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How we see it goin' down: Celtics vs Nets

                     Tip: 7:30pm    Court: TD Garden    Watch it: CSN      Hear it: WEEI

                                Referees:  Dan Crawford, Curtis Blair and Sean Wright

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The Matchup

Record: 3-3 (1st Atlantic, 4th East)	Record: 1-5 (5th Atlantic, 14th East)
At home: 2-0	On road: 1-3
Streak: Won 3	Streak: Lost 5
Leaders	Leaders
Buckets: Allen (20.0 ppg)	Buckets: Deron Williams (17.3 ppg)
Boards: Garnett (6.3 rpg)	Boards: Kris Humphries (10.0 rpg)
Dimes: Rondo (10.5 apg)	Dimes: Williams (6.0 apg)
For the Stat Geeks:	For the Stat Geeks:
Offensive Rating: 106.4 (10th NBA)	Offensive Rating: 95.8 (28th NBA)
Defensive Rating: 106.8 (25th NBA)	Defensive Rating: 111.3 (29th NBA)
Pace: 90.7 (23rd NBA)	Pace: 89.1 (27th NBA)

Last time

The Celtics won 3 of 4 last season against New Jersey. Boston has won 15 of the last 17 meetings. 

This time

Get it to: Kevin Garnett

With Kris Humphries (shoulder) out of the line-up, look for Shelden Williams to guard KG. Yup, that Shelden Williams. I just don't see Shelden managing the Celtics pick-and-pop play with Garnett.

Gotta stop: MarShon Brooks

I had to go to the Nets bench to find a scoring threat. The former Providence Friar is averaging 13.7 ppg. He might end up starting tonight.

The Wild Card: The Celtics overconfidence

The Celtics have a knack for struggling with lesser quality teams. And without 3/5 of their starting five, New Jersey qualifies. 

How we see it goin' down

The Nets are so bad right now, they make Washington and Detroit look like playoff contenders. They can't shoot or defend. I like Boston BIG: 112 - 88.

GreenLight Madness: Celtics Top 64 Plays: Elite 8: (#1 Seed vs #41 Seed)

The field of 64 plays has been chopped down to the elite eight.  While the top five seeds have made it this far, there have been a few upsets.  One of them is featured today, and that's Paul Pierce's posterization of Kris Humphries in New Jersey.  It barely beat out his no-look pass to Nenad Krstic against the Milwaukee Bucks and will have a tough time defeating the top seeded Ray Allen three against the New York Knicks in the playoffs.

Seed #1: Ray Allen Drills the Three (Game 1 2011 Playoffs vs NYK) - Fourth quarter. Game 1 at home vs the Knicks. C's are down by 1. Who gets the final shot? Why, Ray Allen of course. Ray inbounds to Pierce who gets nudged a bit by Melo, but no foul is called. Ray eventually makes his way to the "wing of death" for opponents, and promptly drills a three right in front of the Knicks' bench to seal the game. Clutch.

 

GreenLight Madness: Celtics Top 64 Plays: Round 3 (#8 Seed vs #41 Seed)

In many ways Paul Pierce had a throwback season this past year, creating a hit list of posterizations on several players.  His commitment to his fitness and diet has paid off as he gets older, and like Ray Allen they both seem to age like fine wine.  Today's matchup features two great plays by The Truth.

Seed #8: Pierce with the No-Look Pass to Krstic - With just under 5 minutes to play in the first quarter at Milwuakee, Pierce up-fakes John Salmons at the left 3-point wing and heads to the basket. Pulling a Bird, he spins a no-look over-the-shoulder-pass to Nenad Krstic for the reverse lay-up. Simply beautiful.

 

GreenLight Madness: Celtics Top 64 Plays: Round 2 (#9 Seed vs #41 Seed)

As the lockout continues to ruin the summer, the madness also continues to provide some snippets from the Celtics 2010-2011 season.  Since the inception of the New Big 3 Era, there has been incessant talk about how old Paul, Ray and Kevin are.  Amazingly, they were all probably the healthiest out of anyone on the team throughout this season, and they all had several plays to show this.  Today's matchup features Ray doing his 3-point bombing, and Paul's throwback dunk-fest of a season.

Seed #9: Ray Allen's Absurd Three (Game 1 ECSF) - With about 5 minutes left in Game 1 and the Celtics trailing by 11, they finally showed signs of life and made a late rally. After LeBron James airballs a floater in the lane, Rajon Rondo swoops in from the baseline for the rebound and flies out to start the fast break. Rondo notices that it's quickly a solo-run until he catches Ray Allen heading towards the left baseline, right in front of Miami's bench. Rondo dishes it to Ray who unloads a bomb while seemingly floating into the sea of Miami fans and drills it. Dwyane Wade can only turn to his bench and raise his arms up as if to say "what else can I do?!?!"

 

GreenLight Madness: Celtics Top 64 Plays (#31 Seed vs #34 Seed)

There are just two more matchups left in the first round of the madness tournament and Paul Pierce makes yet another appearance along with Kevin Garnett.  Yesterday featured a couple of different yet equally amazing plays by Pierce.  Surprisingly this past season, Pierce created a hit list of dunk victims that was probably larger than the last several years combined.  Kris Humphries of the Nets was not the only New Jersey player to be on this list.

Seed #31: Pierce Blows by Outlaw for the Slam - Way back in mid-February, the Celtics were playing the Nets at home just prior to the all-star break.  There were whispers of a Pierce foot injury but as you can see on this play, it was just fine.  Pierce blows by Travis Outlaw then slams it over Derrick Favors for the slam.

GreenLight Madness: Celtics Top 64 Plays (#24 Seed vs #41 Seed)

When you think back on the 2010-2011 Celtics season, it's pretty remarkable to think of the number of impressive dunks that Paul Pierce had.  Not since his early years has Pierce seemingly dunked and posterized so many players, adding to his growing hit list.  In addition to that, there were several "whoa, wait, WTF?!?!?" moments from players that you didn't think were capable of such feats,  Take Glen Davis' block at the #24 seed for example.

Seed #24: Big Baby Blocks McGee - Recently we reviewed Kevin Garnett's posterization of JaVale McGee.  This time, it's Big Baby getting the best of him, but with a monster rejection.  Along with Big Baby's absurd reverse slam at Indiana, this was absolutely one of those pleasantly surprising WTF moments.  John Wall makes a nice spin-and-dish move in the lane to McGee who is looking to make a loud statement.  Davis is louder and executes one of the best blocks of the season.  Complete OWNAGE.

Enemy Chatter: Jubilation in Newark

We often wonder what opposing teams, their beat reporters and bloggers are saying about the Celtics after playing the Celtics. Here's a dose of 'enemy chatter' from New Jersey

That video comes from Nets Daily, and while it doesn't really fall into the classic definition of "Enemy Chatter" we can at least point and laugh at the pink shirt kid that kinda looks like SNL's Bobby Moynihan.  If you prefer it in animated gif form, here it is.  Considering jubilation, rather than any sort of smack talk, is mostly coming out of north Jersey... this is the best thing we're going to get outta them today.

Recap: Another lazy effort, another loss in a back-to-back

The Celtics just aren't playing pretty basketball right now.  Blame fatigue. Blame injuries. Blame boredom.  Blame whatever you want... it doesn't matter.  It's just not an entertaining brand of basketball.

Tonight their sloppy, lazy play cost them a very winnable game against the Nets.  Chalk up another loss in a back-to-back game... 88-79.

I might as well get this ball rolling now.  What the hell is wrong with Rajon Rondo?  1-10 shooting, 2 points, 9 assists.  He left the game briefly in the second half with a twisted ankle, but he's been sluggish for a while.  He's got to be banged up... which means Delonte is coming back at just the right time.  Sit this kid down and fix whatever his problem is.  Doc says he's fine.  I don't believe him.

The C's D was just God-awful in the third and most of the fourth.  They gave up 31 points in the third and spent a lot of time just staring at New Jersey's shooters... almost as if the hard glared would be enough to throw off their shots. 

It didn't work. 

They shot 11 of 25 from 3... while the C's countered with a 2-10 showing.  Quick math... that's a 33-6 advantage from deep.

Might as well bring this up too:  New Jersey shot 24 free throws to Boston's 8.   

But even WITH that huge disparity, the C's had the game down to two points with 4:28 left.  But the only basket the C's scored after that was a Glen Davis jumper with 3:09 left.  Meanwhile, New Jersey ripped off a 7-0 run to close things out, including a Deron Williams dagger 3 with :35 left. 

A great example of how inept the C's looked was their out of bounds play with 1:35 left.  Ray inbounded to Glen Davis... sorta set a pick and then bounced around... KG sorta set a pick and kinda posted up.  Paul Pierce was just strolling around the sideline.  And the end result was a Rondo jumper... the absolute worst option on the floor. 

A team that is typically crisp out of timeouts and an example of how to execute freshly drawn plays just half-assed whatever play that was and settled for the worst option available.  I couldn't even tell you if Doc drew up a good play because no one really did anything that resembles executing anything that might have been drawn up. 

Jeff Green had some slick moves but finished 3-11 for 7 points and 3 rebounds and was a -7 on the night.  Nenad Krstic was going Nads again early but disappeared and finished with 6 and 2.  The Celtics gave up almost as many points in their last 3 quarters (64) as they did in their last 5 quarters (70).  The loss puts the C's in a virtual tie with Chicago for first in the East.

On the plus side: Glen Davis put up 16 points and 14 rebounds.  Carlos Arroyo looked ok in 17 minutes. 

Box Score

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Enemy Chatter: The Celtics defended like they had 6 guys

I often wonder what opposing teams, their beat reporters and bloggers are saying about the Celtics after playing the Celtics. Here's a dose of 'enemy chatter' from New Jersey.

If only Avery blew his lid again in the fourth quarter. With Boston’s starting rotation back in and playing defensively as if they had six guys on the court at points, the Nets were struggling, but clinging to a 78-77 lead with a shade over 6 minutes to go.

...

If the Nets took a shot in the fourth quarter, just assumed it was contested by a Boston defender, because it was. In the meantime, Boston was running a master class on confusing Lopez, constantly throwing Rajon Rondo in his direction in a double team, disrupting the center’s bread and butter moves in the post. Having Kendrick Perkins defending you is bad enough. At one point in the fourth, Perkins forced Lopez to receive the ball out at the right corner three point line. Lopez promptly turned the ball over on a terrible pass towards the paint.

...

On that note of physicality, the choppiness of these players surprised me. Was Boston trying to send a message to the Nets harkening back to New Jersey’s upset on Boston’s floor last winter? Probably not. A lot of the anger was directed towards Kris Humphries, who threw an elbow in Kevin Garnett’s face, who responded with some intimidating taunting. Hump got thrown by Kendrick Perkins later in the game on a rebound. But beyond Hump, we also saw KG absolutely stick Devin Harris with a pick, earning an offensive foul and after drawing a hard foul from Sasha Vujacic under the rim, Kendrick Perkins clawed The Machines back on the way down, perhaps because Sasha did something to annoy Boston in the Finals two of the past three years.

Nets are Scorching

Great take on the game by Nets blogger Mark Ginocchio. Funny writer who absolutely despises Avery Johnson and Travis Outlaw.

Not much analysis of the game in the NJ papers and blogs, they are all focused on potential trades. Guess I can't blame them.

Celtics @ Nets G20 GreenLights

Sunday afternoon games have typically not yielded winning results during the New Big 3 Era.  In fact, many times there has been a lethargic effort put forth.  Yesterday afternoon was a huge exception however, as the Celtics issued a classic wire-to-wire shellacking in New Jersey against the Nets.

Prior to the game, we learned that Rajon Rondo would sit out the game as that left hamstring was nagging him too much.  Nate Robinson took the reigns as the spot-starting point guard again and played very well.  At halftime, we learned that Shaquille O'Neal would sit out the remainder of the game with a sore calf because he forgot to take his anti-inflammatory medication.  Perhaps the Nets took his cue and forgot to drink some Chaser or 5-Hour Energy.  Check out the clips below for the video details.

Q1: The game starts off with an outside shot of the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ as Kevin Garnett makes his entrance.  Shaq then tells us i na unique way that it's game time.  Other highlights include:

• Shaq wins the opening tip, and Nate Robinson drills the three to start the offense
• KG grabs the missed Paul Pierce three, passes to Ray Allen who knocks down the baseline jumper
• Shaq grabs the rebound, outlets it to Nate who takes it coast-to-coast for two
• Shaq with the nice give-and-go bounce pass to Pierce who gets fouled... Pierce makes 1 of 2 free throws
• Fantastic 24 seconds of defense, leading to a Nate pull-up three in transition... Dana Barros style
• Another 24 seconds of defense leading to a Ray lay-in
• KG 'doin work on Kris Humphries in the post
• Ray with the steal
• Ray with the nice bounce pass to Big Baby who finishes strong
• Pierce 'doin work in the post on Anthony Morrow
• Ray with the nice spin move on Morrow in the paint for two
• KG with the block on Derrick Favors down low
• Another great 24 seconds of defense, eventually leading to a Pierce lefty lay-up in transition
• Pierce up-fakes it, takes it to the hoop and draws the foul on Brook Lopez... Pierce makes both free throws
• Ray again with the nice bounce pass to Big Baby who finishes strong
• Great 24 seconds of defense, forcing the violation

 

Q2: The second quarter begins with Avery Bradley displaying some of that solid defense, drawing an offensive foul.  Other highlights include:

• Big Baby breaking up the attempted NJ alley-oop
• Big Baby 'doin more work on Favors in the post with another strong move
• Von Wafer with a nice move to the basket for two
• More Bradley defense, with great lateral, one-on-one coverage on Jordan Farmar
• Marquis Daniels with the tip-in
• Two more solid defensive efforts by Bradley, bothering shots just enough to alter them into misses
• Quis with the around the back dribble, then gets fouled... Quis makes 1 of 2 free throws
• Devin Harris fumbles the lazy inbounds pass, turns it over, and Quis makes the lay-up
• Ray to Shaq for two and a foul... Shaq makes the free throw
• Big Baby with the jumper over Lopez
• Quis with the nice block from behind on Humphries, then KG and Humphries battle for a jump ball
• KG to Quis for the lay-up
• Yet another solid 24 seconds of defense, forcing a Travis Outlaw missed bomb
• Big Baby with the huge offensive rebound off the Nate missed jumper
• Good defense, forcing a missed jumper by Troy Murphy
• Big Baby with the nice poke-away steal, creating a fast break opportunity
• Nate with great defense on Farmar, forcing him to travel and turn the ball over to the C's
• Ray with the floater in the lane
• KG with the pivot move for two
• Ray taking it to the basket for two
• Big Baby hits a bomb to end the half