The Next Lamb: The Portland Trailblazers

Game 17: Portland (8-9) at Boston (13-4)

December 1, 2010

7:30 p. m. Eastern

TV: NBA TV

You really can't talk about Portland without talking about injuries. Greg Oden is the most well-publicized absent Blazer, done for the year with yet another knee problem. But he's not the only one. Joel Przybilla is also out and the team had to cut promising young big Jeff Pendergraph in the preseason because of injuries, so the team is really thin up front. (Of course, the Celtics have their own frontcourt problems, being -- as they are -- without Kendrick Perkins and Jermaine O'Neal). The bigs left standing are Marcus Camby and LaMarcus Aldridge. At 36, Camby is still an elite shotblocker and rebounder, but he's no longer much of an offensive threat. At the same time, he has the capability to hit jumpers if he's given the opportunity. If he's going to do any damage offensively, then, it will either be on the glass or in the pick and pop. Aldridge is a versatile big who has more or less consistently had his average game in six meetings with Boston over the past three seasons.

The other big injury to Portland is to Brandon Roy, who has now played the last three games after missing the previous three. He returned with two strong games against the Hornets and Nets (both losses), but was rather quiet in Tuesday night's defeat in Philadelphia. As he's struggled, second-year player Wes Matthews has emerged as a legitimate scorer on the wing. Matthews -- who went undrafted out of Marquette but started 48 games as a rookie in Utah before coming to Portland in the offseason -- is going to give Ray Allen a bit of trouble on both ends of the floor. Allen will need to show up ready to work, which isn't usually a problem for him.

Portland is really struggling, having lost four in a row now, including most recently to lowly New Jersey and Philadelphia. Boston will be the third game of a four-game road trip, and on the second night of a back-to-back, with a presumably easier task ahead of them on Friday at Washington, some teams might be tempted to take the night off, especially if things don't go their way early. I wouldn't expect that out of the Blazers, but I do think Boston are heavy favorites.

Boston 106, Cleveland 87

[recap] [box score]

I didn't get a chance to watch this game because I was at school and forgot to tape it, and it was on NBATV, so I couldn't watch it via League Pass Broadband. It looked from the gamecast that after a slow start, we got rolling in the second quarter, then put it away in the third. Rajon Rondo had a bunch of his points in the first, and it looked like he took over the game for a stretch in the third, as well, driving for a couple layups before assisting on three straight baskets.

Those of you looking at the box score may be a bit alarmed by Paul Pierce's lack of minutes, but fear not: It was due to early foul trouble and the fact that he wasn't needed in the fourth quarter. He did play and contribute in the key stretches in the second and third quarters.

It also looked like we got some good performances in extended minutes from the bench. Nice to see that.

Portland tomorrow night. I'm going to try to watch that one, so I'll have a little more substance.

The Next Lamb: The Cleveland Cavalieres

Game 17: Boston (12-4) at Cleveland (7-9)

Tuesday, November 30

7 p.m. Eastern

NBATV

Last meeting: @Cleveland 95, Boston 87 (10/27/10)

The last time the Celtics faced the Cavs, it was the night after the big opening win over Miami -- looking back, it doesn't seem so big, does it? -- and after Boston blew a double-digit second half lead, everyone was quick to blame the hangover from the night before.

Since that time, however, the Cavs have played a bit better than nearly everyone expected they would, emerging as a contender for a low playoff seed in the East. They play hard and are well-coached, and teams with those characteristics are tough to beat.

J.J. Hickson did the most damage to the Celtics in the earlier meeting, and he's again the guy to watch -- he's mobile, active, and has a good jumper. I mentioned last time that offensively, he reminded me a bit of Kevin Garnett, and that's the kind of player that can give Boston trouble if Garnett doesn't stay at home.

The ever-pesky Anderson Varejao mans the middle for the Cavs, and his mobility could give Shaquille O'Neal trouble. Varejao is the kind of player whose value you don't recognize until he goes off the floor and you realize how much easier everything is without him on it. As such, I'd like to see Boston try to ride Shaq's recent hot hand in the early going and maybe get Varejao in foul trouble.

Mo Williams is the starter at point guard. He didn't play in the first Boston game, and while he adds some scoring punch, he's missed five games this year and it's not at all clear that Cleveland suffers too much with him in street clothes. The other change in the lineup is that Joey Graham has recently replaced Jamario Moon in the starting lineup, which really matters very little in the grand scheme of things.

Cleveland's bench had a nice game the last time we played them. They've got some pretty good second-unit weapons, as second-unit weapons go. The most obvious is former All-Star Antawn Jamison, a versatile forward who we can hope decides to content himself with launching perimeter shots. Daniel Gibson is legitimate three-point sniper. I'm not a Ramon Sessions fan, but he has his moments; a big key to defending him is letting him take all the crazy shots he seems willing to take, rather than over-reacting to his penetration and leaving someone else open or by bailing him out with a foul call. None of those guys has a reputation for defense, however, and while the other two bench guys -- Ryan Hollins and Moon -- are decent on D, I think the Celtics bench could do some damage.

It's a game Boston should win, but to reiterate, they'll have to do more than just show up.

Metal Monday: Faith No More

Not quite metal, but heavy nonetheless. Faith No More broke up in 1998, but have recently reunited for shows here and there -- including two at the Hollywood Palladium this Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately for me, school is preventing me from attending either show -- a decision I struggled mightily with, especially because I skipped Metallica two years ago to study for my Civil Procedure exam and did terribly on it.

You probably know Faith No More from "Epic," the most popular track off of 1989's "The Real Thing." ("Epic" may be responsible for the majority of rap-metal out there, something I, at least, am willing to forgive the band for.")

"The Real Thing" is one of the albums I remember the most from my adolescence. I had the cassette, and I remember I made a mixed tape consisting solely of songs from it, Peal Jam's "Vitalogy," Soundgarden's "Superunknown," and Stone Temple Pilots' "Purple." All of the Faith No More songs I put on that tape were from Side A of that album. It was months, at least, before I bothered listening to Side B -- and when I did, it was like a whole different album. Contrast "Falling to Pieces" (Side A) with "The Real Thing" (Side B), below, and I think you'll see what I'm talking about.

Focusing only on one album doesn't do the band justice, because experimentation and variety are what Faith No More is known for. But it's the album I know best, and it's the one that fits best here. In addition to the two songs mentioned above, I've also included a cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" (which also can be found on that album), as well as a collaboration with the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. from the Judgment Night soundtrack, a great soundtrack that pairs up alternative bands with rap groups (if you like this sort of thing, check the album out).

Boston 110, Toronto 101

Maybe I'm just being ornery, but I would've liked to have seen a bit more out of the Celtics on Friday night.

[recap] [box score]

Early on, Boston sure looked like it was out to avenge Sunday's 102-101 loss to the Raptors in Toronto. Rajon Rondo, who didn't play in that game or the two games immediately following it, dished out eight assists, Ray Allen hit a trio of three-pointers, and the team barely missed on the way to a 31-20 lead at the end of the first quarter. But the bench let the Raptors back into it in the second quarter -- then let the Raps back into it again in the fourth after Boston led by 19 at the end of three.

I know the second unit is missing two key pieces in Jermaine O'Neal and Delonte West, but that can't become an excuse all season long. West is going is going to be out a while, and even when Jermaine gets back from whatever knee problem that's currently bugging him, he'll still probably going to be game-to-game with the nagging injuries that have plagued his whole career. Semih Erden had one of his better games, but he's still a project at this point, and other than Glen Davis -- who plays a big chunk of his minutes with the first unit -- no one else made any sort of contribution off the bench. Nate Robinson and Marquis Daniels are capable of much more than they showed tonight, and more than they've showed consistently this season.

Kevin Garnett was simply superb Friday night, connecting with Rondo on a number of those 35-foot alley-oops that seem to be the pair's signature hookup. Shaquille O'Neal also had a big game, as he should whenever he spends part of the evening being guarded by Andrea Bargnani. Paul Pierce was pretty quiet for most of the game, but did a nice job stopping the bleeding in the fourth quarter. Allen went quiet after his hot start, and Rondo started well but then got a bit careless with the ball (the man is entitled to need a game to find his rhythm).

The Celtics are off until Tuesday, when they'll have an opportunity to properly avenge the first loss of the season, in Cleveland.

Boston 89, New Jersey 83 - Delonte Breaks Wrist

[recap] [box score]

Sad news tonight for the Celtics despite the win, as Delonte West broke his right wrist in the second quarter trying to brace himself. As of this writing, I don't know of a timetable for his return. However, the wire story has Doc Rivers saying it's a compound fracture. I'm not a doctor, but I think that means that Delonte's bone broke through his skin. (If you're at all squeamish, do not Google "compound fracture.") Sports announcers always say they hate to speculate, but I, as a blogger, love to speculate -- it's part of why I blog -- and I'm speculating that Delonte's season could be over. Even if it isn't, it'll be a long while before we see him in uniform again.

It's difficult to say what the effect of losing Delonte for the foreseeable future will be, given that he'd only played a few games this season and hadn't had a chance to really gel yet with the second unit. I, and everyone else, hoped that he'd become our most valuable bench player, someone to come in and organize the offense, letting Nate Robinson play off the ball while our starting backcourt sat. I hoped he'd come in and be able to defend both guard positions and knock down the three when the defense left him open. Delonte West is capable of doing all of these things. Whether or not he actually was going to do them, of course, remains an open question, but it's safe to say that this is no minor loss.

Short term, things appear bleaker than they actually are, because Rajon Rondo missed his third straight game with a hamstring injury. That leaves Robinson and rookie Avery Bradley as our only healthy point guards, though Rondo's expected back soon. Even when he does return, however, West's absence will likely mean increased minutes for our starting perimeter guys as they take turns running with the second unit -- unless Doc has unreasonable confidence in Von Wafer or uncharacteristic confidence in Bradley. The other option would be to go out and get someone, but I don't know who that someone would be.

So sad. Delonte seemed on the verge of rejuvenating his career, then breaks his wrist four and a half games into his season. (Recall that he sat out the first ten games on a suspension.) There is, of course, a big elephant in the room that I feel neither comfortable nor qualified to address -- let's just say that I hope that whatever physical therapy program awaits him, it keeps him busy. Time for the Celtics family to look after one of its own.

Touching ever-so-briefly on the game itself, Shaquille O'Neal was a monster tonight, playing better than I've seen him play in years and much better than I ever thought I'd see him play in a Celtics uniform. I'm still worried a bit about his defense, but he's really throwing his weight around on offense and his teammates have been great at finding him.

The other player who merits attention for his performance Wednesday night is Marquis Daniels. Paul Pierce and Ray Allen put this game away down the stretch -- with a surprising assist from Shaq at the free throw line -- but Daniels, pressed into extra duty due to the West and Rondo injuries and the fact that Robinson was in foul trouble, had a strong game. His stat line was modest, but he did a lot of the little things on a night where Boston couldn't find a rhythm. If he can consistently play well, it will go a long way toward easing the sting from the loss of Delonte.

The Next Lamb: The New Jersey Nets

Game 15: New Jersey (5-9) at Boston (10-4)

Wednesday, November 24

7:30 pm Eastern

TV: NBA League Pass

It wasn't until writing this post that I remembered that we lost to the Nets last season. The 12-70 Nets. The freaking Nets.

I went back and looked at the RwH archives, and it turns out I didn't watch that game -- which was the last matchup between these two teams. It turns out that the game was decided at the free throw line: New Jersey shot 41 free throws to Boston's 11, holding a 22-point edge from the stripe.

In my own little universe, then, it's particularly appropriate that we face the Nets for the first time since then at a time when I think the biggest problem with our team, currently, is that it has trouble playing defense without fouling. (Unless, of course, the other team simply chooses not to show up, as Atlanta did on Monday.)

Speaking of Atlanta, the Nets beat them in overtime in New Jersey Tuesday night, a win that would ordinarily be impressive -- except that the Hawks dug themselves an early hole by playing only slightly better in the first quarter than they did the night before against the Celtics. Still, give credit to New Jersey for closing out the game in overtime. In some regards, their record is deceiving because they've played some good teams very close -- but on the other hand, Atlanta's really the only decent team they've beaten.

There are two main players for Boston to worry about: center Brook Lopez and point guard Devin Harris. The former has had a bunch of good games against Boston in the last couple of seasons, and its hard to imagine him playing materially worse against Shaquille O'Neal than he did against Kendrick Perkins. Harris, on the other hand, has traditionally struggled against Boston, putting up some ugly shooting lines (though his ability to get to the free throw line makes his point totals against the Celtics respectable). Of course, if Rajon Rondo can't go, Nate Robinson will be tasked with checking the 6-3 Harris. If it becomes an issue, I wouldn't be surprised to see Doc not hesitate to bring in Delonte West.

Joining those two guys in the starting lineup these days are Travis Outlaw, Anthony Morrow, and Kris Humphries. Outlaw is a relatively unexceptional small forward, and Morrow -- one of the top three-point shooters, percentage-wise, ever -- hasn't yet found his rhythm and doesn't seem to be being used in a way that best maximizes his lone NBA skill.

Humphries is an interesting case. Troy Murphy is supposed to be playing power forward for the Nets, but he hurt his back in the preseason and when he came back, he was ineffective -- so ineffective that coach Avery Johnson has kept him inactive -- not benched him; kept him in street clothes -- for several games now. Humphries is an early entry journeyman, a strong rebounder with something of a hard edge. His major contribution comes on the glass, a la Reggie Evans -- who had 16 rebounds against Boston on Sunday -- but he notched his fourth double-double of the season against Atlanta, so he's a little bit more of an offensive threat. Particularly if Boston has trouble containing Lopez and Harris, Humphries is exactly the kind of player who can really hurt the Celtics. Kevin Garnett loves to roam and help, and Humphries has made a modest career of punishing -- with dunks and offensive rebounds and putbacks -- teams that ignore him.