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Celtics Battle Streaking Magic
by Greg Payne on Nov 20, 2009 3:26 PM EST
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3 comments
Boston Celtics (9-3) vs. Orlando Magic (9-3)
Friday, November 20, 2009
8:00pm
TV: Comcast SportsNet; ESPN; Radio: 850 AM WEEI
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Third quarter saves Celtics from Warriors
by jimmyt on Nov 19, 2009 12:04 AM EST
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12 comments
The Boston Celtics entered the night ranked second in the league in points allowed per game, at 88.3. The Golden State Warriors entered the night ranked first in the league in points per game at 111.2. Something had to give, and thanks to a third quarter effort that saw the Celtics go on a 12-0 run at one point, the Celtics prevailed, 109-95.
The Warriors matched the Celtics for the first half, to the surprise of many. Sure, they can score, but they also rank last in points allowed per game, at 113.7. For that reason alone, it was a surprise that the Celtics only led by one point at the half.
"We just know we are a better team as far as being solid and consistent," said Kevin Garnett. "The captain (Paul Pierce) here knows how to pull everyone together and just talk to us about what we need to do to go out in the second half and I thought we followed his lead and followed what he said to us and took it to heart versus personal and applied what he said to the game and it was beneficial and much needed."
It may seem to many that the Celtics are playing "down" to their opponent. Cases in point are the squeakers against Minnesota and New Jersey, and the loss to the Indiana Pacers. Other times, they stray away from their game or fall into the trap of playing at the opposition's pace. The Suns came in and played their style of basketball, creating problems for the Celtics, and the Hawks came in simply determined to beat the Celtics.
"I just feel like, you know, we beat ourselves when we come in with a lack of energy sometimes," said Kendrick Perkins, who had 15 points and seven rebounds on the night. "You know, breaking our defensive rules; we just beat ourselves. I just feel that we need to stick together, stick to the game plan, and do it hard as we possibly can. The rest will take care of itself."
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A Late Run Is Enough
by Jeff Clark on Nov 18, 2009 10:01 PM EST
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The Detroit Pistons of a few years ago made a habit out of playing lackluster basketball for 2 and a half quarters, flipping a switch, dominating for a half a quarter, and then coasting to the win. Sound familiar?
After a sloppy first half, the Celtics came out in the 3rd quarter and ...kept playing sloppy. However, after Coach Clifford Ray told the team to start playing like "Junkyard Dogs" they put the clamps down on defense and followed Rondo's lead on offense.
I never liked it when the Pistons pulled that routine and I didn't really like it much tonight. The danger with letting teams like this hang around that long is that sometimes they don't go away and they steal a win. But a win is a win. I just hope they know how to turn it on in the playoffs and against the better teams.
The good news, of course, is that they finished well. Which wasn't the case against the Hawks or Pacers.
Pierce didn't show too many signs of being injured and finished strong with 19 points to lead the team. Rondo had a great stat line with 18 points, 12 assists, and 7 rebounds. Nice game for Perk with 15 and 7. A well rounded scoring effort as 6 scored in double figures and Sheed added 8.
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Celtics Look to Get Well vs Depleted Warriors.
by FLCeltsFan on Nov 18, 2009 3:30 PM EST
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(3-7) 
at 
(8-3)
GoldenState Warriors (3-6) at Boston Celtics (8-3)
Wednesday, November 26
7:30 PM ET
Game #12, Home Game #7
TV: CSNHD, CSN Bay Area, NBA LP 758,759
Radio: WEEI
TD Garden
Referees: Scott Foster, Courtney Kirkland, Leon Wood
Game Thread l Chat
The Celtics have had 3 days of rest and practice coming into this game. They are on a 2 game losing streak. They are facing a depleted Warriors team who played in Cleveland last night. The Warriors starting center is Mikki Moore. Their starting power forward has played in exactly one game for them. They have just 7 players available. The Warriors are playing in the second of back to back games. The Celtics should dominate this game from start to finish. The starters should be able to take the second half off and Gino should make his appearance around the start of the 4th quarter. That is what should happen in this game, but this undermanned, undersized Warriors team is very feisty and took the Cavs right down to the wire in their game last night., finally falling 114-108. The Celtics should not take the Warriors lightly or they could get burned by them.
Paul Pierce, who was limited in the Celtics loss to the Pacers and who sat out of practice for 2 days, practiced on Tuesday and is expected to start in this game. The last time the Celtics played on 3 days of rest, they blew out a very good Jazz team 105-86. The Celtics have been saying all the right things about their poor performances in their last 2 games, but Perk called the team out for playing sloppy in practice. We should see a renewed commitment to defense and a Celtics team with a renewed sense of purpose, but it seems as through they are having problems getting focused recently and so we don't know which Celtics team will show up.
The Warriors play very small out of necessity with the majority of their bigs on the injured list. They sometimes are even forced to use 6'6" Corey Maggette at center. They aren't much interested in playing defense as a team. In fact, Monta Ellis has come out and said that he is the only player on the team who can play any defense. The team is in upheaval, having traded their best player just days ago and with their current best player unhappy on the team. Former Celtic, Don Nelson is poised to move up in the record books this season if he can keep his job long enough to do so. What the Warriors do, however, is run. The Celtics will need to find their earlier levels of defense to keep the Warriors from running them ragged.
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Celtics rebound, but still lose
by Green17 on Nov 14, 2009 9:38 PM EST
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61 comments
Well that was gross. The vaunted Celtics defense gave up 113 points to the Pacers. The second unit that could supposedly start on other teams was largely ineffective. Altogether, that was pretty disappointing and the Celtics now have a losing streak.
After making a big deal about the Celtics poor rebounding this season earlier this afternoon, the Celtics killed it on the glass, grabbing 9 more rebounds than the Pacers, but still lost the game. So much for that theory, at least for tonight.
Give credit to the Pacers. They made shots tonight. Danny Granger is a fantastic player and Dahntay Jones had the game of his Pacers life.
I would be remiss if I didn't add that Joey Crawford is a terrible human being. This is just to Joey. Joey, no one watches basketball to see you officiate so stop acting like you're the star of the show. NO ONE would miss you if you were gone from our NBA lives. For clarity, Joey and the rest of the officials were not the problem tonight, so don't write in the comments that I'm blaming this on them. I just really really dislike Joey Crawford.
Box score after the jump
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Celtics Outrebounded, Outplayed In Loss To Hawks
by jimmyt on Nov 14, 2009 12:30 AM EST
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42 comments
The Boston Celtics got flat out beaten by the Atlanta Hawks Friday night, 97-86. It was the second loss of the year for the Celtics, and their second loss as home. The story tonight was offensive rebounds and second chance points, and unfortunately, the Celtics gave up many of them.
After giving up 17 offensive rebounds to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, the Celtics let the Hawks rip down 16 offensive rebounds Friday night, en route to 22 second chance points.
"You can't run a game getting outrebounded 47-29," Kevin Garnett said. "You know, they're getting to the basket- and rebounding is a group effort and it starts with the bigs, so the bigs got to do a better job of doing just that."
Ray Allen added, "I think rebounding ultimately is what kept them in the game, early. And starting off the third quarter getting second chance opportunities and then [the Hawks] were moving the ball. There was a possession where they might have gotten two or three shots at the rim, and end up ultimately getting the basket. So you can't win that way."
The Celtics entered the game ranked 28th in the league in total rebounds and last in offensive rebounds. Doc Rivers states that while the big guys do need to grab rebounds, the blame cannot fall completely on them.
"When you don't put bodies on athletic guys, you're going to give up points. And unfortunately I think everyone will say it was our bigs, our bigs. But out bigs weren't helped all night because the guards were getting beat off the dribble all night. And so a lot of those offensive rebounds were guards that should have put bodies on guys."
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Young Legs Cause Trouble
by Jeff Clark on Nov 13, 2009 10:38 PM EST
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50 comments
Once again, a young talented team gave the Celtics fits and gave the Celtics their 2nd loss of the year. The Hawks grabbed 16 offensive rebounds to Boston's 6. I expect there will be more games like this as the team ages and the young teams get better.
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Celtics Host Hawks in Friday Night Fray
by Greg Payne on Nov 13, 2009 3:22 PM EST
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3 comments
Boston Celtics (8-1) vs. Atlanta Hawks (6-2)
Friday, November 13, 2009
8:00pm
TV: Comcast SportsNet, ESPN; Radio: 850 AM WEEI
Venue: TD Garden
The Boston Celtics aim for nine wins in their first ten games when the Atlanta Hawks visit the TD Garden at 8:00pm tonight.
The Celtics are coming off an impressive win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday in which the team totaled 30 assists and seven players scored in double figures, led by Kevin Garnett who tallied 18. Meanwhile, the Hawks roll into Boston on a two-game win streak, fresh off a 114-101 thumping of the New York Knicks on Wednesday. Six Hawks scored in double figures, including Josh Smith (22) and Al Horford (25), who each scored more than 20 points.
Atlanta is currently fourth in the league in scoring at 107.75 points per game, but is also allowing 102 points per game, which suggests defense is not the Hawks' first priority. Boston is allowing a league-best 84.55 points per game, so it will be interesting to see if the Celtics' defense will be able to contain what has developed into a very prolific Hawks' offense. The last time the Celtics met an opponent that averaged over 100 points per game was a week ago against the Phoenix Suns. The Celtics got caught up in Phoenix's style of play and ended up allowing 110 points before losing their first game of the season by seven.
The Hawks still feature the strong core of players that helped take the Celtics to seven games in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals two seasons ago. However, Atlanta added veteran scoring machine Jamal Crawford and steady inside man Joe Smith to help bolster its depth and they present new dimensions to an already potent Atlanta squad.
Based on Atlanta's starting lineups in their first eight games, it would seem Kevin Garnett will be matched up with Josh Smith, which doesn't necessarily bode well for Garnett. Smith's athleticism, quickness, and versatility on the perimeter could give him an advantage over Garnett, especially if he initiates his own offense outside of the paint.
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