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FLCeltsFan
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News 3/11 Mar 11, 2009 6:51:16 GMT -5

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Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 11, 2009 6:51:16 GMT -5

www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1157771&format=text
Hurting Celtics limp toward playoffs

By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Notebook | Wednesday, March 11, 2009 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matthew West
The Celtics [team stats] have 18 games remaining in the regular season beginning with tonight’s affair in Miami. According to Paul Pierce [stats], that still leaves them ample time to get healthy and get their act together - in that order - before the playoffs.

“We’re hoping we get guys back in the next couple of weeks,” Pierce said. “I think if we have our team together for like 10 games, that would be enough. If we can be full strength for 10 or 12 games, that would be great.”

The Celtics were without five players when they landed in Florida yesterday with Kevin Garnett (strained right knee), Rajon Rondo [stats] (sprained right ankle), Glen Davis (sprained right ankle), Brian Scalabrine (post-concussion syndrome) and Tony Allen (left thumb surgery) all remaining home.

In a way, the Celts are a bit fortunate that none is lost for the year. Allen’s is the longest-term injury, and even he hopes to be back before the playoffs.

“It’s good that there are no season-ending injuries,” coach Doc Rivers said. “It does affect our season though. We’ve lost several games that I know we don’t lose if we’re healthier. Everyone has injuries. You have bumps and bruises. You’re unlucky when people have season-ending injuries.”

Pierce agreed. “I don’t want to jinx nobody, but hopefully that’s the end of it. Thank God it’s a lot of minor injuries, one major injury with Tony Allen’s surgery, but none of the rest require surgery. Hopefully they’ll be back in a few weeks right in time for the playoffs.”

Go for the top

Even while patching things together these days, the Celtics aren’t giving up on their goal of gaining homecourt advantage in the postseason.

“I said at the beginning of the year, even before the season started, that the team who’s the healthiest, especially down the stretch, is the team that’s going to probably win homecourt for the playoffs,” Pierce said. “So hopefully we can get healthy right in time to make our run.”

Added Rivers, “It’s going to be tough. I would say that, but we believe we can still do it. I mean, obviously we know it’s going to be tough. We’re just going to try to grind these games out. We’ve just got to hold the fort down for maybe a week and a half. I think we can, and if we can’t we can’t. But we’re going to sure try.”

And if they wind up having to start an important series on another team’s floor, Ray Allen still believes the C’s can succeed.

“I think that once you get into the playoffs everybody’s attitude changes,” he said. “. . . You’re going to make adjustments on the fly the whole way in the playoffs anyway.”

Lineup, please

The Celtic starters for tonight remain a mystery that Rivers apparently is unwilling to share. Asked who would open at point guard and power forward, the coach replied by text message, “We will have our coin toss later.”

Rivers wasn’t particularly happy with himself for starting Stephon Marbury in place of Rondo on Sunday, but now that the new guy has had a practice Monday and a walkthrough in the hotel ballroom in Miami yesterday, perhaps he will be ready to give it a go.

Leon Powe would seem the obvious choice to fill in for Davis, who was subbing for Garnett. But the C’s may opt to keep him as scoring punch for the second unit and go with Mikki Moore for openers.

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News 3/11 Mar 11, 2009 6:56:00 GMT -5

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Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 11, 2009 6:56:00 GMT -5

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/03/11/celtics_playing_through/
Celtics playing through
Injuries have been par for the course
By Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff | March 11, 2009

Last season, the absence of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett barely affected the Celtics during a visit to Miami. Leon Powe scored 25 points and Eddie House added 20 off the bench as the Celtics defeated the Heat, 117-87, on Jan. 29, 2008.

The injury situation is more dire as the teams prepare to meet tonight. Garnett (right knee strain) will not be available, nor will his replacement, Glen Davis (right ankle sprain), nor point guard Rajon Rondo (right ankle sprain) or key reserves Tony Allen (thumb) and Brian Scalabrine (concussion).

"We're going to try to grind these games out, for maybe the next a week and a half," coach Doc Rivers said. "Five of eight rotation players are out right now. We're going to try and hold it down. We'll see if we can. If we can't, we can't."

The Celtics' identity is being reshaped because of those absences and the addition of Stephon Marbury and Mikki Moore. The Celtics (49-15) are still favored to win nearly every time. But three successive Sunday home losses (to San Antonio, Detroit, and Orlando) and a 2-4 home record since Feb. 1 indicate the team is vulnerable.

"We want to go out and play well with what we've got," captain Paul Pierce said. "We're missing a couple starters, and we've got our work cut out trying to implement the new guys. But guys are ready to step up and we are ready for the challenge.

"We're at that point in the season, regardless of how many bodies we have out there, we've got to go out there and get the job done. It's important for us to do well going into the playoffs."

The Celtics have experienced several late-game collapses this season, partly the result of fatigue and inconsistent bench contributions. But that was not the case against the Magic this past Sunday: The Celtics fell behind by as many as 22 points in the first half, then finished strongly.

"We have to do it out of the gate," Pierce said. "We can't afford to start off slow, especially with us missing bodies."

Marbury had been expected to ease into the rotation but instead is being force-fed the Celtics' schemes. That was a recipe for defeat as the Celtics committed nine turnovers in the opening quarter against Orlando.

"He is in a good place; it's not like he has to watch from the sidelines," Ray Allen said. "When you get thrown into the fire, you have to adjust a little quicker when you're out there. He's learning on the fly. But what's better to ask for than to be out there? I think he's in a good situation."

Marbury is expected to split time with House and Gabe Pruitt until Rondo returns.

"I've never been in this situation before; it's totally different," Marbury said. "I came in in shape, but not in basketball shape. It's like a race - everyone has been running already and I've just started the race, and I'm trying to get back in it. Once my game comes around, I'll be way more at ease and my instincts will take over."

The Celtics have a 16-5 record without Garnett in the last two seasons; they are 0-1 without Rondo this year.

"You can't replace either one of them," Pierce said. "We have to make it up by guys stepping up. We have to make it up with a number of guys, not just one or two guys.

"I always said, even before the season started, whatever team is the healthiest, especially down the stretch, is probably going to win home court in the playoffs. So, hopefully, we'll get healthy and make our run."

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News 3/11 Mar 11, 2009 6:57:05 GMT -5

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Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 11, 2009 6:57:05 GMT -5

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2009/03/11/heat_thumbnails?mode=PF
Heat thumbnails
March 11, 2009

When, where: Tonight, 7:30, at American Airlines Arena, Miami.

TV, radio: CSN, WEEI (850).

Scoring: Dwyane Wade 29.7, Michael Beasley 13.5, Jermaine O'Neal 12.4.

Rebounding: Udonis Haslem 8.4, O'Neal 5.6, Beasley 5.3.

Assists: Wade 7.7, Mario Chalmers 4.6, Chris Quinn 2.0, O'Neal 2.0.

Head to head: This is the second of four meetings. Boston won the first game, 98-83, Jan. 21 in Miami.

Miscellany: Wade has put up at least 40 points in four of the last six games, including 48 Monday night vs. Chicago. Miami is 20-10 when Wade scores at least 30 points . . . Chalmers's 88 3-point field goals made is the most by a rookie in franchise history.

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News 3/11 Mar 11, 2009 6:58:33 GMT -5

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Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 11, 2009 6:58:33 GMT -5

www.boston.com/sports/columnists/massarotti/2009/03/for_cs_better_to_be_healthy_th.html
For C's, better to be healthy than at home
Email|Link|Comments (10) Posted by Tony Massarotti, Globe Staff March 10, 2009 10:28 AM

The Celtics probably won't have the home court advantage this postseason, and the truth is that they know it. The flip side is that they now trust they can win without it, further indication of just how far they have come since this time last year.

"Obviously we want to have home court, but we believe we can win on the road," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said even before the C's took the floor (sort of) in an eventual 86-79 loss to the Orlando Magic Sunday at the TD Banknorth Garden. "We're not going to start the playoffs with guys who are not healthy. We're going to do what we need to do to have all guys healthy at the start of the playoffs."

So there's your answer:

Health is the priority.

Without it, home court won't mean much, anyway.

A telling example of the notion that the Celtics are putting health above everything else came yesterday, when Rivers said that he would try to limit the minutes of Paul Pierce and Ray Allen against Miami Wednesday even with the team already missing five players. Pierce and Allen both played more than 45 minutes in Sunday's loss to the Magic.

"I still want to keep their minutes down, even in a time of crisis," Rivers said.

A year ago at this time, many of us felt differently, in part because the Celtics generally were healthy, in part because we did not trust them for the simple reason that they did not trust themselves. At the start of last season, Rivers acknowledged that one of the team's preseason goals was to go unbeaten at home. One of the others was to have home court advantage throughout the playoffs, mostly because the Celtics believed they would need it.

Know what that means? It means they were a little unsure of themselves. It means they wanted every advantage possible because, together, they had never gone through a postseason before. Even during the playoffs -- as we saw during the series against Atlanta, in particular -- Rivers acknowledged that the Celtics were learning playoff basketball on the fly, a fact highlighted during the breakdowns in composure that took place in Atlanta and, perhaps, Cleveland. In those two series, the Celtics were 0-6 on the road.

But after Game 3 of the Detroit series, everything changed. The Celtics took two of the three games they played at The Palace during the Eastern Conference Finals and another in Los Angeles during the Finals. Combined, against Pistons and Lakers teams that went 64-18 at home during the 2007-08 regular season, the Celtics went 3-3 on the road. More than any others, those wins are what delivered a 17th championship banner to the rafters.

At the moment, the Celtics are a mess. Sunday proved it and the loss of Glen "Big Baby" Davis only emphasized it. The Celtics currently are without Kevin Garnett (strained right knee), Rajon Rondo (right ankle sprain), Tony Allen (thumb surgery), Brian Scalabrine (concussions), and Davis (right ankle sprain), a group that might very well defeat the starting five the C's put on the floor against the Heat on Wednesday night. On Sunday against the Magic, the Celtics operated without their "quarterbacks" on both ends of the floor -- Garnett on defense, Rondo on offense -- and that undoubtedly explains why they looked to be conducting a 24-minute fire drill during the first two quarters.

The score at halftime: Orlando 51, Boston 33 -- and on the Celtics' home floor.

The Celtics spent the remaining 24 minutes scrambling to catch up, something they nearly achieved thanks to sharpshooter Ray Allen. Nonetheless, the end result was that the C's effectively neutralized Friday night's pulsating win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, at least with regard to home court advantage. If and when the Cavs return here in May, they still will do so with the knowledge that they have not won a game in Boston (regular season or postseason) in eight tries during the Garnett era. They will also return knowing (should they retain the No. 1 seed in the East) they will have to play in Boston only three times, not four.

Remember: The Celtics play at Cleveland on the final weekend of the regular season, and we must assume at this stage that the nod will go to Cleveland.

Nonetheless, this past weekend gave us further indication that the Celtics will be quite capable in defending their title this spring. If nothing else, Friday night's victory proved that the Celtics can play their best when they want to and need to. The Celtics are now operating with such a high level of self-assurance that they can almost turn it on and off, something Rivers himself seems to recognize.

At least when he has a healthy roster.

FLCeltsFan
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News 3/11 Mar 11, 2009 7:00:09 GMT -5

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Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 11, 2009 7:00:09 GMT -5

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2009/03/lakers_odom_sus.html
Lakers' Odom suspended
Link|Comments (0) Posted by Gary Dzen, Boston.com Staff March 10, 2009 07:00 PM
Lamar Odom of the Los Angeles Lakers has been suspended one game without pay for leaving the immediate vicinity of the bench during an altercation, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA executive VP of basketball operations.

The incident occurred with two seconds remaining in the third quarter of the Portland Trail Blazers’ 111-94 victory over the Lakers at Rose Garden in Portland last night.

Odom will serve his suspension tomorrow night when the Lakers face the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.

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News 3/11 Mar 11, 2009 7:04:29 GMT -5

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Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 11, 2009 7:04:29 GMT -5

www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/pros_and_colleges/x1622002932/Celtics-must-contend-with-MVP-candidate-Wade
Celtics must contend with MVP candidate Wade
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By Mike Fine/Gatehouse News Service
MetroWest Daily News
Posted Mar 10, 2009 @ 09:44 PM

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Dwyane Wade has injected himself into the MVP race this year.

He leads the NBA with a 29.7 scoring average, which will get anybody a lot of notice. He's been on fire lately, and he ultimately beat the Bulls Monday night with a late steal and buzzer-beating jumper in the second overtime.

"If Mr. Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. (is) not legitimately considered for an MVP candidate, I don't know what he needs to do," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We are currently a playoff contender and night after night, he's making incredible plays like this."

"I think you have to throw him in the MVP conversation," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who'll lead Boston against the Heat in Miami tonight.

"Just the things he's been able to do this year, and getting that team to play a lot better," said the Cavs LeBron James, asked why Wade is an MVP candidate. "As long as Dwyane Wade is healthy, that team is going to win because of how good he is."

Yes, the Heat are winning, but as long as James is breathing this season, Wade doesn't have a prayer of taking the MVP title from him. Both James and Kobe Bryant are playing for championship contenders, which isn't to say that Wade hasn't been extremely valuable to the Heat, who have improved from 15 wins last season to 34 and are in fifth place in the East this season.

While Wade was scoring 25 points with 12 assists against the Cavs Saturday, James was scoring 14 points with 10 rebounds and 12 assists - his fourth triple-double of the season. He's averaging 28.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists and has been dominant all season. The Lakers' Bryant is averaging 28.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists for the West-leaders.

Wade, the 2006 NBA Finals MVP and a five-time All-Star, has thrown in 5.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists. It's conceivable that he could overtake Bryant in the also-ran voting, but he probably won't. He has no shot at overtaking James, whose Cavs are leading the East. But that's OK, because the 6-foot-4, five-year veteran has done wonders for the Heat.

It began with a 50-point outing against Orlando on Feb. 22. One game later against Detroit he had 16 assists, making him just the second player to record 15 or more assists one game after scoring 50 or more. The only other player to do it: Wilt Chamberlain.

Since that 50-pointer, Wade has averaged 37.7 points and 10.9 assists in nine games, which is why he's the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

The Celtics beat the Heat, 98-83, in their only previous meeting in January in Miami. Tonight's game is the first of three remaining. Rivers says that this is a different Miami team, not only because Wade is a new player this season, but also because of the recent trade that brought them Jermaine O'Neal and Jamario Moon. They also signed free agent Luther Head.

"They're really good," Rivers said. "I think the trade they made was terrific. They're a different team than we played early in the year and we'll be different, too, obviously."

The Celtics will head to Miami without Rajon Rondo, Glen Davis, Kevin Garnett, Brian Scalabrine and Tony Allen - all injured.

Mostly, though, Rivers marvels at Wade, whom he calls the best player to come out of Marquette. Second best? Rivers, of course.

"He has speed and power," Rivers said, calling Wade a James who plays guard. He says he can't even be sure if Wade plays the point or shooting guard position because he has the ball so much. "They call him a 2 but I'm not so sure if he's not their point guard because he has the ball in his hands."

During the 2006-07 season Wade suffered knee and shoulder injuries, both of which required surgery that May. Each injury continued to plague him last season, and he called it quits in March. Yet there was a glimpse of the old Wade when he led the US Olympic team in Beijing with 16.0 points per game on .671 shooting, and he was energized to begin the new season with the Heat.

"He was just injured," Rivers said of the old Wade. "He's so young (27) you knew he'd be healthy again and the best decision he made was doing the surgeries and sitting it out. Clearly it helped him."

"He's been one of the best all year long," said Paul Pierce. "A lot of people didn't see Miami even being in the playoffs. He's got them right there. No doubt in my mind he's an MVP candidate. I mean, he's talented. Look at the numbers. They don't lie. He's winning games, he's a competitor, he's a champion. You've heard all the good things. I don't have to shower him (with praise)."

Wade is taking care of that himself.

"Where I came from last year, people were writing me off," he said. "You've got some people who call it a two-man race, and you've got some people who say, 'Don't forget about D-Wade.' I'm just happy to be in the discussion. Coming from where I came from last year, my team winning 15 games to where we are now, it's a blessing."

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News 3/11 Mar 11, 2009 8:14:45 GMT -5

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Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 11, 2009 8:14:45 GMT -5

www.enterprisenews.com/sports/x1622003162/Undermanned-C-s-hit-road
Undermanned C’s hit road
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The Associated Press
Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics will be shorthanded when they face the Miami Heat.

By Jim Fenton
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Posted Mar 11, 2009 @ 01:50 AM
Last update Mar 11, 2009 @ 01:53 AM

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BOSTON — They hit very few speed bumps during the 2007-08 regular season while coasting to a 66-16 record.

The same cannot be said about the Boston Celtics this season.

With just 18 games remaining, the Celtics find themselves shorthanded with five players, including a pair of starters, injured.

It will be that way for at least the rest of the week, leaving the Celtics in a difficult situation.

The undermanned Celtics will play seven of the next 10 games on the road, beginning tonight in Miami against Dwyane Wade and the Heat (7:35, TV: Comcast SportsNet; radio: WEEI-850 AM).

Kevin Garnett continues to be sidelined with a knee injury and probably won’t return until the end of next week. Rajon Rondo and Glen Davis are not expected to play in the next two games due to sprained ankles.

Brian Scalabrine (concussion) and Tony Allen (thumb injury) will be out until April.

That leaves the overworked Ray Allen and Paul Pierce plus Kendrick Perkins, Eddie House and Leon Powe as the only regulars who have been around all season.

They are joined by little-used rookies J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker, second-year player Gabe Pruitt and newcomers Stephon Marbury and Mikki Moore.

“I don’t take the mentality that we’re hanging on,’’ said Ray Allen. “It’s a great opportunity for other guys to get valuable minutes.

“I look at it as a great time for Mikki Moore, Steph and Leon. It will only make them better.’’

Marbury will get another chance to learn the system tonight against the Heat in his sixth game.

“It’s going to take time,’’ said Coach Doc Rivers, “and the only way he’s going to get right is by playing. We lost a game, but it’s going to help him get closer and that’s the only silver lining.’’

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News 3/11 Mar 11, 2009 8:15:11 GMT -5

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