News 4/21

[FLCeltsFan]

www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/x2103872976
Celtics 104, Hawks 81: Demolition job
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By Scott Souza/Daily News staff
GHS
Posted Apr 21, 2008 @ 12:41 AM
Last update Apr 21, 2008 @ 02:11 AM

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BOSTON — All season the Celtics' mantra has been to never be satisfied no matter how long the winning streak or how gaudy the record.

That's one thing that apparently hasn't changed now that the playoffs arrived, as they looked at parts of last night's 104-81 blowout of the Hawks and immediately thought of what they could do better.

"We were not happy at halftime," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers of a nine-point lead at break that eventually grew as high as 27 in the closing seconds. "We didn't close out the first quarter and we didn't close out the second quarter. That allowed them to stay in the game. If you have a chance to put a team away in the game, you have to do it, especially in the playoffs."

Though the top seeds might have let the young and athletic Hawks hang around longer than they wanted, by the end of the night it was like so many other wipeouts on the parquet this season. Ray Allen scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the third as the lead grew to 18 heading into the fourth. By the early minutes of the final session there was little doubt Boston would have the advantage heading into Wednesday night's Game 2.

"We don't really look at this game as an indicator," contended Paul Pierce. "A series can get tangled around if you get overconfident and don't keep doing the things you have to do to win four games.

"It's a good win. We'll take it for what it's worth. But we don't think we played our best basketball tonight."

Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Pierce had 14 (3 treys in the first quarter) and Rajon Rondo (15 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists) passed his first playoff test with remarkable proficiency in outplaying veteran counterpart Mike Bibby (5 points on 2-of-10 shooting). The Celtics led for all but the first 49 seconds of the game and were up double digits for all but the first 1:04 of the second half.

Sam Cassell (10 points in 16 minutes) and James Posey (8 points in 29 minutes) both provided the type of playoff-savvy minutes off the bench expected when they were brought aboard, while Leon Powe (10 points in 24 minutes) was also solid as the first big man off the bench.

"Rondo played well," said Garnett. "Tonight, he took his shots, had a lot of confidence, got in sets and knew every last set they called out. We are as good as our point guard and our leader. Right now, that's the role he's taken."

The Celtics built early leads of 17-6 and 24-10 before the Hawks came back and cut the deficit to 29-27 just 1:24 into the second quarter. That's when Garnett returned to the floor and the momentum predictably shifted back in Boston's direction.

Back-to-back putbacks from Tony Allen and Ray Allen capped an immediate 6-0 run, and seven straight points from Cassell then made it 42-31 at 5:07. A Posey 3-pointer and Pierce shot over Bibby helped make it 49-40 at the break.

Ray Allen then struck for 10 points in a row and Boston was up 67-48 with 5:37 to go in the third.

"They switched Bibby on him and if we could get him the ball in the pick-and-roll we could take advantage of that," Rivers said. "If you give Ray a look, chances are he's going to make it. We have the mentality where, if it works, you run it again, and run it again as long as you get it. I made a concerted effort to do that. I thought we were not getting him shots in rhythm and we have to do a better job of that."

"I've done it all before," determined Allen of the pick-and-roll shots. "To make it easier on Paul, and to make it easy on Kevin, I'm always readily available to that. It took a little pressure of Kevin having to make shots. I was getting some stuff. I was getting attention shuffled toward me, then it opened it up for him."

After Atlanta got back within 12, a Kendrick Perkins block and consecutive Rondo pull-up jumpers promptly thrust the lead back to 16, before a dramatic fall-away Rondo hook in the paint made it an 18-point lead after three.

The knockout blow came on Powe's two-handed slam while being knocked to the ground with 5:53 left in the game. Both Garnett and Cassell rushed to beat him in celebration as the crowd roared its approval, then Powe finished the three-point play for a 91-68 lead.

Three minutes later, Garnett and Pierce both left the game thunderous cheers, including chants of "MVP! MVP!" for Garnett.

"I had to take minute for myself and be thankful I am back in this position," Garnett said. "I am going to enjoy this. I am not going to hold back. I am going to enjoy this ride for as long as it goes."

[FLCeltsFan]

aol.nba.com/celtics/playoffs2008/sidebar042008-rondo.html
Seemingly Unfazed, Rondo Adapts To Playoff Pressure
Couper Moorhead
Celtics.com Correspondent
April 20, 2008

There's always a first game. Bob Cousy once played his first playoff game. So did Havlicek, Bird, McHale, Pierce, Allen and Garnett.

They all had to adjust to something new, something faster, and something much more intense. They all did it, and with his 15 points, nine assists, six rebounds and two steals in 27 minutes last night against the Atlanta Hawks, its fair to consider Rajon Rondo adjusted to NBA Playoff basketball. The Celtics won Game 1 104-81 thanks in part to Rondo directing a second-half surge that put Boston up 1-0 in their first round series with the Hawks.


Rajon Rondo controlled the tempo of Sunday night's playoff opener despite the pressure of his first career postseason game.
Brian Babineau/NBAE/Getty
Syncing with the postseason game involves taking the same things you did in the regular season -- and expanding on them -- to an evolving playoff stage that rewards wins with added pressure. No easy task for a second-year player, even with those broad shoulders. But Rondo kept his cool, and thus kept his team in control.

"I was pretty comfortable. I didn't really get nervous. I tried to approach it like a regular season [game] but I knew the intensity would be a lot higher," Rondo said.

That intensity was there in the first two quarters as the teams traded runs. The Celtics went up by double digits early in the first, and the Hawks chipped their way back with an 11-2 run of their own late in the opening stanza. Yet even after forward Josh Smith sparked Atlanta by blocking James Posey and slashing to the other coast for a layup, Rondo settled the tempo.

With the ball on the baseline and the Hawks threatening to go on a run after Smith's layup and a trip to the stripe from Josh Childress, Rondo noticed something was wrong with the out of bounds set. While the referee tossed him the ball, Rondo let the it bounce off his arm as he walked onto the court to direct James Posey. Once satisfied -- and spared of a delay of game warning -- the play resulted in Kevin Garnett hitting an open jumper.

"He was very poised. I think [the] second half of the season he has been a lot more accepting of his role, a lot more of a general and in a sense more of a leader, leading by example. I don't know what it is that clicked, but he has been playing tremendous," Garnett said. "We are as good as our point guard and our leader and right now that's the role he has taken."

With three prolific scorers around him, sometimes that role has to change from leader and distributor to scorer. It was in Rondo's best and most mature sequence Sunday that he took that spot, a sequence that started when his critics had their 15 seconds to be right about his jumper.

When Garnett dished to Rondo in the third quarter, the defense was sagging a four feet off of him. "We dare you," the Hawks seemed to be saying. Rondo took the bait, and his baseline jumper sailed a foot and a half over the rim.

"The air ball actually felt good," Rondo said. "I put my hands down like it was good, but it came up an air ball."

The next offensive possession began with Rondo streaking down the court, looking for the quick bucket. With nobody but Hawks in front of him, he pulled the ball back to the top of the arc and set up a pick-and-roll with Ray Allen. When both defenders went with Allen, the ball was kicked back out to Rondo, all by his lonesome once again.

Butter.

That got the Hawks' attention, but not enough of it. On the following possession, Rondo passed up a jumper in the right corner to drive in, but when the defender stuck him he crossed over to the left and pulled up to stroke another.

Rondo kept on rolling. Holding the ball for the last shot of the third quarter, he waved off his teammates and crossed the ball back and forth in front of him, planning his attack on Al Horford, the victim of a cruel mismatch. Rondo took Horford to the right across the paint and the forward gave the quicker guard a hip check that sent Rondo backwards, but not before he threw the ball up, and in.

"He airballed the first because he wasn't ready to shoot the ball," Sam Cassell said. "He did what we needed him to do. He led us, he scored when he had to score, he passed when he had to pass and he defended when he had to defend."

In other words, he did his job, foiling the Hawks' plans for finding a way to stop the Boston offense.

"As long as Ray and Paul aren't sticking the dagger in you, you have to deal with Rondo making the shots," said Hawks Coach Mike Woodson.

Lately, the only way to cope with Rondo making his shots has been to lose.

[FLCeltsFan]

aol.nba.com/celtics/playoffs2008/playoffs-postups.html

Live from Courtside
104-81 Celtics, FINAL: The Let's Go Bruins chant is underway...

96-75 Celtics, 2:59/4th: It's Gino Time...Big ups to Marina for organizing a Gino dance for the timeout. Bedazzled Gino T-shirts are a nice touch. We're still not sure about the light up outfits for starting lineups, though...

91-71 Celtics, 4:08/4th: Sam Cassell sits down with 10 points. Meanwhile, Horford has 20 and 10. Impressive, but the Hawks need more from their backcourt. Sure, Joe Johnson's got 19, but Bibby's five-point, one assist effort isn't enough if the Hawks are going to compete with the C's.

90-68 Celtics, 5:53/4th: Leon Powe just threw down a two-hander over Bibby, spilling himself on the floor in the process. Cassell and Garnett came flying in to pick him up off the floor, and Garnett began throwing punches at him on the ground to fire him up. That was the exclamation point on this one, and there's (hypothetically) still almost six minutes to play.

80-60 Celtics, 8:46/4th: Perkins is the only starter not in double-figures. But the Celtics are getting it done on the defensive end here in the second half as the Hawks are now hovering around 38% shooting for the game.

73-55 Celtics, End of 3rd: Ray Allen had 12 points in the quarter when Bibby was on him, and now Rondo's been draining midrange jumpers because the Hawks are daring him to beat them. Then he waved everyone off for a clearout drive against Horford and dropped a runner in the lane. He's got 15 points, six rebounds and nine assists through three quarters and is really taking control of this game.

The extra-long breaks at the quarters for national TV seem to leave teams with plenty of extra time for their huddles, to the point where players spend about 30 seconds on the sideline waiting for the horn to sound before the retake the floor.

60-44 Celtics, 7:47/3rd: Just as I finished telling Hawks.com's Micah Hart that the Celtics have been a fantastic third quarter team, the C's capped an 11-4 run with a Ray Allen three. Looks like the Hawks don't like the point guard matchup on their end, as they've now got Joe Johnson checking Rondo and Bibby guarding Allen.

49-40 Celtics, Halftime: Paul Pierce leads all scorers with 13 points here at the half, but it's a relatively quiet 13. This game feels closes than nine points, probably because since the Hawks made their 11-2 run late in the first, it's been basically a stalemate.

49-38 Celtics, 1:09/2nd: It looks pretty clear that the C's are intent on wiping Mike Bibby out on the pick and roll nearly every trip down the floor. Mr. Bibby isn't putting up much of a fight.

42-31 Celtics, 4:04/2nd: KG just picked up his third foul and took a seat. He's 4/10 from the field thus far with eight points and four boards.

29-21 Celtics/End of 1st: The Hawks survived the Celtics' initial shot and they used a late 11-2 run to keep things close here in the first quarter. The man most impressing me tonight? Rondo. I've already typed his name about six times, and he seems to be just as poised as he is for a regular season game.

As for Perkins, as I mentioned earlier, we interviewed him for Celtics.com before the game and mistakenly asked him if he was nervous before his first playoff experience, forgetting that he was on the 2004-05 team, and was selected by Pacers Coach Rick Carlisle to shoot free throws in place of Paul Pierce. He played 28 minutes total in that series, but admitted that for all intents and purposes, this is his first "real" playoff experience.

See, website reporters have playoff pressures, too...My bad!

26-13 Celtics, 2:53/1st: Rondo has a nice line so far, six points, three rebounds and five dimes.

24-10 Celtics, 4:46/1st: Rondo just scored on a post up move straight from the Kevin McHale playbook. Not bad for a six-footer. And Bibby got hit with a tech after the whistle.

14-4 Celtics, 6:54/1st: Perk just picked up his second foul. He's shaking his head on the way back to the bench.

8-2 Celtics, 8:43/1st: Pierce already hit a pair of threes...The Hawks have already missed the rim twice. Just a little nervous, perhaps?

Perk almost spit on me (unintentionally) after he got fouled and screamed at the crowd on the baseline, foaming at the mouth. That might be the scariest thing I've ever seen.

I asked him before the game if he's doing a better job of controlling his emotions on the court. He said he was trying but not happy about the fact that he was leading the NBA in techs early in the season. So yeah, he's trying to stay under control out there....

So much for that...

8:40 p.m. - It's game time...

Pregame Media Access
8:24 p.m. UPDATE! This arena is live...Let's Go Celtics has already started...The live look in at the locker room and Ray Allen's sprint down the hallway to lead the Celtics onto the floor for warmups had the building in a frenzy.

Aside from the extra media in the house tonight, so far it feels like a regular game in the Garden tonight. That said, we expect business to pick up in short order, as the game ops crew has a little something in store for us during opening lineups. Suffice it to say that they expect to blow the roof off the building tonight, if there's anything left from the aftermath of last night's Bruins game.

To that end, even Doc Rivers was watching hockey last night, and he was excited by what he saw.

Rivers did note that he couldn't really tell if the team is ready or not by their demeanor at shootaround.

"They seem ready, but you don't know. Clearly they're ready not to see us anymore as a coaching staff. I can guarantee that. You can tell when you yell out a play and they start yelling it back that they know the play."

One thing Doc is sure of is that he was more nervous as a player in the playoffs than he is as a coach.

"I think you're more nervous as a player. I was at least. As a coach, you're more focused on your practice time, and making sure you did your due diligence. Once the game starts, then you're just looking at matchups and praying for no foul trouble."

You can get his pregame audio here on the site in the Audio Archive.

6:55 p.m. - The locker rooms are about to open up. We'll be back with notes, quotes and more

[FLCeltsFan]

aol.nba.com/celtics/playoffs2008/sidebar042008-cassell.html
Cassell Links Allen, KG To Past Playoff Runs, But Celtics Have More Depth, Talent
Couper Moorhead
Celtics.com Correspondent
April 20, 2008

There's a story that might have swam around some fishing nets when Sam Cassell signed with the Boston Celtics. It's a story of threes, and he ties it all together.

Much of the talk from the team in previous days has been about the start of the playoff journey, and amidst all the postseason chatter it's easy to forget that some of them have been in this position as teammates before.


Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassell celebrate after beating the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2004 NBA Playoffs. Sam and KG went to the Western Conference Finals before being eliminated by a loader Los Angeles Lakers team just one step away from the NBA Finals.
In 2000-01, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell were part of a Big Three in Milwaukee with Glenn Robinson. That squad won 52 games en route to a No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference before losing in seven games to the Philadelphia 76ers in the Conference Finals.

Seven years later, with the No. 8 Atlanta Hawks coming to town behind a lineup stacked with young talent and a veteran point guard in Mike Bibby, Allen isn't changing his approach.

"Whether it was me or the guys around me everybody pretty much took an approach to come in and do what you need to do for yourself and do what you need to do for your team," he said.

Within two years, each piece of that Bucks core was traded. Allen went to the Seattle Supersonics and Cassell joined Kevin Garnett in Minnesota alongside Latrell Sprewell. That team was also a No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with 58 wins, but lost in six to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Conference Finals.

The parallels are clear. Cassell is back playing the backup point guard role -- this time to Rajon Rondo -- just as he did at the beginning of his career for Kenny Smith on the '94 and '95 Houston Rockets' championship teams behind Hakeem Olajuwon.

That's three teams that went at least three rounds deep. And compared to the one team that won it all, the '08 Celtics run a different course in the same direction.

After Thursday's practice, Cassell said this Celtics team has the most talent of any he's been on.

"By far," Cassell said. "We didn't have the best talent in Houston. We had the best chemistry. Guys understood their roles and cherished their roles. Same as right here."

Garnett shared a similar sentiment about the team he and Cassell have shared since March 4.

"This is the deepest I've been on," Garnett said. "A team where the guys are not only experienced but know how to play the game. [The] difference is this team has a lot more confidence than the teams I played on, one through twelve, one through thirteen, fourteen, fifteen guys; it's about all our hard work.

"This team is more, 'we're going to go out here and show you versus tell you.'" Garnett added.

So, while Cassell links together his old Big Threes, serving as the degree of separation for the new trio, it's clear that history is history and any near misses in the past are not important because, in Garnett's words, it's about the Celtics now.

[FLCeltsFan]

Garnett felt good and Hawks paid the price

07:39 AM EDT on Monday, April 21, 2008

By Kevin McNamara
Journal sports writer

BOSTON – It’s been three long years for Kevin Garnett to feel the excitement of playoff basketball once again and the Celtics big man certainly enjoyed it.

After shaking off some early foul trouble, Garnett was his usual dominant self for Boston as he contributed 16 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to his team’s 104-81 throttling of the Atlanta Hawks Sunday night. Garnett thrives on emotion and he clearly relished the start of the post-season.

“It felt good,” Garnett said. “I had so much emotion that I had to slow down running through the tunnel. I could hear the crowd, the building was rocking, the bleachers were shaking. I had to take a minute for myself and thank the Lord I’m back in this position. I’m going to enjoy this ride for as long as I can. Coming through that tunnel, it was a rush.”

The Celtics all enjoyed the same rush. Some pre-game pyrotechnics that accompanied the introduction of the starting five got the crowd flying high and that emotion stayed high most of the night. Several Red Sox players were in the crowd, including David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia.

“You know, it’s funny but it’s rare when you can hear the fans in the locker room when the team runs out,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Today you actually could. They were fantastic.”

Bench comes through

Early foul trouble to both Garnett and Pierce led Rivers to go to his bench sooner than he’d like. Leon Powe was the sixth man and veteran big man P.J. Brown saw early action as well. Powe continued his strong late-season play and finished with 10 points. Veteran guard Sam Cassell also had 10 and James Posey added eight points.

“We had to stretch (the bench) a little more than we wanted to,” said Rivers. “The good news is when Kevin went out, we stretched the lead a little bit. That’s good but that’s nothing we can lean on.”

After a big dunk by Powe late in the game, Garnett greeted the big forward with some power shots to his chest. Garnett said he wasn’t worried about inflicting any harm.

“Leon’s a grown man. The shots I was hitting him with he didn’t even feel,” Garnett said. “Those are like high fives to him. It just so happens that he felt them in his chest.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080421/SPORTS/804210349
Rondo doesn't look like playoff rookie
Tim Weisberg — At the Garden
April 21, 2008 6:00 AM
BOSTON — Everyone who's been there remembers attending their first NBA playoff game. Some remember sitting in the balcony for Game 7 of the 1988 Eastern Conference semifinals, when Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins engaged in a duel for the ages. Others remember the Celtics pulling off the greatest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA playoff history against the Nets in the 2002 conference finals. A select few even remember running onto the court when the Celtics won their first championship back in 1957.

But Rajon Rondo doesn't have to dig back any further than Sunday night to recall his first taste of postseason basketball.

"No, I'd never been to a (playoff) game before," Rondo said before the 104-81 Game 1 win over the Hawks, keyed by Rondo's 15 points, nine assists, six rebounds and two steals. "The playoffs is the highest level of basketball you can play at. A lot of people make a big deal about the NCAA tournament, but it's nothing like NBA ball."

This coming from a player who made the Elite Eight his first year at Kentucky and returned to the Sweet 16 the following season. But with the Celtics among the league's worst teams in his rookie season, he could only guess at what the playoff atmosphere would be.

So excuse him if he didn't realize he was supposed to be nervous.

"Same as any other game day, really," Rondo said, noting he didn't get overly pumped up pregame. "I did when I first came in, but I took a shower and relaxed. You don't want to use all your adrenaline up five minutes into the game."

From the outset, Rondo had adrenaline to spare as he took it right to Mike Bibby, holding his elder to 1-for-4 shooting and an assist in the first quarter. Heading into the series with Atlanta, the feeling was the Celtics had the decided edge at every position except point guard. How could young Rondo contend against Bibby — a 10-year veteran with 51 postseason games on his resume?

As it turns out, rather easily.

Rondo had nine points, five assists and three rebounds in the opening quarter, with his 7-foot floater with 4:46 left in the quarter frustrating Bibby to the point where the Hawks guard earned a technical foul. He was even less happy a few minutes later when Rondo, with no room to get off a play as he was falling out of bounds, spiked the ball off Bibby's foot to keep it Celtics' ball. That heads-up — dare we say, veteran — move led to a Kevin Garnett basket and a 26-13 Boston lead.

Rondo played just 4:46 in the second quarter, as the Hawks mounted a comeback that saw them down nine at the half, and even cutting it to as little as a two-point deficit at times. However, he helped lead the charge in the third, playing the entire quarter, as the Celtics built a dominate lead. Rondo had six points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals in the third alone, including a ridiculous falling-down fade-away with 10.9 remaining.

Bibby? All he managed was one 3-pointer and a bunch of goose eggs for the period.

Following his third-quarter performance, Rondo was rewarded with the entire fourth quarter off as the Celtics cruised to the 1-0 series lead. As he sat on the bench watching his team continue to hold a better than 20-point edge, towel draped over his head, Rajon Rondo got to experience his first real opportunity to watch an NBA playoff game in person. And clearly, it's an experience he could get used to.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20080421/NEWS/804210404/1009/SPORTS
Nothing to worry about

Rondo outplays Bibby in first game

NBA PLAYOFFS

By Bill Doyle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[e-mail]




Boston forward Kevin Garnett yells and pounds his chest before the tip-off in Game 1 of the Celtics’ first-round series against Atlanta. (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Enlarge photo


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BOSTON— You can stop worrying if second-year point guard Rajon Rondo is up to the task of playing well in the playoffs.

Rondo thoroughly outplayed veteran Atlanta point guard Mike Bibby last night as the Celtics opened their first-round NBA playoff series with a 104-81 victory at the Garden.

Rondo entered the fourth quarter with 15 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds. Bibby collected only 5 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Rondo made 6 of 9 shots, Bibby just 2 of 9. Bibby had 51 playoff games to his credit. Rondo had none.


The Celtics and Hawks played the last of the eight first-round openers this weekend, but the wait was worth it for Celtics fans.

Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce joined Rondo in scoring in double figures. Joe Johnson and Al Horford led Atlanta.

Leon Powe’s reverse layup pushed Boston’s lead to 78-58 early in the fourth.

Game 2 will be at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Garden before the series shifts to Atlanta for the next two games on Saturday and a week from tonight.

Rondo followed an air-ball late in the third quarter by hitting jumpers on the next two possessions. Then he sank a floater on the possession after that to enable the Celtics to take a 73-55 lead into the fourth quarter.

Allen scored 12 points in the third quarter. Allen’s 3-pointer capped an 11-4 spurt to open the third quarter and extend Boston’s lead to 60-44 with 7:47 left. A few minutes later, he hit another 3 to make it 65-48. Then he sank a short jumper to push the lead to 67-48.

Pierce scored 13 points in the first half as the Celtics led, 49-40. Horford scored 11 before intermission for Atlanta and contributed to Garnett and Kendrick Perkins each picking up three fouls.

Neither team shot particularly well in the first half. The Celtics shot just 41.5 percent (17 of 41), the Hawks only 41.7 percent (15 of 36).

Rondo proved right away that he was up to the task of succeeding in his first playoff game. The second-year point guard collected 9 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds in the first quarter to help the Celtics take a 29-21 lead.

Pierce hit three 3-pointers to help the Celtics take a 14-4 lead. Allen converted a technical on Bibby to give Boston its largest lead of the half, 24-10.

Sam Cassell replaced Rondo in the second quarter. Celtics coach Doc Rivers sent Rondo to the scorer’s table to report back in for Cassell, but Cassell had to stay in at the next stoppage of play because he was fouled and had to shoot free throws. By the time play was stopped again and Rondo could report in, Cassell had scored 7 points in 1 minute and 24 seconds to help Boston build a 42-31 lead.

In the first half, Rondo and Cassell combined for 16 points. Bibby scored just 2.

Marvin Williams opened the game with a 19-foot jumper to give Atlanta its only lead of the first half and he hit another 19-footer to pull the Hawks within two, 29-27, early in the second quarter.

The Celtics are much deeper than the Hawks. Eleven of the 12 Celtics who dressed played in the first half. Only rookie Glen Davis failed to leave the bench. Brian Scalabrine and rookie Gabe Pruitt were inactive. Only nine Hawks played in the opening half, and Mario West left the bench for only 24 seconds.

This is the 10th time the Celtics have played the Hawks in the playoffs. Boston won eight of the previous nine playoff series.

The 37-45 Atlanta Hawks own the worst regular-season record of any of the 16 playoff teams, but they won their most games in a decade. The Celtics won 66 regular-season games, 29 more than the Hawks. That’s the largest victory difference between two first-round playoff opponents since Chicago won 30 more than Miami in 1996. Chicago swept Miami in three games.

Entering last night, the Celtics were 42-12 all-time at home in opening games of playoff series. They were also 39-1 this season against teams with losing records, including 3-0 against the Hawks. Boston outscored Atlanta by an average of 14.2 points.

The Celtics are 32-20 all-time in the playoffs against Atlanta. This is their first playoff series in 20 years.

Red Sox owner John Henry sat courtside with Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck on one side of the basket. David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis of the Sox sat courtside on the other side of the basket. Pedroia dressed the part — donning a Celtics T-shirt. Between the third and fourth quarters, Ortiz held the ball over his head and Lucky the Leprechaun jumped off a trampoline, grabbed the ball from Ortiz, somersaulted and dunked it. Sox fans exhaled after it became obvious that Lucky didn’t hurt Ortiz.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20080421/NEWS/804210586/1009/SPORTS
Celts learning from the B’s

Don’t take No. 8 seed lightly

CELTICS NOTES

By Bill Doyle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[e-mail]






BOSTON— If Celtics coach Doc Rivers wants to remind his players that No. 8 seeds can give No. 1 seeds fits, all he has to do is mention the Garden’s other tenant, the Bruins.

The No. 8 Bruins have rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie their opening-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Canadiens and can oust the No. 1 seed by winning in Montreal tonight.

“I think it’s great,” Rivers said. “I don’t know anything about hockey, but you can see a team that believes that they can win and that’s really neat to see. I don’t have to bring it up though.”


Rivers watched many of the other NBA playoff games this weekend, but he flipped over to the Bruins Saturday night.

“You want them to win,” Rivers said. “You’re cheering for them. They’re your Boston team. Fortunately, I watched the right period. I watched the third period, which was phenomenal. That was great sports. That was pretty cool.”

Asked if his Celtics players knew what the Bruins were doing, Rivers said, “They’d better know. That’s why we’re playing (last night). Of course they know what they’re doing and they should.”

The Celtics couldn’t play at the Garden Saturday because the Bruins had the building booked for Game 6 at 7 p.m. against Montreal.

Perkins chills out
Celtics center Kendrick Perkins worked harder to keep his cool as the season progressed.

“In the beginning of the season, I was leading the league in techs,” Perkins said. “So I kind of figured I needed to settle down a little bit going into these playoffs. I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job these past few months.”

Perkins made the first playoff start of his playoff career last night. The 6-foot-10 center came off the bench for only 28 minutes during the 2004-2005 playoffs.

“This is really my first playoff experience,” he said. “Those other ones weren’t really a big deal. It wasn’t as intense like this one is.”

Prior to his playoff debut last night, Rajon Rondo said he wasn’t nervous. He was a bit excited when he first entered the Garden, but took a shower to calm down.

“It’s the same as any other game day really,” Rondo said. “I’m a little more prepared for the Hawks, but other than that I feel the same.”

Rondo wanted to make sure he wasn’t too energetic early on so he wouldn’t run out of gas five minutes into the game.

“The playoffs is the highest level of basketball you can play at,” Rondo said. “A lot of people make a big deal about the NCAA Tournament, but there’s nothing like the NBA playoffs.”

Rondo had never been to an NBA playoff game prior to last night, but he did reach the Elite Eight and the Sweet Sixteen in his two years at Kentucky.

Read the book
The Celtics received thick books of Atlanta’s plays, but Rivers wasn’t sure how much his players would read them.

“We give it to them and if they open it they’ll probably find $100 on one of those pages,” Rivers joked. “You guys (in the media) would read them so we wouldn’t give them to you.”

Rivers admitted there is such a thing as information overload.

“If they play bad, they’ll blame it on me,” he said. “That player will say I psyched him out with the info. I guess it could, but I doubt it. You usually get psyched out by the jersey on the team when guys light you up.”

Gift baskets for players
The Celtics wives left gift baskets in each of the Celtics lockers prior to the game. The baskets included a few golf balls, which isn’t a good sign. The Celtics don’t want to be golfing for another two months.

What will the wives give the players if the Celtics win it all?

“I want a Benz,” Leon Powe said.

Atlanta coach impressed
“This Boston team is a great team,” Atlanta coach Mike Woodson said. “What Doc has done, he and his staff. It’s not a given when you put three All-Stars together that it’s going to work, but boy they’ve had a tremendous regular season. We’ve just got to come in here with the mindset that we’ve got to get a game here.”

Woodson said his team wouldn’t run as much in the playoffs as they did during the regular season.

Westminster’s Jones honored
Army Lieutenant Ryan Jones of Westminster, who was killed in Iraq last May, was honored as part of the Heroes Among Us program. When Jones left for Iraq, he gave his parents, Kevin and Elaine, an envelope and instructed them not to open it unless he lost his life in battle. After he was killed during active duty, his parents read the letter, which instructed them to use his $400,000 life insurance policy to start a scholarship at his high school — Monty Tech in Fitchburg. Kevin and Elaine not only followed his wish, but created the Ryan Patrick Jones Heart of a Hero Foundation to support the charities that Ryan cared about the most. Kevin and Elaine accepted the award on Ryan’s behalf.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.patriotledger.com/archive/x1498099342
Former teammates Wilkins, Rivers now on opposite sides of court
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By Jim Fenton
GateHouse News Service
Posted Apr 20, 2008 @ 09:18 PM

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BOSTON — During their days as Atlanta Hawks' teammates, Dominique Wilkins had a pretty good idea where Doc Rivers was headed after retirement.

Given the way Rivers handled himself as a point guard, Wilkins figured he was going to wind up coaching when he was finished playing.

"He thought he was a coach then,'' Wilkins said. "He was the only guy who wasn't afraid to tell me, ''Nique, that was a bad shot. Get a better damn shot.'

"I was like, 'What?' Then I was like, 'You know what? It was a bad shot.' He was the only guy who wasn't afraid to tell me if I made a mistake or if I needed to tighten up on defense, and I could do the same to him.

"That's the respect we had for one another. So yeah, he was a coach early on.''

Wilkins and Rivers, who were together for eight seasons, are on opposite sides now in an opening-round NBA playoff series between the Hawks and Boston Celtics that began Sunday night.

Rivers is coaching the top-seeded Celtics, and Wilkins is a vice president of the Hawks, who made the postseason with a sub-.500 record.

Rivers laughed when told that Wilkins remembered the on-court yelling that took place during their days in Atlanta.

"I did yell at him a lot,'' Rivers said. "Usually it was saying, 'Pass.' Me and 'Nique are very close. I'm very fond of him.''

Wilkins has enjoyed the run that his friend and former teammate has had with the Celtics this season, going 66-16 to earn the top seed.

"He's a special guy for me, a special friend,'' said Wilkins, who spent the 1994-95 season with the Celtics and lived in Dover for five years.

"I'm happy for him. I won't be too happy if he wins the series against us.

"What he's done, everybody says Boston has all the talent, but who do you think put that talent together and got them to buy into a system? There's been a lot of teams -- remember the Philadelphia teams that brought stars in and couldn't win a championship for years? This guy has a chance to do it after one year of having a dismal season. That ain't by accident.

"I played against a lot of great players, but he's one of the toughest guys I've ever played with. He's a tough guy, man. I'd go to war with him any day. I'm not surprised that he's become a great coach. To do what he's done in one year, how can you not consider him as coach of the year?''

Though Wilkins played just one year with the Celtics, it was during the final season of the old Boston Garden, making it a special stay.

"I didn't get a chance to play in this one, but it's not the same,'' said Wilkins as he sat courtside. "That Garden had a mystique. Man, it was like it gave me goose bumps, the history in that building. I love coming back here because of the basketball knowledge in this town.''