Team Green completed their recent back-to-back road challenge with wins against the Philadelphia 76'ers and the Indiana Pacers, but may have come away with more than just the W's.
At this point in the season, it's becoming trendy among NBA talking heads and blogsites galore to refer to the Boston Celtics as "The Team Nobody Wants To Face In The Playoffs."
Beginning on that fateful day back in late January against the Miami Heat when the Celtics learned that All-Star point guard and team engine Rajon Rondo would be down for the season, and extending through the season-ending injuries to rookie phenom Jared Sullinger and bench sparkplug Leandro Barbosa, the Celtics put down the potential excuses and picked up their play. Contrary to almost every basketball brain and hoops herald, the Celtics refused to roll over and wallow in the unfairness of it all, instead adapting, excelling and announcing to the league that they would be anything but an easy out come playoff time.
These Celtics have not only survived the kinds of losses that would have crushed even the strongest resolve of most teams (hey, Lakers...at least your underachieving center can actually play...you think Philly doesn't want that trading day back?), they've thrived, playing 17 games and losing only 4 of them. I think 17 games is a decent short-term indicator that these Boston Celtics are not laying down; not for the Miami's, Golden States and Indiana's of the world and they're giving no freebies to the rest of the league, either. Even more amazingly, they haven't so much as missed a beat while adding and incorporating quality replacements (maybe even improvements) for some of their fallen.
Speaking of those replacements... as well as the C's have been playing, as much as I absolutely love the free-wheeling, passing game, speed basketball that the team is now playing...what gives me the biggest batch of butterflies in the belly is the exuberant spirit of this team. These guys are really pulling for each other...I mean REALLY pulling for each other. If you watch the Celtics vs. Pacers Tale Of The Tape to about the 2:09 mark, you'll see what I mean about the bench and how they've been rooting for the team for this entire run.
Even the guys who aren't seeing a lot of playing time seem to be as ecstatic for their teammates as they would be for themselves had they been the ones making the winning plays. In fact, Terrence Williams -- whose signing I happen to believe was an absolute hijacking by the Celtics over the rest of the League -- who has seen less playing time than Jordan Crawford (another steal, I promise you), has been among the most vocal and supportive from the bench, often out of his seat cheering with the joy of a fan in front of his television. Watching how he and the other recent bench additions have been marveling at the exploits of the Hall-bound Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce up close makes me believe that whatever problems some of them were alleged to have had on past teams will be kept to the shadows, at least in the short-term.
In the meantime, inspired and greatly improved play from Avery Bradley and Jeff Green along with Jason Terry, Courtney Lee and Chris Wilcox has allowed Coach Doc Rivers to rest Pierce and Garnett for larger stretches of time, thus increasing the odds that they can dominate down the stretch during crunch time, if needed.
If the Shamrockers can keep-on keeping-on the way that they have been, the C's can move past just making the playoffs and start thinking about home court advantage (hey, don't laugh...the Celtics are just a GAME AND A HALF out of 4th place in the Eastern Conference!), and Doc can pull out the the 'ol whiteboard once again.
Don't get me wrong...I'm neither giddy enough to be oblivious to the possible pitfalls awaiting the C's as they race to the end of the regular season and I'm not so much of a homer that I don't believe that there may be great trials that lie ahead in the Playoffs for a team without a true playmaker (and the League's best one at that!).
But, just as there are people who believe that the most important things these Celtics are missing are Rondo, Sully, the Brazillian Blur and a true center, I believe that the most important things they lack are fear and the desire to quit, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
Call Springfield and tell 'em to add another spot next to the markers for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett...Jeff Green's comin', Baby!!
Okay, I really am just kidding, so stop typing and calm down.
Still, Green -- stepping up and starting in the absence of a resting KG -- had the breakout game we've all been waiting for, scoring a season high 31 points and swatting a career-high 5 shots to go along with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
This game against the Phoenix Suns -- who still happen to be an NBA team despite what their record (18 wins, 38 losses) and casual fans would have you believe -- was a blowout for the Celtics thanks to continued emphasis on running the ball in the passing game.
As a byproduct of the pace of this game, a newly aggressive and hard-running Chris Wilcox -- perhaps still feeling the heat from his brush with the trade deadline and his near-exile to Washington in the Jordan Crawford trade (more on him later!) -- scored a season-high 14 points (including this SWEET reverse jam to go with an even SWEETER put-back layup), grabbed 8 boards and registered 1 block.
And, speaking of the trade that sent the ACL-challenged Leandro Barbosa and his expiring contract along with Jason Collins to Washington for guard Jordan Crawford, J-Crawf and the equally green man-in-green Terrence Williams served each and every negative know-it-all a tall, bubbly glass of STFU -- at least for one game, anyway. T-Will looked steady as he showcased his versatility, dropping 9 points on 4-8 shooting with 4 rebounds and 4 assists in 23 minutes while J-Crawf scored 10 on 4-9 shooting in addition to his 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 15 minutes.
I won't get into it too deeply in this post, but the nattering nabobs of negativism who have criticized Danny Ainge for "only" trading for Crawford at the much overhyped trade dudline deadline instead of running Pierce and KG out of town and are speaking ill of the two new additions are most likely either fly-by-night fans or very casual observers of the sport. Any issue with Williams and Crawford was NEVER connected to a lack of talent. Each has had maturity issues in the past, but both are extremely gifted athletes who possess the kind of skill that the Celtics have been yearning for. And the fact that they're both on the young side of their 20's speaks to the tremendous upside each has if Doc Rivers and the Celtics' veterans can help to guide them. Many of the "fans" who are doubting T-Will and J-Crawf were cheering for the equally immature and impetuous Nate Robinson by the time he left town.
Time will tell with these two, but lets give them the time to be able to tell, 'kay guys?
In fact, the newbies were so effective in their abbreviated court time that Captain Pierce was treated to a relatively short night of 23 minutes, and was able to keep his shoulders light scoring 8 points on 3-5 shooting snaring 5 rebounds, passing out 3 assists and grabbing 1 steal. Instead, other Celtics like Jason Terry (13 points), Avery Bradley (13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals), Brandon Bass and Courtney Lee carried the burden for the team.
The future is indeed bright for the immediate stretch-run and, potentially, years to come. Time will tell, but it's great to know that the clock is still running.
Speaking of running clock, it's only a matter of time before the Celtics fill in the rest of the open slots on the team with a couple of large bodies, and the most recent report floating around from League sources has the C's signing D.J. White to a 10-day contract. White is a 26-year-old 6' 9" forward who was drafted in 2009 by the Detroit Pistons. With career averages of 6.3 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game, White has spread his ultra-limited 124 NBA games over 3 seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder and 2 with the Charlotte Bobcats, but most recently, he played with the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball League where he averaged 21.6 points and 9.7 rebounds. At this point, he may just be a placeholder for one of the bigs expected to be available in the coming weeks as teams look to perfect their rosters heading into the playoffs. There have also been rumors of the Celtics' interest in hair band member 6' 9" forward Louis Amundson, among others.
The following is the new Rajon Rondo/ESPN commercial that's been making the rounds on all of the blogs recently.
It's such a simple and short gag...so, why the Hell do I find it so hilarious? Must be a case of computer screen fever.
There's also this story published on Celtics.com about Chris Wilcox returning to practice with his thumb wrapped like a leaky elbow joint awaiting the plumber. Here's the photo:
Come to think of it, HE has some pretty big-@$$ mitts himself! Can you imagine the gale force winds and tidal disruption that a game of pattycake between Wilcox and Rondo would produce? No? Okay!
THE BUZZ:
Boston Celtics vs. New Orleans Hornets
Wednesday, January 16th, 2013
8:00 p.m.
@ Boston Garden
NBA Writer Bill Doyle has a great interview with Celtics rookie Jared Sullinger in this morning's edition of the Worcester Telegram in which Sully touches on a multiplicity of topics, including his alleged back troubles, laughing at the trash talk aimed his way by veterans on opposing teams and the history and evolution of his weight, among other items:
“I was fat when I was a kid,” Sullinger admitted.
Sullinger used his weight to overpower his opponents.
“It was just my way of throwing people around,” he said. “I was just being a big bully. When I went to college, I realized I couldn't do that anymore. I had to get in shape and still be able to keep my strength. Then here (in Boston), I've got to stay in shape in order to play all these games. I finally shed all the weight.”
This article really is chock-full of interesting quotes and observations that provide some insight into what it is that makes Sullinger tick and why he may have been the steal of the draft.
Along with the aforementioned items, there's also a guest appearance by Rick Robey (at least in name, anyway), Sullinger's credit to Garnett, Bass Wilcox and Green for helping him to improve his game and then there's this interesting tidbit: over the last 10 games, Sullinger has only turned the ball over 7 times! Way to go, Rook!
You can check out the rest of Doyle's piece here. It's definitely worth the read.
The Dallas "Big D" Mavericks were in town last night to play the Boston Celtics and, oh, what Big "D"rama! The Mavs were without their Big "D"irk (Nowitzki, out with a sore post-surgical knee), and at first, it looked like the Celtics Big "D"efense was going to lead to Big "D"ominance as the C's ran up a 14-point lead into the early part of the third quarter before the Big "D"ownturn in defensive execution due to Big "D"isinterest on the part of the C's, which led to a Big "D"ip in their production allowing a Big "D"esperate Mavericks team to finally buckle down and begin to take advantage of the Big "D"oldrums, cutting into the Big "D"eficit until it became a Big "D"raw at 92-all.
Big "D"efense
Initially, the C's defensive gameplan was to treat O.J. Mayo like a Big "D"eal and work the Big "D"enial of the ball routine, which seemed to work, but that allowed Big "D"ahntay Jones to have a Big "D"ay, scoring 12 on 5-10 shooting. Unfortunately, the C's Big "D"elicatessen plan to "Hold The Mayo" began to unravel as he found his range and became Big "D"ialed in, ending up with 24 points on 10-19 shooting. The two Dallas point guards, (little "D"s Darren Collison and Derek Fisher) who were previously embroiled in a "who's the starter" controversy, managed to put that Big "D"istraction to the side and totaled 30 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds between them, helping to ensure a Big "D"ate with a Big "D"ouble overtime game.
Big "D"rive
Throughout the game, there were Big "D"'oh moments from Jeff Green and Jason Terry who both missed on bunnies down the stretch and Dallas' Shawn Marion (who was otherwise all-around spectacular for the Mavs with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) became the Big "D"underhead by attempting to make a blind behind-the-back pass to Collison who was trailing him at a critical juncture. Instead, the ball bounced off of Collison's face (no doubt causing a Big "D"ent) and out of bounds.
Big "D"raw
It was, in fact, these kinds of forced and unforced Big "D"iscombobulated dumpoffs from the Mavericks players that ultimately did them in. By game's end, the Mavs had turned the ball over 28 times compared to the Celtics' 13, a Big "D"isadvantage for a visiting team trying to climb back into the game. A Big "D"-List performance by the referees didn't help anyone as they tried to pull a Big "D"ismantle of any momentum to the game with a few Big "D"erelection-of-duty calls and no-calls (some would call them Big "D"ogsh*t calls but, hey, it WAS Joey Crawford's Crew, so...Big "D"uh! I suppose that's why Mavericks owner Mark Cuban looked like a Big "D"**k yelling at the refs, but I digress...)
Despite a Big "D"rained 3-pointer by Vince (the original something-sanity) Carter, the C's administered a fatally Big "D"ose of Paul Pierce (in Truth-mode, scoring 34 points, grabbing 6 boards and 4 steals, and handing out 3 assists with 1 block), Kevin Garnett (in Big-Ticket-mode 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block), and Rajon Rondo (in Maestro-mode and once again barely missing a triple-double with 16 points, 15 assists, 9 boards, 3 steals and 1 block). Also showing Big "D"etermination were Chris Wilcox (10 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block), Brandon Bass (9 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals), and Green with 15 points, 5 boards and one Big "D"unk.
Big "D"ominance: 23,000th career point scored
Rondo was simply brilliant all night, whether it was delivering one Big "D"ime after another, tenaciously guarding O.J. Mayo down the stretch, getting a Big "D"rive at a critical juncture as he did with .28 seconds left in the game, followed by a Big "D"efensive rebound -- Rondo, along with his mates, came through with the Big "D"eliverance, handing Dallas a Big "D"isappointment and all of the Boston GreenHeadz a Big "D"elight of a win, even though they likely caused a Big "D"rain on all of our energies and productivity at work for today, thanks to the game's late ending.
And, speaking of the game's extended timeline, I apologize for presenting this post with a Big "D"elay -- person's gotta rest...
The reason for this post is that, through my small-but-vocal circle of friends and my travels around the basketball bloggosphere, I can see that the "Wine-n-Cry Express" has reached critical mass with respect to the state of the Celtics and the body count for those jumping off the bandwagon to their deaths has been growing at an alarming pace.
Without beating a mostly-dead horse (or chicken, in this case), people...hear me now:
There is nothing wrong with the Celtics that time and practice is not going to cure.
Key items to remember:
* The Celtics have 10 (TEN!!!) players playing together with the remaining 5 from last year's squad FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER.
* Two of those ten are still in the process of recovering from OPEN HEART SURGERY. Only one of these two actually saw any court time at all last year.
* One of those "remaining 5 players" has yet to step on the floor this season, and as a result, there has been at least one player starting (Courtney Lee
or Jason Terry) WHO HAS NEVER PLAYED WITH THE STARTING FOUR before this season.
* With all the hardship, close losses and ugly blowouts (Detroit...we're holding our noses and looking away from YOU!), the Celtics are still just FOUR GAMES OUT OF FIRST PLACE IN THE EASTERN CONFERENCE and FOUR-AND-A-HALF GAMES OUT OF FIRST PLACE IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE!!!
So why all of this hand-wringing and sky-dodging and tooting of the air-raid sirens? Seriously, people?
Look, folks...the bottom line is this: Doc is the coach of this outfit. If anybody knows how things are REALLY going, it's going to be him. Only he and his coaching staff know whether there is any progress being made between their teachings and the implementation of the offensive and defensive schemes. He knows whether or not and who is and isn't "getting it" and who needs more time and reps.
"Overall, the last two games, I like where we're at," said Rivers. "But we've got to continue to do it. We've yet to be consistent, in my opinion. You can be consistent and lose a game, and I think Milwaukee was an example of that. I thought we played with the right spirit, but we just have to have that consistent effort."
-- Doc Rivers, Celtics Coach
I know what some of you are saying out there as you duck under buildings and put on your helmets: "Of COURSE a coach is going to say things are headed in the right direction because it would be ludicrous and potentially career suicide to say otherwise!"
But, this is coming from a coach who basically has the keys to the City and a management and ownership team that is behind him 100%. Doc's not going anywhere unless he decides that it's time to go. With that said, give the man -- and the players on his team -- the benefit of the doubt for (Pistol) Pete's sake, okay?
Yes, the loss at Detroit was about as fun to watch as two needles headed straight at your pupils, and "yes," the loss to Milwaukee this past week was hard to take in the face of the 17-point freebie the Bucks gave us to start the game, and "yes" there were several other games that we easily could have and should have won and countless offensive and defensive rebounds that we'll never get back.
But, we're talking about a team that is trying as a group to figure out where everyone likes to be on offense so that the flow can be more cohesive in running sets, and a bunch of new players who are struggling to grasp the specifics of a defense that is predicated on each player being in the proper position. If you've ever played the game before, or any other team sport for that matter, you know that the old addage, "you're only as strong as your weakest link" holds shockingly true. If one person is out of position, it can make the entire defense look like this:
The other thing that kind of trips me out is just how easily and completely some people forget even the most recent history of their favorite team. I suppose this accelerated short-term memory loss is part of the reason there are so many successful crackpots running for politics these days. But, I intentionally digress...
Does anyone remember how poorly the Celtics played at the end of the 2009-2010 season? They went 27-27 to close out the season, fans thought the team "Sheed" the bed (sorry, but I had that pun tucked away since 2010) and "experts" predicted that they would lose in the first round of the Playoffs. How'd THAT turn out? Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals.
Anybody recall last year's team? You know, the one that was supposed to face a real challenge from Atlanta, possibly getting taken out by the younger, fresher and more athletic team? Or how, once the C's mildly defied those expectations and advanced, they were then expected to wilt against the newly energized Philly 76ers,who had just come off defeating the favored Chicago Bulls (even though they were without their one true superstar)? How did THAT go? Beat Philly and then lost to Miami in 7 games in the Eastern Conference Finals -- a round the C's weren't really supposed to get to, and if they did, getting swept wasn't out of the realm of possibility. That they accomplished this feat without starter Avery Bradley; an injured and in-need-of-ankle-surgery Ray Allen; a half-speed Paul Pierce (sprained knee); and other offseason-surgery-candidate Mickael Pietrus is nothing short of remarkable.
But, this isn't what fans fall back on when they see their team struggle to find its rhythm with a cast that has changed even more than Justin Bieber's voice and Rhianna's hairdos combined. The fact is that this team is learning on the fly at the baby stages of a long, 82-game season. The tendency is, however, thanks to hyperbolic and often mediocre "analysts," is to take a microwave approach, folding our arms and kicking the sand, firmly in the grips of the unassailable knowledge that "if it ain't working right now, it'll NEVER work!"
Let me just offer you this bit of advice:
Instead, how about we make this promise to ourselves from this point forward: Let's reserve judgement until Bradley gets back and plays out of his rust somewhere around the All-Star Break and see whether this team can get it together and get on a couple of good winning streaks along the way, okay? If four and a half games are all that separate the "fatally flawed" Celtics and the Miamis and Oklahomas of the League, then I like our chances.
And, Hell...we all know that if things aren't working out by then, "Trader Dan" will have the machine cranked up and ready to go in an attempt to tweak what is expected to be a championship-caliber team into, well, winning The Championship.
The point, ultimately, is this: There is nothing to be worried about at this stage in the season. Barely a month has passed and we're incorporating new players, waiting for an old one to return, and two to continue their steady recovery from having their chest cavities cracked open and then melded back together again. And yet, the team is still over .500 and showing signs of "getting it" with each run.
Folks, I think we can all do ourselves a world of good by grabbing whatever beverage of choice we indulge in, kicking back in our La-Z-Boys/Barcaloungers/Beanbag Chairs (hey, I don't judge) and enjoying the ride as we watch our green guyz grow and develop, and prove the morons pundits wrong yet again.
No Rajon Rondo (suspended for two games for...well, you KNOW why...), Chris Wilcox (illness) and Jeff Green (sprained knee) are questionable, and Courtney Lee (twisted wrist) is probable. Darko Milicic? Expected to play roughly about as much he did when he was actually with the team.
The Blazers? Healthy as the day is long.
So, a win for the home team is a no-brainer, right?
Actually, as several of the outlets are speculating, I fully expect the C's to pull this one off. They have everything that one could want (short of a full roster of important players, that is...): low-to-no expectations, a couple of angry veteran superstars, bench players being counted out by mediocre unconvinced basketball "experts," and a nice green rookie not named Green but wearing the green (Kris Joseph) fresh off of his impressive showing in the D-League ready to come in and speak up for himself. Really...what's not to love? Doc must be giddy with excitement about the prospect of watching Kevin Garnett watching Gino on the Jumbotron with the exuberance of a five-year-old.
Seriously, though. This one is a complete crapshoot. The C's can either band together after the "Rumble In The Jungle" two nights ago and man-up with a healthy dose of New England Patriots "It's us against the world" miracle tonic, or they can look at the bench and see what's beginning to resemble a M.A.S.H. unit with one empty chair (be on the lookout for Clint Eastwood!) where their star point guard and tiny enforcer used to sit and see instead a big-fat excuse ready to be called into action.
Ball tips at 7:30 tonight, folks...let's see which team is ready to play.
According to Danny Ainge on WEEI Radio, Rajon Rondo has been handed a 2-game suspension for taking Brooklyn Net Kris Humphries (heretofore to be forever known merely as "Krumphries.") to the mat in last night's contest between the Celtics and Nets.
For those who may have missed it (welcome back from your brief coma!), at the end of the second quarter in last night's game, Krumphries gave an extra slap to Kevin Garnett's shoulder on the way down after his initial foul knocked KG off of his feet. Ragin' Rondo took umbrage to the Keeping Up With The Kardashians castoff and his actions against one of his Celtic mates, and some moderate measurement of Hell broke loose under the basket.
Anyway, Rondo was quite fortunate to recieve only two games off to "think about what he did" (which, apparrently, he already has and unapologetically believes that it was justified) before being eligible to come back against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, December 5th, bypassing tomorrow's game against the Portland Trailblazers and the third game this season against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, December 1st.
Without getting too deeply into the topic of whether Ragin' Rondo's wrestling match with Killer Krumphries was a heroic reaction expressed by a loyal teammate or a boneheaded action taken at the expense of the greater good, I will use this analogy to describe the bottom line here: When you are the pilot of an airplane, you can't just jump out of the plane anytime you get the urge without killing all of your passengers. Whether you agree with Rondo's actions and believe that the Nets had it coming to them since the first meeting between these two teams, or you feel that he put himself above the team and what it is trying to accomplish, we all know that this team is better with Rondo than without him.
Now, since it was WEEI that broke the news of the NBA's decision about Rondo's suspension, it is only fitting that the rest of the links go to their coverage of the Rumble In The Jungle from last night. Interesting stuff there, including KG calling out Krumphries, what a (insert insult about giant crybabies who get taken down by little point guards here) Krumphries is for posting his battle scars on Twitter, and the listing of Wilcox and Green as day-to-day for the Portland tilt following an illness and knee injury respectively.
The Celtics extended their win streak to 3, beating the Utah Jazz thanks to some inspired play from Jeff Green (16 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists) and Leandro Barbosa (16 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists) who started the fire for a Celtics team that couldn't quite shake a fast-breaking, hard-rebounding Utah team, and later replaced a gimpy Rajon Rondo to help pilot the C's to a 98-93 win at home.
Before the Brazilian Blur took an extended solo on the Jazz interior defense, Utah big men Paul Millsap (a Mon-star like 20 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal) and old Celtic Al Jefferson (13 points, 14 relentless rebounds, 3 assists) had their way on the parquet. Gordon Hayward and Mo Williams got a few powerful licks in as well with 14 apiece.
Paul Pierce (broken record here, folks) scored a team-high 23, though he did it on less-than-stellar 7-17 shooting. Rondo (on auto-loop) again reached double-digit assists before turning his right ankle and sitting out the rest of the game.
But, the story, indeed, was Barbosa and the re-emergence of pre-season Green who acted like a real @$$hole and aggressively attacked the hoop during important stretches of the game when the teams traded baskets in a close contest.
Also worthy of note: Chris Wilcox continues to give Coach Doc Rivers confidence enough to rest Kevin Garnett for longer minutes, keeping him fresh for the critical home-stretch. Wilcox played 18 minutes to KG's 30.
The C's appear to be tightening up the defense along with the much-improved offense and their effort against the Jazz gave them a .500 record at home moving forward.
Say this about the Wizards, they are a VERY feisty team.
Playing again without their two main men, guard John Wall and center Nene Hilario, the Wizards commenced to playing like a team contemplating a competent run towards the playoffs. Okay, maybe that run doesn’t happen this year - even when their two stars return - but, for a team that hasn’t sniffed the postseason since it was known as the less politically correct Washington Bullets back in 1996-97, they seem to have a scrappiness and hunger that has been missing in recent years.
That said, the Celtics did their part in allowing these young upstarts to hang around through regulation before getting dragged into overtime where the guys in green finally asserted themselves defensively and closed out the game 100-94.
Once again, Wizards power forward Kevin Seraphin showed no fear of the Celtics’ front line and tallied 16 points, nine rebounds and a block before succumbing to defensive pressure down the stretch from superman Kevin Garnett, who went for 20 points, 13 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks and one steal, and supplied game-changing defense in the waning minutes of the contest. Joining KG (once again) was Rajon Rondo who put up 18 points on 7-11 shooting (1-2 on threes) 14 assists, and 3 steals; and Paul Pierce, who overcame a dismal 2-10 shooting night to finish with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists and tenacious "D" of his own in OT.
The real story, though, was the Celtics’ bench, which scored 41 of the team’s total 100 points. Led by solid shooting from Jason Terry with 16 points (7 of 15) and Brandon Bass with 11 on 4-9 shooting to go with 7 rebounds, the C’s also got strong performances from an energizing Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green in 3 and 21 minutes of play, respectively.
Though they were eventually put away by a slowly-improving Celtics defense, the young Wizards have to be pleased with the way they’ve played against what many believe will be a top-tier team come playoff time. Wiz Rookie Bradley Beal scored 16 as did Martell Webster, A.J. Price had 15 and Chris Singleton added 14 and one emphatic dunk to help move his team into the extra period.
The C’s are now back at .500 with a 2-2 record as they head into Friday when they’ll meet up again for the third time this season with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers will also be without one of their top talents, center Andrew Bynum, who has yet to play a game for the team that traded for him. Of course, his absence didn't stop them from crushing the Celtics in the two preseason meetings in October. I'll be nice and not post the scores to those games, since it WAS only preseason.
Next up:
Game #5
Celtics vs. 76ers
Friday, November 9th
7:30 pm
LATE BUZZ:
Former Celtic Keyon Dooling To Appear On Katie Couric Show At 3pm
For those interested, ex-Celtic Keyon Dooling will be on Katie Couric today at 3:00 pm on Channel 5 (check your local listings, J.I.C.!). Dooling will be speaking about the sexual abuse he suffered as a child, which ultimately led him to retire from the Celtics earlier this year to deal with the fallout he continues to experience so many years later. He's a brave man and it's a compelling story of achievement in the face of incredible evil. It's worth a watch if you're around.
"Look, there are 80 games left in the season, and..." Okay, WHATEVER for that line of bull$#8! The season’s over already...we might as well Red Sox this shirty outfit and trade everyone, including Danny Ainge and Lucky!! Or not.
Admittedly, the guyz in green looked bad. Really bad. The C’s were lucky to get the final score down to 88-99, because they easily could have lost this one by 25. Hell, if it weren’t for Garnett and Rondo, they probably would have. I could post stats and tell you that six Celtics scored in double figures, the same as Milwaukee, but that would make it sound like the C’s were competitive in this one, and they reeeeaaaallly, really weren’t. Yeah, Rondo continued his double-digit assist streak and yeah, KG scored 15. But, Milwaukee was able to slice and dice the Celtics’ Snuggle-soft interior defense to the tune of 52 points.
The bright spots?
Jeff Green showed up after his Game 1 Walking Dead performance, posting 11 points on 5-9 shooting with one from downtown. Brandon Bass stayed solid with 10 points and 6 rebounds. Jason Terry was 4-6 from the floor hitting 2-2 threes for 10 points. But, the brightest spot - at least for me - was seeing Chris Wilcox back on the floor for his first regular-season game since undergoing heart surgery last year.
So...do I believe that the Celtics will look this bad for the rest of the season? Of course not. Do I think that they have a LOT of work to do on their defense and their offense? Like Jeff said, "I Doooooo (snort)."
I will say this, though...this team is going to be good when they figure everything out and they WILL figure it out. It’s going to take time, though. You can bet dollars to doughnuts that Doc had some very choice words for his team on the flight down to Washington and probably spent the night haunting their dreams to insure that the Wizards’ version of Tobias Harris (who? 18 and 6 inside against the Celtics, that’s who!!) doesn’t go all "Kill Bill" on the C’s tonight. Yep, that’s right...the C’s have to get right back on that horse and take the (playing like they’re) green team into the Verizon Center to play the Washington Wizards tonight at 7:00pm. Let’s see if they can avoid the same 0-3 start as last season. My gut tells me that they will. It also tells me that it might be time to get back to the gym, but that’s neither here nor there. If you dare to look, here are the stats from last night's game. LET’S GO, C’S!!!
Even the guys who aren't seeing a lot of playing time seem to be as ecstatic for their teammates as they would be for themselves had they been the ones making the winning plays. In fact, Terrence Williams -- whose signing I happen to believe was an absolute hijacking by the Celtics over the rest of the League -- who has seen less playing time than Jordan Crawford (another steal, I promise you), has been among the most vocal and supportive from the bench, often out of his seat cheering with the joy of a fan in front of his television. Watching how he and the other recent bench additions have been marveling at the exploits of the Hall-bound Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce up close makes me believe that whatever problems some of them were alleged to have had on past teams will be kept to the shadows, at least in the short-term.
Don't get me wrong...I'm neither giddy enough to be oblivious to the possible pitfalls awaiting the C's as they race to the end of the regular season and I'm not so much of a homer that I don't believe that there may be great trials that lie ahead in the Playoffs for a team without a true playmaker (and the League's best one at that!). 
