Celtics Split Four in Five Days

It might have to be this way moving forward -- I'm just not sure I'm going to have time to write after every game. Boston just wrapped up a stretch of four games in five nights that went thusly: a close win over Utah; a narrow loss in Brooklyn without Rajon Rondo, who sprained his ankle early in the second half of the Jazz game; a rout of Toronto; and then a blowout loss at the Palace at the hands of the woeful Pistons. I'm going to try to not let the fact that I just watched the embarrassment that was the Detroit game color what I'm going to say too much.

Rather than go game by game, I'm just going to throw out some random thoughts here. Like bullet points, only I can't figure out how to do bullet points on the "new" Blogger platform that came about a couple of years ago. Instead, I'll just use bold italics to signal my topic headings. If this technique is effective, then this explanation was completely unnecessary.

Last year, Doc Rivers put Kevin Garnett on the "5/5/5" plan, limiting KG's minutes to the first five of each of the first three quarters. The idea was to keep him fresh for the fourth quarter. Doc didn't really stick to it (Garnett averaged 31 minutes per game), probably in part because of how good Garnett was last year and in part because we didn't have much depth.

This year, it's been shortened to the 4/4/4 plan, and Doc seems to be committed to it, at least for now. With the frontcourt depth we have, he might able to get away with it, if he can keep Kevin on the bench that long. It's a little alarming to me, though, because we're talking about a goal of 25 minutes or so for a guy who, while he is in his 18th NBA season, averaged about 16 points and eight boards last year while anchoring one of the league's best defenses. Especially since Doc hasn't been shy about riding his horses (to his detriment, in my opinion) in previous seasons, it makes me worry that there's some nagging injury that we don't know about.

Jaston Terry hit six of 11 three-point attempts in the Brooklyn and Toronto games, sandwiching those performances between a terrible effort on Sunday and the Jazz game where he only took one shot. He's found his rhythm a bit, which is great. But I wish he was doing this in his customary sixth man role and not as a starter. A game like Sunday, with the first unit struggling, is the kind of game that you really need a scoring punch off the bench, a burst of energy, and Terry wasn't there to provide it. I suppose that Leandro Barbosa can be that guy, but when Barbosa comes in the game, the ball hardly goes to anyone else. Not that Terry is a great table-setter or anything like that, but Barbosa just dominates the rock. That kind of thing is bad for guys like Jeff Green, another guy we're counting on for bench scoring, and a guy whose attention seems to wander if he's not getting the pill.

Speaking of Jeff Green, I think if he were, say, Gerald Green, you'd hear a lot more people complaining about his lack of effort and basketball IQ. But we know that he's thoughtful and a great guy, and because of that, and perhaps because of the heart problem he had last year, he gets a bit of a break from a lot of Celtics fans. But right now, he's demonstrating a disturbing lack of effort and engagement that is a bigger problem than his limited offensive game and suspect defense and rebounding.

Brandon Bass is 10 for 30 over the past three games. He's gotten the same looks at jumpers that we are used to him making with regularity. At this point, some of it is psychological; he's hesitating on a lot of looks he'd normally pop right away. I assume that he'll get his mind right between now and Wednesday, when the Celts take the floor next.

Jared Sullinger keeps reinforcing my belief that we got a steal when we drafted him at 21 in this summer's draft. He had his first career double-double against the Raptors, then set a career-high in scoring with 16 against the Pistons. Most importantly, it wasn't until he took on Detroit's Jason Maxiell that he went up against someone who could push him around underneath -- and by the end of the night, he was moving Maxiell and Andre Drummond around. His strength is a huge asset for a guy his height who plays inside. Offensively, he's shown that he at least has Bass' range, and likely can step out a bit farther. He hit a couple 20-footers late against Detroit to keep Rondo's assist streak going.

Ah, the streak. With ten dimes on Sunday, Rondo now has 34 consecutive games with 10 or more assists. (He had 20 against the Raps, by the way.) That's the third-longest such streak of all time, just a few back of John Stockton's longest streak and a dozen short of Magic Johnson's all-time mark. He had to work to get it today, though, playing to the final seconds despite the game being well out of hand. Doc even called a random timeout under two minutes to set something up.

The streak is fun, and really it shouldn't have been an issue tonight (his teammates missed a bunch of open looks), but I don't love that he and Doc seem to be actively pursuing it. I mean, there's really no harm in going after it once the game is already in hand, but if it's something they're aware of deep in a blowout, how likely is it that it's not on Rondo's mind when the game is still in reach. On Sunday, we certainly could have used more scoring, something we know Rondo is capable of. Did he hold back to try and set up his teammates? It's not a huge problem -- generally, it's a good idea for a point guard to be most concerned with getting his struggling teammates going. But Rondo is already pass-happy to a fault; having the streak in the back of his mind, if he does, could turn his unselfishness into selfishness, actually, and a positive into a negative.

Boston 94, Utah 82

[recap] [box score]

I don't know if I'm in a writing funk or what, but I've had a really hard time coming up with things to say about the Celtics lately. And the ironic part is that, if we're not playing our best basketball of the season right now, we've at least gotten great results. On Tuesday night, Boston beat a hot but tired Utah team. That gives the Cs a 13-5 record since the All-Star break, which -- if I heard Mike Gorman correctly on tonight's broadcast -- is good for third-best in the whole league.

The Celtics are doing it with defense, at least in stretches: In each of the last three wins, Boston's opponent has gone through extended periods of offensive futility. The effort hasn't been consistent, however, and all three opponents have gotten back into the game -- often fueled in part, as the Jazz were, by Boston's own stagnant offense. The defensive glass also remains a consistent problem. The obvious explanation for the strong defense of late is Ray Allen's absence: His replacement, Avery Bradley, is a lockdown defender, so it'll be interesting to see if anything changes once Allen gets back. However, Greg Stiemsma, who has proven to be a fearsome shotblocker in his rookie season, figures to have cemented a spot in the rotation for the rest of the season.

A day off, and then the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Friday. Kevin Love has been an absolute monster for them, and keeping him away from the offensive glass will be top priority. They've had some injuries to other key pieces, and this is a very winnable game. Philly beat Cleveland on Tuesday, so we're currently tied atop the Atlantic with them, but they're in Washington on Friday night to face the 11-38 Wizards. Therefore, a win over the Wolves is probably necessary to keep pace.

Boston 107, Utah 102

Deron Williams or no Deron Williams -- he was traded to New Jersey right before the deadline for Devin Harris and Derrick Favors -- beating the Jazz in Utah is always good.

[recap] [box score]

Feeling like some bullets tonight:

• The biggest shot of the night came from Ray Allen, who hit a 23-foot fadeaway over Andrei Kirilenko to put Boston up 103-99 with 53 seconds left. But the second-biggest shot came from Rajon Rondo, who hit a pullup 15-footer on the next Boston possession, answering an Al Jefferson bucket. Sure, there was no Jazz defender in sight, but that's the point. If he hits a few more of those in crunch time, teams might re-think their defensive strategy. Sagging off of him would almost certainly still be the correct play, but there aren't too many NBA coaches who are going to be comfortable letting an All-Star point guard shoot wide-open jumpers inside the three-point arc with a playoff game or series on the line. And that, in turn, will open things up for the rest of the Celtics.
• I have to assume that part of the reason Danny Ainge was willing to trade Kendrick Perkins is that Glen Davis had been playing the crunch-time minutes at the power forward position, with Kevin Garnett sliding over to center. But Davis has been so bad offensively lately -- missing open jumpers, taking impossible shots in the post, committing turnovers -- that he isn't an upgrade over Perk at that end, at least not right now. All the chatter lately has been about Nenad Krstic and Jeff Green and the (hopefully) eventual return to health of Shaquille O'Neal, but the real key come playoff time is who is on the floor at the end of the game. And right now Davis is a liability on both ends; offensively for the reasons just mentioned, defensive if for no other reason that he forces Garnett to guard the opposing team's 5.
• "The opposing team's 5" tonight was old friend Al Jefferson, jettisoned to Minnesota in the Kevin Garnett deal, then shipped to Utah this past offseason to make room for ... Darko Milicic. (Really.) Big Al J had a monster game, with 28 points and 19 rebounds, drawing fourth-quarter doubles that created open three-point looks, which -- thankfully for the Cs -- his teammates couldn't knock down. I love watching Al play well. He's really become the focus of the offense in Utah, and it's good to see him in a situation where he can succeed.
• Boston isn't going to run into Jefferson and the Jazz in the playoffs, but they could very well see Orlando's Dwight Howard and the Lakers' Andrew Bynum. And watching Jefferson go to work on Boston tonight was cause for concern. Shaq and Krstic can't guard elite centers. Jermaine O'Neal might be able to, but his health is no sure thing. Garnett can do it for stretches, but it's hard to imagine it working for a full series, at least not without serious adverse effects to Garnett's offense. A recurring theme among the things I don't like about the Perkins trade will be how Danny and Doc have really gambled on not having to deal with those two teams during the playoffs.
• Speaking of The Trade That Shall Live In Infamy, Krstic impressed me, again. He's got a nice little offensive game and is much more active on the boards that I thought he'd be. He's not very good defensively, but considering I wasn't expecting anything out of him when we got him, he's been a pleasant surprise.
• Green, on the other hand, struggled, again. He's obviously (and understandably) still very uncomfortable in his new surroundings, but he put up a couple bad- to atrocious-looking shots -- jump hooks jumpers, stuff that should come naturally and not be affected due to lack of familiarity with the offense. Defensively, he had a nice block (his second in two games) but he also was taken to school by Kirilenko. Again, there's time, but it's only about a month.
• Delonte West didn't play after spraining his ankle in a light workout on Sunday. (Can the guy please get a break?) Rookie Avery Bradley came in and did a nice job backing up Rondo, including a made jumper and a nice and-one drawing contact from Favors on a drive (he missed the free throw). Six shots in six minutes is probably a few too many for a guy who struggles with his J, but it was a good performance.

Back home Wednesday night against Phoenix. The next national TV game is Sunday afternoon against Milwaukee, and if you don't have League Pass, it's one you'll want to catch. Boston doesn't play on national TV again until the end of the month.

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 113, Denver 99

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics concluded an encouraging four-game stretch with a decisive victory over the Nuggets in Boston.

Boston's 110-97 loss in Utah on Monday threatened to leave Cs fans uneasy after a couple of encouraging games. A loss to Denver at home would largely erase the positive that came out of back-to-back victories in Houston and Dallas.

The Nuggets did their part to make this an easy victory. Their defense was non-existent, and they were perhaps feeling the effects of having played the night before (a relatively stunning loss to the Knicks in New York). Then again, they've really struggled on the road this year; they're just 17-19 away from home, by far the worst mark among division leaders. It was strange to see a relatively listless game after three very intense contests.

Boston clinched a playoff spot with this win, and there is hope that the team is starting to play its best ball at the right time. Everyone is more or less healthy; despite the odd off-game from or another of them, the starters seem to have shaken off injury and are playing well; Michael Finley has been better than anyone realistically thought he could be; and Glen Davis is finally starting to do the things on the court that a man who weighs 290 pounds should do. We still need to figure out what do with Rasheed Wallace, whose refusal and/or inability to get into shape is both obnoxious and curious this late in the season. It's really having an effect on his play, particularly defensively, where he barely challenges any shots and is routinely beaten for rebounds. Whether that's due to his age and fitness or his apparent apathy is unclear, but it's at the point where I don't trust him to get any better and don't feel particularly comfortable when he's in the game.

Plenty of tests remain in the season's final few weeks, although we're really playing to keep our rhythm and go into the playoffs on a high note; we're a long shot to catch Orlando for the second seed in the East and in no real danger of giving up home-court advantage in the first round by falling to the fifth seed. I suppose we'd rather have the three than the four, just so we could avoid Cleveland in the second round, though in all likelihood we'd need to go through the Cavs anyway.

Next game is Friday at home vs. Sacramento. Next TV game is Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, in Boston, against the Spurs.

Boston 109, New York 97

[recap] [box score]

Boston continued their recent domination of the Knicks with a 12-point victory that wasn't nearly that close. This was the 11th straight home win for the Celtics on St. Patrick's Day, which sounds impressive, and they haven't lost at home on March 17 since 1968, which sounds even more impressive. It's less impressive when you consider how bad New York is, but whatever.

"Whatever" is probably the best work to describe this game, but the Celtics are about to embark on a four-game stretch that is vey much not "whatever." Next up is a road game in Houston on Friday, followed by a road game in Dallas the very next night, followed by a road game in Utah on Monday. They then come home to play Denver on Wednesday. (It only gets slightly easier after that; the next three are home dates against Sacramento, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City).

With the season winding down, this is basically the last chance for the Celtics to establish themselves as a real contender with a prolonged period of excellent play elite competition. A home date with Cleveland is on the schedule for April 4, but a single positive result wouldn't prove nearly as much as a series of strong performances over the next week. Two years ago, if memory serves, the Celtics swept a similar road trip. Another sweep certainly wouldn't guarantee a championship, but it would serve as notice that Boston is back and ready for the playoffs.

That's true in part because the team, finally, appears to be healthy and complete. Kevin Garnett's 22 points on Wednesday was his third straight game in double figures, and he's made 20 of 31 shots over that stretch. Paul Pierce led all Celtics against the Knicks with 29 points, and he's now 28-for-49 over the last four outings, which is hopefully a sign that he's recovered enough from the injuries that have plagued him this year. Nate Robinson has now played around a dozen or so games in a green and white uniform and should be acclimated enough to make a steady contribution. And despite the skepticism voiced by some commentators (ahem!), Michael Finley -- his 1-for-9 performance against New York notwithstanding -- has shown in half a dozen games that he can, at the very least, knock down a few shots (before Wednesday, he was 18-for-28 from the field as a Celtic, including 6-for-11 from behind the three-point line).

Of course, no injuries means no excuses, and so this is kind of a judgment day for the Celtics. Denver and Dallas are making a late charge at the Lakers for the top of the Western Conference, and Utah is in fourth and has been one of the league's hottest teams over the last several weeks. And Houston, while not currently a playoff team, is still very much in the hunt, five games out of the eighth spot pending results of Wednesday's games. They'll be hungry.

RwH Wednesday Night Mashup

Apologies for posting this a day late. I had a ton of basketball on my plate last night and didn't get all the away through it. I don't know how Kelly Dwyer does it. It was a bit like being drunk: I don't remember parts of the evening; I fell asleep in my chair; at one point, I made a sandwich but didn't bother using a plate, resting it on my chest in between bites.

This afternoon, though, I caught up. Brief thoughts on everything I watched.

Boston 105, Utah 86 [recap] [box score]

I DVRed this game and watched it after getting home from Clips-Thunder (see below). It seems like it was one of these games where no one and nothing in particular stands out, except for the fact that one team seems overmatched. I supposed Rajon Rondo's night stands out, statistically, but it wasn't one of those games that he just controls; his 14 points and 11 assists came rather quietly. In all, Boston had seven guys in double figures, led by Kevin Garnett's 18. The Jazz, now 3-5, certainly don't look like a playoff team right now.

TMJF: Blazers 107, Wolves 84

Stat Line: 25 minutes, 5-11 FG, 1-2 3FG, 4-4 FT, 15 pts, 6 rebs, 1 asst, 2 TOs.

I sorta zoomed through this one this afternoon because I already knew the score (it turns out that trying to avoid learning the score of three NBA games while attending another NBA game is a fairly pointless exercise). Jonny Flynn had what is becoming his usual game, playing solidly until he felt the game slipping away, then trying to force the action a little too much. Coach Kurt Rambis gave him an early hook after a few poor trips before the half and to start the third quarter. Flynn's replacement, Ramon Sessions, had his best game of the year (1o points, 5 assists), and I guess we'll soon see how steep Rambis expects Flynn's learning curve to be.


Muy Beno: Oklahoma City 83, Los Angeles Clippers 79

Wow, this was an ugly game. The Thunder seemed content to shoot jumpers all night, missing most of them, while LA's Chris Kaman, perhaps upset by being left off the All-Star ballot despite being the reigning Western Conference player of the week, missed a variety of bunnies on his way to a nice little 9-for-26.

At this point, you're probably wondering, "What did you expect?" And it's fair to wonder why I'd even bother going to a Thunder-Clips game. The answer, of course, is Kevin Durant. KD is liable to put on a show every time he steps on the hardwood, and so when he comes to town, you go see him, particularly if you can get tickets for $2.99 on Ticket Exchange.

Durant had a relatively quiet 30 points on 12-of-20 shooting, but it's really jarring to see this guy in person. He's a peculiar mix of tall, long, and thin, a unique combo of lanky and gangly and athletic and smooth. Of course, you know this from his reputation and from watching him on TV. But until you see him live, you can't appreciate just how odd it is to see a guy built like him operate the way he does, draining long jumpers, gliding in for dunks, putting the ball on the deck, pulling up, and shooting in what seems like one continuous motion, the ball at the bottom of the net before you even realize it's left his hand. He's still one-dimensional, all offense, but what a spectacular dimension it is.

I love his nickname -- The Durantula -- but while his phsyique is vaguely insectual (!), his long, thin body and vast wingspan does nothing to recall the meaty, plodding arachnid from which the moniker is derived. It's a great nickname, but it's so inapt. Think I can drum up any public support for calling him The Praying Durantis?

Muy Beno: Cleveland 102, Orlando 93

This was by far the best performance of the season by a Cavs team that has struggled in the early going. The difference between this game and last season's Eastern Conference finals is that last night, Lebron James had some help from his teammates. Heading into last year's playoffs, all the talk was that James finally had the supporting cast he needed to win a title. But that cast, after playing so well all year as Cleveland amassed the league's best record, turned into a bouquet of shrinking violets in losing four out of six to the Magic last summer. Quite frankly, the rest of the Cavs looked afraid to create anything for themselves during that series, as though they feared that if they shot and missed, they'd be criticized for not getting the ball to the league's most dominant force.

Last night, the Cavs went to new acquisition Shaquille O'Neal early and often, drawing two quick fouls on Dwight Howard. Mo Williams, whose disappearance in the Eastern Conference finals was probably most notable because of how effective he had been during the regular season, was assertive from the outset. His confidence was no doubt buoyed by the fact that he was white-hot, hitting his first nine shots. Cleveland shot absurdly well for the stretch of the game that mattered, settling in at 48 percent for the night only after cooling off considerably in the last half of the third quarter and all of the fourth (with the game well in hand).

This wasn't on display last night, but it's been clear through the season's first couple of weeks that Cleveland and Orlando are both struggling to consistently incorporate new players into their attacks, though injuries and suspensions and other absences have no doubt contributed. That had to be expected, though, and it's worth noting in these pages only because it's in contrast to the entire KG-Ray Allen era in Boston. Two seasons ago, everyone expected the new-look Celtics to take some time to gel, but they hit the ground running on the way to league's best record and the franchise's 17th championship.

This year, a completely revamped second unit has meshed extremely well, despite losing a key component (Glen Davis) to injury on the eve of the season. Eddie House is still a chucker, and no one (including me) has a problem with it. Not even Rasheed Wallace, a guy who -- while he's never had an alpha dog complex -- is something of a volume shooter himself. No one seems to care that Wallace spends most of his time hoisting threes on the perimeter. Marquis Daniels has subordinated his playing time and statistics (he was a starter in Indiana, remember), gladly playing the role of facilitator for the bench guys. As a unit, they seem to have the same sort of chemistry that the starting group has.

Credit the coaching staff, I guess, as well as the leadership of the veterans that set the tone for the team. In a year where the race for best record in the East promises to be tight and homecourt advantage just might tip the scales in the playoffs, little things like a fast or slow start to the season just might make the difference.

Housekeeping: Please see the important update to Tuesday night's post on timing issues in the Denver-Chicago game.

Utah 90, Boston 85

A frustrating loss, but one that needs to be kept in persepective.

[recap] [box score]

The big difference in tonight's game was that Kevin Garnett went out just before halftime with what they're calling a sprained right knee. Apparently the knee has been bothering him a bit of late, and when he went up for a rebound on a break, he seemed to tweak it a bit on takeoff. It was a scary moment, as it always is when there's a non-contact knee injury. But it looked like KG wanted to return, and probably would have if it was, say, the playoffs. As frustrated as I get when the Celtics lose, shutting him down for the night in the hopes that he can come back Sunday against Phoenix was the right move.

And yes, Utah was also missing their power forward, Carlos Boozer. But Boston is definitely the least deep of the title contenders this year; more than any other team, the Celtics are reliant on their starters, in particular Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. We can't realistically expect to win against a good team like the Jazz without one of those three, particularly in a place as difficult to win as Utah.

This game was winnable, though. The Celtics hit just 19 of 29 free throws. And I didn't much like the offense down the stretch. We went to the pick and roll with Rondo and Pierce, like we did against Dallas last week, but Pierce wasn't hitting his shots, probably because he played more than 45 minutes and was battling a very physical Utah defense the whole night (because I'm trying to keep this loss in perspective, I'm not going to complain about the officiating, which was inconsistent, at best, all night). Pierce picked up one offensive foul on that play, and missed almost everything else. We went to the well too early, and too often. When we have Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo (who caused some problems for Deron Williams in the fourth quarter), we shouldn't run that play into the ground. We've got other options.

The cap to the frustrating night came when Utah missed a free throw with eight seconds left up three, but got the offensive rebound and sealed the game. Boston had no timeouts left, and the three-point shooting team was in. With no timeouts remaining, Doc couldn't sub in, and that left Allen and Pierce on the low block, and Utah overwhelmed them and got the board. When I was watching them line up, I was worried about that exact thing happening, but I guess with no timeouts, there's nothing Doc could have done.

Time to put this one past us. Hopefully KG will be fine for Sunday (2:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC) and we can get a win against a Suns team that has put up an average of 141 points in two games since firing Terry Porter. Alvin Gentry has re-installed their uptempo offense, and even though both those offensive explosions came against the hapless Los Angeles Clippers, 141 points against any NBA team is impressive.

Patrick O'Bryant, we hardly knew ye. The young center -- whom Boston signed as a free agent in the offseason -- was shipped to Toronto in a three-way deal that resulted in Raptors reserve point guard Will Solomon being sent to Sacramento. Boston's take? Another heavily-protected second-round pick from Sacramento, quite similar to the Cassell deal. Like the Cassell move, this is a clear money-saving measure - the picks are protected enough that it's quite possible we'll never actually get them.

I had hoped that O'Bryant -- our only true backup center -- would evolve into something under the tutelage of Clifford Ray, but it seems as though he lacks the toughness, defense, and half-court offense to fit into the Celtics' current plans.

Shipping Cassell and O'Bryant out leaves us with two roster spots open to sign players who may be bought out in the coming days. The most desirable target is Oklahoma City veteran power forward Joe Smith, who was part of the Tyson Chandler trade a few days ago that was rescinded after Chandler failed a physical. Smith has been a buyout candidate all year, and would be a very nice fill-in for our undersized bench corps.

The other rumor is Sacramento power forward Mikki Moore, whom the Kings were allegedly trying hard to move before the trade deadline. I'd rather have Smith, but Moore would be better than nothing.

I suppose it's possible that if Boston signs both of them if both are bought out. However, I still wouldn't rule out Cassell returning to the team. I have to wonder if the injury to Tony Allen had something to do with the O'Bryant trade: did we move Cassell with the intention of signing a guy like Smith, then have second thoughts about leaving our backcourt so thin when it was realized that Allen would miss two months? It's hard to imagine that the front office didn't at least suspect that Allen would miss significant time, but anything's possible. Either way, a frontcourt contributor has to be our top priority, but I would be surprised to see a backcourt acquisition down the stretch here. The Knicks' Stephon Marbury is probably the target, though we still need him to be bought out before we can sign him. If not the Starchild, then Cassell seems like the most likely option. I don't know of other guards who are likely to be bought out. Under NBA rules, Cassell cannot re-sign with Boston until 30 days have passed from the day he was traded, but I can't see any other team picking him up in the interim. Even if there was interest from other contenders, I'm sure his preference would be to return to Boston.

There were some rumors that we were trying to get Andres Nocioni, traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Kings as part of a deal for Brad Miller and John Salmons. I can see the appeal of Nocioni -- a tenacious defender with a bit of a mean streak who can hit the three; someone in the mold of James Posey, who was so key to the title last year and who signed with New Orleans in the offseason. But the rumored deal included some size: O'Bryant, Scalabrine, Glen Davis, along with Tony Allen. I've gotten conflicting reports on whether it was just all or some of that group, but either way, I'm glad we didn't do it. We could probably use Nocioni, but it doesn't make sense to bolster the wing at the expense of an already undersized second-team frontcourt.

Despite a lot of small deals, it was a relatively quiet trade deadline in terms of biggest impact deals. The biggest move and the one that matters to the Celtics was the Orlando Magic acquiring Houston point guard Rafer Alston (the Rockets then filled their hole at the point by acquiring Memphis' Kyle Lowry, who will share time at the 1 with Aaron Brooks). Jameer Nelson's season-ending shoulder injury left the Magic with a big hole, and if Alston can knock down some three-pointers, the Magic might not miss a beat.

Boston 100, Utah 91

Late in posting this because of exams. But I took a much-needed break from studying torts Monday afternoon to watch the game against the Carlos Boozer-less Jazz.

[recap] [box score]

Quick thoughts:

-Career-high 25 points -- to go along with nine rebounds and eight assists -- for Rajon Rondo. What really set Monday night apart from his other great games this year, though, is that we ran the offense through him in the fourth quarter, trusting him with the ball in his hands with the game on the line. That's not really something we've done before, but if we can establish him as fourth option in the clutch, it will make our first three options that much more effective.

-With Eddie House out due to a death in the family, Gabe Pruitt got some run backing up Rondo. The kid responded in a big way, leading our bench scorers with eight points on a couple of threes and a pair of free throws. He played good defense and was the victim of a couple of poor calls (the officiating was as bad as I've seen it this year). I said in the offseason that I didn't think re-signing House or finding another backup point guard was as high a priority as finding a backup center because I had faith in Pruitt, and that hasn't changed, even though there's really no spot in the regular rotation for him, particularly since House has stepped up his game of late. But his jumper, his size, and his D make him a good fill-in for House and Tony Allen when they aren't available, and Doc should remember he's an option when the situation might call for it.

-The Jazz have two of my favorite non-Celtics in the NBA: Paul Millsap and Morris Almond. After starting the previous game as Utah coach Jerry Sloan looks for a solution at shooting guard, Mo got the DNP-CD against us, but Millsap kept the Jazz in the game with a career-high 32 points. I have been high on him since he came out of college, but mainly for his rebounding. I didn't realize that he had developed such a robust offensive game. It was a treat to watch his career day.

Viewing alert: Next game is Wednesday night at Atlanta (7 p.m. Eastern on ESPN). It sounds like Paul Pierce is going to give it a go with the knee injury he suffered in the closing seconds against Utah. If he can't go, we'll need someone to step up if we want our 16th straight win.

Boston 94, New Orleans 82

A good win over a strong team on a night we didn't play our best.

[recap] [box score]

The highlight reel found in the game recap has a couple of spectacular plays toward the end; 1) a steal by Glen Davis, followed by the 289-pound second-year player taking it 70 feet before dishing to Tony Allen (who provided a great finish while getting fouled -- pretty much the only thing he did right all night); and 2) a sweet give-and-go alley-good between Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Otherwise, this one was kind of ugly. Boston out-toughed New Orleans, although some of that is because the Hornets were without their starting center, Tyson Chandler, who hurt his neck in practice.

I though Davis and Leon Powe played very well, despite their modest stat lines. Eddie House provided the outside shooting we needed to put the game away. And it was good to see Paul Pierce, who had 13 of his 28 in the decisive third quarter, step up and play the kind of offensive game we know he's capable of but hadn't seen from him in a while.

Although Chris Paul had 20 points and 14 rebounds, that's really a deceptive stat line; the Celtics did a nice job of containing him all night. Holding a guy like Paul to five made field goals is an indication of why we are so good defensively; we stop the other team's star player from getting to the basket. A few times, it broke down a bit, as we left guys open under the basket in an attempt to keep Paul away from the tin, and he found them for easy layups. But our defense certainly frustrated Paul, whose overlooked dirty streak -- remember, he was suspended a game in college for punching Julius Hodge in the groin, something everyone seems to forget about -- came through late when he set a fairly vicious illegal screen on Kendrick Perkins (Perk did a nice job not reacting to it).

Fourteen in a row now, and Cleveland is still hot on our heels. Next game is Monday night vs. Utah (7:30 p.m. Eastern; no national TV). The Jazz have another great young point guard in Deron Wililams, but our job against him will be a little different. He doesn't drive to score as much as Paul does, so we'll need to jump the screen-and-roll a bit more to keep him from shooting if Rondo goes behind the screens, rather than sagging back and daring him to shoot outside, the way we do with Paul.