Trade the team, something's wrong here! We won without Rondo? How can this be!?!?!
Seriously, though, folks...I know these are the lowly Kings but A) they did it in the second game P.R.I. (Post Rondo Injury); B)
this team absolutely pasted us the last time we played; and C) it was the quintessential cliché "total team effort" that would have probably beaten most other teams not in
Seattle Sacramento.
Since the Fall of the House of Rondo, bazillions (BAZILLIONS, not Brazilians...sorry, Leandro) of Fairweathers expressed their well-honed kneejerk opinions about how the absence of Rondo basically guarantees that the Celtics will finish behind the Kentucky Colonels and the Yakima Sun Kings and out of the Playoffs for the first time in five years.
While rumors of their collective death have been greatly exaggerated, I'll admit that it still remains to be seen whether the C's will keep up their new brand of hippie-ball in which they share the round, orange love and deliver a slew of well-balanced butt-whuppin's to the rest of the NBA. However, if tonight (and Sunday, for that matter) is any indication...
Tonight, the Celtics went through competitive warm-ups, otherwise known as the "First Quarter," and then proceeded to form Voltron and enter "Crush...Kill...Destroy!" mode in quarter 2, dropping 59 points in the half and carrying a 21 point lead into the 3rd quarter. From this point on, contrary to a momentary lapse that allowed the Kings back to within 14 points in the 4th, the game was nothing more than extended Geno-time.
So, how did we do it you may be asking (and by "you," I am referring to the grandmother of six who accidentally stumbled onto this blog after mistyping "Greenhands" as she was looking for gardening gloves)? I would allude once more to the aforementioned Hippie-Ball. Six Celtics scored in double figures. Paul Pierce was the team high-scorer and he only got 16 for Pistol-Pete's sake!
The Captain added 10 rebounds 4 assists and 1 steal with only 3 turnovers and the rest of the team did their best Outsiders impression and continued to "Do It For Rondo." Kevin Garnett scored 13 points, snagged 9 rebounds and was the high man with assists for the night, posting 5 to go with 2 blocks and a steal; Jeff Green scored a seemingly effortless 12 points as did Jason Terry, who also added 4 assists; and Avery Bradley scored 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.
And, since the blogosphere is in maximum overdrive from the Rudy Gay trade with the ESPN Trade Machine about to blow a virtual gasket with Celtics fans crying over spilled Calderon and lamenting the trades that could have been, allow me to talk about one that did happen a little over a year ago that should have even the Littlest Chicken breathing a sigh of relief.
Brandon Bass, one of the six double-figure Celtics tonight, scored 12 points and got 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists. You know what the other half of that trade that sent him to Boston got? A broken foot, that's what (I smell a classic trap game coming up on Friday with no Big Baby to push our guys into a competitive lather).
One of the most notable of many notable items? The rebel-without-a-point-guard Celtics out-assisted the Kings, who happen to carry at least three above-average PG's, by a count of 22 to 13.
In any case, I think those folks that Doc Rivers referred to who were beginning to write the Celtics' eulogy are going to be getting a serious case of carpal tunnel from sitting at their computers, hands on the keyboard, waiting for the end to come. Relax, folks...and enjoy this brand of Socialist, share-the-wealth Hippie-Ball while you can. I hear the Celtics are about to trade for World-B.-Free and a 1984 second round draft pick.
Box Score
Tale Of The Tape
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