The C's kicked off their six-game home stand with a 113-99 win over the Denver Nuggets, who defeated the C's, 114-105, back on Sunday, February 21.
Oh yeah, I totally forgot to mention: We clinched a playoff berth tonight. 2010 NBA Playoffs, here we come!
A steady slew of great performances tonight, including:
- Rajon Rondo, who messed around and got a triple-double. 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 15 assists. Take that, Chauncey Billups. Rondo also added four steals, for good measure.
- Tony Allen, in his most memorable stint in recent memory. 13 points, 2 rebounds, and 0 turnovers. Played the role of the spark plug once Marquis Daniels and Paul Pierce got in some foul trouble. Played solid defense, drove to the hoop, and knocked down three of his four free throws. Great effort from TA tonight.
- Paul Pierce, a.k.a. The Captain, a.k.a. The Truth. 27 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, and 1 turnover. He got going early, scoring 14 of his 27 in the first frame. Shame he picked up his third foul with 4:05 left in the second quarter, which forced him to the bench. Vintage performance from Pierce.
- Kevin Garnett, who contributed in so many different areas tonight. He looked great from a physical standpoint, played with great energy, and finished with a convincing 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists.
- C's saw a 21-point lead midway through the third quarter shrink to 7 points, but a Nate Robinson three-pointer and a Rondo feed to Tony Allen at the start of the fourth built back the double-digit lead.
- The Celtics made 44 baskets tonight, 30 of which were assisted. Impressive.
- For those of you concerned with playoff seeding, Mike Gorman confirmed late in the game that if the Celtics and Hawks have the same record at the end of the season, the Celtics would own the tiebreaker, despite Atlanta whooping them four times this season. Apparently, division leaders hold the edge over non-division leaders. So, since the C's are bound to lock up the Atlantic Division and the Hawks are unlikely to overtake the Magic in the Southeast, the Celtics would wind up with the third seed if the two teams held identical records heading into the playoffs.