Gotta love the New York media. They beat up their teams better than anyone else.
For those who missed the news last night. Amar'e Stoudemire suffered a severe cut on his hand after punching a fire extinguisher case following the Game 2 loss to Miami. And we thought Rajon Rondo was a hot-head?
While I thoroughly enjoy watching the Knicks self-destruct, this debacle is bittersweet because I was hoping they'd challenge the Miami Heat.
Editor's Note: Injuries are never funny, unless self-inflicted.
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My friends over at HITS Radio will be doing their annual NBA Playoffs preview show tonight. Starting at 7pm EST, join the Hits Radio crew, Kirk Jimenez , Tina Cervasio & myself as we preview the NBA Playoffs. Their will be will plenty of Knicks-Heat discussion, and of course I'll be talking about our Celtics and how I think they'll do in the postseason. The call-lines will be open at 646-716-7474, so please call-in and join the conversation. You can listen live starting at 7pm on the HITS Radio show page.
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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 York.
- It's really fun, as an opposing fan, to watch Keyon Dooling shoot jumpers. It's the defensive equivalent of watching Steve Novak shoot jumpers.
- Avery Bradley, though. If the Knicks hadn't gone bananas themselves, we'd be very sad right now about Avery Bradley draining five of six corner threes.
- I was pleasantly surprised to see the Garden crowd show concern and give Rajon Rondo a round of applause when he hit the ground hard (except for this one guy who kept yelling "NO PLAYOFFS, RONDO!"), but then I kinda felt like we'd been played when he got up and remained in the game.
Dooling was a cool 1-5 from the field last night. Then again, he was the only bench player to score.
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Steve Novak and J.R. Smith combined for 15 three-pointers and 50 points as the Knicks beat the Celtics 118-110.
The Celtics had some major issues with defensive rotations on the perimeter tonight and the Knicks killed them. NY shot a ridiculous 14-21 from 3 in the first half and 5-11 from 3 in the 2nd half.
Thanks to a vintage performance by Paul Pierce (43 points, 11-19 FG), the Celtics clawed back from a 21-point deficit. The lead was down to 6 with 2:48 remaining, but Novak drained a pair of back-breaking triples to seal the game.
Rajon Rondo (13 points, 13 assists) injured his lower back after hitting the court hard early in the 3rd quarter. He played 39 minutes, but looked extremely stiff late in the game. Pierce was also battered. He reinjured his toe and took a couple of shots to his right quad.
The Cs improved their perimeter defense in the 2nd half, but it opened up the paint. Tyson Chandler (20 points, 7 rebounds) went dunk crazy (5-5) in the 3rd quarter.
The Celtics bench contributed 2 points (Keyon Dooling). It's safe to say Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus would have helped. TNT's Craig Sager reported that Pietrus returned to Boston to have his knee drained and would likely miss Wednesday's game vs Orlando.
Carmelo Anthony (35 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) gets away with pushing off on just about every possession. Watch his off-hand. He's like a running back stiff-arming defenders. Oh yeah, he's a punk, too.
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Tip: 8:00 PM Court: Madison Square Garden Watch it: TNT Hear it: WEEI
Referees: Dan Crawford, Tony Brown, Pat Fraher
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| Record: 36-25 (1st Atlantic, 4th East) | Record: 31-29 (T-2nd Atlantic, 7th East) |
| On the road: 15-16 | At home: 20-11 |
| Streak: Won 2 | Streak: Lost 1 |
| Leaders | Leaders |
| Buckets: Pierce (19.1 ppg) | Buckets: Carmelo Anthony (22.2 ppg) |
| Boards: Garnett (8.4 rpg) | Boards: Tyson Chanler (10.0 rpg) |
| Dimes: Rondo (11.6 apg) | Dimes: Baron Davis (4.7 apg) |
| For the Stat Geeks: | For the Stat Geeks: |
| Offensive Rating: 100.8 (28th NBA) | Offensive Rating: 103.3 (21st NBA) |
| Defensive Rating: 98.1 (1st NBA) | Defensive Rating: 100.2 (4th NBA) |
| Pace: 90.4 (20th NBA) | Pace: 93.5 (3rd NBA) |
Rajon Rondo had 18 points, 17 rebounds and 20 assists and Paul Pierce nailed a huge 3 to send the game into overtime as the Celtics beat the Knicks in a thriller 115-111.
This timeGet it to: Rajon Rondo
I went back and forth between Rondo and Pierce. And I still think Pierce is having a big game (he's averaging more than 27 points against the Knicks over the past 3 years. But Rondo is on too big of a roll. Plust he's facing Baron Davis. I'm looking at another potential triple double night out of Rondo.
Gotta stop: Everyone not named Carmelo Anthony
He's really their only option at the moment. In their loss to the Heat, he had 42, the rest of the team had 43. So let him go off for 50... which he won't against this defense, but still... so long as you rotate out well on the rest of the team, run them off 3's, and rebound... you'll be just fine.
The Wild Card: Ray Allen
He's playing with no limitations. The Celtics say he's been running and shooting, so he's hopefully not rusty. I've been a big fan of the 2nd quarter lineups headed up by Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. Toss Pietrus in there now... and this Celtics bench is looking really good. If Ray can bomb away off the bench, the C's could bury the Knicks early.
I'm tempted to pick a tight game because the four point win the Celtics got in OT was twice the biggest margin of victory of either of the two other games. But these are different teams right now. The Knicks have no Lin or Stoudemire. Baron Davis is their starting point guard, which is not good.
The Celtics, meanwhile, are throwing the Rondo/Bradley tandem at them, letting Bradley ball hawk while Rondo plays passing lanes. I don't think Davis and Shumpert are ready to handle that. And there's no way the Knicks second unit, even with JR Smith's scoring potential, can keep up with the Ray/KG/Pietrus lineup to start the 2nd quarter.
I think the C's break the pattern of close games and win this one by 10, 95-85.
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Marc Berman of the NY Post has the not-so-shocking details:
Carmelo Anthony’s discontent with the Knicks organization became so severe after Monday night’s loss to the Bulls, he told a confidant he preferred to be traded before Thursday’s NBA deadline, The Post has learned.
According to a person familiar with his thinking, Anthony’s disillusionment stems most from a belief coach Mike D’Antoni and interim GM Glen Grunwald do not trust him. He is surprised that after all the Knicks gave up to trade for him, he has not been asked for more input on personnel decisions, as Deron Williams has with the Nets.
“The organization makes believe his opinions don’t matter,’’ the source said.
Though Stoudemire lobbied for the Knicks to trade for Anthony, the pair’s friendship has not flourished.
“They’re not as close as people think they are,’’ the source said. “It’s an awkward relationship.’’
Let me get this out of the way now: Bahahahahahaha!!!
Anyone with an ounce of basketball knowledge knew the Melo - Amar'e - D'Antoni marriage in NY was destined to fail. The ingredients don't add up to a successful team. (Read John's post from yesterday for further analysis)
I don't blame Melo for hating on his coach. D'Antoni is awful. He has one playoff win over the past 5 seasons. The mild success he had in Phoenix was due to Steve Nash. Any coach who ignores defense will never win in the playoffs.
Melo may be an incredible talent, but he's no peach. He needs to dominate the ball to be successful. The fact that he's bitching about wanting out after 1 1/2 seasons is cowardly and selfish.
I threw a couple of names into the NBA trade machine. Paul Pierce and Avery Bradley for Carmelo Anthony. Whaddya know... it worked.
Could Doc Rivers mold Melo into a team-first guy?
UPDATE: Melo says he doesn't want to be traded.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
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Amidst incessant and ridiculous trade rumors, Rajon Rondo produced his 17th career triple-double including his fourth this season alone. It was also his third in the last three weeks. This one was legendary, a monster version of sorts. Registering 18 points, 17 rebounds and 20 assists, he put up numbers not seen the likes since of guys named Oscar Robertson and Wilt Chamberlain have done. Granted, he did miss several lay-ups and free throws, but it's tough to argue against this masterpiece of a performance.
It was almost as if he played the role of "Maximus" from the movie "Gladiator" and after the game was over looked at a crazy and ecstatic crowd and shouted: "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAAAAINED?!?!"
Certainly (most) Celtics fans were. Sit back and enjoy the work of art:
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Typically in the GreenLab we go over key plays that Doc diagrams out of timeouts or simply on the fly sets. Yesterday's instant classic of a game featured several memorable moments but one thing that has gone a bit overlooked was the OT defense by Kevin Garnett. KG has had an under-the-radar fantastic season for sure and his clutch defense yesterday to help preserve the win against the New York Knicks is displayed below in the video:
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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 York.
"I don’t know if that’s execution, that’s having a horseshoe up your rear," D'Antoni said of the game-tying three-pointer. "That’s what Paul Pierce does."
ESPN NY - Would you have fouled Pierce?
According to Mike D'Antoni's logic, every contested, game-winning jump shot in the history of the league was more luck than talent.
Clown.
On Page 2, Iman Shumpert continues the Knicks whiny ways.
Continue reading "Enemy Chatter: The Celts had a horseshoe up their rear" »
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Enjoy some photos from today's OT thriller vs the Knicks. Bonus GIFs after the jump...
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