The OKC Thunder have a young guard named Reggie Jackson (no, not Mr. October). He's not shooting particularly well and he's not exactly racking up the assists either, but they think he can be an impact player for them. So how can he learn on the job while contributing to a contending team? One blogger decided to look at Avery Bradley for inspiration.

Reggie Jackson and the Thunder: Pressing? - Welcome to Loud City

Bradley helped his team crush the spirits of Nelson and the Magic because of his baseline to baseline defensive pressure, which materially altered the Magic offense and galvanized his own team's defensive effort.

Back to Jackson. He isn't scoring the ball, he isn't setting up people offensively, and he is struggling to manage the team's offense. What is left? Ask Avery Bradley. It is defensive play. It is play that does not require a single shot attempt, is not hindered by a bad offensive set, and can work against some of the most seasoned veterans. Jackson has a great build for defense. He is low to the floor, quick, strong, and has a freakish seven foot wingspan that enables him to challenge the dribble and get into passing lanes. We know that Brooks doesn't use the full-court press. However, I have to wonder, is there an opportunity there for him to use Reggie and his raw physical tools to have a meaningful impact on the game? To just tell Jackson, "Don't worry about points, assists, or setting up the perfect pick and roll. Just go out there and lock up their PG for 94 feet"? At the very worst, Jackson would slow down the other team for an extra 4-6 seconds, which becomes huge when a team only has 24 seconds to get off a shot.

Not a bad idea.

(SB Nation Boston, Jay King) Kevin Garnett missed Tuesday's practice due to a hip flexor, headlining a long Boston Celtics injury report. Garnett is considered doubtful for Wednesday's game against Detroit at the TD Garden. Also doubtful is Mickael Pietrus, who sat out half of Tuesday's practice to receive treatment on his knee.

Jermaine O'Neal, who missed Sunday's victory against the Chicago Bulls, said his shoulder is still sore but foresees being healthy enough to suit up against Detroit. Brandon Bass also missed Sunday's outing, but is not expected to return for another week or two.

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The Boston Celtics have struggled at times this year. Some of those struggles have been due to injuries, but for the most part the early season struggles were due to the workhorses being out of shape. The 66-game season was sprung on the team in an instant, and there wasn't nearly enough time for the C's to get back into the gym and prepare themselves for strong start (like they had last season). Instead, perhaps with the way this season has taken place the Celtics are better fit for a late-season peak. Their defensive numbers are better since the rough start, their offensive numbers are better as well, and Paul Pierce is playing like the Paul Pierce we've all come to expect -- an All-Star. Let's take a deeper look.

The first two stats I'll throw out there I will leave open to interpretation from you, the reader.

• The C's offensive efficiency is at 99.4, which is 20th in the league. The league average is 100.2.
• The C's defensive efficiency is at 94.6, which is 3rd in the league. The league average is 100.2.

The Celtics have improved from there terrible start shooting the ball (as a team) to have an eFG% of 49.85, which is good for eighth best in the NBA. The league average is 48.2. On the contrary, the Celtics's are holding their opponents to a league-best 44.58 eFG%. The defense is there. It may not be on a championship level yet, but it is effective. Certainly those numbers are flawed, though. With all of the C's great defensive numbers you have to take into account that the league's shooting numbers are down greatly compared to this time last season. Teams are scoring less, players are shooting worse (save guys like LeBron, etc), and as a whole the league just has not been in shape enough to put together a fantastic product. Will that change over the course of the season? Absolutely.

However, I don't think the fact that teams will begin shooting better will change the stifling effects of the Boston defense. This team has for the most part locked in defensively. I've seen better defensive rotations from everyone, better man-to-man defense from everyone, and even KG has been playing pretty great defense -- something that is obviously not unexpected from a guy has been on the NBA All-Defensive First Team a total of nine times. The Celtics are also holding teams to a league best (as in, the lowest percentage in the entire league) 28% from beyond the three-point arc. This is greatly better than the league average of 34.3%. the C's perimeter defense hasn't been lacking by any means over the course of the past three years, but to put it into perspective: the C's held opponents to 34% (2nd in the NBA) from long distance last year, 34.2% in 2009-10, and 34.9% during the 2008-2009 season. Yes, again, the numbers are probably skewed because teams aren't shooting as well this season, but if anything close to this pace continues in terms of perimeter defense then Boston will greatly augment their success as the season continues.

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Herald JaJuan Johnson hears it from coach
NBA roundup: 76ers send Bobcats to 15th straight loss
Knicks think they’ll stay hot when stars join Lin
Globe Celtics primed to be contenders

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Just thought I'd start an open thread about why you love the Celtics.

Also, consider this your public service announcement: If you haven't already gotten your loved ones something for today, drop everything and run out and get it now.

Or if you are single and looking, don't be afraid to ask out that certain "friend" that you've had your eye on with the casual line of "nobody wants to be alone on Valentine's Day" and then show up with a rose. Worked for me (wink).

For more on love, after the break we will revisit our annual tradition of linking to Delonte West's epic romantic journey.

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The worst part about getting off to the slow start was the favorable schedule and mass of home games in the first half of this truncated year. The unbalanced schedule gets a lot tougher very soon. In fact, there's a road trip starting later this week (after we host the Pistons on Wed.) Which is probably why Doc was harping on mental toughness recently. It is going to take a lot of that to get through to the end in one piece.

Celtics primed to be contenders - The Boston Globe

The Celtics have played 18 of their first 27 games at home, meaning 24 of the final 39 games will be away from TD Garden, and a series of extended road trips begins Thursday in Chicago, so team president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is reserving his enthusiasm for now. "The team is playing better,’’ he said yesterday. "We have a real challenge ahead of us. The schedule gets really hard. We have a lot of road games coming up but our team has been playing much, much better. Our team is playing well over the past few weeks, but we need to get better.’’

After the jump you can see a quick look at our upcoming schedule.

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There's no hiding the fact that the Celtics typically play a very half court oriented game of basketball. That tends to produce low scoring defensive battles that for the last few years have mostly produced wins. But the offense still needs to come from somewhere and it sounds like Doc wants to see the team get out in transition more. That must be music to Rondo's ears.

Celtics aim to crank the pace

The Celtics rank 30th in the NBA in pace at an average of a mere 90.2 possessions per game, according to HoopData, a whopping 3.6 possessions below the league average, and more than seven possessions less than the league's fastest team (Denver, 97.5). Celtics coach Doc Rivers was adamant his team up the tempo Sunday. "I thought we played at a better pace today," said Rivers. "You could see it: We were trying to run today. And that’s how we have to play. If we didn’t turn the ball over, we would’ve had far more points. But I just liked our pace and that’s all we talked about after the game in Toronto and today in our morning walkthrough -- was enough of the walking.

Sounds good to me. Especially if it produces back to back alley-oops! LOBster Town baby!

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We’ve seen it be true many times before -- seeding and home court advantage are nice in the playoffs, but the most important thing is to be rested and healthy. We saw how true this was in 2010 when the Celtics made it to the NBA Finals as a 4 seed, beating two teams who held the HCA on their path. Then in the Finals, one could argue that it came down to Lakers having game 7 at home, but I (and many) think the injury to Perkins was the more significant difference maker in that game.

The Celtics are by no means a favorite to win the championship this season, but certainly have a "puncher’s chance" if the stars align. The last lockout season had an 8th seed New York Knicks make it to the NBA Finals, so weirder things have happened. There are a few things that are either necessary for the Celtics to win a championship (like Rondo playing at the top of his game consistently) or could greatly improve our chances of winning a championship. One thing that will greatly improve our chances of winning a championship could be grabbing the 6th seed in the East.

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