Boston 109, Los Angeles Lakers 96

Revenge? Hardly. But a satisfying win nonetheless.

[recap] [box score]

For one game, at least, the Celtics solved all the problems that doomed them in the second half of Game Seven last June. Rather than getting stagnant in the second half, the offense ran smoothly and effectively, first through Paul Pierce (32 points), then through Rajon Rondo (16 assists, including 15 in the second half). Instead of getting killed on the boards, Boston came away with a with a decisive 43-30 rebounding advantage. Sure, Kobe Bryant had a relatively efficient 41 points on 29 shots, but he wasn't what beat Boston last season. And while looking ahead to a possible Boston-LA rematch in this year's Finals is putting the cart well before the horse (not to mention the Heat, Magic, and Spurs), should the teams meet again in June, Kobe won't beat Boston himself, either.

My power went out, of all things, during the second quarter, and I retired to a local cantina with my girlfriend, Liz, for the remainder of the contest. We joined a growing group of similarly situated folks in our neighborhood, and as the restaurant grew more and more packed, we spotted a couple along one of the walls who hadn't found a seat. She was wearing a Celtics jacket, he a Pearl Jam sweatshirt, and figuring that people so attired couldn't be that bad, I invited them to join us at our table. Amanda and Colby were two of only a handful of Boston fans at the bar, a group which included a young black woman in green-and-white striped socks who got off her bar stool to kick up her heels after literally every Celtics bucket. I generally try to avoid bars for important games, because I don't like to be distracted, but it was a fun way to watch.

Anyway, back to the basketball, with some bullets:

• Pierce was just outstanding today. Historically, Ron Artest has guarded him fairly well, but The Truth got off early, then tore the Lakers apart in the third quarter, scoring 14 points in the first seven minutes of the period. His hot hand forced the Lakers to switch Kobe on to him, which meant taking him off Rondo. The Lakers are one of the few teams that guard Rondo by sagging way off of him, a strategy that seems to perplex Boston's young point guard more on the road than at home. When Bryant guards Rondo, he's available to help and clog the lane, while his length counteracts some of the head start Rondo gets on penetration. With Bryant on Pierce, Rondo penetrated freely, finding the open man and an occasional layup for himself.
• Ray Allen fought off early foul trouble to score 21 points. Ray was 8-for-11 from the field and 3-for-7 from beyond the arc; the Celtics shot better than 60 percent from the floor and 52 percent from three for the game.
• Kendrick Perkins came off the bench for the fourth straight game. Many think he was the missing link -- that his torn ACL in Game 6 last year cost Boston the title -- but the big difference inside, from a Boston perspective, was Kevin Garnett. KG had 18 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists, but looking long-term, the major point is the one we've been making all year -- he's back to something close to his pre-injury form.
• Nate Robinson had his first decent game in a while. He still took one or two questionable shots ("A heat check," I explained to Liz when she objected to one of his hoists, to which Colby added: "Every shot Nate takes is a heat check") but he scored 11 valuable points.
• The only other bench player who did much of anything was Glen Davis. Big Baby has something of a reputation on showing up in big games, in part due to his playoff performances in KG's absence two seasons ago. He did seem to play with more focus today than he has in recent games, taking fewer long jumpers and patiently carving out space underneath before going up. By virtue of his extra-wide body, Davis has always had the ability to finish inside, but has often failed in that regard, going up quickly without using his body to protect the ball, seemingly forgetting that he's a lot shorter than most of the defenders who tend to hang around the basket.

After the game, Phil Jackson apparently had this to say: "It's not the playoffs yet. We're still playing regular season games. We'll get there in time."

On the one hand, Jackson's right: It is still the regular season, and Celtics fans should temper their reactions to Sunday because of that. And the Lakers succeeded with the ramp-it-up-in-the-postseason strategy last year on the way to their second title, a tactic that nearly got the Celtics a ring last season, too.

And yet this season has a number of things that last season didn't. The list starts with the San Antonio Spurs, the first team to 40 wins this season and current holders of a seven-and-a-half game lead over the Lakers. I'm still stumped as to how, exactly, the Spurs are doing this, but they are, and there's no reason to think they'll slow down enough to be caught. LA is facing the possibility of a conference finals series without home court advantage, something that really wasn't a concern last year.

The Lakers are also now four games behind the Celtics in the loss column, which could be meaningful should they meet in the Finals. If Perkins' absence in Games 6 and 7 wasn't the X-factor last year, than home court advantage might well have been, and at this pace, Boston would have it. (Again, I know I'm getting ahead of myself talking about a Boston-LA Finals. But I guarantee you the players are thinking about the same thing.)

At any rate, I just don't buy it. If Jackson wasn't concerned about the regular season, why switch Bryant on to Pierce? Why play Bryant, in his 15th NBA season, 40 minutes against the Heat? Why play Pau Gasol, wearied by playoff and international ball the last several years, 40 minutes or more on 15 occasions already?

Even if Jackson is telling the truth and doesn't care, his players do. Kobe, one of the all-time competitors (though perhaps a touch over-rated in that regard) certainly does. And Gasol and Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom looked, to me, more intimidated than disinterested in Sunday's second half.

In the big picture, Sunday's win means little more than my being able to wear a Pierce shirt tomorrow and talk a little trash with my friends here in LA. But for me, each win like this one means a little something. I think last summer had a profound effect on me; the outcome of the Finals shaking the very foundation upon which many of my ideas about basketball are built. Seeing these Celtics in form -- in 2007-08 form -- restores some order to my brain.

Phoenix 88, Boston 71

Friday was one of those nights in the NBA.

[recap] [box score]

It was somewhat predictable, really. The second night of a road back-to-back is always tough, and Phoenix' up-tempo style is particularly difficult to deal with. In addition, Boston's got a huge game coming up on Sunday against the Lakers. And the Celtics had struggled in Thursday night's win against Portland.

Some quick bullets:

• Doc Rivers got thrown out in the second quarter after Steve Javie hit him with two quick Ts. The first was probably justified -- the second came awfully quick thereafter.
• The AP wire story linked above focuses quite a bit on an allegedly low blow that Kevin Garnett laid on Channing Frye. It wasn't nearly as bad as the story makes it sound. Earlier in the game, Garnett had closed out on a Frye jumper and gotten a little too close, and Frye landed on KG's foot and tweaked his ankle a bit. Late in the game, the same sort of thing happened, with KG subtly trying to jab Frye in the stomach, a fairly common tactic to distract a shooter. He missed, but the contact to Frye's groin area wasn't what set Frye off. The ensuing melee -- for which Garnett was thrown out merely, it appeared, for talking -- was caused by Frye's belief that KG was purposely getting underneath him and endangering his knee and ankle.
• Boston was actually in the game at that point, having been energized by a flagrant foul on Phoenix's Mickael Pietrus. Pietrus ran through a Garnett screen with his arms up, catching KG in the neck and jaw area. It was a much bigger cheap shot than what Garnett did to Frye, unless you believe that KG was actually trying to hurt Frye by sticking his foot out for Frye to land on. I don't.
• Basketball-wise, there isn't much to talk about. Boston couldn't shoot and couldn't hang on to the ball. No one played well offensively. Defensively, they weren't horrible, but the bigs got pushed around by Robin Lopez and Marcin Gortat, and that kind of set the tone.
• Glen Davis didn't play in the second half after straining his hamstring in the first. I hear it's not serious, but I'm unsure if he'll play Sunday against the Lakers.
• Speaking of the Lakers, as bad as we were on Friday, at least we didn't lose to the Kings at home.

Boston 88, Portland 78

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics kicked off a four-game road trip with a chippy, sloppy win over injury-depleted Portland.

The Blazers, playing without Brandon Roy, Marcus Camby, and (of course) Greg Oden decided from the opening tip that they weren't going to be intimidated or pushed around by Boston, and Boston, for its part, seems to relish the opportunity. The result was a physical, ugly contest for three quarters. But some solid work on both ends of the floor from the second unit gave the Celtics a 15-point lead with 4:22 remaining, which proved to be enough of a cushion to protect against missed free throws and Portland suddenly getting hot from three-point range.

Things actually got really dicey when Marquis Daniels stepped to the line with Boston up 82-77 with 42 seconds left and promptly missed both free throws. But Kevin Garnett simply outworked LaMarcus Aldridge for the rebound, and Glen Davis was able to knock down a pair from the line to seal the victory. It was the final stamp on a terrific all-around night from KG, who put up a Rondo-esque ten points, nine boards, and nine assists.

Kendrick Perkins looked great again, with ten points and nine boards in nearly 21 minutes, a little bit more floor time than what we've been told Perk will be playing at this stage. Von Wafer also had a strong game off the bench, and I have to admit I'm starting to talk myself into him. He replaced Nate Robinson in the rotation in the second half and had a couple of nice buckets and a steal. I still think Nate's our guy at the backup 2 when Delonte West returns, but for now, as Nate continues to struggle to define his role, we may see more Wafer.

Boston 112, Cleveland 95

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics sent the Cavs to their 18th straight loss blah blah blah blah...

Kendrick Perkins returned to the lineup!

Forgive me for skipping to the important part. But a win against the hapless Cavs, even one that avenges, as this one does, an early-season loss, is nothing to write about. The return of big number 43, just seven months after tearing his ACL in the opening minutes of Game 6 of the NBA Finals, is.

I knew Perk was close to coming back; reports had established February 4 against Dallas as his target return date. But seeing him suit up Tuesday night, a week and a half early, was certainly a surprise.

Perkins' return has to be considered a big success. First and most importantly, he showed no real ill effects, physically, from the injury or the surgery to repair it. He moved laterally. He ran hard up the floor -- his familiar, loping gait providing reassurance that all was well. He challenged shots, fought for rebounds, and finished at the basket.

He played so well, in fact, and the atmosphere surrounding his return was so positive, that one has to pause to remind oneself that this is Kendrick Perkins we're talking about. No one recognizes the value of what Perkins brings to the floor more than Boston fans do, but he doesn't suddenly make the Celtics an unstoppable force. He had eight points and six rebounds in limited minutes against a pathetic and undersized Cavs front line, and those totals are more or less in line with what we can expect from him as he works himself into better shape and plays against stiffer competition.

But Perkins is a big piece of a title contender, and it's reassuring to have him back out on the floor. His absence may have cost the Celtics a title last year. His return may win them one this season.

Washington 85, Boston 83

The Celtics followed up an inspired blowout of Utah on Friday night with an embarrassing loss to the Washington Wizards.

[recap] [box score]

After an easy first period in which the Cs raced out to a 35-20 lead, the ball simply stopped going in the basket for Boston. If you watched the game or are any good at math, you'll already have figured out that after that first quarter, Boston scored just 48 points the rest of the way. Jumpers stopped falling, the bench didn't really contribute, and by and large the whole team just looked disinterested.

For their part, the Wizards didn't look much better. The matchup everyone was excited to see coming into the game was John Wall vs. Rajon Rondo, Wall being the top overall pick in last year's draft who didn't play due to injury in Washington's trip to Boston on November 17 (a 31-point Celtics win). Wall stole the headlines by banking in a three-pointer with less than a minute left to put the Wizards up three, but that seems to be because sportswriters don't seem to want to admit what a lucky shot that was. (To his credit, Wall recognized what they didn't: "I knew it was going to hit backboard, but I thought it was going to be a hard brick. It could've broken the backboard. Luckily, it went in.")

Other than that prayer, Wall's biggest play was a layup in transition with 2:34 to play that gave the Wizards their first lead of the game, after coming up empty on no fewer than eight fourth-quarter possessions with the score tied or Washington down a single point. Rondo wasn't spectacular, but he was quite a bit better than Wall all night. Had Paul Pierce been able to knock down the game-winner over Andray Blatche, all anyone would be talking about today was Rondo's strip of Wall on Washington's last possession that gave Pierce the chance to win the game. Don't get me wrong, Wall is going places and I really like the way he handles himself. I just want to temper everyone's reaction to the game by pointing out that Rondo more or less kicked his butt all night.

Shaquille O'Neal sat out after injuring his hip on Friday night against the Jazz, a game in which he played just six minutes. The injury may be related to when Shaq fell on some ice around Christmastime. With Jermaine O'Neal out for the next month or so to strengthen his legs and hopefully be able to play down the stretch, Semih Erden got the start. Doc, at least, doesn't think Shaq's injury is serious, but with the Lakers looming at the end of the week, it's something to keep an eye on.

Glen Davis got the most minutes of any Boston frontcourt player -- give Doc credit for not riding Kevin Garnett too much, which would have been easy under the circumstances -- and seemed to fall back into his habit of relying on jumpers. It seems that this becomes Davis' MO when Shaq is out and he feels he needs to be a bigger part of the offense. Hopefully, he can be broken of that habit.

The Next Lamb: The Utah Jazz

Game 42: Utah (27-15) at Boston (32-9)

Friday, January 21

7:30 p.m. Eastern

NBA League Pass

Boston finishes up a stretch of nine home dates in ten games (including six home games in a row) against the Utah Jazz, themselves in the middle of a five-game road trip that has begun ominously with losses to Washington and New Jersey (combined record: 23-59).

Utah is led by the excellent Deron Williams at point guard, one of the few at the position who can be said to be better than Boston's Rajon Rondo. Williams is big and strong, shoots the jumper well coming off of ball screens, and excels at getting to the line on penetration. Williams is also an excellent passer who is again among the league leaders in assists, as he has been for all but the first of his six professional seasons. Rondo seems to find something a little extra for his battles with the league's elite, so expect a fun matchup here. Williams was more or less average in two games against Boston last year, but his size and strength bring to mind Derrick Rose, who the Celtics have had a fair amount of trouble with in this and recent seasons.

Williams' old partner in picking and popping, Carlos Boozer, left in the off-season for Chicago, leaving a spot open at power forward for Paul Millsap, a RwH favorite from his college days at Louisiana Tech. Always an outstanding rebounder, Millsap turned heads with his early season offensive outburst, including a 46-point explosion in a dramatic road victory over the Miami Heat. He's struggled in the last three games, apparently with some foul trouble, but he's definitely a guy Kevin Garnett has to pay attention to.

Utah center Al Jefferson's season has followed something of the opposite pattern to Millsap's. After coming over from Minnesota in the offseason, the hard-working Jefferson really struggled to find his rhythm. He's started to come around, shooting at least 50 percent from the field in each of the last six games. Jefferson, of course, spent the first three years of his career in Boston before being thrown to the Wolves in the Kevin Garnett deal. He's an earnest, humble guy who loved being a Celtic and the fans recognize that, so I expect a warm reception for Big Al J from the Garden crowd -- if not from Shaquille O'Neal.

Boston 86, Detroit 82

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A few laurels to hand out on what was an otherwise ugly game:

• Shaquille O'Neal was all over the court, rebounding on both ends, blocking shots, and diving for loose balls. I'm not sure what motivates Shaq to play like this -- or, to phrase the issue a bit more pessimistically, what prevents him from playing this way all the time -- but it's good to see he has it in him. The Celtics should have gone to him more on the offensive end; nine shot attempts is not enough for man his size going up against the likes of Chris Wilcox and Greg Monroe. Boston has had no qualms about riding the hot hand of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and even Marquis Daniels in recent games. There's no reason why they should be shy about going to the big fella until the other team figures out how to stop it.
• Ray Allen's confidence -- and the confidence the team has in Ray Allen -- never ceases to amaze me. Despite the fact that the soon-to-be all-time leader in made three-pointers was cold all night (even missing a pair of free throws), the Celtics still went to him in crunch time, running him off a screen on the right wing with the score tied at 82 and maybe half a minute left. To the surprise of no one, Allen buried a jumper -- though he did have his foot on the three-point line, another sign he was just a bit out of calibration all evening.
• Glen Davis seems comfortable back in his bench role, and he's continuing to see minutes at the end of games, which I think we can expect all season. He's looking for that 18-foot jumper a lot less now, instead preferring to quickly reverse the ball and keep the offense moving. His biggest play Wednesday night came on what was effectively Detroit's last possession, going straight up to bother a Ben Gordon drive with the Celtics up two. Most guys would foul there, but Davis maintained his verticality and forced Gordon into a tough shot, which he missed. Gordon actually could have easily been whistled for an offensive foul himself for discarding Davis with his left arm while laying the ball up with his right.

Boston 109, Orlando 106

Welcome back, Kevin.

[recap] [box score]

Sidelined by a right calf injury since December 29, Kevin Garnett returned to the Boston starting lineup Monday night and scored 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and brought the Celtics alive with his trademark energy and chatter. His biggest contribution, however, was a game-sealing steal of a Jameer Nelson pass in the final seconds. After deflecting the pass and securing the ball, Garnett flung out to a streaking Ray Allen, who dribbled off some clock before getting fouled and icing the game at the free throw line.

It was, more or less, a perfect return for KG in the eyes of Celtics fans. Garnett played 31 minutes and moved well for each and every one of them. Call me paranoid if you wish, but I know I wasn't the only Boston fan waiting to see KG in action before I believed that this most recent injury wasn't serious. The memory of two seasons ago, when Garnett and/or the team hid the severity of his knee problems for weeks, is simply too fresh.

This game was about far more than Garnett's healthy return, however. Doc Rivers, as expected, had the fellas play Dwight Howard more or less straight up. No double teams, no putting him at the line at every opportunity. Just straight-up defense, following the philosophy the Cs have been successful with over the past three-plus seasons: Let their best player get his and worry about shutting down the other guys.

The other guys, in the case of the Magic, are good enough to beat you on many nights, and they almost did. Howard had 33 points and 13 rebounds, and his teammates made 11 of 27 three-point shots in support. But they cooled down just enough in the fourth quarter for the Celtics -- who shot 60 percent from the field but just 3-for-10 from behind the arc -- to avenge the Christmas Day loss.

The one issue I had with the way the Celtics handled Howard was that they didn't attack him on the offensive end. Shaquille O'Neal drew a foul on Howard within the first two minutes of the game, but only took seven shots the whole night. Indeed, Howard ended the game -- after nearly 44 minutes of court time -- with just that one foul. Howard is more than capable of playing defense, and I get that Doc is loathe to change the game plan because of just one guy. But Shaq had a couple of buckets early, and it would have been worth it to see whether he could have kept rolling and/or gotten Howard into foul trouble. During one second-quarter sequence, Howard drew Shaq's second foul on an extremely dubious call, getting to the line simply by bringing the ball into Shaq's forearm. It looked bad when the ref called it and a replay on the Jumbotron confirmed that it was a bad call. The next Celtic possession was a perfect opportunity to go to O'Neal and give the officials an opportunity for a makeup call. Instead, Boston went to Paul Pierce. It didn't cost the Celtics any points, as Pierce hit a jumper, but Shaq picked up his third on the next Orlando possession, sending him to the bench. Had Boston gone to O'Neal, it might have been Howard headed to the bench for the rest of the half, rather than Shaq.

Speaking of Howard and the officials, I yelled at my television enough during the game that I feel obligated to mention the officiating, which was horrible in my estimation. In addition to the O'Neal foul mentioned above, Howard was the beneficiary of a bad call on Garnett's third foul late in the second period. Howard was trying to seal Garnett in the post, and Garnett fought throw Howard holding him off with his left arm to steal the entry pass. Danny Crawford apparently thought that KG grabbed Howard's arm to accomplish this, when in fact it was Howard, if anyone, who committed the foul. For someone who constantly complains that he doesn't receive enough protection from the officials, Howard certainly got plenty of it Monday night.

It wasn't just Howard; the Magic shot 36 free throws to Boston's 26, despite taking 27 three-pointers to Boston's ten and despite the fact that Boston scored a ton of points in the paint. Free throw discrepancies in favor of Orlando are rather commonplace given some teams' preferred strategy for defending Howard, but as I mentioned, Boston wasn't wrapping him up every time he caught the ball in a dangerous position the way some teams do. There's just no way Orlando should shoot that many more free throws while also shooting that many more jumpers. And I haven't yet mentioned what I considered to be the most egregious call of the game, a moving screen on KG that nullified a Ray Allen three with less than two minutes to play. I get that KG moves on screens, like basically every NBA big man, but under two minutes in a tie ballgame is a wacky time to start making that call, especially when Howard had been stepping into screens on the other end all night. The inconsistency drove me crazy.

Not to ramble on and on about Howard, but this game underscored for me the reason why I'm not overly concerned with the Magic, at least not as currently constructed. By giving up center Marcin Gortat in the Vince Carter-Jason Richardson trade with Phoenix, Orlando has left itself with no viable backup for Howard. And while Howard is young and fit and fully capable of playing as many minutes as he did, he's also foul prone and if the game had gone differently, Orlando could have found itself in some trouble -- and that's with Kendrick Perkins and Jermaine O'Neal out with injuries. Even so, there were a handful of occasions that Howard didn't challenge easy shots around the basket, and he didn't block a shot in a game for the first time since Game 2 of the Boston series last May. I have to think Howard is more conscious than ever about foul trouble, which negates some of his shotblocking ability and makes Orlando's defense that much less effective.

In order to get a backup, however, Orlando would probably have to part with either Ryan Anderson or J.J. Redick, young players who, like seemingly everyone else on the team, are real threats from downtown. Anderson entered Monday's game late in the first quarter and promptly hit four threes to bring the Magic back from an early ten-point deficit, and while Redick spent much of a crucial second-half stretch being taken to school by Ray Allen, he has -- against all odds -- became a vital role player that I know Orlando doesn't want to part with. Given that Gilbert Arenas has not emerged as much of a threat since arriving from Washington in the trade for Rashard Lewis, the loss of either one of those guys would be a major hit to their depth. And yet it's hard to see the Magic getting through Boston and the Lakers in the postseason without a backup center.

There was more to this game -- Pierce patiently waiting as Boston rode Allen's hot hand until the final minute, when he calmly sank a jumper after being fouled by Richardson to put the Cs up three; Glen Davis finally refusing to settle for jump shots; Nate Robinson's continued struggle to find his role in the absence of Delonte West -- but that's enough for now. The focus shifts to Detroit -- surprise blowout winners over the reeling Mavericks on Monday afternoon -- on Wednesday, with Utah coming in on Friday and road games in Portland, Phoenix, and Los Angeles against the Lakers to finish out the month.

Muy Beno: A Lesson in Karma

Two nights ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers put together one of the sorriest performances in NBA history against the Lakers, losing 112-57 in LA. Afterward, the following message apparently appeared on LeBron James' Twitter account: "Crazy. Karma is a b****. Gets you every time. It's not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!"

"Every" it turns out, actually does mean "every." So when you twist the knife into an already suffering group of ex-teammates, invoking karma all the while, don't be surprised if your team goes out the next night and gives up 44 first-quarter points to the 12-24 Los Angeles Clippers. Don't be surprised if your team eventually loses that game. And don't be surprised if you sprain your ankle in the process.

(Not that I'm wishing bad on James or reveling in his loss and/or injury, 24 hours before I myself step on a plane. Just clearing karma's good name.)

Boston 119, Sacramento 95

It took a whole half, but a game that should have been an easy win finally became an easy win.

[recap] [box score]

The Kings aren't very good to begin with, didn't have Tyreke Evans, had lost to the Wizards in overtime the night before, and arrived in Boston around 4 a.m. thanks to the winter storm in the Northeast. Even so, despite a quick 8-0 Boston start, Sacramento hung around during the first 24 minutes.

The Celtics shot well, plain and simple, which they should do against a bad team like the Kings. They hit 12 of 20 three-point attempts, shot 52 percent overall, and with the exception of Glen Davis (who wasn't horrible, at 6 of 14), knocked down more or less every open jumper they got. All eleven Celtics who played scored, and with the starters resting the entire forth quarter, eight Celtics reached double figures. (The ones who didn't were Luke Harangody, Avery Bradley, and Shaquille O'Neal, who, according to Mike Gorman, predicted before the game that he'd get into foul trouble, which he did. Apparently, Bob Delaney has it out for him.)

Jermaine O'Neal didn't play because his knee swelled up right before the game. This is a concern; as well as Semih Erden played in extended minutes last night, we'd rather have JON ot there.

The Next Lamb: The Houston Rockets

Game 37: Houston (16-21) at Boston (28-8)

Monday, January 10

7:30 p.m. Eastern

NBA League Pass

As NBA injury stories go, the story of Yao Ming certainly rivals that of Portland's Greg Oden in terms of basketball tragedy. Yao missed all of last season with a foot injury, came back for the first few weeks of this season, then suffered a stress fracture in his foot while rehabbing a strained tendon in his leg. Another season gone, and there are very real concerns that he's played his last NBA game.

Trying to re-incorporate Yao into the offense at the beginning of the season (while dealing with his minutes cap and unavailability on the second night of back-to-backs) cost Houston at the start of the year, as the Rockets dropped their first five games. After Yao got hurt, the team struggled through the end of November, in part due to an ankle injury to point guard Aaron Brooks.

They seemed to be turning things around at the end of 2010, going 11-4 in December and winning five of their final six games of the calendar year. But a brutal schedule -- five games in seven days, all against current playoff teams -- combined with a more minor ankle injury to Brooks has the Rockets slumping, losers of their first five games of 2011.

When Brooks is healthy, he's the Rockets most dangerous offensive weapon, a true scorer with no fear and great range. He's not healthy, though; he never made it into the starting lineup after his injury (coming off the bench for 20-25 minutes per game in the six games he played before getting hurt again) and clearly isn't the same player yet. So even if he does play, Boston's defensive focus should be on shooting guard Kevin Martin, a wispy shooting guard with an uncanny knack for getting to the line, and Luis Scola, their terrific power forward. Kevin Garnett may be back for Boston, which would be a huge boost. I'm assuming the Rockets took notice of the way that Chicago's Carlos Boozer took advantage of Glen Davis in the post last night, and if KG is out of the lineup, I would expect a heavy dose of Scola.

In the absence of Yao, 6-6 Chuck Hayes was getting the majority of starts at center, but he's out until later in the month with an ankle injury of his own. Second-year player Jordan Hill has been getting the starts with Hayes out, but veteran Brad Miller -- an old favorite of coach Rick Adelman's from their glory days in Sacramento -- has been getting the majority of the minutes. Miller is a hard-nosed center with great passing ability and good range for a man his size, but his lack of mobility means that Shaquille O'Neal shouldn't have as much trouble with him as some other centers in the league. Hill might give Shaq more trouble, at least on the glass, but his lack of polish will hurt him, and he's not as aggressive as some of the other young bigs in the league. Rookie Patrick Patterson has made his way into the rotation due to the injuries and provides rebounding and a little bit of scoring.

Houston's starting point guard is Kyle Lowry, a brawny six-footer who isn't flashy but gets the job done on both ends of the court. He's a passable three-point shooter at 37.1 percent, but his overall field goal percentage is just 39.2 percent, so I imagine Boston will be more than willing to let him get his own shot rather than deal to Martin and Scola. The Rockets have a variety of effective perimeter players, including veteran Shane Battier and young guns Courtney Lee and Chase Budinger. Defending the three-point line will be a big key for Boston.

In conclusion, I love watching Houston because of how hard they play. There's no team in the league that brings it every night harder than the Rockets do. Boston's had a tendency to sleepwalk through games in past years. It's not as big a problem this year as it has been, but they better be ready to play from the beginning, or they might find themselves slapped with an unexpected home loss -- despite all of Houston's injuries.

Shaquille O'Neal Needs to Stop Fouling

On a second-half drive in Saturday night's Bulls-Celtics game, Chicago's Derrick Rose drove left and took off from the left block. He sailed under the basket, actually hovering in midair over the endline, looking for a way to squeeze the ball through a tangle of limbs attached to green jerseys. He was trapped; to score, he would need to pull off an incredible shot (which he is capable of doing, of course, but that's not the point).

Shaquille O'Neal bailed him out by fouling him and sending him to the line for two shots.

I've said it before, but Shaq needs to stop fouling. It's not that we don't have the bodies to replace him; even when we're not completely healthy, it's not like he can handle playing a bunch of minutes per night. But for a team whose (highly effective) defense over the past three-plus seasons has been predicated on forcing the other team to make tough shots, Shaq's attempts to "protect the rim" amount to so much sabotage.

In addition to having an excellent defensive point guard (Rajon Rondo), one of the best team defenders in the game (Kevin Garnett) and an underrated defensive center (Kendrick Perkins), Boston has been successful on the defensive end in recent seasons by deciding, in a sense, which shots they are most happy with the opposition taking, and forcing said opposition to win the game that way. Lebron James wants to shoot long jumpers? Fine; better than him taking the ball to the rim. Kobe Bryant wants to go one-on-one? Great; he'll get his, but it keeps the ball out of Pau Gasol's hands. So on a night when Garnett wasn't around to help on Rose or guard Carlos Boozer, Boston should have been more or less okay with Rose beating them, if he was going to beat them, with circus shots. Instead, he took 19 free throws and had 36 points and the Bulls won by 11.

I don't know if it's laziness on Shaq's part or that he's not able to recognize his diminished athleticism (which seems unlikely; he's been playing at his current weight for several seasons now). Perhaps it's something else. But fouling a guy who is trying to shoot with his back turned to the hoop is just bad basketball. It's okay to clobber a guy to save a sure two points; it's dumb to clobber a guy who has a very slim chance to score.

At his size, it should be very difficult to score over Shaq, and the opposition, generally speaking, isn't all that willing to create contact with the big fella. Thus, while he's no longer a big shotblocking threat, O'Neal should be able to affect his share of shots simply by getting in the way. By fouling, he bails the opposition out (and puts his team in the penalty earlier in the quarter, leading to even more points, potentially).

Chicago 90, Boston 79

The Bulls were missing Joakim Noah. The Celtics were missing Kevin Garnett. The Cs missed Garnett a lot more.

[recap] [box score]

Despite the fact that Chicago was without its young starting center (who hasn't played since December 15 after undergoing thumb surgery), they outrebounded Boston 48-27 and blocked nine shots (including four each by Kurt Thomas and Taj Gibson). Carlos Boozer, the man Garnett would have been guarding, had 22 points on an efficient 9-for-15.

The Bulls' biggest offensive contribution came from point guard Derrick Rose, who scored 36 in part due to 19 trips to the free throw line (where he made 15 shots). Rose is big and quick and too much for any NBA point guard to handle. Without Garnett around for help, Rose wreaked havoc on the Celtics at the rim. Even when Garnett comes back, Chicago is going to be tough for Boston, because KG will have his hands full with Boozer. The return of an effective, if not completely healthy, Kendrick Perkins might be the biggest key to having less trouble with the Bulls in the future.

All in all, it was a pretty awful performance for the Celtics, which I'm willing to forgive against a good team on the second night of a home-road back-to-back. But the Cs are now in a dead, uh, heat with Miami for the best record in the East. With home dates this week against the Rockets, Kings, and Bobcats, it may be a good opportunity to get a little separation, as the Heat finish up a five-game road trip that began with an overtime win in Milwaukee Friday night with dates with Portland, the Clippers, Denver, and Chicago.

Boston 122, Toronto 102

Friday night was about as easy a win as you'll get in the NBA.

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics had a torrid first half, scoring 67 points, and appeared capable of scoring at will against the overmatched and depleted Raptors. Doc Rivers seemed to know it, too, pulling Rajon Rondo with Boston up 76-55 three minutes into the third quarter. The League Pass broadcast was the Toronto broadcast and their guys didn't seem to notice, but I worried that perhaps Rondo was hurt. Fortunately, it appeared that Doc was just hoping to get Rondo some rest (and perhaps boost the confidence of the struggling Nate Robinson, who came in for Rondo) -- Rondo returned later in the game. All in all, Glen Davis was the only started who played more than 30 minutes, a key statistic with the Celtics in the midst of a busy stretch and a game in Chicago on Saturday night.

The blowout gave some extended playing time to the bench. Rookie Luke Harangody took the most advantage, notching his first career double-double. Harangody actually got going in the first quarter and never really stopped on his way to 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Not too much to say, really. The defense could have been better -- the Raps made more than half their shots -- but the guys can be forgiven for letting up a little bit on that end in a blowout at this stage.

No "Next Lamb" posts for a bit as my computer usage is limited due to a hard drive crash, but briefly, the game on Saturday should be a good test. Boston has beaten the Bulls twice already this season, but the first win came with Carlos Boozer out of the Bulls lineup and the second was Boozer's second back from a preseason hand injury. He's averaged a 20/10 since returning December 1st, and will be a handful for Boston without Kevin Garnett. The Bulls will be hungry, too, having lost its last two games, to 10-26 New Jersey and 15-21 Philadelphia.

Boston 105, San Antonio 103

Even without the dramatic ending, this would have been a pretty good basketball game.

[recap] [box score]


If you didn't watch it -- and many couldn't, since it wasn't on national TV despite the fact that ESPN didn't have an early game in its early Wednesday night slot -- the end was bizarre, almost surreal. Up nine with 56 seconds left, the Celtics first allowed a tough three-pointer to Manu Ginobili. After Ray Allen was fouled (the Spurs weren't in the penalty), Paul Pierce was mugged on the sideline as he brought the ball up. No call, and Tony Parker drove for an easy layup to the cut the lead to four. After a Boston timeout, Nate Robinson subbed in and caught the inbounds pass in the backcourt, dribbled around a bit too nonchalantly, then threw a weak bounce pass to Rajon Rondo that Ginobili intercepted while knocking Rondo over. Richard Jefferson was fouled at the rim, and knocked down both free throws. Just like that, it was a two-point game, and Boston had to shoot, rather than wait to get fouled (not that the officials were going to call it). Pierce ran the screen and roll with Allen at the end of the shot clock, missed, but the rebound bounced to Robinson, who handed it to Ray, Mr. Automatic, who has promptly fouled. But Ray missed both free throws, and it wasn't until Pierce snuffed out a Ginobili three-point attempt that would have given San Antonio the game that the win was solidified.

In the end, though, the final score was probably right. Boston was just a couple of points better than San Antonio on this night. It was nip and tuck most of the way, and then the Spurs kind of ran out of steam, until the final minute, when the unexplainable began to happen. (The first play was an obvious foul; the second was closer, but still probably a foul; and how often does Allen miss two free throws?)

I have to be on a plane back to LA in a few hours, and I'm without my usual computer, so I'll be quick. Rondo was brilliant, dishing the majority of his 22 assists in the first three quarters, then scoring eight of his 12 points in the fourth period. He added ten rebounds for a triple double and also had six steals. Allen's shot was falling from the beginning; he finished with 31 points on 13 of 16 from the field. Glen Davis made 10 of 18 shots for 23 points, and Pierce fought through some, um, physical defense from the Spurs to finish with 18 points on seven for ten shooting.

Give credit to the Spurs, too, who played a hell of a game the night after a track meet with the Knicks. You have to assume that the Lakers will come around sooner or later, but even if they do, the Spurs are going to be a real threat to them in the West.

The Next Lamb: The San Antonio Spurs

Game 34: San Antonio (29-5) at Boston (26-7)

Wednesday, January 5

7:30 p.m. Eastern

NBA League Pass

At the end of last season (prior to Boston's run to the Finals, anyway) a lot of NBA people were saying the same thing about the Spurs as they were about the Celtics; namely, that these were two former heavyweights whose championship windows had closed. Now, with the halfway point of the 2010-11 season approaching, the Spurs have the league's best record and have been the surprise team thus far.

What's so fascinating about San Antonio is that they've resurrected themselves among the NBA's elite by completely changing their style of play. For years, the Spurs have been associated with slow-paced, defense-oriented, and (to some) boring basketball. This offseason, however, the coaching staff decided to change to a more up-tempo attack -- and with Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker healthy, the team has flourished. The 72 points the Spurs gave up to the Knicks in the first half on Tuesday night aren't exactly par for the course, but it isn't going to give Gregg Popovich a heart attack the way it might have in recent years. (The fact that San Antonio scored 69 points themselves in the first half helps.)

What this means is less reliance on Tim Duncan, arguably the best power forward ever to play in the NBA. Statistically speaking, the 34-year-old Duncan is having the worst season of his 14-year career, with his stats -- including his minutes -- at career lows almost across the board. But he's by no means been put out to pasture, and with Kevin Garnett out of Boston's lineup, it wouldn't surprise me to see a heavy dose of Duncan on Wednesday.

Parker is the point guard, but in my mind it's Ginobili who is the true key to San Antonio's success. The improvisational Argentine has often drawn the ire of Popovich with his freelancing ways, but he has more freedom in this system and his ability to score and to create for others isn't matched by too many players currently in the league.

Another key to the Spurs' winning ways has been the re-emergence of Richard Jefferson, one of the front-runners for Comeback Player of the Year. He signed a pretty big free agent contract with San Antonio two offseasons ago, then drew the ire of many Spurs fans with a poor performance. He got some personal instruction from Popovich this offseason, and has been much more effective this year. His statistics look almost exactly the same, except for one key area: three-point shooting. Last season, he shot 31.6 percent on 2.3 attempts per game; this season, he's at 43.2 percent on more than four attempts per game.

The long ball is a big part of the Spurs' attack. They were 11th in the league in attempts last season, but that's moved up to fifth this season, and they are near the top of the league in percentage from behind the arc. It a major component of Ginobili's arsenal, and perhaps the only weapon of note for backup center Matt Bonner and rookie reserve guard Gary Neal. Boston is among the best teams in the league at guarding the three-point shot, so that will be a big key.

Inside, in addition to Duncan, the Spurs start second-year player DeJuan Blair, who is very short for the center position but is active, skilled, and strong as an ox. He struggled to start the year but put together a very nice December. Given Shaquille O'Neal's recent struggles, Blair is a guy to worry about, especially on the offensive glass.

San Antonio started with a very easy schedule, and most people assumed they'd come back down to earth a bit during this difficult stretch of games. Although they did suffer a loss to Orlando on December 23 (foreseeable, on the second night of a back-to-back), they won five in a row before losing to the Knicks, including big-time blowout wins over the Lakers and Thunder, and a tight win in Dallas over the Dirk Nowitzki-less Mavs. Wednesday's game in Boston, on the second night of a road back-to-back, is another potential measuring stick for the Spurs. But Popovich has always played the regular season with an eye toward the playoffs, so there's a chance this marquee matchup could turn into a dud. Otherwise, it should be a good game.

Also, my beautiful girlfriend (who celebrated a birthday today) wants me to mention that she's a Spurs fan. A big Spurs fan. A scream-at-the-TV-even-though-it's-the-first-quarter-of-a-regular-season-game, will-forever-carry-a-grudge-against-Roger-Mason-Jr., forgives-Tony-Parker-even-though-she-loves-Eva-Longoria Spurs fan. I know what you're thinking, and yes, it's tough to take, especially given the fact that we were the ones supposed to get Duncan all those years back (which would have made her a Celtics fan; her allegiance to San Antonio comes from liking Duncan in college). But given that I met her in Los Angeles, it could be a lot worse, no?

Boston 96, Minnesota 93

[recap] [box score]

I caught this one with my cousin and a good friend at the Dominion Brew Pub in DC, over many Oak Barrel Stouts. I was watching the game, but also talking and eating and drinking, so I have only a few thoughts:

• As expected, Kevin Love was a handful, scoring 12 points to go with 24 rebounds. I couldn't hear the sound at the bar, but I checked the stats on my phone at halftime and at the break, Love had 15 rebounds. Boston as a team had 14.
• Rajon Rondo had 16 assists against just three turnovers, but even bigger was the 14-foot jumper he hit to put the Celtics by three with 44 seconds left. It's not a shot we want him taking all the time (indeed, he missed a 17-footer with 11 ticks left on the next possession after Michael Beasley had cut it to one), but I do like to see him growing more and more confident with the jumper.
• Von Wafer played really well, scoring ten points and tying for the team lead in boards (with Paul Pierce) with six. I still don't see where he fits into the healthy rotation, but the least I can do is give the man his due when he comes up big in the interim. With Delonte West out and Nate Robinson continuing to struggle, Wafer's contributions on Monday were invaluable.
• Shaquille O'Neal scored nine points in 30 minutes, but also grabbed just two rebounds (though to be fair, Love made it so that no Celtic's rebounding numbers were impressive). Jermaine O'Neal looked decent off the bench and blocked four shots. So far, it seems clear that he's better at protecting the rim than Shaq, when healthy.
• Glen Davis continued to emerge from a shooting slump, making seven of 15 shots. A little more consistency would be nice, but at least he's got a somewhat reliable offensive weapon in his arsenal now.

The Next Lamb: The Minnesota Timberwolves

Game 33: Minnesota (9-25) at Boston (25-7)
Monday, January 3
7:30 p.m. Eastern
NBA League Pass

You may remember that last year, I wrote a lot about the T-Wolves, and in particular their rookie point guard Jonny Flynn, one of my favorite college players ever and a guy I was convinced could be a terrific NBA player (I still am convinced, by the way). You may also have noticed that I've not written a single thing about Minnesota this season.

Part of it is that Flynn was hurt for the first month-plus, having aggravated over the summer a hip injury that cost him the final game of his rooke campaign. I have very little interest in the Wolves aside from Flynn, particularly with their front office having its collective head up its collective you-know-what and Kurt Rambis, the worst head coach in the NBA, at the helm. I appreciate super-rebounder Kevin Love, I'm interested in seeing what rookie Wesley Johnson has to offer, and Michael Beasley is on my fantasy team, but these are just secondary interests; my real focus is on Flynn.

But TMJF (The Marvelous Jonny Flynn, for those who don't remember) hasn't gotten much burn since he's been back in uniform, relegated to a backup role in favor of offseason acquisition Luke Ridnour. And without Flynn on the court, I just can't get myself to spend two-and-a-half hours three or so times per week watching the Wolves. There's too much good basketball to waste time watching bad basketball. (Though I'd still rather watch bad basketball than football or hockey.)

And yes, the Wolves are bad. Their record speaks for itself, but that 9-25 mark includes wins in three of their last four games. Whether this marks a real improvement in the team or is merely a momentary blip remains to be seen, though my hunch is that it's the latter.

I had planned to write, at some point this season, a post defending Flynn, talking about how he would have averaged a couple more assists per game last season if he had decent teammates on the wing; how Rambis' offense didn't take advantage of Flynn's abilities (or the abilities of any of their best players, for that matter); and how can make a pretty good case that Flynn was just as effective as Brandon Jennings, everyone's favorite rooking point guard, last season. I may still do that; I may not. But the writing seems to be on the wall for Flynn as far as Minnesota goes. Ridnour is ensconced as the starter (though I'd point out that the team is still 9-25) and the Spanish phenom Ricky Rubio is supposedly coming over after the lockout. Flynn's name often pops up in trade rumors, and I expect he'll be moved sooner or later -- though not if Minnesota doesn't give him some run to showcase him and increase his value (again, you're 9-25; what exactly do you have to lose?) When -- and if -- that happens, I'll start writing about Minnesota again regularly.

Anyway, on to the Wolves (who may be without Flynn on Monday, anyway; he missed Saturday's win over the Nets with a sprained ankle). Love is leading the league in rebounding at like 15 per game, including a ridiculous 31/31 game back in November. He's also averaging around 21 points per night, though on offense he's not what you expect from that kind of rebounder. He does his share of scoring inside, but he also hits three-pointers at around 44 percent. He's going to be a very tough cover for Glen Davis, and as will be the case with Boston's next opponent (San Antonio), the Celtics will miss Kevin Garnett quite a bit on Monday night.

Beasley was the biggest offseason addition. He went on a scoring binge earlier in the season and is probably the most dangerous Wolf (that looks and sounds funny, doesn't it?) with the ball in his hands. He still settles for too many long jumpers, and I suspect Boston will be perfectly happy to see him launch to his heart's content.

The infamous Darko Milicic has actually resurrected his career somewhat in Minnesota, though the thing he's really lacked is consistency. His shooting percentage is terrible for a big guy, but he's put up some big games. He's played poorly of late, and it seems like foul trouble has been a big problem. One area he has been fairly consistent in is shot-blocking; he's erased 2.4 shots per game this season, so Boston will want to be aware of that when going to the hole when he's in the game.

As for Ridnour, he's a good shooter and playmaker, a veteran who knows how to run an offense. On the defensive end, to my knowledge, he hasn't improved much since the day he was drafted in 2003, when Jay Bilas said that Ridnour couldn't guard the chair he (Bilas) was sitting on. Hopefully, Rajon Rondo shook off some rust Sunday in his first game back and can be an offensive weapon for the Cs on Monday night.

Boston 93, Toronto 79

[recap] [box score]

Bullets tonight (and lots of 'em):

• Rajon Rondo returned from his ankle injury. He picked up two fouls in the first six minutes, and didn't really have too big of a direct impact on the game. Jose Calderon got the better of him on both ends of the court, but it was good to see number 9 back in action.
• Rondo's return freed Paul Pierce to move out of the facilitator role he's been playing the last several games and into the cold-blooded assassin role he's more accustomed to on offense. Pierce led the way with 30 points, including 20 in a first half in which all of his fellow starters struggled. His second-half buckets included a ferocious dunk on the entire Raptors frontcourt and a breakaway jam inside the final two minutes in which he appeared to tweak his ankle when he landed. We can't afford an injury to another starter, even with Rondo back, so hopefully it's not serious and The Truth will be in uniform Monday night against Minnesota.
• Glen Davis had a fairly miserable first half shooting the ball, which is in line with his last several games, in which (it goes without saying) he's been fairly miserable shooting the ball. He picked it up in the second half, however, and was just two assists shy of logging one of the more unlikely triple doubles in NBA history.
• Shaquille O'Neal had a subpar game, two days after a subpar game against New Orleans, four days after a subpar game against Detroit, five days after a subpar game against Indiana, and eight days after a subpar game against Orlando. Actually, compared to the previous four, Sunday was a pretty good game for Shaq: he had six rebounds, compared to five combined against the Magic, Pacers, Pistons, and Hornets. And yet Joey Dorsey kicked his butt most of the game. I thought at first that O'Neal might have been dogging it, but he challenged shots when they were in his area and even dove for a loose ball at one point. Dorsey is young, athletic, and energetic, the kind of guy who is going to make Shaq look bad, but I wonder if Shaq isn't completely healthy.
• Fortunately, Jermaine O'Neal looks healthy enough to fill in, should he need to. This was Jermaine's fifth game back. He didn't do much against Orlando and I hadn't seen any of the three games previous to Sunday's, but I was encouraged by the way he moved around. I hope he gets a bit stronger on the boards and finishes better on offense as the season progresses, but the good sign is that he's not moving cautiously or with an obvious limp.
• Marquis Daniels was basically a complete no-show, which I could have predicted because he'd had a couple of good games in a row. If Daniels could be consistent, he'd be such a valuable player, but right now, I just don't trust him as much as I would like.
• Von Wafer actually did a couple of nice things in 14 minutes of action. What I liked most was that both of his shot attempts were at the rim, and I remember at least one nice wraparound pass on another drive that I think led to a foul. He's a good three-point shooter and I don't mind it if he takes those shots when he's in the game, but it's good to see flashes of a more complete player. He'll hopefully be mostly irrelevant when Delonte West gets back, but as an insurance policy, any development is good.
• Luke Harangody works hard, hustles, and isn't afraid to bang, but he is just overmatched against other NBA post players right now. Even fellow rookie Ed Davis, who has gotten burn of late with the Raps' frontcourt injuries and is thus slightly less green than Harangody, pushed him around quite a bit. When he was drafted, everyone thought that Harangody, a power forward in college, would need to become a small forward to crack the rotation this year, because Boston had so much depth in the pivot. Now, it seems that he may need to play the wing because he's not big or strong enough to play inside. It will be interesting to see which way his career goes.
• DeMar DeRozan again led the Raptors, this time with 27 points. His explosion (recall that he had 37 Friday night against the Rockets) coincides with Andrea Bargnani's absence from the lineup, and can be attributed to the offense now running through him, and not Il Mago. I assume this is a temporary state of affairs, and things will go back to the way they were when Bargs gets healthy, but DeRozan is showing that he is capable of carrying more of a load offensively. This development surprises me: I saw DeRozan in person a couple of times when he was at USC, and have followed his brief career somewhat closely, and while he's always good for a couple drives and/or jumpers per game, he lacked the aggressive disposition and consistency you need to be a real scorer at this level. Frankly, he just didn't seem good enough to get "hot" and take over a game the way he took over in the second half against Houston and for stretches against Boston. But he apparently is. What's interesting about DeRozan is that he's the rare NBA shooting guard for whom the three-pointer isn't really a weapon; he does almost all of his scoring at the rim, at the line, and with the mid-range jumper. Fortunately, he hits that mid-range J at a good enough rate that his efficiency isn't terrible, and he knows the limit of his range (that is, he doesn't take a bunch of threes even though he can't hit them). Anyway, it will be interesting to keep an eye on DeRozan when Bargnani returns. Can he emerge as a consistent second banana, or is he an all-or-nothing guy who needs to be the first option?

The Next Lamb: The Toronto Raptors

Game 32: Boston (24-7) at Toronto (11-21)
Sunday, January 2
6 p.m. Eastern
NBA League Pass
Last meeting: @Boston 110, Toronto 101 (11/26/2010)

Happy New Year, all. I apologize for not keeping up with the team for the last week; my hard drive crashed and it's been a bit difficult to watch games or blog.

Since the Christmas Day loss to Orlando, the Celtics have played three games, beating Indiana before losing to Detroit and then New Orleans. I was unable to watch any of those games, but it appears the team played pretty poorly in each. Even the win over the Pacers required a big fourth quarter surge. (The bench gave a similar surge in the fourth against the Hornets, going on a 16-0 run to turn a nine-point deficit into a seven-point lead, but the team couldn't hang on.)

The big story coming out of Boston this week is that Kevin Garnett left in the first quarter of the game against the Pistons with what the team is calling a strained right calf. He's expected to miss a couple of weeks, and with Rajon Rondo still nursing his sore ankle (among other assorted injuries), the story heading into Sunday's game with Toronto may be just as much about who isn't playing as who is.

Fortunately for Boston, the Raps have some serious injury issues of their own. Their starting center and best player, Andrea Bargnani, has missed the last three games with a calf injury of his own and won't play on Sunday. Small forward Sonny Weems, who was enjoying something of a breakout year after moving into the starting lineup, hasn't played in six games and remains day-to-day with a back injury. Jose Calderon -- the undisputed starter at point guard now that Jarrett Jack has been traded to New Orelans -- missed Saturday's practice with a foot injury, and his understudy, Jerryd Bayless (acquired from the Hornets in the Jack trade) has an ankle injury that limited him to eight minutes on Friday against the Rockets. Amir Johnson, starting at power forward in place of Reggie Evans, who broke his foot in the last meeting of the Celtics, is also nursing an injury, though he and Calderon probably will play. The point is, though Boston is banged up, there will be no excuses if they lose to a depleted Toronto team that is mediocre, at best, when healthy.

One Raptor who is healthy is DeMar DeRozan, who scored a career-high 37 points against Houston on New Year's Eve. DeRozan is an athletic young shooting guard in his second year out of USC, and does most of his damage going to the basket. He's not a threat from behind the arc, but he loves to put the ball on the floor and spin to the hoop. He's been getting to the line a bunch lately, which has contributed to his improved scoring of late.

Given all the injuries, the most dangerous Raptor, from an offensive standpoint, is probably sixth man Leandro Barbosa. Despite the fact that he plays the same position as DeRozan, he managed 17 points against the Rockets (it appears from the box score that the Raptors went small for much of that game). Controlling those guys should be a priority.

The Raptors are not particularly good defensively or on the glass, and it would be nice to see Boston try to take advantage of their depleted frontcourt by going inside and getting Shaquille O'Neal and Glen Davis involved early. Johnson is foul-prone, and so is Joey Dorsey, the guy starting in Bargnani's place. After those two, the bigs are a couple of rookies: Ed Davis (who has showed flashes in limited minutes this year) and Solomon Alabi, who has played something like ten minutes and three seconds over the course of three appearances this season. Particularly since Rondo's absence has made offense a bit of a chore at times for the Celtics, taking advantage of our size should be a priority.