News 1/3

[FLCeltsFan]

Off road, Celtics ride K train to big victory
Star just the Ticket at Garden

By Steve Bulpett | Thursday, January 3, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matt Stone
With 22.2 seconds left last night after Houston called a timeout, Paul Pierce [stats] jumped on Kevin Garnett’s back and rode him toward the Celtics [team stats] huddle.

The symbolism was impeccable.

Having squandered a 20-point lead here at North Station, the Bostonians reached for their Big Ticket and boarded the K Train. Garnett scored 11 of the Celtics’ last 16 points, delivering them to a 97-93 victory over the Rockets and a rather remarkable 27-3 record.

Garnett made 5-of-6 shots and finished with 26 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Coming in after Kendrick Perkins [stats] fouled out, Garnett moved up in height class to deal with 7-foot-6 Yao Ming and won that war at both ends of the floor. In the last nine minutes, he held Yao scoreless until a meaningless layup in the final seconds.

“That’s why he’s KG,” said Houston’s Bonzi Wells. “That’s why he gets paid the big bucks - to make the big buckets, and that’s what he did.”

C’s coach Doc Rivers doesn’t like to use Garnett on opposing centers for long stretches, but last night necessity met up with crunch time. And Garnett was ready.

“I knew at some point we were going to go with the lineup of Pose (James Posey) at the 4 and I anticipated me being at the 5,” he said. “I’ve been playing against Yao for years in the West. You can’t really stop him. You just have to make him take tough shots.”

Garnett had to make a few, as well. After a turnaround in the lane, he buried four longer jumpers.

“My gas was high,” said Garnett after the Celtics’ seventh straight win. “You play the best in the league, you can’t go in with low gas. You’ve got to have a lot of high octane. I fed off this building. These fans in here are like sparkplugs. I just plugged in and that was it. I didn’t even think about nothing I was doing. I had options. I took them. In the fourth quarter, I just went for it.”

And the Celtics went to him. Paul Pierce had four assists in the last quarter, and three of them were on Garnett hoops.

“We knew that was a matchup we could go to,” said Pierce, who had 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

With Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo [stats] tossing in 13 points apiece and Scot Pollard doubling his season high with 10, the Celts overcame their holiday trip hangover. Rivers came in concerned about mental fatigue, and he saw nothing to rebut his belief as the 20-point lead vanished.

“You could see the energy just slowly seeping away,” he said.

The Celtics took naps in the second and fourth quarters, but Garnett was their alarm clock.

Playing without Tracy McGrady (knee tendinitis), the Rockets were in desperate need of something out of Yao, who had an eight-inch height advantage on Perkins. But he was woeful in the first half, missing his first five shots and making just two of his first 12. But Yao scored 11 points in the third quarter as Houston came from 16 down to get as close as five.

The Celtics lead after three was 76-68, but the home team posted just two points on a Pollard jumper in the first 3:30 as the Rockets came back to take their first lead since 7-6. Two Luis Scola free throws gave Houston 11 straight points and an 81-78 edge.

The margin was the same a few moments later after Perkins and Pollard fouled out, but under Garnett’s leadership the C’s survived.

“Coach was saying these are the toughest games,” said Pierce. “You come off an emotional road trip and this is your first game back at home. You’re tired. Your sleeping patterns are off. This was one of those mental toughness games.”

Article URL: www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1064316

[FLCeltsFan]

Pollard’s fouls no trouble

By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Notebook | Thursday, January 3, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matt Stone
Celtics followers got a glimpse last night of what Scot Pollard can bring to the party. The veteran big man went for a season-high 10 points and added five rebounds in 14 minutes against Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets.

Coach Doc Rivers liked another Pollard stat: six fouls.

“He was terrific,” said Rivers following the 97-93 victory. “He just ran out of fouls. If we could have gave him about five or six more he’d have been phenomenal. But he uses them.

“It’s funny. I got on him (in) the Orlando game because he had a chance to foul Dwight Howard on a dunk, and I asked him after the game, ‘Are you saving those things for something else?’ I think he must have heard me because he’s using them. That’s what you want. You want him to be physical.”

Paul Pierce [stats] said Pollard “was huge. He was our energy guy. He was real physical with Yao, got to the basket, made a couple of free throws, knocked down a jumper. The thing about him is he stays ready, and tonight he got the call and stepped up for us.”

Technically speaking

Ray Allen doesn’t have to talk to the NBA about rescinding the technical foul he received, and its accompanying $1,000 fine, Sunday in Los Angeles after all. Allen was hit with the “T” after getting hit hard by the Lakers’ Lamar Odom.

The league subsequently suspended Odom for a game, and Allen said he wanted to argue the tech because he hadn’t said or done anything.

But Rivers believes things have already been fixed - and word was received from the league late last night that the technical had been taken back. . . .

After missing one game and one practice with a strained right hamstring, Rajon Rondo [stats] returned with 13 points and nine assists.

“It was great because obviously we need him,” Rivers said. “Tony (Allen) struggled tonight, so we needed guards.”

Regarding the decision to let the point guard play, Rivers said, “I’m just going by Eddie (Lacerte, the trainer). He thought he was fine. He didn’t even question it. We held him out (of Tuesday’s practice) to be safe. I didn’t even talk to Rondo on this one, I just talked to Eddie. With a hamstring, you really have to trust the trainer.

“So,” Rivers added with a laugh, “if Rondo gets hurt, we’re just throwing Eddie under the bus, I guess.”

Baby gift

Glen Davis had a nice gift waiting for him when he showed up at the Garden. Capt. Chad Moore of the Army National Guard, an LSU grad, sent Big Baby a flag that flew above Moore’s headquarters in Iraq on Dec. 13.

“This is really great,” Davis said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Moore was seeking an autographed picture in return to put on his office wall. . . .

The Celts may have been able to draw a slight advantage from assistant coach Tom Thibodeau, who held the same position for the Rockets last year.

“It helps,” Rivers said. “He knows their personnel a little bit, and clearly he wants to win.”

Apparently Thibodeau was up for this one, and Rivers thinks that might have helped his team through a sluggish morning session.

“We had to tone him down (yesterday) in shootaround because he was pretty much fired up,” he said.

Article URL: www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1064326

[FLCeltsFan]

When it comes to Garnett, Green means go

By Tony Massarotti | Thursday, January 3, 2008 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics

Photo by Matt Stone
Five players, two draft picks and enough cash to fill an armored car. That is what it cost the Celtics [team stats] to bring Kevin Garnett to Boston. Yet today, still, you cannot help but wonder if the Celts got him for a song.

Whaddaya think, Boston:

Do you want Al Jefferson [stats] back?

So while the Celtics are 27-3, tying the NBA’s best record in the last 53 years through 30 games, let there be no doubt about how they got there: Garnett carried them. Last night’s 97-93 victory over the Houston Rockets came despite a relatively lackluster effort from a weary club, but it also featured five or six of the most electrifying individual minutes thus far in this incredible Celtics renaissance.

Courtesy: The Big Ticket.

“My gas was high,” said Garnett, who finished with 26 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals. “You play the best in the league, you can’t in go in with low gas. This building was . . . I fed off this building. It’s like this ballclub. I just plugged in and that was it.”

Actually, it was more like they fed off him.

Truth be told, the numbers do not do Garnett justice. They really do not come close. By the time the Celtics got to the middle of the fourth quarter, they had blown a 20-point lead and trailed the Rockets by three, 84-81. The gargantuan Yao Ming had fouled out both Kendrick Perkins [stats] and Scot Pollard, and the Celtics looked ready to slip for arguably the first time this season.

And then, keying a stretch during which the Celtics outscored Houston, 16-9, for the balance of the game, Garnett did it all. He scored 11 of those final 16 points. He blocked a shot and stole an entry pass. For a span that covered precisely 6:15, Yao did not merely go scoreless, he went without a shot.

All of it was because of Garnett.

For the moment, can we make something clear? Garnett is not merely the next great Celtic. He is also positively great theater. While single-handedly blowing the Rockets off the court, Garnett inspired the Garden crowd and nearly ripped off his own jersey, all with an intensity that oozes from his pores.

If you can’t enjoy this guy, you don’t like competition.

“Energy guys are great for your team,” coach Doc Rivers said when asked about the relentless nature with which Garnett seems to approach every game. “It’s just rare when your best player is an energy guy. That’s a rare combination.”

Of course, the Celtics have not changed solely on the floor this season. They have changed in every other way, too. The new Big Three are the subject of national television ads, and the Celtics are being looked upon as the model of team harmony. The Celtics are unified, on and off the court, and it all stems from the big guy wearing No. 5.

Last night, in addition to his fourth-quarter takeover, Garnett was at the center of virtually all things Celtic. In the first quarter, after Ray Allen tumbled to the floor in the middle of a fast break, Garnett reached down, in stride, to pick up his teammate. Later, Garnett scolded point guard Rajon Rondo [stats] for an ill-advised pass - “No! No!” he said to his younger teammate - and in doing so delivered a hard lecture for all of the right reasons.

In 30 games Garnett has become the face, heart and soul of the Celtics, with a fire and benevolence unseen here in quite some time.

As for Garnett’s performance down the stretch, that may have quelled some concerns. One of the knocks on Garnett prior to his arrival was that he failed to take games over, that he wilted in crunch time. Never mind that he frequently lacked the supporting cast to alleviate some of the demand.

“I’ve always thought that was unfair to guys who are on single-star teams,” Rivers said. “Here, you’ve got Paul (Pierce). Here, you’ve got Ray (Allen). Kevin got single-covered shots.”

He made them, of course.

And it certainly looked like he had one heck of a good time doing it.

Article URL: www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1064325

[FLCeltsFan]

Link includes video on site

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/01/03/ticket_to_ride/

Ticket to ride
Garnett carries Celtics to victory over Rockets
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | January 3, 2008

After Kevin Garnett put the game away with a late jumper, teammate Paul Pierce jumped on his back for a ride. The way the "Big Ticket" carried the Celtics in the fourth quarter, the rest of the team should have jumped on, too.

Boston improved to an NBA-best 27-3 with a tough, 97-93 victory over the Houston Rockets last night at a sold-out TD Banknorth Garden. The Celtics are only the sixth team in NBA history to win 27 of its first 30 games, the last being the 1995-96 Bulls, who won a league-record 72 games. Garnett (26 points) scored 11 in the fourth quarter and nailed a clinching 19-footer with 22.2 seconds left.

"My gas was high," Garnett said. "You play the best in the league, you can't go in with low gas. You have to go in with high octane. I fed off this building. These fans in here were like the spark plug. That was it. I didn't think about nothing I was doing.

"I had open shots. I took them at times. When I thought I hesitated, I missed them. In the fourth quarter, I went for it."

Said Celtics forward James Posey: "Everybody jumped on his back and he carried us to a win."

Garnett made 11 of 15 shots and had 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks in 35 minutes. The 6-foot-11-inch, 220-pounder also played a role in limiting Yao Ming (7-6, 310 pounds) to 2 points on 1-for-3 shooting and two rebounds in the fourth quarter.

"Yao Ming definitely didn't want to come out and guard [Garnett], and we took advantage of the matchup," said Pierce, who had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Said Houston coach Rick Adelman: "I've com peted against Garnett many times. I know what kind of player he is. I know what kind of impact he can have on a team."

Boston finished the first quarter with a 30-16 lead after shooting 53.2 percent. The Celtics went into halftime with a 53-42 advantage after leading by as many as 20 points. Yao had only 6 points on 2-of-11 shooting through two quarters.

"I hurt the team by shooting only 2 of 11 on field goals," said Yao, who finished with 19 points on 7-of-20 shooting and 13 rebounds.

Yao, however, scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the third quarter as Houston trimmed its deficit to 76-68.

The Rockets opened the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run to take a 79-78 lead on a 3-point play by Rafer Alston. It was Houston's first lead since 7-6. By the 8:30 mark of the fourth quarter, Celtics centers Kendrick Perkins and Scot Pollard (season-high 10 points) had fouled out. From that point, Garnett had to defend Yao. But Yao also had to guard Garnett.

"I knew at some point we were going to go with the [small] lineup of Posey at [power forward], and I anticipated me being at the

," Garnett said. "I've been playing for some-odd years in the West. You can't really stop [Yao]. You have to make him take tough shots and [make him] do some of the things he doesn't want to do.

"I met him early and tried to keep a body on him, contest the shots. I knew at some point Doc [Rivers] was going to go with that lineup. So, I just prepared myself."

Garnett nailed a 16-foot jumper over Yao with 5:33 left to give Boston an 87-84 lead. Garnett's tough defense on Yao led to a miss with 2:56 remaining. Garnett followed with a 22-foot jumper with 2:41 left to give Boston a 91-87 lead. Then he hit 1 of 2 free throws to push the Celtics up, 92-89, with 2:04 left.

Garnett later hit a 13-foot jumper with 1:16 remaining to give Boston a 94-89 advantage. An Alston jumper kept Houston within reach at 94-91 with 1:02 remaining. But Garnett sealed the game with a 19-foot jumper with 22.2 seconds left.

"It just seems like you always need that little bit of fire," said Ray Allen, who had 13 points. "You catch a little fire and [Garnett] knocks down some shots for us. That was the difference."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/01/03/back_seat_is_only_temporary?mode=PF

Back seat is only temporary
By Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Columnist | January 3, 2008

They are the biggest story in the NBA but not the dominant sports topic in their own hometown.

They lead the nightly sportscast when they visit other NBA arenas. Not here.

They are front-page sports news when they win at Sacramento and Salt Lake City. Not here. Not most days, anyway.

It's nobody's fault. The Celtics just happen to be racking up wins at a time when the local professional football team is contending for greatest team ever. So, Messrs. Garnett, Allen, and Pierce are taking a back seat while they ride toward the middle portion of what has been a superb season.

Last night's 97-93 victory over the Houston Rockets put the Celtics at 27-3. It was a rare close game for the Celtics. They led by 20 in the first half, but found themselves trailing in the fourth quarter before Kevin Garnett took over. The Big Ticket rained jumpers (11 points in six-plus minutes) on the head of a guy who is just 6 inches shy of being 8 feet tall. Then Garnett went to the other end and stopped Yao Ming. He was at once Bill Russell and Jo Jo White.

Garnett said he got his energy from the crowd.

"My gas was high," said the Ticket. "I fed off this building. These fans are like the spark plug."

No Celtics team has been this good through 30 games. And we're talking about teams that won 16 world championships. We're talking about rosters peppered with Hall of Famers, the greatest dynasty in the annals of American sports.

Think of it this way: The 2007-08 Celtics are 15-1 at home. The only Celtics team to go undefeated at home through 16 games played here in 1957-58, which is before the birth of the Boston Patriots.

Ah, the Patriots. It is the Patriots who have pushed the Celtics inside these sports pages many times during these magical first two months. It's the Patriots who appear on four networks simultaneously while dominating sports talk on every frequency.

There was a time, of course, when it was the Celtics who kept other local teams out of the news. When the Celtics dominated in the early 1980s, Red Sox pitcher Bruce Hurst observed, "We kind of like it that way. We sort of stay under the weeds early in the season while the Celtics are in the playoffs."

Celtics bosses are taking the high road while riding sidecar.

"I don't feel we lack attention," said Danny Ainge. "There's not a limit on the love this town has for its teams. We know the writers and TV reporters are spread out right now [there was one television reporter at the club's shootaround yesterday]. But the Red Sox, the Patriots, and the Celtics are all deserving of the attention right now. We're certainly not jealous."

Ainge has been around long enough to remember the last time the Celtics and Patriots were both really good at the same time. It was in 1985-86, when the Patriots made a miracle run to the Super Bowl while the Celtics were en route to their 16th (and most recent) championship.

The Celtics (40-1 at home in the regular season in 1985-86) played the rival 76ers at the old Garden on Super Bowl Sunday and the game story on these pages led with, "Closer to home, the Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers staged . . . "

Same deal this year. Boston was in full-blown hardball hangover when the Garnett and friends opened the season Nov. 2. The Celtics campaign started just three days after Jonathan Papelbon finally came down off his duckboat. Two days later, the Patriots were in Indianapolis for a fairly important regular-season game when the Celtics won their second game of the season.

As the victories multiplied the Celtics became a full-blown national sensation. But much of our local roundball season was lost in cyberspace, a casualty of gridiron gridlock.

The Celtics sell out every game and there's plenty of enthusiasm on Causeway Street, but clearly they would be bigger if not for Coach Hoodie and the undefeated History Boys.

Kendrick Perkins, in his fifth year with the Green said, "I'm OK with everything. Last year when we were losing I didn't want to leave the house, but our fans always appreciate us. I'm a football fan. Patriots and Cowboys. I can't wait for the playoffs to get started."

Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck doesn't mind sharing the love. Far as we can tell he hasn't hired anyone to compile comparative coverage stats.

"I said all along that our coverage would improve when our team improved, and it has," Grousbeck said. "I read the other day that the Red Sox, Patriots, and Celtics were something like 41-3 since the middle of the baseball playoffs. What I love is to be part of this with the other teams. I'm caught up in it just like everybody else around here."

Their record is downright scary. And we are approaching midseason. This is no longer an early aberration. The best regular season in Celtics history was compiled by Tom Heinsohn's 1972-73 edition, which finished 68-14. The 1995-96 Chicago Bulls went 72-10.

Early in the Patriots season, an out-of-town scribe asked Bill Belichick about the possibility of 16-0. The coach scoffed. Talking about a 72-10 basketball team still seems ridiculous, but after the Celtics' 4-0 road trip, you do begin to wonder.

Their time will come. In May (and dare we dream, June?) the Patriots will be polishing their Lombardi Trophy and the Red Sox will be making trips to Baltimore, Oakland, and Seattle.

Kevin Garnett will be the latter-day Larry Bird and the Celtics will own this town again. Just like the old days.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/01/03/odoms_take_on_takeout?mode=PF


Odom's take on takeout
Laker says foul not cheap shot
By Marc J. Spears, Globe Staff | January 3, 2008

Lakers forward Trevor Ariza made fun of teammate Lamar Odom during practice yesterday by getting into a three-point football stance. But even though Odom's hit on Celtics guard Ray Allen last Sunday night was better suited for the gridiron, he didn't view the foul as excessive.

The 6-foot-10-inch, 221-pound Odom tackled the 6-5, 205-pound Allen into the first row at the Staples Center during the Celtics' 110-91 win over the Lakers. The NBA responded by slapping Odom with a one-game suspension Tuesday that will be served tomorrow against Philadelphia. But after the Lakers' practice yesterday in Los Angeles, he expressed little remorse about hitting Allen.

"I didn't think it was that excessive," Odom told reporters. "I wasn't trying to hurt him. I was just trying to make a play on the ball . . . If I was to cheap shot him, he would have known I cheap shot him. But, I didn't really try to cheap shot him. I was just making a play on the ball."

Odom said Celtics forward James Posey "came under me" seconds before he hit Allen. Odom added that he wasn't angry about the suspension, and he would take the punishment.

"I didn't hurt the guy," Odom said. "Of course, I wouldn't want to lose by 20 at home. [There] was a play before that where I thought Posey came up under me. I didn't try to overreact, but Ray Allen was there, he had the ball, and I wanted to foul him hard.

"Maybe I fouled him a little bit too hard. If I wanted to [hurt] somebody, I would know how to make a tackle. But that wasn't my intention at all. I just wanted to foul him."

Allen drew a technical foul on the play, which could have brought a $500 fine, but an NBA official said the fine was rescinded.

Two NBA sources said Orlando center Dwight Howard had a foul upgraded to a flagrant-1 for kicking Celtics forward Kevin Garnett during a Dec. 23 game. When asked if opponents were taking shots at his players, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said: "I don't think so. Teams are giving their best effort. That's fine."


Rocket shipping off
If Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo follows through on his plan to retire after the season, last night's game will be his last in Boston, unless the Rockets and Celtics end up in the NBA Finals. He has promised his six children that his 16th season will be his last. The 41-year-old is one of the great shot-blockers in NBA history and is a four-time Defensive Player of the Year.

"I got to go. I really have to walk away," said Mutombo, who did not play in the Celtics' 97-93 win. "Retirement is on my mind and it's not a physical thing. To me, I want to retire because of a promise to my children. I don't want them to say, 'Daddy said [he's retiring] and he didn't.' "

Said Celtics center Kendrick Perkins: "I know him real good. You got to respect what he did. He knew what he brought to the table and he did it every night."

Mutombo said he received strong interest from the Celtics during the offseason, but Boston's cold weather was the main reason he didn't come.

"It's too cold, man," said Mutombo, who gave 19 tickets last night to relatives on his wife's side. "I didn't talk to any GMs. They talked to [my agent] David Falk. A lot of teams tried to get me. It was tough for me to break myself from Yao Ming, T-Mac [Tracy McGrady], and the rest of the guys."


Old problems are back
McGrady missed his fourth straight game with a left knee injury and could be sidelined until late January. The seven-time All-Star has been plagued by injuries, primarily back problems, since coming to Houston in a trade in 2004. Rivers, who coached McGrady in Orlando, said that McGrady had the same injury issues with the Magic.

"He has a bad back," Rivers said. "There is nothing he can do about it. We went through the same stuff with Orlando. People didn't notice it because of Grant [ Hill's] injuries.

"We've talked about it before. He gets down about it when he sits. He gets down, but he's mentally tough."


Rondo returns
Rajon Rondo missed the game against the Lakers with a sore right hamstring, the first game he has missed because of injury in his young career. But he returned last night and had 13 points, a game-high 9 assists, and 5 rebounds in 33 minutes.

"Rondo was great," Rivers said. "It looked like in the first quarter he signaled to me. I thought he said he was injured and that's why I took him out. He told me he was tired. I wish I would have known that because I would have kept him in."

[FLCeltsFan]

www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/x424844260

Megliola: KG rescues Celts on lackluster night

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By Lenny Megliola/Daily News staff
GHS
Wed Jan 02, 2008, 11:45 PM EST

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BOSTON -
It was a strain, one of those games that clearly could have been a loss for a 26-3 team playing at home against a sub-.500 team without its marquee player, Tracy McGrady. Even before it started, Celtics coach Doc Rivers had warned visitors that his team "looked tired" at the shootaround.

But before it could slip away from the Celtics last night, Paul Pierce decided to literally and figuratively jump on Kevin Garnett's back, and all the Houston Rockets could do was watch as the KG drama played out.

Garnett, the big offseason fish reeled in by Danny Ainge, scored 11 points down the stretch, hitting jumper after jumper, four off Pierce feeds. With Kendrick Perkins and Scot Pollard both fouled out trying to deal with Yao Ming, the 7-foot-6 Rocket became Garnett's assignment. He handled it, which hardly could be said in reverse. "Ming definitely didn't want to come out and guard (Garnett)," Pierce said.

And so KG hit a turnaround jumper over Yao (assist Pierce); a 16-foot jumper; a 22-foot jumper; a 13-foot jumper (assist Pierce); a 19-foot jumper (assist Pierce). This last one put Boston up 96-91, and as Houston called time out Pierce snuck up from behind and piggybacked Garnett.

Don't look now, but after the 97-93 thrilla Boston has won 27 of 30. Let that sink in a moment.

Garnett finished with 26 points. "I've been playing against Yao for so many years," said Garnett. "You can't really stop him." But you have to try, and maybe you get lucky. Yao finished with 19 points. But in the fourth quarter all he got was a useless layup with two seconds left.

The Rockets made a nice run to not only get back in the game but take an 81-78 lead. "Doc told us to be aggressive," said Garnett. "You can't go in with low gas. In the fourth quarter I just went for it."

Garnett also did his part in getting the crowd into it in crunch time, coaxing them on with arms flailing. The 18,624 responded resoundingly. Garnett must have felt like a dictator on the balcony. The fans, said KG, were like "a sparkplug. I just plugged in."

Pierce had 19 points, but only five in the second half. He finished with a game-high seven assists. After a rugged but successful 4-0 road trip, Rivers was especially worried about this game. "He said it'd be one of those mentally tough games," said Pierce.

He was correct.

It didn't start that way. The Celtics pretty much coasted to a 53-42 halftime lead. It was 30-16 after the first quarter, and a lot of that had to do with Perkins giving eight inches but no ground to Yao, forcing him into 2-for-10 shooting.

When the second half began, the Celtics neither looked tired nor worried. The worrying would come, before Garnett went into a period of dominance that the visitors just couldn't deal with.

After, Rivers declared it "a great win."

Another indication of the Celtics' newfound popularity will come this month with eight more home games left. The team's public relations staff expects a more crowded pressroom as pundits start showing up from across the land. Magazine writers (Sports Illustrated has already been a constant visitor) will be coming in. TV crews will stop by.

Once, and for much too long, the Celtics were a team easily ignored, their greatness buried in the past. Ainge goes Mad Scientist on us in the offseason and everything changes. The buzz is back (Ainge can relate), and a lot of folks want to see this team up close and personal.

Sports writers (I can attest) get asked about the Celtics a lot these days. Sure, the Pats are the hot ticket and the Red Sox are the Red Sox, but now folks who wouldn't have taken Celtics tickets the last few years if you paid them, suddenly wonder if the sports writer had, you know, a little pull in the ticket department.

It's all good stuff though.

Everybody's got the Celtics penciled in for another win tomorrow night against the lowly Grizzlies, but Boston fans are already looking ahead to Saturday night when the Celtics play at Detroit. That's how it works now. You expect the Celtics to beat up on most of the teams that dare enter the Garden, and we circle the handful of games that should challenge them. To get where they want to go in the spring, the Celtics know they have to go through Detroit.

Actually, the trip to Motown was the only downer for Pierce. He wanted to see his Kansas Jayhawks at Boston College Saturday. But the Celtics captain had business elsewhere.

[FLCeltsFan]

aol.nba.com/celtics/news/blog/post-ups.html

Wednesday, January 2 - Rockets vs. CelticsIn Game Reports
53-42 Celtics, Halftime: Paul Pierce didn't wait for the second half tonight; he's got 14 points on 5-7 shooting.

46-35 Celtics, 2:24/2nd: Bonzi Wells has got it going, including a dunk in Kendrick Perkins' grill. The Rockets are creeping back into this one. As for the C's, Kevin Garnett got Chuck Hayes into foul trouble early, and he seems to be convinced that he can get whatever he wants against Luis Scola in the post.

40-22 Celtics, 7:42/2nd: The Rockets are one of the best defensive teams in the league in terms of field goal percentage defense and points allowed, but they aren't showing it tonight. The C's are getting to the basket with relative ease and they've shot 62% from the field.

30-16 Celtics, End of 1st: The C's are swarming Yao and he's visibly frustrated. He's just 2-for-10 from the field in the first and the Rockets are shooting 29% from the field. Meanwhile, Rajon Rondo didn't appear to be slowed down in the first quarter; he played eight minutes and logged four points, three rebounds and four assists.

15-7 Celtics, 6:15/1st: After the Rockets jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead, the Celtics got the running game going and put together a 13-2 run, highlighted by a fast-break alley-oop from Ray Allen to KG for a crowd-pleasing and-one throwdown.

Pregame Media Access
We quickly swung into the Rockets' locker room to find Yao planted in a folding chair the middle of the locker room eating a banana and watching footage of the Celtics-Jazz game from Saturday night.

The Celtics locker room was slightly more interesting, but not by much. Brian Scalabrine, who's spent time at recent home games riding the stationary bike near the tunnel, was going through a series of stretches with Strength and Conditioning Coach Bryan Doo, while Tony Allen also spent some time getting loose for the game -- while he wasn't rapping along with Gucci Mane, that is.

So, in summary, in the Boston locker room, there was plenty of stretching, a good amount of rapping and very little talking tonight.

Rockets coach Rick Adelman talked about the adjustments Yao has to make with Tracy McGrady out of the lineup, noting that Yao has to be ready to be "swarmed" when he catches the ball. As for stopping Yao, Rivers said that you want to get him out of the paint but that he can also hurt you from the elbows. And when you send guys to challenge him on the perimeter, he may not even notice defenders are there since he's so much bigger than everyone else on the floor.

Rivers joked that he had to restrain Associate Head Coach Tom Thibodeau at this morning's shootaround because he was so excited to get a crack at his most recent NBA team.

Rivers said that Rajon Rondo will start tonight and added that the team was sluggish in this morning's shootaround, thanks to a combination of the red eye return from the West Coast and perhaps a little New Year's Eve revelry.

As always, you can hear audio from both coaches in the Audio Archive.

Early Pregame Report
The Celtics are back from the West Coast and the Post Ups Notebook is back.

Rajon Rondo, who will be featured in the next edition of Parquet Magazine (available on gamenights at the TD Banknorth Garden) is in good spirits as he works on his midrange jumper before the game. Seated at the courtside press table, we could hear Coach Kevin Eastman telling Rondo, "We don't want you to be a good shooter. We want you to be a great shooter."

Rondo's a gametime decision, but the word from this morning's shootaround was that Rondo would likely play. Also working on his midrange game early: Tony Allen, who was shooting over the outstretched arms of Clifford Ray. Ray, of course, gives "outstretched arms" an all new meaning; he retrieved a screw from the stomach of a distressed dolphin back in his playing days.

A few other notes to pass along in case you missed them: First, Lamar Odom ended up getting a one-game suspension for his unprovoked form tackle of Ray Allen in the fourth quarter of the Celtics win over the Lakers Sunday night. Second, despite winning the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award twice in December, Paul Pierce lost out to Orlando's Dwight Howard for Player of the Month honors.

Finally, we always knew Yao Ming was tall, but you really can't appreciate it until you see him standing on the court for warmups alongside the Celtics Dancers, some of whom are probably generously listed at five feet in the program the way point guards claim to be six feet.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20080103/NEWS/801030669/1009/SPORTS

Flip edges Doc for Dec. honor

Celtics’ 13-1 record falls short

CELTICS NOTES

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






BOSTON— Even though the Celtics posted the best record of any NBA team last month, the league passed over Doc Rivers to name Detroit’s Flip Saunders the Eastern Conference’s Coach of the Month.

Detroit went 15-2 last month, setting a franchise record for most victories in December, but Boston’s 13-1 record last month was better. The Celtics’ only loss came to Detroit, however.

Rivers won conference Coach of the Month for November, but that shouldn’t have precluded him from winning again in December. Orlando’s Dwight Howard won Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December and November. Boston’s Paul Pierce, conference Player of the Week the past two weeks, was overlooked. The numbers favored Howard, though. He averaged 21.7 points, half a point more than Pierce, and grabbed a league-high 16.1 rebounds. Howard also shot 59.6 percent compared to Pierce’s 41.4 percent.


Chris Paul of New Orleans was named Western Conference Player of the Month for December and Nate McMillan of Portland was named Western Conference Coach of the Month. Portland went 13-2 in December with a 13-game winning streak.

Still under .500 in 2007
Incredibly, the Celtics improved upon their 13-2 November by going 13-1 in December.

The 13 November victories tied a club record. The 1985-86 Celtics were 13-1 in November. The 13 December victories tied for third most in club history. The Celtics won 15 games in December in 1959, 1961 and 1964, and prevailed 14 times in 1981.

Despite their amazing records over the last two months, the Celtics still finished the calendar year of 2007 with a losing record. That just goes to show how bad they were last season. They went 14-39 from Jan. 1 through the end of last season. So their 26-3 record in November and December lifted them to only 40-42 for all of 2007. They began their franchise-record, 18-game losing streak on Jan. 7 and didn’t win again until Valentine’s Day.

It would be too much to ask of the Celtics to improve upon their record of last month, but the January schedule is the most favorable of any month this season. The Celtics will play nine home games this month, tying March for the most of any month. They’ll also play six road games, one fewer than in March.

Of the 15 opponents this month, eight have losing records. The biggest tests figure to come Saturday at Detroit, Jan. 27 at Orlando, and Jan. 31 at home against Dallas. Detroit and Orlando have handed Boston two of its three losses.

The franchise record for most victories in January is 15. The Celtics went 15-2 in January 1965.

As usual, the schedule toughens in February. The Celtics will play eight of their 13 games that month on the road, including a five-game, seven-night swing to Denver, Golden State, Phoenix, Portland and the L.A. Clippers after the All-Star break.

Thibodeau knows Yao
As a 7-foot-6 center who shoots jumpers, Yao Ming presents a challenge for every opponent, but Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau knows Yao better than most coaches. Thibodeau, one of the NBA’s best defensive minds, was an assistant with Houston the last four years.

“It helps,” Rivers said. “He knows their personnel a little bit. Clearly, he wants to win. We had to tone him down at shoot-around. He was pretty fired up.”

Allen gets break
Rivers said the game officials told him Sunday night in L.A. that they would drop the technical foul assessed against Ray Allen after Lamar Odom tackled him. Odom was suspended for one game.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.telegram.com/article/20080103/NEWS/801030454/1009/SPORTS

Beat C’s beat Rockets

Boston rallies after blowing 20-point lead

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





BOSTON— Doc Rivers was concerned that the Celtics might be tired last night and let down in their first game at home after sweeping four games out west.

“The New Year’s Eve thing probably didn’t help,” Rivers said before the game, “but they looked beat this morning. They looked tired. We had to get through our shoot-around and it was not an easy one to get through. We haven’t had that problem very often.”

The worry was warranted. The Celtics looked weary in blowing a 20-point lead and falling behind by three in the fourth quarter, but as usual they found a way to win any away, rallying for a 97-93 victory at the Garden.


Kevin Garnett refused to let the Celtics lose, scoring seven consecutive points down the stretch, blocking a shot, coming up with a steal and playing tough defense on Yao Ming after Kendrick Perkins and Scot Pollard both fouled out trying to guard the 7-foot-6 center. Playing with a bandage over his right eye after taking an elbow during Sunday’s game in L.A. and receiving four stitches, Garnett made 11 of 15 shots and finished with a game-high 26 points. He also collected nine rebounds and three blocks.

Paul Pierce, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, collected 19 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds. Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo each scored 13.

Bonzi Wells led Houston with 25 points off the bench. Yao Ming had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Rafer Alston scored 18.

The Celtics have won seven in a row and 16 of their last 17 to improve to a league-best 27-3. The Celtics are on pace to finish 74-8, two games better than the NBA record set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. Those Bulls were also 27-3 after 30 games and didn’t lose again until they were 41-3.

The Celtics haven’t been at least 24 games over .500 since they ended the 1990-91 season 56-26.

They also improved a league-best 15-1 at home and 9-0 against the supposedly stronger Western Conference. These numbers are getting a bit mind-boggling, aren’t they?

Garnett took his turn guarding Yao after Perkins fouled out with 8:12 left. Luis Scola sank the ensuing foul shot to cap a 12-0 run that put Houston ahead, 82-80. Perkins had put a body on Yao and kept him from getting too close to the basket in the first half when the 7-foot-6 center made only 2 of 11 shots.

Yao had more success after Perkins got into foul trouble and Pollard him. Pollard fouled out in 14 minutes, but did score a season-high 10 points. Pollard’s jumper put Boston up, 78-70, early in the fourth, but he fouled out on the next possession.

Most of Houston’s 12-0 rally came against the Celtics reserves. Rivers didn’t reinsert Pierce and Garnett in the fourth quarter until Alston’s layup and foul shot put Houston ahead, 79-78.

Pierce hit Ray Allen with a touchdown pass behind the Rockets defense for a layup to put Boston back on top, 85-84, with 6:19 left. Shane Battier’s wide-open 3-pointer tied it, 87-87, but Rondo drove past Yao to put Boston ahead for good, 89-87. Garnett then forced Yao to miss inside and hit a 22-footer at the other end to make it 91-87. Garnett scored Boston’s next five points as well, including a 19-foot jumper with 22.2 seconds left to make it 96-91. Pierce penetrated, then passed the ball behind his back to Garnett for the open jumper.

Houston’s Tracy McGrady sat out his fourth consecutive game with a deep bone bruise in his left knee. Houston fell to 13-44 in games without McGrady over the last 3-1/2 seasons.

The Celtics fell behind 7-2, but then ran off 13 consecutive points. The Celtics led, 30-16, after one quarter by shooting 68.4 percent and limiting Houston to 29.2 percent.

Boston doubled Houston, 40-20, on a Glen Davis put-back early in the second quarter. Then the fatigue began to show. Houston then ran off the game’s next nine points and later closed to within 49-42. It was 53-42 at the half and 76-68 entering the fourth.

Rondo returned to Boston’s starting lineup after missing Sunday’s game in L.A. and Tuesday’s practice with a tight right hamstring. His bounce pass to Pierce sailed out of bounds at 10:24 of the third quarter, ending a streak of 129 minutes in which he had 21 assists and no turnovers. His last turnover had come Dec. 23 here against Orlando. Rondo finished with 2 turnovers and 9 assists.

[FLCeltsFan]

ledger.southofboston.com/articles/2008/01/02/sports/sports01.txt

THE REAL DEAL - Celtics silence critics, show they’re truly a title contender



By MIKE FINE
The Patriot Ledger

Not that we need to play the respect card, because who cares what anybody other than the Celtics think about the Celtics?

It was almost comical when Patriots fans would flood talk shows complaining that nobody gave their team any respect in the wake of three Super Bowls and an impending perfect season, but it means nothing what anyone else thinks, and even less to the guys who play the game.

OK, but it is just a little irritating that the 26-3 Celtics are looked upon by many, including several coaches, as quick starters who’ll get theirs when they start playing the iron of the league. Stupid fans. Stupid coaches.

The first thought was that the Celtics’ top three players would require months to learn to play together and share the ball. They got together in August and quickly bonded.

The second thought was that the Celtics would have no bench to carry on for Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Then James Posey began playing defense, Eddie House began canning three-pointers, Tony Allen showed flashes of previous brilliance and Glen Davis played well beyond his years.

OK, so next we get, ‘‘Well, they haven’t gone on an extended road trip yet. They haven’t gone out West.’’

So the Celtics are back after a 4-0 trip.

Then we heard, ‘‘Oh, yeah, wait until they meet the iron of the West. The East is so weak.’’

Well, listen, the Utah Jazz were 10-2 at home before the Celtics humbled them Saturday, and the LA Lakers were considered one of the top teams in the West. They were 11-4 at the Staples Center before the Celtics dismissed them and their hack-attack, cross-body-blocking methods Sunday.

The last time the Celtics won four in a row out West was when the real Big Three were playing in the ’80s, and I’ve gotta tell you, this team is comparing very favorably to the team that won three titles. Nobody’s saying that it’s a finished product, or that it’s not going to have some problems along the way, but after 29 games the Celtics have established themselves as an elite team, and what reasoning would anybody have to suspect they’re going to fall flat on their faces? Sure, they very well could lose in the first round of the playoffs, but that’s not something that can be easily detected off this incredible start.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers and his players are becoming fond of their ‘‘We haven’t won anything yet’’ mantra, but they have won some respect. It’s almost comical that the players take an ‘‘I don’t know our record’’ approach, especially since Paul Pierce readily has every league statistic ready to roll off his tongue.

And if they’re being asked every day, ‘‘Are you surprised that you’re 8-0 or 26-3?’’ or whatever, you might suspect that the players would have some idea of their record, but that’s a team bonding thing and it’s OK.

What’s relevant is they’ve been focused game to game, and it’s paid dividends. This is a team that has yet to find itself in any desperate trouble, has demonstrated an overpowering ability to put it together in the second half. It’s a team that’s better than every other NBA team on the defensive end.

The Celtics head into tonight’s home contest with Houston leading the NBA in points against (88.8), defensive field goal percentage (41.1), defensive three-point percentage (31.4), opposing rebounds (37.8) and opposing assists (17.2), and they’re right near the top in several offensive categories.

Now, everyone knows that these numbers aren’t going to hold up so spectacularly throughout the season. Inevitably, injuries and fatigue will take hold of the Celts, and their numbers will suffer. It’s also true that they’ve yet to play San Antonio, Dallas, New Orleans and Phoenix, and that they lost to Detroit, Orlando and Cleveland. Yeah, they lost by an eyelash to some of the best Eastern teams. What good teams don’t suffer that kind of loss?

On the other hand, they have manhandled every other lesser team. Their point differential of 13.8 is far and away the best in the league, even better than Detroit, San Antonio and Phoenix. They’ve also got the best differential in steals (2.7) and rebounds (4.2).

Again, nobody can predict their playoff possibilities. The NBA is littered with teams that have started fast and come to an early demise. --

So, no, there’s no telling what could happen later, but for now, we know this much: these Celtics are the real deal. They’re smart, savvy, powerful, focused, motivated defensively, able to score on anybody at almost any time. They’re already battle-tested and battle-scarred, and barring a catastrophe, with the assumption that there’ll be some lumps along the way, this is going to end up as a special regular season.

Perhaps that will earn them some respect in the new year.