News 4/3

[FLCeltsFan]

www.enterprisenews.com/sports/x867235243
Celtics keep the beat with win No. 60
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By Jim Fenton
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Posted Apr 03, 2008 @ 01:33 AM

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BOSTON — As their list of impressive achievements continues to grow in this special regular season, the Boston Celtics simply shrug their shoulders.

They have little interest in toasting the franchise’s first 60-win season since 1985-86 and the 12th overall.

They see no reason to celebrate tying the NBA record held by the 1996-97 San Antonio Spurs of improving by 36 victories.

As far as the Celtics are concerned, those numbers mean very little as they set their sights on what lies ahead.

“We’ve got a bigger picture in mind,” said Paul Pierce. “That record goes out the window as soon as the playoffs start. It’s all good now, but when the playoffs start, it’s 0-0.

“Everything we’re doing is all great and dandy, the records, the turnaround. But this team is tremendously focused. We wouldn’t even know about any of these things unless you brought it up.

“It’s all fun and good for the media and the fans, but our focus is much narrower than that. We’re looking straight ahead at a common goal and we’re going to focus on that.”

The NBA championship is all that concerns the Celtics, not reaching the 60-win level, which they did with a 92-77 victory over the Indiana Pacers Wednesday night at the TD Banknorth Garden.

With seven games remaining, the Celtics will be adding to that total, and the next win will break the Spurs’ record for the league’s best turnaround.

Ever since the Celtics gathered for training camp in Europe last fall, though, they have set the sights at the top level — bringing the title back to Boston for the first time in 22 years.

That’s why there was no jumping for joy when the 60th win went into the books in relatively easy fashion against the Pacers, giving Boston a 60-15 mark, the franchise’s third-best record through 75 games.

“It is nice,” said Coach Doc Rivers of the 60 wins. “Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy everything. You guys just don’t see it. The parties I have in my apartment are amazing.

“The 60 wins, obviously that’s very nice for the team and all of us. But again, we want more.”

Told the Celtics had tied the Spurs’ record for best turnaround, Rivers said, “Did we do that? Thanks for telling me. I had no idea. I guess the point I’m trying to make when we started the season is this was not on our list of things we wanted to do.”

Forward James Posey, who won a title with the Miami Heat in 2006, said the Celtics are the most focused team he’s been on.

He had little interest in discussing the 60 wins, noting that he didn’t even know how many the Heat won during that championship season (it was 52).

“A championship is what you play for,” said Posey. “The process is you try to put yourself in a good situation to win it all. That’s what we’ve done.

“From Day One here, we’ve talked about the big picture, the process of getting there. That Miami team, we didn’t start playing good basketball until around March. We had little spurts in there, but we weren’t as focused until the tail end of the season and into the playoffs.

“This team here has been focused since Day One, even before training camp when guys came early and worked in an open gym. That set the tone.”

With the magic number for clinching the league’s best record down to one, Rivers said he will get his main players some rest, then putting their minutes back to normal in the final games.

The Celtics have today and Friday off, play in Charlotte Saturday and have two more days off after that. Look for Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen to make cameo appearances, if that, against the Bobcats.

Rivers said he won’t make the rest period a long one, wanting to keep his team sharp for the postseason that begins either April 19 or 20, likely against the Atlanta Hawks.

“We’re preparing for something way bigger than the present,” said Garnett, who had 20 points and 11 assists against the Pacers. “I just don’t believe you get to the playoffs and wake up in the morning and blink and all of a sudden you turn it on.

“You prepare yourself up until a point and we’ve got to do that. We have to keep a focus and then, hopefully, roll right into the playoffs with that same intensity if not higher. You can’t lose focus.

“I know this is going to sound all old-fashioned and like a broken record. We’re going to come in and prepare for Charlotte and then we’re going to get ready for the next game. That’s what we’ve been doing.”

[FLCeltsFan]

www.projo.com/celtics/content/sp_bkn_celtics03_04-03-08_RC9KKR3_v25.38fb72b.html
Celtics romp is one for the books

08:23 AM EDT on Thursday, April 3, 2008

By ROBERT LEE
Journal Sports Writer

Celtics forward Kevin Garnett drives around Jeff Foster of the Pacers during the first half of last night’s game in Boston.
The Providence Journal / Kris Craig
BOSTON — The Celtics are on the verge of making NBA history after the 92-77 beating they gave the Indiana Pacers last night.

Boston’s dominating victory matched an NBA record for the largest one-year improvement.

Related links
Celtics-Pacers box score

Next game: at Charlotte Bobcats, 7 p.m. Saturday

Your Turn: How surprised are you by the extent of the Celtics' success?
The Celtics (60-15) have 36 more victories than they had last season, which ties San Antonio’s one-year turnaround record set during the 1997-98 season.

The win marked the first time the Celtics have won 60 regular-season games in a season since the 1985-86 campaign, when they amassed a record of 67-15. Boston won the NBA title that season.

As impressive as the Celtics have been this season, the team’s only goal is to win the NBA title, coach Doc Rivers said.

“You don’t get anything for it. It really means nothing,” Rivers said of Boston’s milestones.

“It’s nice, but again it’s not what we are playing for. It doesn’t mean a lot to us. Probably later when I’m older it may [mean something], but right now it doesn’t. We just have a single goal, and anything else is what you get on your way there.”

“It’s all good, but we have a bigger picture in mind,” Boston captain Paul Pierce said about the team’s improvement. “It’s great to get as many wins as we are getting, but the goal for us is to wrap up home court throughout the playoffs, because that record goes out the window once the playoffs start.”

“We are preparing for something way bigger than the present,” Boston forward Kevin Garnett said.

It didn’t matter that Boston reduced the minutes of Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen last night. And it didn’t matter that Indiana All-Star forward Jermaine O’Neal played in just his second game since returning from a left knee injury he suffered more than two months ago, giving the Pacers a boost.

Boston was simply too good in capturing its fifth consecutive victory while cooling off the Pacers (31-44), who lost for just the third time in their last nine games. The Celtics led from start to finish., building a 49-30 lead by halftime.

“We didn’t make the shots that we had to in the first half,” Indiana coach Jim O’Brien said. “We dug ourselves too big of a hole to come back against these guys. We didn’t put our best foot forward and we had an opportunity to make this a lot closer game than it was and we didn’t do it.”

Once again the Celtics dominated their opponent by playing stellar defense. Owner of the league’s best defense — fewest points allowed (90 per game) and opponents’ field-goal percentage (41.9 percent) — Boston limited Indiana to 77 points on 35.6 percent shooting from the field (26-for-73).

“The Celtics, to me, they play harder than anybody in the league defensively,” O’Brien said.

The Celtics have not allowed a team to score 20 points in nine straight quarters.

The Celtics hit 44.3 percent of their shots (35-for-79) and outrebounded Indiana, 51-41. Garnett scored a game-high 20 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had four assists.

“I don’t think that I can remember a player coming into a franchise like Garnett has and completely single-handedly change the culture of an organization, and I think he’s done that,” O’Brien said. “There might be people on the court that are better statistically than Kevin Garnett, but I think if you are talking about most valuable player, I can’t imagine anybody being more valuable to their team than Garnett is.”

Allen recorded 15 points, Leon Powe added 14 points and 9 rebounds, and Pierce had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the Celtics.

“He’s [one of the] toughest people to guard, and certainly putting the ball in his hands, there are not too many people that can guard him one-on-one. With the group of people that he has surrounding him right now, he could have a huge playoffs just because he seems to take it to a completely other level,” O’Brien said of Pierce.

“He’s a guy that absolutely wants to have the ball in his hands in the clutch. That’s what great players are made of.”

Danny Granger had 14 points and 7 rebounds, Mike Dunleavy and O’Neal each scored 12 points, and Troy Murphy chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who are in a battle with Atlanta (35-40) and New Jersey (31-44) for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot.

NOTES: Pierce passed Dave Cowens for 10th all-time in games played in franchise history last night. Pierce has now played in 727 games for the Celtics ... Rivers became the first coach in Celtics history to be named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month twice in one season when he won the award for March after guiding the Celtics to a league-best 13-3 record. He also won the award in November.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/SPORTS11/728499241/-1/news
Celtics revisit old days with 60th win
By GARY FITZ Telegraph Staff
[e-mail]
BOSTON – Once upon a time, 60 wins was considered an average winter for Boston Celtics fans.

Wednesday night, as the Celtics moved a step closer to clinching the home court advantage throughout the playoffs, they hit the 60-win mark for the first time since their Larry Bird-led 1986 title team.

Wednesday night's foil was Larry Bird's Indiana Pacers, a team still technically in contention for a playoff spot. They took another step toward elimination at the wrong end of a 92-77 loss.

It was another romp for the now 60-15 Celtics, who quickly built a 49-30 halftime spread into a 26-point lead early in the third quarter and coasted home from there.

The Celtics did have to bring Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce back into the game when Indiana edged to within 15 in the fourth quarter. But look for the duo, along with Ray Allen, to get plenty of rest between now and the end of the regular-season in two weeks.

Neither put much emphasis on the 60 wins, or the current 36-game turnaround from last year, the biggest in NBA history. It did clinch home court advantage in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

"We have a bigger picture in mind,'' said Pierce, who finished with a relatively quiet 13 points. "It's great to get as many wins as we get, but more important is getting home court throughout the playoffs, and when they start everyone is 0-0.''

Garnett, who led the team with 20 points and 11 rebounds, said the team can't let up.

"Focus is very important for these last few games,'' Garnett said. "You can't get in the playoffs, wake up in the morning, blink and all of a sudden turn it on.

"We need to maintain a certain level of play.''

But coach Doc Rivers thinks it's time for his big three to take a little break, which starts with days off today and Friday. The Celtics play at Charlotte Saturday then have two more days off.

"None of them had an All-Star break,'' Rivers said. "So this might be it.''

But while Rivers will give more minutes to some of his subs down the stretch, especially backup point guard Sam Casell, the team will gear up again to end the regular-season.

"The one thing I don't like is resting going into the playoffs,'' Rivers said. "That's why this push has been made by our guys. We talked about it a couple of weeks ago, if we could get to this point, we could take advantage of these five games.''

The Celtics got another big night off the bench by Leon Powe, who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Indiana slipped to 31-44 and now trails Atlanta (35-40) by four games with seven left in the fight for the eighth playoff spot in the East and a chance to face the Celtics in the opening round.

Sporadic offensively, the Celtics came up big defensive again, holding Indiana to 36 percent shooting overall and 6-for-29 from beyond the 3-point arc.

"I think (the Celtics) are the best defensive team in the league,'' Indiana coach Jim O'Brien said. "I think they play the hardest of any team in the league. That's why they are contenders.''

[FLCeltsFan]

www.gloucestertimes.com/pusports/local_story_093231712.html?keyword=topstory
On the cusp of the top seed, Celts have decision to make

On Pro Basketball
By Matt Langone

BOSTON — Rajon Rondo is young, energetic and wants to play as much basketball as he possibly can.

But the reality is that the Boston Celtics lanky second-year point guard from Kentucky could quite possibly see his minutes decrease over the next two weeks. Ditto for the rest of Rondo's fellow starters, as the Celtics begin preparing and getting as healthy as possible for the NBA playoffs.

Boston has all but solidified its spot as the No. 1 seed throughout the postseason after last night's 92-77 thrashing of the Indiana Pacers in front of a sellout crowd of 18,624 at TD Banknorth Garden. With seven games remaining, the Celtics (60-15) magic number to clinch the best record in the league is down to two. Meanwhile, at 31-44, the Pacers are now four games out of the final playoff spot in the East.

Considering that all of the Celtics' remaining opponents have a record below .500 (except Washington), it shouldn't be long before Boston does nail down the top spot.

Thus, the Green will have to answer the question that faces every highly-successful NBA team in April: How much rest should the starters get?

"I don't know what's going to happen with playing time over the next couple weeks," said the 6-foot-1 Rondo, who is averaging 10.7 points and five assists in 30.3 minutes per game. "Doc's (Rivers) going to make that call and I'm sure it will be the right call.

"I'm young, I'm only 22-year-old, so I want to keep playing. But it's up to coach. Either way I'm going to be in the gym getting my work in."

You don't have look too far back to find a team that was victimized by its own success. Last year's Dallas Mavericks won 67 games and clinched home-court throughout the playoffs early in April. However, head coach Avery Johnson opted to rest his nucleus down the stretch, which may have contributed to the Mavs' historical demise in the first round of the playoffs against the No. 8 seed Golden State Warriors.

There are certainly two camps on the matter. One that says a team should rest and get healthy while they can. The other side would suggest that breaking a good rhythm is detrimental.

"I don't really worry about it," said Ray Allen in reference to how many minutes he'll play down the stretch. "You just have to take it day by day. Whatever we decide as a team is fine with me. It's all about keeping your body in shape, and that's what we've all done all year."

In his 12th year, Allen is a playoff veteran. There have been years when his team had to fight until the end to make the playoffs, and he's been on teams where the postseason spot was finalized early.

At this point of the 32-year-old's career, reduced minutes in meaningless games may not be such a bad idea.

"In the playoffs, the most important thing is to make sure you get your rest," said Allen.

Looking down the Celtics schedule, Charlotte and Milwaukee probably won't strike up the same excitement and playoff atmosphere that was clearly present in last week's meetings with Phoenix and New Orleans.

However, 15th-year forward P.J. Brown, who was brought to Boston for his experience as much as his presence in the post, believes staying sharp is a must.

"You really have to try to get rest and stay sharp in these final games," said the 38-year-old Brown. "You definitely want to be rested up, but you want to be on top of your game entering the playoffs.

"We don't need any extra motivation during these finals games. We motivate ourselves by wanting to play the best brand of basketball we can on both sides of the floor."

Of course, last night there may have still been a little extra motivation for the C's, who wanted to avoid giving any confidence to a Pacers team that may be Boston's first-round opponent if the cards fall their way.

It's always good to put away an inferior opponent, which very well may be another tool Boston uses to stay sharp over the next two weeks.

[FLCeltsFan]

www.eagletribune.com/pusports/local_story_094091752.html?keyword=topstory
Rest vs. rust Allen wants some time off, Rondo wants to play


On Pro Basketball

Matt Langone

BOSTON — Rajon Rondo is young, energetic and wants to play as much basketball as he possibly can.

But the reality is that the Boston Celtics' second-year point guard from Kentucky could quite possibly see his minutes decrease over the next two weeks. Ditto for the rest of Rondo's fellow starters, as the Celtics begin preparing and getting as healthy as possible for the NBA playoffs.

Boston has all but clinched the No. 1 seed throughout the postseason after last night's 92-77 thrashing of the Indiana Pacers in front of a sellout crowd of 18,624 at TD Banknorth Garden. With seven games remaining, the Celtics (60-15) need a victory or a Detroit loss to clinch the best record in the NBA. Meanwhile, at 31-44, the Pacers are now four games out of the final playoff spot in the East.

Considering that all of the Celtics' remaining opponents have a record below .500 (except Washington), it shouldn't be long before Boston does nail down the top spot.

Thus, the Green will have to answer the question that faces every highly-successful NBA team in April: How much rest should the starters get?

"I don't know what's going to happen with playing time over the next couple weeks," said the 6-foot-1 Rondo, who is averaging 10.7 points and 5.0 assists in 30.3 minutes per game. "Doc's (Rivers) going to make that call and I'm sure it will be the right call.

"I'm young, I'm only 22-year-old, so I want to keep playing. But it's up to coach. Either way I'm going to be in the gym getting my work in."

You don't have look too far back to find a team that was victimized by its own success. Last year's Dallas Mavericks won 67 games and clinched home-court throughout the playoffs early in April. However, head coach Avery Johnson opted to rest his nucleus down the stretch, which may have contributed to the Mavs' historic demise in the first round of the playoffs against the No. 8 seed Golden State Warriors.

There are certainly two camps on the matter. One that says a team should rest and get healthy while it can. The other side would suggest that breaking a good rhythm is detrimental.

"I don't really worry about it," said Ray Allen in reference to how many minutes he'll play down the stretch. "You just have to take it day by day. Whatever we decide as a team is fine with me. It's all about keeping your body in shape, and that's what we've all done all year."

In his 12th year, Allen is a playoff veteran. There have been years when his team had to fight until the end to make the playoffs, and he's been on teams where the postseason spot was finalized early.

At this point of the 32-year-old's career, reduced minutes in meaningless games may not be such a bad idea.

"In the playoffs, the most important thing is to make sure you get your rest," said Allen.

Looking down the Celtics schedule, Charlotte and Milwaukee probably won't strike up the same excitement and playoff atmosphere that was clearly present in last week's meetings with Phoenix and New Orleans.

However, 15th-year forward P.J. Brown, who was brought to Boston for his experience as much as his presence in the post, believes staying sharp is a must.

"You really have to try to get rest and stay sharp in these final games," said the 38-year-old Brown. "You definitely want to be rested up, but you want to be on top of your game entering the playoffs.

"We don't need any extra motivation during these finals games. We motivate ourselves by wanting to play the best brand of basketball we can on both sides of the floor."

Of course, last night there may have still been a little extra motivation for the C's, who wanted to avoid giving any confidence to a Pacers team that still had a chance of meeting the C's in the first round.

It's always good to put away an inferior opponent, which very well may be another tool Boston uses to stay sharp over the next two weeks.

Matt Langone is an Eagle-Tribune sportswriter.



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Celtics 92, Pacers 77

Milestone night: Boston won its 60th game for the first time in 22 years

Most improved: The C's equalled the NBA record for improvement in a season. They went from 24 wins to 60, while the Spurs went from 20 to 56 wins in Tim Duncan's rookie year. The C's have five games to beat the record.

Double-double: Kevin Garnett had 20 points and 11 rebounds