Boston Celtics Games

C's Continue Preseason In Providence

By Dustin Chapman Oct 10, 2008, 12:33pm EDT

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Friday, October 10 - 7:30 pm ET
Dunkin' Donuts Center (Providence, RI)

TV: CSN

Game Thread / Celtics Chat

Wednesday’s initial preseason outing resulted in a loss, but Celtics fans certainly have a lot to talk and be excited about. These games may be meaningless, in a sense, but it’s always nice to see the team’s newcomers and existing youngsters get some run and show us what they’ve got.

Newly acquired center Patrick O’Bryant was given the nod to start against Philadelphia, and he surprised many observers. The former number nine overall pick (2006) displayed terrific outlet passing, activity on the glass, constant hustle, and shot blocking ability on account of his freakish length. He’s still just 22 years old, and it’s only fair to expect both ups and downs right away, but if "P.O.Box 26" (as I like to call him) continues to play anything close to how well he played on Wednesday night, we may have something here.

Celtics veteran (can we say that?) Tony Allen put together an impressive outing, as well. The erratic guard came out braceless, and played without any limitations - the role that "TA" thrives in. For the most part, he made good decisions with the ball in his hands, made some smart passes, attacked the rim, looked to have more of that explosiveness back, and certainly showed flashes of his old self on the defensive end. Let’s hope our new sixth man can continue showing positive signs with a consecutive strong performance tonight.

Perhaps the most memorable player of the night, despite only 11 minutes of action, was second round rookie Billy Walker, who smashed on Theo Ratliff, his children, and his ancestors late in the second quarter with a high-rising one-handed power jam that forced expressive reactions out of even the mellowest people on earth. In addition to that, he stuffed down a two-handed alley-oop that was thrown from half-court by Gabe Pruitt, sealed Thaddeus Young to lead to a post shot, and earned himself a trip to the free throw line. Young returned the favor on the other end with a school-job on the right baseline, but all in all, "Sky Walker" showed flashes of that potential scouts were raving about but two years ago.

Darius Miles, who suited up for his first in-game experience since April of 2006, looked solid in limited action, as well. His conditioning was evidently far from top-notch, but all of the talk out of camp suggests that he’s getting there, hence being able to go six straight days for the first time since his "career-ending" surgery. As a former Cavalier, Miles may come out with a little extra oomph in tonight’s game.

Don’t expect to see much of a Game 7-esque LeBron James vs. Paul Pierce showdown in this one, but enjoy the young guns’ extended minutes. Hopefully, we can get longer looks at the likes of J.R. Giddens, Gabe Pruitt, and Billy Walker than we did the other night. Heck, we might get a chance to see a couple of old friends in Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West in the process.