"Blow these (expletives) out!”

Can you guess who screamed those words in the headline during the 3rd quarter of last night's loss to the Knicks?

It was KG, according to the Herald's Steve Bulpett, who issued the directive after the Celts took a six point lead. But KG's words fell on deaf ears. Like I stated in last night's post game blog, the C's could not maintain their defensive intensity. Even with the regulars on the court. Here's Doc's take:

“A lot of good things,” Rivers said, referring to the work of his reserves. “A lot of bad things. (The Knicks) scored too many points. We’re going to score, (but) we don’t like giving up that many points.”

Prior to last night's lapse, the Celtics had been the top defensive team (statistically - according to Mike Gorman) in the preseason. So I'm not going to get worked up about one preseason game.

On the injury front, Brian Scalabrine rolled his ankle after stepping on a cameraman. He's back in Boston having X-rays. Mike Sweetney is also back home, he has flu-like symptoms.

Rondo and Perk are the only starters expected to play tonight in Cleveland.

Links: Globe - Pierce Sharpens Focus on Season Opener | Herald - UCONN Death Resonates | WEEI - Music a Driving Force for Quis | NYT - Celts Have Technical Ability | Hoops Vibe - Wrong GuaranSheed, C's Shouldn't Worry About 73 Wins