IN BOSTON FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY...!!!

The Truth That Ate Cleveland -- Paul Pierce Powers C's To Win Over Cavaliers: 103-91

HE'S THE MOTHERFATHER TRUTH!!!

Paul Pierce is The Truth.

That's probably all I should write for this post and leave it at that.

Of course, if you've ever read any of my other posts, you'd know that this is pretty much impossible for me to do.

So, here we go...

Paul Pierce was a Beast with a capital "Effing". I am compelled to talk about The Captain's performance without going into details of the game itself. He was THAT good. The stats speak for themselves: Pierce had 25 points already in the bank by halftime. He scored 17 points in the third quarter alone, going 6-6 from Threeland. He had 32 points by the end of the third. He ended the game with 40 points on 13 for 16 shooting, and added 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block(!). For those people talking about age and declining abilities, shooting percentages, or whatever negative spin that's been hurled at The Truth this year (and over the past two years), this was The Captain's foam-hand-sized middle finger to all the haters.

Now, getting into the heart of the game itself:

Cleveland came into the Boston Garden with even more of a foul fragrance than the Celtics even after their failure of a road trip through Texas and Chicago, in which the C's finished 0-3. The Cavs are a dreadfully awfully terrible 5-22 on the season, though to be fair, sparkplug and youthful team-leader Kyrie Irving was sidelined for 11 of those games.

Still, the reality was that the Cavs were 1-9 in December. The Celtics helped to even that loss-column figure by handing them their 10th defeat in 11 games.

This, of course, would come only after the C's survived yet another comeback scare from an eager opponent that wouldn't just roll over because they faced a deficit.

In spite of the heroics of P2 and sidekick of the night Rajon Rondo, who continued in attack mode with 20 points, 8 assists, 4 boards, 2 steals and a block(!), and despite the fact that the Celtics held an 18-point advantage in the middle of the third before allowing Pierce to take a breather, the Boston bench allowed an Irving-led Cleveland run of 17-0 that extended into the 4th quarter and essentially put the game back into contention.

Eventually, the Truth won out (sorry...TOO easy) and the Cavs were sent packing their sad-sacks for another City as the Celtics stopped their skid at 3 while increasing their home winning streak to 4.

Not that it would have made the difference for the win, but Anderson Varejao was out for Cleveland with a bruised knee and probably helped the C's as they managed to stay even with the Cavs in total rebounds with 35 apiece.

Jason Terry started and had a respectable 15 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds and a steal. Kevin Garnett was subtly substantial with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 1 steal. Oh yeah...I almost forgot...center Jason Collins started over Brandon Bass this game and his most significant stat of the night was fouling out in just 23 minutes of play.

Next up, a Milwaukee Bucks team that has beaten the C's in two-out-of-three games so far this year.

Box Score & Tale Of The Tape

THE BUZZ:

Boston Celtics vs. Milwaukee Bucks
Friday, December 21st, 2012
7:30 p.m.
@ The Boston Garden in Boston

With 11-9 Season Thus Far, C's Hope For December To Remember

"Long December And There's Reason To Believe, Maybe This Year Will Be Better Than The Last."

   -- Adam Duritz, Counting Crows

 

Of course, last December didn’t officially start until Christmas Day because of the lockout, but the C’s were still a dismal 1 and 3 for the month anyway.  

This December, however, the deck is stacked with some fairly stiff challenges that should provide a good barometer as to how far along this current crop of Green has come and what categories, if any, they continue to lag in.  And, while it’s not a “make or break” month for the season, it will allow Doc Rivers and the players themselves to see how well the team’s 10 fresh faces are integrating with the core 5 as they continue to make their push towards Banner #18 in earnest.

The good news? The Boyz from Boston are 11-9 (2-2 in December) and only four spots out of first place in the Atlantic Division heading into the rest of their schedule for December. The not-so-good news? The Celtics have two road trips -- one three-game and another four-game stretch on the road.
 
The C's will kick off the first day of the rest of the month by facing a Nowitzki-free but dangerous Dallas Mavericks team tonight at the Garden before hitting the road against the Jeremy Lin/James Harden-led Houston Rockets (9-10), League-leading San Antonio Spurs (17-4), and the always-tough if Rose-less Chicago Bulls before returning home to host a better-than-their-record Cleveland Cavaliers with a fresh Kyrie Irving, who just returned to the lineup after sitting for the past 11 games with an injured finger. The C's end their 2-game home stand against the Milwaukee Bucks, a team that has won two-out-of-three games against the C's already.
 
The Celtics will then embark upon their road show with the "Christmastime In Brooklyn Spectacular" and then take a California swing against the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, and the Sacramento Kings to end the month.

While the C's appear to be heading in the right direction by flexing a beefier defense and an offense that features a more consistent and comfortable Jeff Green and Jason Terry, it remains to be seen whether the C's have it completely figured out. My guess is that they'll end the "Holiday Month" with more gifts under the tree than lumps of coal in their stockings. 

The Future begins tonight, GreenHeadz! Dallas Mavericks at the Garden! 8:00 pm!
LET'S GO, C'S!!!