Boston 101, Chicago 95

[recap] [box score]

Been a long time since I last updated -- after starting 0-2, Boston beat Washington twice, lost to Philly, and then beat Milwaukee in a rematch on Saturday night to even their record at 3-3. Tonight against the Bulls was probably the teams best performance of the young season, at least until the fourth quarter.

On a macro level, Doc Rivers seems to have settled on a starting lineup. After experimenting for a few games with Jared Sullinger as our starting four, Brandon Bass has been opening the game up front alongside Kevin Garnett the last two times out. As much as I was lobbying to play the kid with the first team, I agree with this move. Sullinger wasn't getting going with the first unit, and Bass was struggling to find his offense, as well. The other big change has been Jason Terry starting at two over Courtney Lee, which seems to have gotten Terry off the schneid after a slow start to the season. This one may not be permanent -- Terry has a long track record of success in the sixth man role, and while the Celtics might be able to get away with Terry and Rondo in the backcourt against Brandon Jennings/Monta Ellis and Nate Robinson/Rip Hamilton, some bigger guard pairings could make Lee's size and defense important to have in the starting lineup.

One thing everyone has been talking about since the preseason is how Boston wants to run more this year, and indeed, our pace is way above what we're used to. What's interesting about it is that the Celtics are not, at least to my eye, getting a ton of fast break points. What they are doing, however, is getting a lot of early offense. It's a smart move and a welcome change from the bogged down offensive sets we've seen in recent years. I've noticed that it's particularly beneficial to Bass, whose bread-and-butter shot is the mid-range jumper. Instead of beating the ball downcourt, Bass has been trailing the plays a bit as Rondo rushes upcourt. Bass' defender, meanwhile, has to worry about Rondo (a threat to get to the basket at any time) and isn't used to picking up power forwards above the free throw line, so he sets up down low and waits for Bass. All Bass has to do, then, is stop at whatever spot he's most comfortable and await the feed from Rondo for the wide-open jumper. Once teams start to pick Bass up earlier, you can expect to see more layups for Rondo, whose Inspector Gadget arms and crafty finishing have befuddled many a back-pedaling would-be shotblocker.

The Cs were pretty much in control of this one until the fourth quarter, when they went ice-cold from the floor (Kevin Garnett in particular). It also coincided with increased playing time for rookie point guard Marquis Teague and power forward Taj Gibson, who shored up a defense that was surprisingly vulnerable to penetration over the first three quarters given that they are coached by Tom Thibodeau. Ultimately, the Celtics sealed the game with a couple nifty screen-and-roll plays with Rondo and Garnett that led to KG alley-oop dunks (the play involves staggered ball screens on the side, with the first screener, a shooter, flaring to the three-point line and KG, the second screener, rolling to the bucket).

This is a busy week for Boston, which is about to embark on one of those grueling four-games-in-five-nights stretches. We host Utah on Wednesday before playing Brooklyn on Thursday (that one's a national TV game), then play Toronto and at Detroit on the weekend. Those latter two opponents are currently a combined 1-14, but the Jazz and Nets are the team's toughest games since the opener against the Heat. These upcoming games should be a good bellwether for how the team is coming together.

The Next Lamb: The Chicago Bulls

Game 19: Chicago (9-7) at Boston (14-4)

Friday, December 3

8 p.m. Eastern

TV: ESPN

Last meeting: @Boston 110, Chicago 105 (OT) (11/6/2010)

Last time we played Chicago, we blew a 16-point lead, sweated out a potential game-winning possession for the Bulls at the end of regulation, and then won in overtime.

The big difference between the Bulls team we'll see Friday night and the one we saw last month is that power forward Carlos Boozer, Chicago's big offseason acquisition from Utah, will be in the lineup. Boozer broke his hand before the season and returned to game action on Wednesday, logging five points in 22 minutes in a 107-78 throttling by Orlando. While Boozer is a good player, it's safe to assume he won't have found his groove by Friday, given that he's just now returning from injury and is playing with a new team. Moreover, Taj Gibson, who started in Boozer's absence, had a very strong game against Boston the first time around, so the Celtics might not be too upset to see Boozer back in the lineup. His return does give a boost to the bench (since Gibson has moved back to the second unit), which was pretty non-existent in the first meeting between the two teams.

Last time out, Boston held Derrick Rose and Luol Deng more or less in check -- each shot 8-for-19 from the field -- but gave up 26 points to center Joakim Noah. Jermaine O'Neal played that night and Shaquille O'Neal didn't, and the reverse will be true on Friday; JON's out, Shaq's in. What effect this will have on Noah's production, I'm not sure. I seem to recall Noah getting a fair number of points with his screwball jumper, and I doubt very much that Shaq is going to bother Noah 15 feet from the basket. Shaq's size, however, should be able to keep Noah off the boards a bit better than Jermaine could. (Odd stat of the day: Noah was held without a rebound in last night's loss to the Magic).

Chicago had been playing well before Wednesday night, and I wouldn't be surprised to see coach Tom Thibodeau pull Boozer early if he's ineffective, delaying Boozer's integration into the team by a game for a chance to beat the defending conference champions (and his old team) in their barn. Chicago always plays us tough, and Thibodeau knows a lot of what we do, so this should be a good game.

Boston 110, Chicago 105 (Overtime)

For the second consecutive game, the Boston Celtics were taken to overtime, at home, by a struggling, but up and coming, second-tier Eastern Conference foe.

[recap] [box score]

Fortunately, for the second consecutive game, Boston came away with a win, emerging victorious after excellent execution on both ends of the floor in the extra period. But this cannot become a pattern. It makes for a dramatic, entertaining regular season, to be sure. But if the goal is an NBA championship, then we can't have our stars playing 40 minutes per game every night.

Bullets:

• Boston once again botched a potential game-clinching possession at the end of the fourth quarter. This one could have cost the game; Rajon Rondo's errant pass to Ray Allen came with fewer than 24 seconds left on the game clock and the score tied, so the Bulls were able to hold for the game's last shot. Dodging bullets, we are.
• Rondo made up for it, of course, by knocking the ball away from Derrick Rose on that ensuing possession. I have no idea how Rondo gets away with reaching across his body to knock the ball away from his man without getting called for a foul, but that's at least the third time he's done it this year, so he must be doing something right.
• Marquis Daniels had a really good game. Daniels started the season looking like he could fill a "go-to " role offensively, to the extent such a role exists on the second team. He struggled in the intervening games, but came up big on Friday night, especially in the first half. On the nights he's been on, which is three of six so far, he's displayed a versatility that we didn't see last season. Of course, that leaves three of six nights that he hasn't been on, and that's why I don't yet totally feel comfortable when he has the ball. It's similar to what I went through with Tony Allen last year, only 100 times less intense.
• Glen Davis had what is a below-average game for him offensively this year. Mainly, he really had a hard time catching the ball. Great defense again, though.
• Kevin Garnett had a couple of big dunks in this one. This excites me, because it means his knee is feeling relatively good. In some ways, he seems more aggressive than he was before the injury. This is not a great week for a Celtics fan to be questioning KG's intensity, but one of the things about Garnett that has frustrated me is that he so often refuses to use his height and athleticism to overpower people. He has remarkable finesse for a man his size -- unprecedented finesse, in some respects -- and it's almost as though he feels obligated to use these substantial gifts. And as fun as it is to watch a seven-footer hit crazy turnarounds and throw the kinds of passes he throws, it can be frustrating to watch that same seven-footer lay the ball in from above the rim, rather than hammer it home. So this is a development I'm glad to see, in many respects.
• Give the young Bulls a lot of credit for coming all the way back from 16 down, especially given the circumstances -- on the road against the defending Eastern Conference champs on the second night of a back-to-back. Give special credit to Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson, who responded to Boston's strategy of ignoring them on offense by draining jumper after jumper.
• And yet, Chicago must feel like it gave the game away. Twice in the fourth quarter, the Bulls turned the ball over an inbounds pass. And Boston sealed the game when Noah tried to lead a fast break late, rather than get the ball to a guard. Garnett caught Noah and knocked the ball away, and Boston put it away at the line.