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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 26, 2008 7:16:38 GMT -5
www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1076007&format=textC’s stroll through LA, ease way back home End trip by routing Clippers By Steve Bulpett | Tuesday, February 26, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics Photo by AP LOS ANGELES - The NBA will say the Celtics [team stats] played a game against the Clippers here last night. But considering the Celts’ highway fatigue and the opposition’s apparent disinterest, it was if the businessmen from Boston were simply keeping an appointment. Luggage? Check. Sneakers? Check. Beat the living daylights out of the Clippers? Check. The 104-76 win gave the Celts a two-triumph end to a journey that began with three straight losses. Playing their third game in four days against a team that hasn’t been away from home since before the All-Star break, the C’s were more than good enough. Paul Pierce [stats] had 17 points and Ray Allen, the only starter to play at all in the last quarter (2:20), had 15. Kevin Garnett added 11 points and six boards in 23:26, showing more flashes of Big Ticket-ness. With James Posey finishing off a 17-point night, the Celts maintained their two-game lead on Detroit for the best record in the league and were already in preparation for tomorrow night’s clash with Cleveland at TD Banknorth Garden at the dawn of the final period. “A great team win for us, a professional win,” coach Doc Rivers said. “The Clippers had so many guys out, I just thought we needed to have a great focus and our guys did that. “I’m really happy with our effort.” At times, Los Angeles looked like Southie with palm trees. With green the most prevalent color in the stands and Ted Danson (Sam Malone from “Cheers”) walking around Staples Center, everyone knew the Celtics’ names. “That’s what happens when you’re winning,” said Pierce, who found absolutely no reason for his Celtics to lose to the Clippers - not these Clippers, anyway. Pierce hit two treys in the third quarter as the Celts went out to a 10-point lead. Then, believing it was time to turn out the lights, the C’s ripped off 14 straight points. “If you can come out in the third quarter and jump on them, you can make them go away - and I thought our guys did that,” Rivers said. “It’s good to get this last win before you go back home. It’s tough when you’re on the road. “Guys are probably looking forward to getting back to that 25-degree weather and the driving snow.” Highlights the rest of the way were USC hero Gabe Pruitt making his first Celtic appearance since Jan. 29 in Miami, the west end zone crowd chanting for Scot Pollard and the video board focusing on a fan chugging a beer at the end of the third quarter. The 23-17 lead the Celtics had at the end of the first quarter wasn’t big either for the size of the margin or that it came against one of the NBA’s bottom feeders. But in terms of this trip, a lead of any kind after 12 minutes was remarkable stuff. It was the first time since they left Boston that the C’s walked out to start the second period with an advantage. They trailed by five after a quarter in Denver and by three at Golden State. Then it got a bit ridiculous, with a 15-point deficit in Phoenix and a 16-point shortfall (32-16) Sunday in Portland. The poor starts had become a major point of discussion. “Teams are coming out and giving us their best shot,” said C’s coach Doc Rivers. “We have to be prepared for it and match their intensity.” OK, so intensity wasn’t really a key issue with the Clippers, but the Celts were nonetheless happy to be ahead. “We’ve been moving the basketball, getting open shots and we’ve got guys on this team who can hit
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 26, 2008 7:18:07 GMT -5
www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1076010&format=textGreen comfortable with place in East By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Notebook | Tuesday, February 26, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics Photo by AP LOS ANGELES - The Detroit Pistons have been closing in on the Celtics [team stats] for the best record in the East, but coach Doc Rivers doesn’t seem particularly concerned with the race for homecourt privileges thoughout the conference playoffs. “We don’t even talk about it, to be honest,” he said. “Obviously, you’d rather have homecourt, but you know what? We’re a confident team. “We just want to be playing our best basketball at the right time, and if we’ve got homecourt, we would love it. But if not, it really ain’t going to crush us.” At stake is the opportunity to play a Game 7 on one’s home floor, meaning that if Detroit overtakes the Celts and the two teams make it to the conference finals, the C’s would have to win at least one game in Auburn Hills to win the series. “And to us, we’ve got to win the first round and the second round, so we don’t even look at something like the conference finals,” Rivers said. “We don’t even want to talk about it.” The coach did note that he often puts goals such as this in front of his players. “Yeah, but we’ve got different goals,” he said. “That’s not anything we’ve even discussed yet.” And just what might those different goals be? “We keep them to ourselves,” Rivers said with a smile. “We’ve got all kinds of great goals that no one knows about.” Birthday boy Rajon Rondo [stats] turned 22 last Friday. Quietly. “No party or anything,” said Rondo, who had nine points and three assists in last night’s 104-76 victory over the Clippers. “I just rested up and then went out and got something to eat after the Phoenix game with the guys. I’m just thankful to see 22, but I celebrated by relaxing.” Rondo was the beneficiary of a phone call from his mother, who sang “Happy Birthday,” but there were no surprises. “I’ve never really had a surprise party or anything,” he said. “I mean, I had parties, but I always knew about them. I’m nosey, so they were never a surprise to me. I pretty much knew everything.” What the second-year point guard knows now is that he needs to continue, and even improve, on his pace if he’s to get the Celts deep into the playoffs. “I think I’m mature for my age, but I don’t try to put any pressure on myself because of how young I am,” Rondo said. “I’m just trying to continue to learn. I just want to listen to everything the coaches tell me and everything the veteran players tell me. “It’s just my second year in the league and my first year getting a lot of playing time. I’ve just got to keep an open mind and take the criticism and turn it into a positive. I have so much room to improve and grow as a player. Hopefully, I can only go up with hard work.” No great Scot Scot Pollard is having his difficulties coming back after 19 games out with left ankle issues. Sporadic playing time won’t help. “It felt like I’ve been into it a little bit, but it just seems like the ball is bouncing over my head or getting tipped out of my hands,” he said. “I’m a little off that way. I don’t know if it’s because I’m rusty or that’s just the way it’s going. Spot minutes are going to be what I’m playing the rest of the year, so I just need to stay confident and be ready when he calls my number.”
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 26, 2008 7:25:51 GMT -5
www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1076008&format=textAny moves in guarded condition By Steve Bulpett | Tuesday, February 26, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics Photo by AP LOS ANGELES - A little more than an hour before tipoff last night, Danny Ainge hadn’t heard from Brent Barry, and the Celtics [team stats] director of basketball operations wasn’t taking that as good news. With teams to choose from closer to Barry’s home (and a better tax situation in Texas), sources were saying the guard will either go back to San Antonio (after a 30-day wait) or sign with Houston or Phoenix (Steve Nash is pushing for a signing) when he clears waivers this morning. The Celtics hope they are still involved, but sources were calling them a longshot on Friday night. Meanwhile, Sam Cassell remains a possibility. Before the Celts beat his current employers, 104-76, the Clippers point guard said he was hopeful of negotiating a buyout with the club. If it gets done, he and the Celts have a strong mutual interest. (And if the C’s were to also get Barry, it wouldn’t preclude them from going after Cassell.) “They’re talking about it,” Cassell said when asked about the buyout. “It’s just a matter of working things out and getting it done.” Asked if it’s a matter of how much he’s willing to give up, Cassell said, “You know how it is. It’s a business. I can understand it, but hopefully I think it’ll get done.” On other free agent fronts, the C’s do not have strong interest in either guard Flip Murray or big man Jamaal Magloire. For his part, coach Doc Rivers is keeping an open mind. “I think we can improve our team,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it. I know we can. Having said that, I don’t worry about it. It’s nothing that consumes my thoughts at all. If it happens, we’ll adjust, but until I look at it, this is the group we’re going into the playoffs with.” As far as adding someone to his club this late in the season, Rivers does not seem deterred. “I’m not that concerned about it,” he said. “It may slow us down in some ways for a little bit, but in the long run it’s the right thing to do. I think if you’ve got a chance to improve your team, you have to do it.” The Clippers are in a far different mode after injuries to star Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston. “(Coach) Mike Dunleavy understands it,” said Cassell. “Mike’s been good about it the whole time. He understands the situation we’re in. If this team were healthy, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. “But with how it is and with me on the last year of my contract, why not?”
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 26, 2008 7:29:19 GMT -5
www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/celtics/Ainge speaks to Barry Posted by Steve Bulpett at 1:48 am LOS ANGELES — Before leaving Staples Center tonight, Danny Ainge said he spoke with Brent Barry and got no indication where the guard — a free agent by morning — is headed. While the Celtics have been seen as somewhat of a longshot in this, Ainge said Barry did not tell him the club was out of the running. But in that Barry is likely to make a call in short order, it couldn’t have been all that encouraging to get no sense from the 6-7 veteran as to how he’s leaning.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 26, 2008 7:32:03 GMT -5
www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/02/26/celtics_finish_strongly?mode=PFCeltics finish strongly Road trip wraps up with rout of Clippers By Peter May, Globe Staff | February 26, 2008 LOS ANGELES - It looked a lot like the good old days around here last night. Celebrities and minicams surrounding the Celtics locker room. Clippers owner Donald Sterling bemoaning his team's play. Yup, another ritualistic LA beating. There was a distinct air of inevitability about this one from the outset, with two teams in different states of health going in opposite directions in the second half of the season. And in a city built on hopes and dreams, there were absolutely no surprises at the Staples Center. The Celtics pounded the Clippers, 104-76, leading for virtually the entire 48 minutes, and closing their road trip with a methodically efficient victory before a sellout crowd of 19,238 that featured a lot of Celtics fans. Boston closed the trip with two wins (over likely nonplayoff teams) after losing three straight (to two likely playoff teams.) The Celtics also completed a 4-0 sweep of the Los Angeles teams for the first time since 2001-02 (although they got the Lakers pre-Pau and a Clippers team last night that was hopelessly overmatched). Boston shot 55.1 percent and held the Clippers to 40.1 percent in yet another macho display at both ends of the floor. The Celtics led by 6 after one, by 9 at the half, then blew it open in the third, using a 14-0 run to take a 20-point lead into the fourth quarter. The lead eventually reached 29. Celtics coach Doc Rivers called it "a great team win, a professional win. It's good to get that last win before going back home." But Clippers boss Sterling, who was in the press room afterward, was not a happy man. "I thought they played hard," he said of the Celtics. "Do you think our team played hard?" Sterling said he knew nothing about the likely buyout of Sam Cassell's contract, which may happen as early as today, but said he wished Cassell well if, in fact, he was leaving the team. Sterling also said he had no idea that Cassell might end up in Boston. (Does this guy read the papers?) Boston got 17 points from Paul Pierce and James Posey while Ray Allen added 15 and Leon Powe 12. Rivers's rotation reflected the fact that this was (a) the last game of a trip and (b) the second end of a back-to-back. Allen (34 minutes) was the only starter to play more than 30 minutes. Kevin Garnett (11 points, 6 rebounds) played just 23 minutes and, along with Pierce, watched the fourth quarter from the bench. Rivers even managed to get playing time for Gabe Pruitt, who hadn't gotten into a game since Jan. 29. Pruitt played the final 9:40 before a traffic-beating crowd whose remnants were Celtics fans, soon-to-be Celtics fans, and Pruitt's extended family. Some Celtics fans started a "we want Pollard" chant with eight minutes left, but Scot Pollard remained on the bench. The victory improved the Celtics' record against the Western Conference to 18-3. The injury-ravaged Clippers were without Chris Kaman (back) and Cassell (wrist) to add to the long-term losses of Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston, neither of whom has played a game this season. Coach Mike Dunleavy has used 22 starting lineups this season, which is absurd, and has not had one starting five for more than 11 games. By contrast, Rivers's preferred starting five took the floor for the 38th time last night. "They overpowered us with size and they shot the ball well," Dunleavy said. "We didn't play well." No, they didn't. The only time the Clippers led was early in the game and at no time was their lead larger than 2 points. The Celtics took the lead for good on an Allen layup with 6:36 left in the first quarter. Boston was so efficient it didn't have an offensive rebound until a Kendrick Perkins putback in the third quarter. The Celtics bench was again outstanding, accounting for 46 points. It was that kind of night, the same kind of night Sterling saw all too often in the 1980s when a championship-caliber Celtics team would bludgeon a lottery-bound Clippers team and think nothing of it. These Celtics have legitimate championship aspirations. These Clippers are going to the lottery but, when healthy, feel they can compete in the brutal West. Unfortunately for them, they are not healthy enough now to compete against the best of the West or the best of the East.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 26, 2008 7:34:54 GMT -5
www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/02/26/cassell_drawing_interest?mode=PFCassell drawing interest At least 3 teams await to see if he gets buyout By Peter May, Globe Staff | February 26, 2008 LOS ANGELES - Sam Cassell has been in the NBA since 1993. He has two championship rings. He has played in 115 playoff games for five teams - and he knows he won't get to No. 116 with his current outfit, the Clippers. That is why this week stands as one of the more memorable ones in Cassell's 15-year career. He soon will know whether he will be going to the postseason with any of three teams - the Celtics among them - or whether he will close down his third year in Los Angeles April 16. According to a Clippers source, the team will announce today that it is buying out the contract of the 38-year-old guard. NBA sources indicated that the Celtics, Mavericks, and Nuggets all are prepared to make Cassell an offer once he clear waivers in 48 hours. All three teams have their biannual exceptions available to give to Cassell (a maximum of $1.83 million) while the Mavs have their full mid-level available ($5.356 million) and Denver has $2.356 of its mid-level. The Celtics have spent all of their mid-level. "It's weird. I've been playing 15 years and this is the first time anything like this has happened to me," Cassell said yesterday morning following the Clippers' shootaround in nearby Manhattan Beach (he didn't play in last night's 104-76 loss to Boston because of a sore right wrist). "I've been dealing with this for a month and it's going to come to an end soon. Hopefully something positive will come of it. I'll let it rest and hopefully everything will work its way out. "My agent has been talking to them about it, but until he calls me and tells me to pack my bag, I'm still here." Cassell's $6.15 million deal ends this season, and he is not in their plans for 20 9. There is sentiment in Clippers camp to do the veteran a favor with a buyout. "It's still in the air right now," Cassell said. "But as of now, I'm still a member of esterday's shootaround. Sunny forecast While Cassell remains a possibility for the Celtics, it appears Brent Barry is going to stay in the Western Conference. Barry, who was traded by San Antonio to Seattle last week and subsequently released, clears waivers today, and it is believed he has decided on going to the Phoenix Suns. Other possibilities include the surging Houston Rockets and his old team, the Spurs. If he returns to the Spurs, he cannot play for another three weeks under league rules. Other potential high-value targets Flip Murray and Jamaal Magliore are expected to clear waivers tonight . . . Kevin Garnett's brother-in-law, the famed R&B producer/songwriter Jimmy Jam, was planning on attending last night's game. The two are related by marriage; Garnett's wife and Jimmy Jam's wife are sisters. According to Jimmy Jam, Garnett first laid eyes on his wife, Brandi, when she was attending a Timberwolves game with her sister. "He was so distracted by what he saw that he threw a ball into the stands," Jimmy Jam recalled. "Then, after the game, he asked me, 'Who was that girl sitting next to your wife?' I told him who it was and he said, 'Cool. Can I come over to the house?' And the rest is history.' " Kaman sits out The Clippers did not have center Chris Kaman available because of a sore back. "It's the same thing that bothered him back in training camp," Dunleavy said. It was the seventh game Kaman has missed. The Clippers are 1-6 in those games . . . The Celtics decided not to have a shootaround before the game and instead went through a meeting at the team hotel. Additionally, coach Doc Rivers decided to remain in Los Angeles overnight and fly home today, rather than take a red-eye back to Boston after the game. The Celtics have a tough one at home tomorrow night, when they host the reconfigured Cavs (and old friends Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak). The Bobcats are in Friday, but it appears Charlotte will be without Gerald Wallace, who is out after suffering a Grade 3 concussion against Sacramento Friday night.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 26, 2008 7:42:47 GMT -5
www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/ Text size – + Barry update Link|Comments (0) Posted by Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff February 25, 2008 03:15 PM An NBA source said that the Spurs, Rockets and Suns are now the front-runners to sign soon to be free agent guard Brent Barry. Barry will clear waivers Tuesday morning after being released by Seattle following a recent trade from San Antonio. The Celtics now seem to be a long shot. If Barry is to return to the Spurs, who traded him to Seattle, he would have to wait 30 days before he could sign.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 26, 2008 7:43:58 GMT -5
www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/green_room/2008/02/return_to_form.htmlReturn to form Email|Link|Comments (0) Posted by Ian Rider February 24, 2008 11:54 PM Sorry for not posting in a while. I was actually traded from Boston.com and had to wait 30 days for my contract to be bought out before I could come back, only I didn’t open my yap about it like Stackhouse. Early Sunday evening Paul Pierce and the Celtics got their first win since the All-Star break over the Portland Trailblazers. Early on it looked like the Celtics were in for another West Coast whoopin’ when the Blazers dominated them on the boards in the first half and had a 17-point lead in the second quarter. The slow start was primarily due to Kendrick Perkins getting into early foul trouble. This forced Scot Pollard to be the first man off the bench for the Celtics. Never a good sign. I never really understood what the Celtics saw in Pollard, from watching him in preseason, basically, he barely ambled up and down the court fast enough to foul somebody. Early in the season, though, he actually pitched in some solid minutes in a few games. On Sunday, however, he came in and was a good three steps late on defensive rotations, and couldn’t grab a rebound if it fell in his lap. Literally. Watch the tape. Nothing is more deflating to a defense than giving up second-chance opportunities. Once Doc realized it and pulled the Receding Hairline Samurai from the game, the rebounds evened out and the Celtics’ defensive intensity picked up, it was clear sailing from there on out. After one of his worst games of the year against Phoenix, Paul Pierce torched Portland’s Brandon Roy, Travis Outlaw, and any other defender they threw at him, for 30 points, seven boards, and five assists Sunday. Ray Allen and James Posey supplied the open three pointers when the Blazers collapsed on Pierce and the Celtics looked like they did in the first half of the season. Against the Nuggets and Warriors earlier in the week the offense played well, and against the Suns, the defense returned. It finally all came together against the Blazers in a true return to form for the C’s. Even after losing three straight, the Celtics maintained the best record in the league, leading Detroit by two games. The C’s have one left against the Clippers on Monday, and then it’s back home, while the Pistons have the next four on the road in the West. Hopefully the Celtics can open up the lead up for the East’s best record during that time. Three things I thought while admiring Greg Oden’s frohawk… The Celtics’ 12 losses have been by a combined 52 points, seven more than the 45points they beat the Knicks by earlier in the season. Watching the teams the Celtics have played on this West Coast trip, it is shocking that the C’s have such a good record with Kendrick Perkins as their center. Now, I’m not hating Perk, he is a serviceable NBA player, but he shouldn’t be starting anywhere in the league, let alone on a title contender. I would take Andris Biedrins, Marcus Camby, Joe Pryzbilla, and LaMarcus Aldridge over Perk as our starting center. With Rajon Rondo’s improved play, I really feel that the starting center spot is the most dire need on the team. A veteran PG is a close second. I’d like to go on record and say that Ray Allen was robbed for the All-Star MVP. He played half the minutes LeBron did, and without Ray getting hot at the end, the East loses. Fact!
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 26, 2008 9:09:05 GMT -5
www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_8363600Cassell still in holding pattern with Clippers By Joe Stevens Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 02/25/2008 10:18:09 PM PST Veteran guard Sam Cassell was in street clothes for Monday's game against the Celtics, as the team and his agent try to work out a buyout deal. Officially, Cassell was sidelined by a sprained wrist. Boston looks like the likely destination for Cassell if the Clippers agree to buy out his contract. According to NBA rules, Cassell will have to be off the Clippers and clear waivers by 9p.m. Pacific time on Friday in order to be eligible to play in the postseason for another team. It takes 48 hours to clear waivers, so he would have to be waived no later than Wednesday to be eligible to play for another team. When asked about the buyout, Cassell was jovial but cryptic. "Talking about that is irrelevant right now because it hasn't happened yet, unless (agent) David Falk calls me and says, `All right, it's done,"' Cassell said. "I still have to clear waivers." Kaman to get treatment Chris Kaman missed a second consecutive game with a sore lower back and had an MRI that revealed inflammation. Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said Kaman would have to receive an epidural to relieve the inflammation.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Feb 26, 2008 9:47:57 GMT -5
www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=nba/news/news.aspx?id=4133661Pistons will win the East (Sports Network) - It's never too early to make postseason predictions in the NBA, which is why the surging Detroit Pistons have just been tabbed as the top team in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons currently don't sport the best mark in the conference, but since when do records automatically make a team great? Just ask the New England Patriots, who went 18-0 before choking in the biggest game of the season -- the Super Bowl. New England's top basketball team, the Boston Celtics, have been peering into the rear view mirror for more than enough time this season with their NBA-best 42-12 record. Unfortunately for the Celtics the object in the mirror IS actually closer than it appears. And the increasingly-growing surge from Motown will soon be great enough to push the 41-15 Pistons ahead of Boston on the intimidation highway. Detroit is already in the passing lane, having blasted the Phoenix Suns on Sunday in the opener of a four-game trek against Western Conference foes. Point guard Chauncey Billups led the way with 14 points and 11 assists, and is averaging 23 points and 9.6 assists over his last three games. Detroit improved to 9-1 yesterday after Billups posted another double-double. The effort certainly aided the cause in Sunday's 116-86 victory over the Suns. "This was a big game for us," Billups said. "You know how we are -- we play against other elite teams, we lock in. We lock in big time. I thought everybody played good today -- everybody." Detroit was locked in tight, especially with a lead reaching 36 points in the blowout at US Airways Center. It also improved to 21-8 this season versus teams above the .500 mark -- a trait the Pistons must keep in the holster as the playoffs approach. Head coach Flip Saunders has it made with the type of veteran leadership and experience on this roster. Saunders has helped out too with his savvy approach on the sidelines and the use of reserve players. Backup guard Jarvis Hayes scored 18 points against the Suns, the sixth time a bench player has registered at least 16 points in 2007-08. The Pistons, who are 27-7 this season after beating teams by 10 or more points and unbeaten (21-0) when handing out 25 or more assists, have been getting a lot of help from veteran center Antonio McDyess. On Sunday, McDyess recorded his team-high 13th double-double with 12 points and 13 boards. He is averaging more than 10 rebounds per game over his last 13 contests. The Alabama product has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in eight of his last 12 games. McDyess and Co. will resume a four-game road trip on Monday versus the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Central Division-leading Pistons, who are 19-10 on the road this season, will also visit the Jazz and Clippers. Detroit has won two straight overall and 12 of its last 14 games to make some noise with Atlantic Division-favorite Boston in the Eastern Conference. In other team news, Pistons guard Richard Hamilton needs just 28 more points for his eighth straight 1,000-point season. Hamilton helped out against Shaquille O'Neal and the Suns with 18 points. 02/25 12:41:58 ET
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