The Celtics manhandled the Cavaliers 106 - 87 tonight at Quicken Loans Arena.
They inflicted most of their damage in the paint, outscoring Cleveland 60-26.
With the Celtics offense sputtering early, Rajon Rondo (23 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds) looked for his own shot. He tuned up Mo Williams and Ramon Sessions for 11 1st quarter points.
The Cavs held an early 9 point lead, due mostly to the all-out hustle of Anderson Varejao. Shaq was unable to box him out.
The Cs broke the game open with a 35 point 2nd quarter. The bench (Glen Davis, Marquis Daniels and Nate Robinson) scored 16 points in the quarter. Davis finished with 17 pts, 11 rebounds. Quisy had 16 points on 7-10 FG.
The Celtics maintained their defensive intensity throughout the 3rd quarter. Paul Pierce had three blocks and Davis had one spectacular stuff on a Sessions' dunk attempt.
KG (11 points, 10 rebounds) tweaked his ankle in the 3rd quarter. While it appeared painful, Garnett managed to play through the injury.
The Celtics pass along the following press release:
BOSTON, MA – The Boston Celtics announced today that guard DelonteWest underwent successful surgery to repair a displaced right wristfracture this morning at the New England Baptist Hospital. The surgery was performed by Dr. Drew Terrono and Dr. Hervey Kimball and assisted by Celtics Team Physician Dr. Brian McKeon. No timetable has been set for his return.
West had appeared in five games for the Celtics this season and was averaging 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals at the time of the injury. He made his season debut for the Celtics against Washington on November 17 and netted 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
What's a displaced fracture? Here's a bit of an explanation (courtesy of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand). Basically, it seems the are multiple fragments in the wrist. That leads to the assumption that a plate and screws were needed to stabilize the wrist. The one thing in that link that worries me is this:
It is not unusual for maximal recovery from a wrist fracture to take several months
What's several? Are we looking at a March or April return? Is this going to be a "back for the playoffs" thing? I think it's pretty clear that this isn't a "4-6 weeks" deal.
All this Antoine Walker talk has some of us Celtics fans nostalgic. What better way to reminisce on 'Toine's time in green than this classic moment from 2002. Watch Bob Delaney cover his head in fear of being pelted by beer/objects as he scampers out of Staples Center.
I guess it's a good thing the C's didn't toss Von Wafer into the scrap heap when Delonte West came back.
With Doc Rivers talking about plan B and the need to change how he substitutes... we're starting to hear Von's name tossed around
One player who has suddenly found himself with an unexpected role is Von Wafer, who has seen the court in small doses. Wafer is ahead of rookie Avery Bradley because of his experience, and also his shooting ability. “Obviously we need Von more than Avery in some ways,” Rivers said. “We need the guy to play the 2-spot. Avery can help us.” As for his defense, Rivers said that Wafer is working on it.
So the challenge is laid out. Von Wafer NEEDS to play well enough for Ray Allen to get some rest. The last time Ray Allen played this many minutes (38 per game), he's was wearing a Sonics jersey (06-07, 40.3 per game). Luckily, Ray is a physical specimen who is doing everything he can to stave off the wear and tear of age.
But it can't last forever. At some point, Ray needs a break. And Nate Robinson can't really fill that void because he needs to give Rajon Rondo and his aching feet a rest. Sure, Doc can slide Paul over to the 2 and bring Marquis Daniels in to play the 3... but Paul needs a break too.
Nope... we need Von Wafer to step up. I'm willing to overlook the planting of anti-Delonte stories for the time being. I don't care what's going on inside Von's head. All I want is one thing: Von Wafer to understand this is a chance for him to come in and contribute. His only extended playing time has come when the game was over. He needs to come in in the first and second quarters... give Ray some time on the bench... and hold the fort until he returns.
I don't normally put stock in November and December games... but these games will be critically important if they cost any of the Big 3 time later on. If Von can't get the job done... and if Ray gets hurt later on... Von will be the scapegoat. We'll all say "if only Wafer could have contributed."
I don't want that. I know Von doesn't either. The time to avoid that is now.
Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The Celtics still are smarting from their loss in Cleveland on the second night of the season, which came just more than 24 hours following their opening night win against Miami. In a small quirk of the NBA calendar, they return to Quicken Loans Arena tonight.
“I think we went in and our thoughts were still in the Miami game, and we didn’t go about it the way we should have played,” Glen Davis said. “Now we can’t do that. At the end of the day, we need these games for home-court advantage.”
As a result, Davis claims his team speaks a new language.
“We don’t know no English,” he said. “All we know is ‘kill.’ That’s it. No more English. Switzerland. That’s all we know is ‘kill.’ Kill, kill, kill. That’s our mentality. That’s how we have to be the rest of the season — not taking Toronto for granted, not taking Cleveland for granted. No days off. We should be undefeated right now.”
Bad grammar and cliched European references aside, Glen Davis makes sense. He claims the Celtics will take seriously the weaker teams on their schedule. We'll see. What I do know for sure, a talkative Glen Davis is gold for bloggers. Pure gold.
While it's hard to imagine a team overlooking the mighty Celtics, the Cavs have a giant distraction looming: LeBron James returns to Cleveland Thursday night. Advantage Boston.
On Page 2, Rondo has high praise for Avery Bradley's defense.
“Surgery [Tuesday] and then we’ll know more after that,” Rivers said after practice on Monday.
Rivers aded starting point guard Rajon Rondo’s left hamstring is no longer an issue but his sore left foot still remains troublesome. “The foot is the bigger issue. The hamstring [injury] is gone for the most part.” Rivers said.
Well... we'll see how it goes. I hope it's only a couple of months.
And I still don't like Rondo's plantar fasciitis. Just don't like that at all
“Today, we only had 11 guys, which sucks,” Rivers said. “It hurts your practice. That means most of your guys are on the floor the entire practice, and that’s not the way to go.”
On O’Neal, Rivers said. “He owes us one, but we’re good. I was going to spank him, but I don’t think I’m going to do that. It may not hurt him. It may hurt me.”
[...] “You get over it,” Rivers said. “Hey, listen, if a guy had a history of something then you deal with it. But when a guy doesn’t have a history of something, it happens. It’s life. You move on. You do whatever you do (with any discipline), I never release that. It’s not a big deal.”
Clearly Doc is letting this slide. Shaq did make it in time for the team plane and he did make the trip to Cleveland. I'm going to assume Shaq's going to have to fork over a little cash for a fine and that'll be the end of it.
Once again, an NBA official overreacted and called a flagrant because a tiny player hit a gigantic player and, by sheer laws of physics, bounce off of him and fell.
Shaq was given a flagrant 1 for his foul on Russell Westbrook back on November 17. Today, the league took it back.
O'Neal incurred his second flagrant 1 of the season for a hard foul on the Thunder's Russell Westbrook with 4:30 remaining in Oklahoma City's win at the Garden. O'Neal appeared to simply throw his hands in the air, but the force of impact with the driving Westbrook left referees assigning the harsher call (which generated two fouls shots and the ball). Westbrook made both free throws, giving the Thunder a six-point cushion and they held off a Boston charge to prevail, 89-84.
Would the right call have changed the outcome of the game? Maybe. And that's all we need to call for a closer look at the system. The Celtics may well have lost that game. They didn't play great and they deserved to lose... but they also put on a big late run and Delonte had a good look to tie the game with :05 left.
So who knows what would have transpired had Shaq been assessed a regular foul on the spot? The Celtics would have gotten the ball back after those two free throws... giving them precious time. Those two free throws were the only points OKC scored between 7:11 left int he quarter to :13 left in the quarter. The Celtics were down 83-74 at 7:11... and went on a 10-2 run to make it 85-84 with :13 left. But they would have had extra time to work with... extra time where who knows what could happen.
It was clearly a huge call. It was clearly a game-changing call. And all the Celtics get are a "oops, sorry."
That's not enough. In a conference race that might be separated by a single game... we could come back to this in March and wonder "what if?" I've said it before... and I'll say it again.... NBA refs need to be fined for rescinded flagrants. They need to know that flagrant fouls are potentially game-changing calls... and they need to be handed out appropriately. There is no excuse for a critical call to be rescinded after the fact when it could have been the difference between winning and losing.
Three-time NBA All-Star Antoine Walker has made numerous comeback attempts since last playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2007-08 NBA season, but the latest may show how dedicated he actually is at getting another shot in the NBA.
Walker could soon be signing a contract with the NBA Development League, possibly as soon as Monday, according to league sources with knowledge of the situation.
Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The Celtics have one of the most enduring chemical bonds in pro sports. On the court they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses inside and out. Rivers cited the latter as part of the problem last season, noting that it became too easy to point to reoccurring mistakes instead of trying to cover for them.
Off the floor, the key to the Celtics togetherness isn’t that they do funny things that sometimes wind up on Twitter. It’s not even whether they like each or not. It’s more basic than that and it goes to the heart of their success. Simply put, they respect each other and trust that when there’s work to be done everything else is secondary.
The Heat are not only learning how to play together, they are trying to figure out how to co-exist in a hothouse atmosphere that they created. They get no sympathy from the Celtics, or anyone else for that matter, but they would do well to learn from their example.
The inescapable truth is, however, that it’s a lot harder than it looks.
Miami is currently 3rd in their division and 6th in the conference. They're dealing with poor play and controversy (the now infamous "did LeBron really mean to bump Spoelstra" video at the top of this post). And they've got a fan base that needs to be taught how to be fans.
I understand why people thought they'd be following the Celtics blueprint. They got a star power forward, small forward and shooting guard together on the same team. But the problem is, beyond that, there were no real similarities at all. Hell, other than the positions they play, there aren't many similarities between the "Big 3's" either.
I don't want to rip from Flannery's piece because he nailed all these points... but the timing for Ray, Paul and KG was right. They were all sick of losing and being ringless. And they all had the temperament that allowed for the necessary sacrifices. LeBron had his share of disappointments... but he still feels like he's entitled to a ring or two. Wade already has a title. And Bosh was always going to be third fiddle
The Celtics came in hungry and ready to do whatever they needed to do to win. And the simple fact is... Miami doesn't have KG. That guy's intensity changed everything. He turned Perk into a monster. He helped elevate Pierce and Ray defensively. And he set a pretty high bar for the entire team.
Beyond the questions of the rest of the roster... beyond the questions of coaching... there is no player on this team like that. There is no superstar who DEMANDS defensive excellence and unselfishness.
That, maybe more than anything, is why Miami is starting slow. They very well may rebound and they very well might get REALLY hot... but their learning curve is MUCH bigger than the C's curve was. Aside from having three star players... nothing that Miami's doing is like what Boston did in 2007.
