 PM EST reply actions

Could Ray really be 8-28 in the last two games?

When he does break out of this slump he is going to have one hell of a game!

by vinnie on Jan 25, 2010 10:35 PM EST reply actions

Hopefully KG and Pierce can wait that long.

What’s bothering me about Ray is that he now starts to miss free throws too ! It used to be automatic for him.

by getthat18now on Jan 25, 2010 11:40 PM EST up reply actions

another 51 point game and hopefully with a W this time!

by jeric on Jan 26, 2010 6:32 AM EST up reply actions

Rondo

My goodness is he fun to watch when he’s playing that well. Solid win, they move the ball a lot better on offense and obviously play better team D when KG’s playing. Still too many missed FTs and failures to box out to get too excited IMO.

by joebianca on Jan 25, 2010 10:44 PM EST reply actions

5 things that still sucked tonight - even after a nice win

Sheed and the threes….stop it man…..it’s not working

Joey “Garden Gnome” Crawford……go sweat in somebody’s yard and not in the Garden

Eddie House (why do I have him on my fantasy team? – he should be on my nightmare team)

Ray Allen Trade talk (Quick Fixes, Fast Foods and PT Barnum)

Gary Tanguay (how does he manage to be both annoying and a Tommy H suck up for all 4 Quarters)…..Hey Jeff…. is it Gary Tanguay or Greg Dickerson??? I get those two confused…help me please.

Is it Soup Yet?

by Master Po on Jan 25, 2010 10:44 PM EST reply actions

Gary was broadcasting tonight

He’s actually a very good television and radio host, but man, broadcasting just isn’t his thing.

by Greg Payne on Jan 25, 2010 11:22 PM EST up reply actions

It's Gary Tanguay.

He really reminds me of that droopy dog:

by drod400 on Jan 25, 2010 11:22 PM EST up reply actions

perk was the big equalizer-15 big boards and great switches. i tend to take rondo for granted but that was a whale of a game for rr.let’s give some credit to tony who was a good force off the bench. i am still plugging for maybe 5-10 mins for shelden-he really is the forgotten man. and kg looks sprightly.

by nazzbo on Jan 25, 2010 10:50 PM EST reply actions

When that Legal Sea Food trivia question came up, I was yelling, “I know that. It was just on Celtics Blog.” Then Tommy didn’t get it right, and he doesn’t miss many.

On Tanguay, did you see the “Why not!” clip from the 2006-07 season that they aired on pre-game? Too funny! Even funnier when Donny said he knew people who had made a drinking game out of it.

by 34green on Jan 25, 2010 11:35 PM EST reply actions

Was a good game to go to. Thanks again for the tickets.

by emong on Jan 25, 2010 11:46 PM EST reply actions

KG

I’m surprised at just HOW valuable KG is to this team. I knew he was of course, but he’s more so that I thought. The right plays at the right times, he’s there to fix mistakes and assure wins. Rondo and KG… the two guys this team cannot be without.

by DRJ1 on Jan 26, 2010 2:18 AM EST reply actions