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Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 2, 2008 7:30:53 GMT -5
www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1064025&format=textPierce steps out in front Captain takes his shot as C’s lead man By Steve Bulpett | Wednesday, January 2, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics Photo by AP There’s been no room to question the hoop harmony of Paul Pierce [stats], Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, but it’s clear, too, that they’re still working on their stage act. And it’s evident that Pierce is getting a better understanding of when to break off a solo riff. People tend to laugh a bit when Doc Rivers goes Belichick and says the Celtics [team stats] are still just trying to get better, but that was proven this last trip by Pierce, who averaged 31.3 points in the last three games. The captain has been stepping out more, taking 11-or-more free throws against Seattle, Utah and the Lakers after doing it just three times in the first 26 games. Pierce downplayed the outbreak that led to his second straight NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week nod, but he’s been widening his team lead in field goals attempted. “Every game is different,” he said. “You’ve just got to understand with the players we have what you can give the team that night to help us win. I’m not going to have a lot of big scoring nights like that. I just suddenly got in a groove the last couple of games, and that’s what it was. You know, there’s going to be games where Ray’s going to have it or Kevin’s going to have it. I’ve just got to find ways to help the ballclub win. I just had a good groove going, the team got me the ball and I was able to score.” And he’s scoring with less hassle than in the past, when he was Focus No. 1 for the opponent’s defense “It’s easy,” Pierce said. “When you’ve got these guys that are as capable as I am, it makes it easy. The same goes for Ray. When he has it going, we expect to make an emphasis on trying to keep him going. The same with Kevin. And we all understand that. Every night it’s not going to be the same guy. “I’m having a good time. Any time I get a chance to get on the court with these guys and lace them up, it’s a great opportunity to get to play with this type of group.” The fact that Pierce is playing just as well at the other end of the floor is what has his coach smiling. “I think he’s got great focus and he has more energy because it’s not all on him,” Doc Rivers said. “So he’s allowed to just play basketball. He doesn’t have to do everything every night. That allows him to be more explosive offensively in late-game situations. I’m more proud of Paul defensively. The offense has been great, but this is the best I’ve ever seen him play defense, and it’s been all year. That’s where my pride comes in when I talk about Paul.” Pierce used the same word to describe his defense. “I take a lot of pride in it,” he said. “Like I’ve said from the beginning, I know with a veteran team and the focus being on defense and a lot of the offense load off my shoulders that I can really focus in on defense a lot more than I have in the past.” Regarding Rivers’ talk of room for improvement, Pierce said, “I definitely believe that. We can just continue to stay focused and not rest on our laurels. I don’t think this team is going to rest. We came in here today and got better. We know that we haven’t hit our stride as a team. We definitely have some flaws, and if we can take care of those things as time goes along, we’ll definitely get better.” Better than 26-3? “Well, we should have been 29-0,” Pierce said. “We can continue to get better. We still have a ways to go. Our record is fine, but we’re playing for something bigger.”
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 2, 2008 7:37:46 GMT -5
www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1064026&format=textOdom’s hit on Allen draws 1-game ban By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Notebook | Wednesday, January 2, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics Photo by AP The league came down on Lamar Odom for his single-handed attempt to bring professional football back to Los Angeles. The Lakers forward was suspended one game for tackling Ray Allen in the fourth quarter of the Celtics [team stats]’ 110-91 win Sunday night at the Staples Center. The missed game will cost Odom $150,266.67 in lost salary. “It’s a bad way to give money up,” Allen said yesterday after practice. “The game was already decided. It was just a dumb play. I’ve never had any bad history with Lamar. After the play happened, a couple of his teammates came back on the floor and just wanted to make sure I was all right. I saw it (Monday) and I saw that could have been a potentially disastrous play for either one of us going into the crowd like that. It’s just uncalled for.” Added coach Doc Rivers: “I just thought he lost his composure, and I don’t think it was intended at Ray. Whoever had the ball was getting that. It wasn’t anything personal. I thought he lost his composure with the refs, and that’s what led to that. He thought he had got fouled the play before, and he was essentially saying, ‘I’m going to show you what a foul is if you’re not going to call that.’ It is what it is. It’s too bad that it happens. Better them than us.” Allen received a technical foul on the play. He will seek to have it, and its accompanying $1,000 fine, voided. “I haven’t spoken to anybody,” he said, “but I plan to make a phone call because I don’t plan on spending money for not doing anything.” Proceed with caution Rajon Rondo [stats] sat out practice and got treatment on his strained right hamstring. The point guard will work out at the shootaround this morning and then it will be determined if he’ll play tonight at the Garden against Houston. “Probably not,” Rivers said. “We’ll see (today). He wasn’t going to do anything (yesterday) regardless.” Added Rondo: “I don’t want to rush back and then be out for a month or two, so I’m just taking my time and see how I feel. Tony (Allen, who got the starting nod in LA) did a great job, so I don’t want to rush back. I don’t know if it’s going to take away from my explosiveness when I try to accelerate.” The Celts appear to be a bit thin in terms of traditional point guards behind Rondo. “I’m comfortable with our team,” said Rivers, “and I told our guys that. Guys are going to get hurt during the season. You’re going to have injuries, and when that happens someone else has to step forward. I thought Eddie (House) and Tony were fantastic at the spot. They added a different dimension to our team. I thought defensively we were more physical having Tony in as your big point guard.” Rocket attack The Rockets could be without Tracy McGrady (knee tendinitis). Rivers, however, remains wary. “They’re talented and they have a big (Yao Ming) that can dominate the game,” he said. “We’re going to prepare like (McGrady’s) playing and if he doesn’t play, he doesn’t play.” . . . The C’s didn’t have any problems with New Year’s hangovers. “We didn’t have to bring the garbage can out, so that was a nice sign,” Rivers said.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 2, 2008 7:44:09 GMT -5
www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/01/02/a_little_missed_direction/A little missed direction Rondo's absence was felt by Celtics By Julian Benbow, Globe Staff | January 2, 2008 WALTHAM - It's not as though Rajon Rondo wants to be on the trainer's table, switching between ice and heat on his bum right hamstring. If he could have, he would have played against the Lakers Sunday. "The lineup card was already turned in," he said. It's not as though Doc Rivers wants to see him there. The coach doesn't smile when he sees little holes poked into one of the most critical spots in his lineup. "It means we're down another guard," he said. "We're thin at the guard position." And that said, it's not necessarily the apocalypse. That would only be if Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, or Paul Pierce wound up on the table. But it's still kind of a big deal. Which is why, after feeling his right hamstring tighten up in the Celtics' 104-98 win over Utah last Saturday, Rondo thought twice about making his way back too fast. He'll wait until tonight's shootaround to decide whether he's healthy enough to play against Houston. "I don't know if it's going to take away from my explosiveness when I accelerate," he said yesterday, after sitting out practice. "It kept me out a game, so it's definitely serious, but I don't want to try to rush back." Rondo was always the X factor, even during the summer when Boston fans were so excited about the trades that made the Celtics instant contenders. The questions were about how he'd play with the new stars, how he'd handle the pressure of being the floor general, and whether he'd step up and take open jump shots since he'd suddenly find himself with tons of them. So far, he's been more than serviceable, averaging 9.4 points, 5.3 assists, and 1.5 turnovers. The only point guard with fewer turnovers and more assists per game is Toronto's Jose Calderon (1.3 and 8.1). "He's worked on his game and he's going to keep getting better," said Rivers. "But he's also playing with Ray, Paul, and Kevin, and that allows him to be freer and that helps big-time." Against the Lakers, Tony Allen's fill-in job (16 points, 4 assists, but also 4 turnovers) was fine. "I thought Tony did a great job," Ray Allen said. "I think Tony picked up where Rajon left off. I think we were a little unstable at times during that game. But we managed to make up for the void that we were missing." Rivers mixed in Eddie House behind him, and the combination allowed the Celtics to be more physical on defense. But they still missed Rondo's particular strengths. His eye for defenses is sharper, and while he admits his handle on the offensive sets isn't what he wants it to be, he's light-years ahead of where he was at the start of the season. Instead of being in a situation where he's trying to get a player the ball, and knowing only one play that'll do it, he has four or five sets in his head that he's comfortable calling at any time. Which led Ray Allen to say, "It's a long-term thing; you'll notice when Rondo's not in the lineup." Rivers will acknowledge weakness outside of his three stars. "If Kendrick Perkins goes down, we're thin at the 5; if Rajon goes down, we're thin at the 1," he said. "It's a delicate team. All teams are." The biggest problem with being down a point guard is having House as the sole reserve, although Gabe Pruitt is also an option. A few veteran point guards, Gary Payton and Travis Best among them, have already made rumblings that they're interested in joining the Celtics, but the squad can't necessarily look to the outside for a solution because any new player would have to learn the system, which is Rondo's strength. "Rondo has a better grasp of the offense," Rivers said. "When we need a special set - we run a lot of out-of-timeout plays - you really can't [when he's out], for the most part. You just have to run what you already have in. So that limits you offensively." It's only Year 2 for Rondo, but going from being the floor general for a bunch of young pups to being thrown into the mix with All-Stars looking for a title kind of forced the 21-year-old to play as if he's been in the league forever. "I've grown a lot, but I've still got a lot to learn," Rondo said. "I'm just trying to learn as much as I can from those three guys and Coach Rivers. The more years I have under my belt, the more I will mature." He won't fool himself into believing his role is bigger than it is. "I'm a small piece," he said. "Just one of the 14 pieces trying to complete the puzzle this year."
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 2, 2008 7:50:17 GMT -5
www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/01/02/odom_foul_still_a_sore_subject?mode=PFOdom foul still a sore subject By Julian Benbow, Globe Staff | January 2, 2008 WALTHAM - It's been a few days since Lamar Odom went Terry Tate on Ray Allen in the Lakers' 110-91 loss to the Celtics, and after looking at it again on tape, the shoulder tackle still makes absolutely no sense to Allen, who found himself in the laps of the Staples Center's best ticket-holders because of it. "That could have been a potentially disastrous play for either one of us, going into the crowd like that," Allen said after practice yesterday. "It was just uncalled for." Allen picked himself up and took a technical for doing a little talking after the play. Yesterday, the league slapped Odom with a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul. The hit came out of nowhere, considering it came with 2:57 left and the Lakers down, 103-84. It could have been anybody, if you ask Doc Rivers. "I don't think it was intended at Ray," said Rivers. "Whoever had the ball was getting that. I thought he lost his composure with the refs. [Odom] thought he got fouled the play before and he was basically saying, 'I'm going to show you what a foul is, if you're not going to call that.' " The foul was more a reflection of frustration than character, Rivers said. "Odom's a good kid, a good guy," Rivers said. "It's too bad that that had to happen. Better them than us." Rivers has basically been conditioning his players for games that may play out more like wrestling matches, running practices and swallowing the whistle. "They complain to us, we never call fouls," he said. He's actually a fan of the physicality. "I didn't think the LA game was as physical as it was chippy," he said. "But it was great. It had a lot of intensity and I love those games." The Celtics have started to see a few more elbows in the past two or three weeks, according to Paul Pierce. "We've been noticing that for the last, probably, 15 games," said Pierce. "Teams are really going to get up for us. They're going to come after us. They're going to try to get us out of our game. We've just got to keep our composure and stay away from those types of things." Don't read into West side story The Celtics are 8-0 against the Western Conference, but they don't particularly care. That's a good thing. The last two teams to win the NBA championship out of the Eastern Conference had decent records against the West, but not the best. The Pistons went 17-11 when they won their title in 2004, beating Indiana, which was 20-8, in the conference finals. Two years later, Detroit went 25-5 against the West and then got dropped in the Eastern finals by a Miami team that went 17-13. "We can take that we're playing well against the West and that we're playing good basketball, but other than that, nothing really," Rivers said. Pierce earns an A for his D Odds are, Pierce wasn't named NBA Player of the Week because of his defense (he averaged 27.5 points in four wins). But Rivers noticed. Only three Celtic opponents scored more than 20 points in the four games: Kevin Durant, Deron Williams, and Kobe Bryant. None was Pierce's responsibility. "This is the best I've ever seen him play defense and it's been all year," Rivers said. "So that's where my pride comes in when I talk about Paul." . . . Bonzi Wells pretty much summed up the mood of the Houston Rockets, who come into the TD Banknorth Garden tonight after Golden State guard Baron Davis took them hostage late in a 112-95 loss Monday. "We played like trash in the fourth," Wells told the Houston Chronicle. "Everything trash consists of, we did that. It was just a trash quarter for us." . . . Rockets star guard Tracy McGrady has missed three games with tendinitis in his left knee and is considered day-to-day. "We're going to prepare like he's playing," Rivers said. "And if he doesn't play, he doesn't play."
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 2, 2008 7:51:33 GMT -5
www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/x447971095Megliola: Celts have exceeded expectations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Photo by Associated Press Tony Allen (42) and the Celtics have exceeded expectations with their 26-3 start, capped by a recent 4-0 West Coast road trip. By Lenny Megliola/Daily News Staff GHS Tue Jan 01, 2008, 11:50 PM EST -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Story Tools: Email This | Print This Waltham, Mass. - "WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN 29-0." --- Paul Pierce Twenty-nine games. Honestly now, dear Boston fan, wouldn't you have settled for 19-10 or 18-11, just to get the sense that the Celtics were heading in the right direction? Yeah, who didn't know they'd be a lot better than the pathetic 2006-07 Celtics. You bring in Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Eddie House and James Posey, the Celtics only had to show up at the arena not drunk to be better than last year. With the genius of Danny Ainge (whoever thought those words would ever be written?), Celtics fans didn't have to feel ashamed any more. KG, Ray Allen? Come on, they were a playoff team again for sure. But maybe, you thought, it would take a while before the true potential of this team could be measured. With the turned-over team, there had to be a period of adjustment. It was a sparkling roster all right, but they still had to learn about each other as players and personalities. Then we could see what they could do. So we were willing to give them time. Guess what? They didn't need it. The Celtics are 26-3. The Celtics are 26-3 (I had to write that again because it looked a little strange the first time). Worried minds might think this is just a big tease, that the Celtics can't possibly be this good, that we're getting way ahead of ourselves in thinking that they can set the all-time record for wins and capture the NBA title. That was jumping the gun by a whole lot. Couldn't we wait until the end of February or the beginning of March before we made up our minds about this team? Well, too late for that. All thoughts about the Celtics are grandiose. It's scary. The Celtics return to the Garden against the Rockets tonight after going 4-0 on a western journey. "We enjoyed it," said coach Doc Rivers after yesterday's practice. "Four games in five days, that was the hard part." Oh, and here's Doc's New Year's resolution. "Be better," he said. The rest of the league must be wondering if that's possible. There was no question this would be a better team offensively, and improved defensively with Garnett aboard. But the biggest surprise, the main reason they're 26-3, is total commitment to lockdown T-E-A-M defense. Garnett arrives and suddenly Paul Pierce is Bruce Bowen or Michael Cooper - only Pierce can still put up 21 points a night. Posey comes off the bench and hounds his man. The defensive intensity is up top and down low. It rotates like musical chairs. No free passes. Nothing goes unchallenged. It's a beautiful thing to see. "This is the best defense I've seen (Pierce) play," said Rivers. Well, let's not be too surprised, Pierce offered. "I take a lot of pride in it." So what would you have thought if your team was 19-10 or 18-11, Doc? "I would have taken anything." You can take 19-10 or 18-11 or Pierce's pipedream 29-0 and Rivers's mantra would still be: We've got to get better. "Our record is fine," said Pierce, "but we're playing for something bigger." Like the Patriots, the Celtics are in the strange position of getting every team's best game, a chance to knock off, if not the best team in the league (hello Pistons and Spurs) then at least the one with the gaudiest record. The Celtics are seeing teams trying to get more physical with them too, see if they can take it. Try to make 'em lose their composure. The physical stuff doesn't scare Rivers, who in his day didn't exactly play like the NBA was courtesy class. Bring it on. "That's the only way it should be," said Rivers. "We don't care. That's how we practice." The Lakers' Lamar Odom got suspended for attacking Ray Allen Sunday the way Rodney Harrison would go after a wideout in the open field. Allen wound up in the first row at the Staples Center. He didn't retaliate. "We're going to have hurdles this year," he reasoned. "You don't want to do anything stupid." Twenty-nine games, and only the captain is disappointed they're not all W's.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 2, 2008 7:54:39 GMT -5
www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=6721Up Close with Paul Pierce By: Jessica Camerato Last Updated: 12/31/07 9:18 PM ET | 565 times read Adjust font size:Last summer Paul Pierce was on the verge of demanding a trade from the Boston Celtics. Today he part of one of the most talented trios in basketball. Pierce has gone from worst to first and shared his thoughts on this season with HOOPSWORLD. This is your 10th season with the Celtics and you've been through your share of ups and downs. How is being a Celtic different this season than any other season? "It's always fun when you're winning games. I've got a good group of veteran guys that I haven't had in the past. Being around young guys, you always felt like you were the big brother having to baby them all the time. But when you've got veterans around you don't have to do that as much. It's like we're all on the same page and we all do the same things." The Big Three was all over headlines and magazine covers this summer. What has the feedback been like from other players around the league? "I know we're a team people are talking about, especially after the year we had last year, and people are taking notice. I've had a few people tell me they're happy for me, happy that I stuck it out, happy that I got a chance to be with some veteran players, and I have a chance to win." Last season you said that you would rather take a back seat on a winning team than be the star on a losing team. Do you still feel that way now that you share the spotlight with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen? "I'm willing to play whatever role it's going to take for us to be successful. That's what a team is all about, understanding your role to make that team better. Whatever that's going to be, whether it's in a star position or role player, however you want to look at it, us winning at the end of the take is all that counts." In the past you have had to make your teammates better. How have your teammates made you better? "I don't have as much of a load to carry. It gives me opportunities to show other aspects of my game that people didn't know was in my game. It's a lot easier on me ... That's just making me better all around." You told me last season that you called your mother for support during the trying times. How different are your conversations with her now? (Smiles) "A lot happier. My mom is my biggest fan so she watches all the games, tapes all the games. She's the one that tells me to smile more and just be happy and fortunate to be playing basketball right now. The conversations, [what] we talk about, it's all positive. We always talk about what a difference a year makes." This weekend Pierce celebrated a victory over his hometown Los Angeles Lakers after visiting his mother that day. For the first time in a while, they have plenty to smile about.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 2, 2008 7:56:04 GMT -5
www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=6716Up Close with Rajon Rondo By: Jessica Camerato Last Updated: 12/31/07 10:27 AM ET | 472 times read Adjust font size:Last season teams purposely left Rajon Rondo open on the floor. They knew that even if they let him take every shot, he would only knock down a few. This season is a different story. Rondo spent countless hours working on his offensive game over the summer and now he is shooting nearly 52% from the field. His numbers are up and so is the confidence from his teammates -- the Boston Celtics have turned to him to run the floor every night. HOOPSWORLD recently talked to quiet point guard from Kentucky about his sophomore season in Boston. This summer (Celtics General Manager) Danny Ainge refused to trade you and you saw the majority of your teammates go off to Minnesota and Seattle. What does that mean to you? "It means they have a lot of trust in me and I'm just thankful to be here." You came from a very historic college program at Kentucky and now you are on a very historic basketball team. What do you think about all the success and tradition here in Boston? "We just try to get that next one, the 17th banner. It's exciting to be here and I'm glad to be a Celtic." What will it take to get that next title? "Just believing. [We have to have] trust in the team, trust in the coach, and stick to our defense." How is this team able to stay humble amid its success? "Probably we haven't done anything yet. We don't have a championship ring. None of us do except for Poz (James Posey), so we've got a lot to look forward to and work hard on." What is it like waking up this season and knowing that you have a legitimate shot at winning every game? "It's a lot more fun waking up [knowing we can win]. It's a lot less stressful and practices are going a lot more smoothly." Rondo has made the team run so smoothly that he has already impressed his new teammates. Without even playing a regular season game with him, Kevin Garnett said during training camp, "I've said that if Rondo's not the best point guard in three, four years, I'd be very, very surprised. He has all the tools in which to lead a team. His defense is like any other guard I've seen in this league. He has the quickness of a Tony Parker, he has the IQ and passing skills of a Jason Kidd." Not a bad future for someone who is only 21.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 2, 2008 7:58:37 GMT -5
lexnihilnovi.blogspot.com/2008/01/if-were-gonna-play-hockey-then-we-need.htmlIf We're Gonna Play Hockey, then We Need a Goon on Our Roster The West Coast trip proved lots of things, but one of them is that from here on out when we play teams in their arenas in front of their fans, they're coming after us. The tactic is one of the oldest in the books. If you can't beat your opponent playing by the rules, then let's not play by the rules. Let's see if we can distract the unbeatable opponent, get them off their game, get them out of synch. There's something else going on here, too. It's professional sports, or, to be more precise, men's professional sports. When the most talented, best paid male athletes don't get their way on the playing field, well, then, they must be playing like wimps, like woosies. Their manhood is at stake. No team is coming into my house and pushing me around. Pro sports teams have used physicality to motivate them since they've been playing pro sports, and the NBA has no shortage of examples. Before the McHale closthesline in the 1984 championship series, Bird told a reporter one reason that the Celtics were losing the series is that they had been playing like girls. Before game 5 of the 1986 championship series, talk was widespread about the Celtics preparing to celebrate banner 16 in Houston after dispatching the Rockets in short order in the upcoming game. Ralph Sampson didn't like this talk, and showed everyone, including his teammates, what he was going to do about it when he went after Jerry Sichting. More recently, the Indiana Pacers took every opportunity they could to get physical with Paul Pierce and company to distract the Celtics during the 2005 playoffs. Again, the tactic worked. It didn't work for the home team on the West Coast trip just completed by the Celtics. But I guarantee that won't stop teams from trying. So this tells me we need to fill roster-spot 14 with a player who can be on the court 10-18 minutes per game, and play the role of Enforcer. We can't have players like KG, Pierce, and even Kendrick Perkins responding to hard fouls with chippy play of their own because the loss of one of those guys would be harder for us to replace than it would be for an opponent to replace the goon they are using to start the fight. We already needed another big who could contribute. Now we just need him for a different reason.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 2, 2008 8:00:03 GMT -5
www.enterprisenews.com/articles/2008/01/01/news/sports/sports02.txtThisSizzling Celtics rolling along By Jim Fenton, ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER BOSTON — Ask NBA players about the obstacles they face during the regular season, and there is one that usually stands out. The dreaded four games in five nights is a grueling part of the schedule they can do without. Having so many games in such a short amount of time can even take a toll on young players. That makes what the sizzling Boston Celtics accomplished on their first extended road trip even more impressive. Armed with the best record in the NBA, the Celtics ventured west for the first time this season and ran the table, winning all four games in a five-night span. Challenge? What challenge? They brushed aside the Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics and Los Angeles Lakers and overcame the Utah Jazz to improve to 26-3. All the talk about the Celtics failing to be tested should be put aside after that showing. They are more than eight weeks into a sensational season and have lost only three times. They are 12-2 on the road with eight straight wins and have beaten all eight Western Conference opponents on the schedule. Should the Celtics defeat the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night at the TD Banknorth Garden, they will own a 27-3 mark, which will be the best 30-game start in franchise history. The 1959-60, 1961-62, and 1972-73 teams were 26-4. Only a few NBA teams have gone 27-3 to open a season, including the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (who were 41-3 on the way to a remarkable 72-10 mark), the 1971-72 Lakers (who won 33 straight games on the way to a 39-3 start) and the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers (who were 37-3). With a winning percentage of .897, the Celtics simply did not stumble in the opening two months. They dropped three close games that could have swung in Boston's favor with a play here or there. They have been dominant at home, losing only once in the final second to the Detroit Pistons. They have had little trouble winning on the road, already matching last season's total away from the Garden. Sweeping the first western swing was another eye-opening accomplishment for the Celtics. They limited the Kings to 38 percent shooting, and other than a rough third quarter, were in command. The Celtics used a 37-point explosion by Paul Pierce to take care of former teammate Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and the SuperSonics. In their toughest test of the trip, the Celtics held their composure and rallied past the Jazz when Pierce, after an unproductive first half, led the charge down the stretch. Then, playing a rested Lakers' team on Sunday after being in Utah the previous night, the Celtics had no problems with Kobe Bryant and Co. Even with point guard Rajon Rondo sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Celtics finished the trip in style, turning to Tony Allen to handle a new position. The Celtics limited two teams (Kings and Lakers) to less than 40 percent shooting, and Bryant made just 6 of 25 field goals. Los Angeles had been on an impressive roll, beating the Phoenix Suns and Christmas and the Jazz last Friday, but they were no match for the Celtics. On it goes for the team with the best record in the NBA. The Celtics play six of the next nine games at home and don't play more than two consecutive road games throughout January. Coach Doc Rivers continues to say the Celtics are going to keep improving as the season goes along, and it remains a scary thought. The season's halfway mark arrives later this month, another checkpoint for a team that has put together an incredible run. If the Celtics play just above .500 basketball the rest of the way (27-26), they will finish with 53 victories. It is hard to envision the Celtics falling into a .500 mode any time soon, so barring injuries, they are headed deep into the 60-win category. The 1972-73 team set the franchise record by going 68-14, one game better than the 1985-86 team. After what the Celtics pulled off during their four-game-in-five-night trip, it looks like those numbers are going to be challenged.
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Jan 2, 2008 8:03:22 GMT -5
www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/sports/5418058.htmlStruggling Rockets face blazing Celtics tonight Rockets able to appreciate revamped Celtics as Boston exhibits qualities any team would like to have Shane Battier noted Monday night that he doesn't spend his downtime watching NBA games and, because the Rockets had yet to complete film study of the Celtics, wasn't ready to analyze Boston's blazing start. That acknowledgment didn't mean the Rockets forward hasn't been paying attention. With the Celtics having validated the hype that greeted their offseason acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, it's been hard to ignore how they've taken the NBA by storm. "When a team goes 27-3 or whatever they are, you are surprised, because it's a very difficult league to win games in," Battier said. "They're playing at a very high level." Battier gets a pass for crediting the Celtics (26-3) with one win too many. Considering the manner in which Boston has raced out of the gate, it's easy to gloss over the details. The additions of Garnett and Allen were just part of the Celtics' makeover. Only six of the 13 players on the roster were with Boston last season, and that upheaval left many pondering how many games would be required for the new pieces to fit with the old, namely Garnett and Allen with All-Star forward Paul Pierce. The Celtics' 8-0 start answered that. "You never know; some teams can jell quickly," Battier said. "I thought that they would take longer to jell, but they've proved everybody wrong. They're really, really good." Garnett, Allen key Boston has been better than anticipated for several reasons, some beyond the influx of experienced talent. Not only have Garnett and Allen provided leadership and stability, their selflessness and professionalism eliminated doubts as to whether there were enough basketballs to go around for the three superstars. Instead of getting in one another's way, Garnett, Allen and Pierce have proved adept at complementing the skills of each other. Furthermore, their willingness to share the load and the glory has allowed the Celtics' maligned younger role players — Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins — to develop. "They've got great professionals over there," Rockets guard Rafer Alston said. "You send any team Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, you've got a professional basketball team right there. Those two guys are at the top of the line when it comes to professionalism." Defensive standouts Perhaps more surprising is the muscle the Celtics have flexed on defense. Boston leads the NBA in points allowed per game (86.8) and opponents' field-goal percentage (.414). Rondo (1.86 steals per game), Garnett (1.66), and Pierce (1.62) rank among the league leaders in steals; Garnett (1.48) and Perkins (1.21) rank among the top 35 in blocks per game. "Everybody glorifies their Big Three scoring," Alston said. "You have to glorify the defensive side of basketball for them." Given so many strengths to consider, one can picture Battier wishing he weren't briefed beyond his passing knowledge of everything that makes the Celtics extraordinary. Realizing the Celtics' potency doesn't make formulating a successful plan easier. "You have to give me a day to think about it," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said Monday. "Boston obviously is going to be a tough game."
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