Perk Out for Game 7

This doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who watched the game last night, but Kendrick Perkins will not suit up in Game 7 due to the knee injury he suffered in the first quarter of Game 6. There are conflicting reports about whether the injury is a torn MCL and PCL or just a sprain of the ligaments, but Perk isn't having an MRI until he returns to Boston after the series and he officially isn't available for tomorrow night. For the sake of next season and Perk's future, let's hope it's just a sprain.

However, now is not the time to think about next year; next week is. Now is the time to think about what Perkins' absence means for Game 7 against the Lakers, and what adjustments need to be made.

The bad news is obvious. Perk is our best on-ball defender in the post, and while he hadn't consistently delivered his best work on that end this series, he had done a decent job on Pau Gasol (with Kevin Garnett sliding over to guard Lamar Odom when Andrew Bynum was out of the game, which was more often than not due to Lakers' young big's own knee injury). In addition, Perk is a reliable big body, of which we are now down to just three -- making foul trouble a real danger for Game 7. With Boston weakened on the front line, LA will probably look to dump it into Gasol more often in the hopes of getting Rasheed Wallace into foul trouble. The Lakers are best when the offense runs through Gasol, but they are sometimes reluctant, for some reason, to exploit him. But even Kobe Bryant should see that foul trouble to Wallace would be so detrimental to the Celtics that he can't help but go to Gasol early, and thus the Lakers offense may be more effective by accident.

There is some good news, or I guess at least a silver lining. For starters, Wallace has actually guarded Gasol fairly well in this series, although he has had trouble doing so without getting into foul trouble. If 'sheed can force Gasol to catch the ball off the block and contest his shots without fouling (content to live with the results of a contested shot) -- things Perk does extremely well -- then we may not miss Perkins at all defensively. If, however, Wallace gambles for steals and blocks in his typical fashion (which is okay when we're less reliant on him for minutes than we will be Thursday night), we could be in some trouble. Either way, I look forward to seeing, at least once, Gasol fall on his ass and then look up helplessly at the official when 'sheed breaks out the "pulling the chair" move.

Offensively, the news is better. There's a John Hollinger column on ESPN about how the Celtics are better off without Perkins, but I'm not an Insider and am not particularly inclined to go around searching for it. I have seen bits and pieces, however, from various blogs, and Hollinger has at least one thing right: Wallace is a much better offensive player than Perkins. Perk's offensive limitations allow the Lakers to guard Boston's starting unit close to 5-on-3, with Bryant backing well off of Rajon Rondo and whoever is guarding Perkins ignoring him unless Perk is standing within five feet of the basket. Wallace's range, which extends out to the three-point line, should unclog the paint for Rondo drives and Paul Pierce isolations, and keep the Lakers honest on pick-and-rolls with Pierce and Ray Allen. I suspect that LA will be more than happy, at least initially, to roll the dice with Wallace bombing away, and so he'll have to knock a couple down for this advantage to really bear fruit. (Fortunately, Wallace expertly didn't waste any of his makes on a lost cause in Game 6!) We don't need the 29 points on 5-for-7 from deep that he gave us in a January win at Toronto with Garnett out (though we'll take it), but the zero points on 0-for-6 from three-point land from Game 6 won't do, either. I'd love to see 'sheed step inside the arc for some of his offense, but at this point, I consider that something of a lost cause.

No matter how well 'sheed plays, however, he, Garnett, and Glen Davis are probably going to need help handling Gasol, Bynum (if he plays), and Odom, particularly on the glass. Last night, that guy was Shelden Williams, and he was, well, terrible. That leaves one other possibility: Brian Scalabrine.

When Shelden is playing regularly, like he was at the start of the season when Davis was out with a hand injury, he's a better option than Scalabrine. He's stronger, a better rebounder, a little more athletic. But he's out of rhythm now, and his performance in Game 6 was bad to the point of being painful to watch. (His play in four minutes in Game 2, his only other action of these Finals, was not much better.) I know Scalabrine hasn't played since March 28 and has barely even dressed for any games during the playoffs, but at this point, if Scalabrine can simply catch the ball most of the time it lands in his hands, he'd be an upgrade over Shelden.

Look, I know this isn't ideal, but there was a time, before we got Wallace, that this wouldn't have been so ridiculous a suggestion. Last year, Doc Rivers tabbed Scalabrine eight times as a starter; five times when Perkins was out and three when Garnett was out. In one of the former, against Phoenix, with Garnett guarding Shaquille O'Neal, Scalabrine held Amare' Stoudemire to 0-for-7 from the field, actually outscoring the five-time All-Star 4-to-3. Scalabrine defends and rebounds with every ounce of his by-NBA-standards-underwhelming ability. If he sees the court on Thursday, there won't be anyone on it playing harder than Brian Scalabrine.

Scal also has the ability, when left open -- and he gets left open a lot -- to knock down an open three or two. It's asking a lot of a guy to step in after not playing for two-and-a-half months and hit jumpers in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, but six or nine points from Scalabrine could be absolutely huge.

Heading into Game 6, there was a lot of chatter on the Internet about how, if Boston won the series, who would win the MVP was still an open question. Scalabrine will never be mentioned in that discussion. But in a series in which the best two players are wearing purple-and-gold, it may take a solid, if unspectacular, performance from a forgotten role player to push the team wearing green-and-white over the top.

Dallas 99, Boston 90

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Boston just fell apart in this one.

Up 50-41 at the break, the Celtics imploded during a 34-18 third quarter and never recovered. Return of the bullets:

• As I feared would happen, Boston had no answer for Dirk Nowitzki. Rasheed Wallace did a decent enough job on him, but once 'sheed had to go to the bench with foul trouble, Action Dirk ran wild over Brian Scalabrine and Glen Davis. Final line for the big German: 14-22, 37 points.
• Defense was the real culprit in the loss -- the Mavs shot better than 57 percent for the game -- but it's hard to say much more than we stopped getting back.
• Offensively, while I love the fact that Rajon Rondo's jumper is getting better and Kendrick Perkins is becoming a viable post option, I feel we're relying on them a little too heavily. Especially when we need to regain some momentum, I see dumping the ball in to Perk as a fourth or fifth option. And there have been a couple of times in recent weeks where Rondo has taken the first jumper the defense has given him, which I'm generally okay with as long as he picks his moments; the middle of an opponent's run is not necessarily one of those moments.
• Mostly, I just want to see Ray Allen get more than 15 shots on a night he was making three out of every five he put up.

We're at Detroit on Wednesday. Still no KG, but supposedly he practiced today and will be back on Friday against Portland.

Viewing Alert

Thursday night, 8 pm Eastern, in Boston, versus Chicago, on TNT.

After last season's epic playoff series, the two matchups between these two clubs have been blowouts in favor of the green and white. The Bulls lost three in a row last week, but have bounced back with wins over the lowly Wolves and Pistons, and are 6-3 after Christmas.

Oh, yeah, we beat New Jersey tonight. 38-22 after one; 71-35 after two. What more do you need, other than a sick Tony Allen jam on an alley-oop feed from Paul Pierce?

(Answer: A sick jam by Billy Sky, resulting in an elaborate shimmy from Brian Scalabrine on the bench. I'm working on finding it.)

Atlanta 102, Boston 96

I try not to get too worked up about specific regular season games, but goddamn, did I want to win this one.

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After Sunday's 114-107 win over the Raptors in Toronto, the Celtics returned home on Monday for a rematch with the the Hawks. Atlanta had Sunday off, but on Saturday had buoyed my theory that they save something extra for the Cs; fresh off the win over Boston on Friday, they went down to Orlando and got clobbered by the Vince Carter-less Magic. Despite the back-to-back and despite being without Kevin Garnett and his backup, Rasheed Wallace -- who apparently hurt his foot on his way to a season-high 29 points against the Raps -- everything was going smoothly for the Celtics in the middle of the third quarter. Rajon Rondo was attacking, Atlanta's post players were struggling, and Boston had put the clamps on Friday's foil, Jamal Crawford. The Cs were up 67-57 and shooting an ungodly percentage.

And then, with one questionable -- but not unprecedently bad -- flagrant foul call, everyone with leadership responsibilities lost their cool to varying degrees, and the tenor of the game changed.

The call in question came on a Marvin Williams breakaway. Glen Davis chased Williams down. I'm pretty sure all the contact came from Davis' body, but he did get his left arm up in Williams' neck/head area, although, like I said, I'm pretty sure it merely appeared as though Davis collared Williams. Two officials whistled a foul, huddled for a few seconds, then called Big Baby for a Flagrant 1.

Doc Rivers blew his top and was almost instantly hit with two technical fouls and an ejection. (It seemed like a quick trigger on the part of the official, but then again, I don't know what Doc said.) As Doc was leaving the floor, assistant coach Armond Hill was also given a tech. Crawford and Williams combined to make four of five free throws, and it was a brand new ballgame.

It may be that I'm overstating the effect of the call (no doubt because Tommy Heinsohn kept mentioning it). Boston didn't crumble immediately; in fact, it looked like they may have been sparked by the turn of events. Atlanta got the ball back after all the free throws, but Kendrick Perkins swatted Crawford's layup attempt off the backboard, sparking a Rondo drive that resulted in his 21st and 22nd points of the game. The Hawks went on a 14-6 run to tie the score, but the Celtics scored nine of the next 11 points to regain a seven-point advantage early in the fourth quarter.

So the call and the technicals and the ejection didn't cost us the game in the sense that they changed the momentum or anything like that. But -- ironically, since I'm always giving him a hard time -- losing Doc Rivers very well might have.

With Doc in the locker room, head coaching duties for the evening fell to Tom Thibodeau. The defensive guru has been an invaluable asset during the last two-plus seasons for Boston, and he's high on the list of NBA assistants who will be getting offers for head positions in short order. But if Monday night was an audition, Thibodeau bombed.

Doc was tossed right around the midway point of the third quarter. From that point forward, for the final 18 minutes, 16 seconds of the game, Thibodeau did not make a single substitution. Never mind that it was the second night of a back-to-back; that Rondo and Ray Allen had played 44 and 42 minutes, respectively, the previous day; that Glen Davis is still getting into playing "shape," if you can call it that; that Pierce was playing in his fourth game after missing five with an injury; that (gasp!) Tony Allen played fairly well in Pierce's absence; or that Brian Scalabrine -- starting in place of Garnett and Wallace -- nailed three triples in the first half while basically shutting down Josh Smith. Rondo, Ray, Pierce, Davis, and Kendrick Perkins were the five on the floor when Thibodeau took over, and they never left. We were gassed.

Thibodeau doesn't deserve all the blame. Rondo made a couple of poor decisions trying to force things, then basically stopped being aggressive after having so much success going to the bucket in the first two-and-a-half quarters. Davis provided some big baskets offensively, but his defense predictably left a lot to be desired. Late in the game, the team seemed preoccupied with dumping the ball into Kendrick Perkins in the post -- a curious decision, especially given all the mismatches on the court. Perk's been traveling a lot these days, it seems, and Monday was no exception. Additionally, Atlanta was doubling Perk a lot, and the big fella sprinkled in a number of bad passes due to holding on to the ball too long.

We get one more shot at the Hawks in the regular season, on the 29th in Atlanta, one night after a battle in Orlando with the Magic.

Boston 90, San Antonio 83

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Spurs fans were left grumbling over their team's performance last night. I think Boston can take credit, to an extent, for San Antonio's shooting (42 percent from the field, 2-of-16 from deep), as well as a great number of their 18 turnovers. Boston can't take assert that they had any influence on San Antonio's free throw shooting (an awful 7-for-17), and had the Spurs knocked down a few more freebies, it might have had a different outcome.

Of course, it might have been an easier win for Boston if not for Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair, who threw up an 18/11 on 9-for-11 shooting, with five offensive boards. Like many people, I was stunned when he fell as far as he did in the draft this summer, and he's proved all of us right. He's going to be a handful, if not a beast, in this league for as long as his problematic knees hold out. I might be able to forgive passing on using a first-round pick on him and thereby giving him guaranteed money, because of his injury history, but there's no excuse for not snapping him up immediately in the second. San Antonio's other major offseason acquisition, Richard Jefferson, hasn't found a rhythm with the team yet, but Blair was the Spurs best player, hands down, Thursday night. If I have one critique of him, it's that he doesn't use his strength enough to go through people with the ball on the way up for his shot. He's very short for a post player, and he does a lot of double-clutching to avoid shotblockers. I'd like to see him seek out that contact more and get a few more and-ones, but man, that guy is going to be good. Super relentless on the O-glass, too.

A couple of you pointed out to me, before I noticed, that Brian Scalabrine and Matt Bonner spent a lot of their court time guarding each other. Quite a treat to watch these two red-haired, perimeter-oriented-despite-being-six-foot-nine-and-unathletic-compared-to-the-rest-of-the-NBA veteran forwards go at each other, even exchanging baskets during one sequence. Really, switch these guys' uniforms and I don't think anyone notices.

Next game is tonight at Oklahoma City in a really tricky second game of a back-t0-back. I haven't gotten to watch a ton of the Thunder this year. I saw them play the Clippers live here in LA, and they seemed to content to stand around and throw up jumpers, making just enough to win in a very listless performance. On the other hand, they've blown out Orlando at home and have road wins in Orlando, San Antonio, and Utah already this year. It's going to take a hell of an effort to beat Kevin Durant & Co. tonight on tired legs.

Boston 86, New Jersey 76

Ugh.

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• First of all, poor New Jersey. The only regular starter who played was center Brook Lopez. They started Rafer Alston (filling in for Devin Harris), Trenton Hassell (Courtney Lee), Bobby Simmons (Chris Douglas-Roberts), and Josh Boone (Yi Jianlian). They played their guts out -- just as they did in a narrow loss the night before in Philadelphia -- but you aren't going to win starting three career journeymen and Rafer Alston. The Nets are 0-7, and with a Wednesday home date against Philly followed by a weekend back-to-back in Florida, it looks very likely that they'll have to wait at least another full week before they get their first win.
• Doc Rivers again tried an all-bench lineup to start the second quarter, but House, Giddens, Wallace, Scalabrine, and Shelden Williams couldn't get anything going. Without Marquis Daniels, who missed this game while tending to personal matters, the second unit needs Pierce or Ray Allen to spark the offense. That three-minute stretch was the best indicator we've had of how good Daniels has been thus far.
• I won't be at all surprised if Giddens doesn't have a job in the NBA next year.
• The Nets committed 23 turnovers, an incredible 20 of which were Boston steals. Rajon Rondo led the way with 5 thefts, but in all, six other Celtics got at least one: Rasheed Wallace (4 steals), Kevin Garnett (3), Brian Scalabrine (3), Paul Pierce (2), Eddie House (2), and J.R. Giddens (1). Boston had active hands and jumped passing lanes all night, but New Jersey also threw quite a few balls directly to men wearing green jerseys.
• One such steal by Eddie House was basically an outlet pass, and House turned it into a two-on-one break down the right side, with Scalabrine filling the left lane. House dropped a perfect bounce pass that caught Scal in stride; for a great number of NBA players, this was a catch, two steps, and a jam. Scal being who he is, however, stopped more or less on a dime and backed the ball out. Seeing it teed up so perfectly for Scal, I was led to contemplate whether he could still dunk. I know what you're thinking: "He's 6'9", of course he can dunk." Well, I played with a guy in high school who was 6'8", and he could only throw it down if he could take one step, gather, and jump off of two feet; in other words, he could only really do it in practice. Again, I know what you're thinking: "Okay, but he was an NBA player?" No, he wasn't, but he also wasn't a 31-year-old with a bad back, an extra 20 pounds or so on his frame, and a nickname ("Veal") that isn't just a play on words. It's entirely possible that he can't. Even if you disagree with me, you wouldn't feel very comfortable betting on it, would you?
• Scal did give us the lead for good by burying a three (our first successful attempt from long distance) on the first possession of the fourth quarter. He hit a long two a couple trips later. I can't believe I'm saying it, but we may want to keep him around all year, rather than trade his expiring contract for another piece.
• Boston's lineup for the final four minutes: House, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Kendrick Perkins. Rondo sat the entire fourth quarter and didn't look terribly amused about it while sitting on the bench.
• They mentioned on the broadcast that this was the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. Ironic for me, because I just finished the Russ v. Wilt chapter of Bill Simmons' new book, The Book of Basketball. I'm no Sports Guy fanboy, but I'm excited for the rest of this book. Simmons has bitten off a lot -- he defines his purpose as "evaluating why certain players and teams mattered more than others" -- but as an NBA fanatic first and a journalist (I use that term loosely) second, he seems up to the task. I'll have a full report once I finish the nearly 700-page treatise.

Off 'til Wednesday, when the Jazz come to town. Three days off should be a welcome break for the Cs, who have played a league-leading eight games in the season's first twelve days (a few teams have only played five games, and Golden State has played just four). This should be a chance for the team to get back in the practice gym to work out some of the kinks from the last two games, as well as to get some well-deserved rest.

Boston 105, Philadelphia 74

I've always hated when coaches rail to the media about their team's sloppy play in a blowout victory or chew out their players on the sideline in a lopsided victory. So trust me when I say that we really didn't look all that good in this one, despite what the scoreboard says.

[recap] [box score]

Don't get me wrong; it was every bit a one-sided victory. But the third quarter was marred by seven turnovers, the exact kind of sloppy stretch we seem prone to once we build a comfortable lead. Several times, I looked at the score after another miscue and was surprised to see Boston still up 14.

These sloppy third quarters are growing a bit tiresome, even as the Celtics roll through their early season schedule. It's not something that's new this year; the team's concentration has waned with big leads each of the previous two seasons, as well. But it sure seems that these stretches are becoming more and more common -- though I don't have the data to back up or disprove it.

If I was in the habit of giving out game balls, I'd give this one to Rasheed Wallance, who scored early and often on his way to 20 points, including a cool six-for-eight from deep. 'sheed came in after Kendrick Perkins picked up a couple of early fouls against a surprisingly active Samuel Dalembert and nailed a nine-foot turnaround jumper to pick up a sluggish offense. He added a three later in the period and never really stopped.

Bullets!

• Wallace also picked up a technical in the third quarter when he didn't get to go to the line after being fouled in the act of shooting. He carried on in typical 'sheed fashion, and in such a blowout, I was a little surprised one of the refs didn't run him.
• The game highlights have a couple instances of Rajon Rondo in all his Rondo-ness. At the end of the first quarter, he hit a ridiculous 13-footer from the baseline that I thought, at first glance, went over the top of the backboard. Upon further review, however, it appears that he may have somehow shot the right over the corner. Whether it should have counted or not, it was a remarkable shot, over seven-foot Jason Smith while falling out of bounds. Later, after a Sixers turnover, he threaded a blind, left-handed behind-the-back pass to a streaking Paul Pierce. The angle on this pass was extremely tough, as Pierce was filling the lane behind him. What made this assist particularly special, however, was that Rondo had tipped the outlet pass into the frontcourt, and surveyed the court as he chased it down. Gathering the ball right around the free throw line, he knew exactly where Pierce was, and, as importantly, knew that Thaddeus Young was lurking to challenge his layup. So he dropped a picture-perfect dime into Pierce's hands, taking Young out of the play, and the result was an easy two for Boston. These two plays were an excellent display of the $55 million dollar man's court awareness.
• First five minutes of the year for Brian Scalabrine. He got in during garbage time and showed no ill effects of either his injury suffered in the preseason or his summer off to recover from concussions. Five points for the former Human Victory Cigar, including a three-pointer.
• Lester Hudson played for another extended stretch in the fourth quarter and this time showed no qualms about displaying his offensive ability. He canned two triples in seven effective minutes. I think he's a better shooter than Gabe Pruitt, but he's not ready for a regular role with the big club the way Pruitt might have been.
• J.R. Giddens was a little bit better (read: a little less useless) than he has been, but he did nothing to make the Celtics regret not picking up his option next year.
• Boston hit 14 of 20 three-pointers. We're now at 48.6 percent from behind the arc on the young season, just two-tenths of a percent behind Phoenix. Philly, having been torched from deep previously by Orlando, has allowed opponents to shoot 45.1 percent from that distance through four games, the fifth-worst mark in the league.
• Philly shot just 36.3 percent on the game, and didn't hit a three-pointer until the waning minutes. The Celtics are the league's stingiest team in terms of field goal percentage and points against. At times, it looks simply like the opposition is missing shots, but the scheme and the players have a ton to do with that.

Next game is tonight (Wednesday) at 8 p.m. Eastern, against Minnesota. No national TV, but if you can find a way to watch this one, do it: the Wolves have former Celtics Al Jefferson and Ryan Gomes, plus RwH fave Jonny Flynn, and it's always fun to see Big Al J and Gomes compete against some of their former teammates. Plus, KG back in 'sota is always a nice experience.

More Injury News: Rondo likely for Game 3; Scal back?

I'll let the Globe do the talking.

Coincidence that news that Scalabrine might be back soon comes the same day that we find out Powe is done for the year?

Boston 119, Sacramento 100

Seriously, it's getting difficult to write when every game is a blowout. Not that I'm complaining.

[recap] [box score] [highlights]

Sluggish start, followed by a 40-19 second quarter that put the game effectively out of reach.

Quick notes:

-Eddie House is shooting the hell out of the basketball right now. In three of his last four games, he has gone over 20 points, doing most of his damage -- as he is wont to do -- from behind the arc. A then-career high seven threes (out of 11 attempts) against Miami on January 21; an identical deep shooting performance against Dallas on Sunday; and then eight-for-nine from downtown last night. Throw in his zero-for-one from Orlando, and over the last four, he's hit 22 of his last 32 triples -- 68.8 percent. I remember hearing (unsubstantiated) rumors a few weeks back that Danny Ainge was after Orlando's J.J. Redick because we needed a shooter off the bench; so much for that. (I can't quite put my finger on it, but the thought of Kevin Garnett

-Leon Powe got some run tonight, but Brian Scalabrine was out after suffering two concussions in three days. He got one against Dallas, apparently, and then was fragged by Patrick O'Bryant during Tuesday's practice. I feel bad for Scal, because they showed an interview with him on last night's broadcast, and he looked really disappointed. I don't blame him; the guy finally gets some real playing time and sheds his victory-cigar role (though the fans still implore him to shoot every time he touches the ball0, and then he gets knocked out of the lineup for a week or 10 days. It's only a few games, but when Doc Rivers is your coach, a lot can happen in those few games. He could lose minutes back to Powe, or Doc could forget his name or that he's on the team, or could decide that Patrick O'Bryant needs more PT, or that Sam Cassell would make a good power forward.

Leon missed two dunks tonight. I told you he was out of rhythm.

-Tony Allen returned to the lineup tonight, and played very well. driving, dishing, playing under control. Tony plays well just often enough that I can't bring myself to say, "Screw it, let's trade this guy for whatever we can get," but is generally so inconsistent and dumb on the court that I can't bring myself to like him, either. In truth, we can't really get rid of him, because he's our main backup on the wing and he's the guy on the second team who can create his own shot (I know, I've said this all a million times), but man, does he drive me crazy. Here's hoping that he wasn't really injured during his 11-game hiatus, but was at some basketball IQ camp with Gerald Green for three weeks, learning how to play the game.

-Paul Pierce picked up three fouls in the first quarter and had a blah scoring night, which is awesome for one of my fantasy teams. I'm playing the best team in the league and should win in rebounds and blocks (I have Shaq and Samuel Dalembert), while he's good in assists and steals (he has Chris Paul, and my guards are of the scoring type). Points will be the deciding category. Pierce's off-night is added to an off-night from Vince Carter to begin the week (though VC bounced back nicely last night) has him slightly off the projected pace, while I'm bolstered by Mo Williams' 43 two nights ago against Sacto. I just might be able to squeeze out a 3-2 win, giving me the all-important psychological edge as we look ahead to the playoffs.

Not that you care.

You might care, though, that the Celtics' next game is Friday night in Detroit, on ESPN at 7 p.m. Eastern. The Pistons seem to really be struggling this year, and have recently moved Rip Hamilton to the bench to make room for Rodney Stuckey in their lineup alongside Allen Iverson. Still should be a good game, as these teams are rivals, it's always fun to watch Iverson, and Stuckey's an intriguing young player. And there's always a strong possibility that Rasheed Wallace will pick up a technical foul -- he leads the league with 12 and is well on his way to the suspension threshhold of 16.

Plus, there's always a chance that Hamilton will kill somebody on the court, then turn to the ref and complain that he was fouled.

Boston 98, Miami 83

Eddie!

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Constitutional Law is, thus far, kicking my ass this semester, so once we looked to have gained control of this one by halftime, I tuned out a bit. I remember Eddie House going for 20 points in the second quarter; I remember the Heat getting to with 11 or 12 or 13 in the fourth; and then the next time I looked up, we were leading by 22. The box score tells the story of this one: House and Ray Allen combining for 18-of-27 from the field, including 12-of-17 three-pointers. Fifteen total triples. Most of the times you shoot over 50 percent from the field, and make 60 percent of that many threes, you are going to win handily, even if you turn it over 21 times.

The defense wasn't superb tonight, at least not in the first quarter. There was a particularly sloppy stretch where Miami missed layups on like three straight possessions, including Shawn Marion clanging a dunk. (Incidentally, Marion is coming off of a groin injury and was limited to eight minutes). We still aren't playing as tight on that end this year as we did last season.

Still, nothing but good things came out of this one, which we need, heading into Thursday night's showdown (VIEWING ALERT: TNT 8 p.m.) with the Orlando Magic, suddenly a real contender not only in the East, but for the title. Perhaps the best thing was that we got Kendrick Perkins back. As well as Brian Scalabrine played in Perk's stead, and as good a job as Kevin Garnett did on Shaquille O'Neal Monday night, Perkins will be key to slowing Orlando's monster center, Dwight Howard. Howard is too strong for Scal and KG doesn't have a quickness advantage over Howard the way he does over Shaq. We need Perk's beef against Howard. Perkins only played 22 minutes tonight, in roughly six minute intervals, which was the plan coming in as he recovers from a tweak to his recurring shoulder injury. I wouldn't expect the plan to be any different against the Magic, so expect another 20 minutes or so from Scalabrine, if he can go that long without fouling out against Howard.

This one is a must-see for Boston fans, and probably for NBA fans, as well.

Boston 104, Phoenix 87

Shaq played, but it didn't matter. This one wasn't even this close; the second team played the entire fourth quarter, and while they played well earlier in the game, they didn't move the ball well in the last 12 minutes and the Phoenix's reserves cut into what was a 31-point lead after three quarters.

[recap] [box score] [highlights]

Everyone played well, but special consideration should go to Brian Scalabrine for the way he shut down Suns star power forward Amare Stoudemire. Scal actually outscore Amare 4-3, and consistently pushed Stoudemire away from the block, causing him to post up much farther from the bucket than he would have liked. Stoudemire missed all seven of his shots from the field. Credit to Ray Allen, too, for by and large shutting down Jason Richardson, something he had trouble doing when Richardson played for the Charlotte Bobcats.

Perhaps the highlight of the evening was a postgame interview with Rajon Rondo, in which TNT sideline reporter Cheryl asked the Celtics point guard about his "impactualness" on the game (she actually said that; I rewound my Tivo to check). That's a new one. And speaking of Miller, does she not have the exact same voice as her brother, former Indiana Pacer star and current TNT analyst Reggie? A little eerie having them on the same broadcast.

This is a good start to a tough week for the Cs, as they take a road trip to Florida. There's no national TV for Wednesday's game against the Miami Heat, but Thursday's showdown against Orlando will be broadcast on TNT at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Boston 94, Toronto 88

The Celtics snapped a four-game losing streak in Toronto Sunday, hanging on during a shaky fourth quarter to win.

[recap] [box score] [highlights]

Ray Allen is the Celtics most responsible for this one, scoring 36 points while making 11 of 14 shots overall, including eight of 10 three-pointers.

This game was pretty odd -- if you look at the score and Allen's shooting line, you'd figure Boston needed every one of those shots. But we were up 20 after three quarters before going cold in the fourth. And it could have been closer, as Toronto missed some open looks from behind the arc in the last few minutes.

I think it was close to exactly the performance the team needed. Our defensive effort was great for most the night, we got Ray going, and while we faltered in the fourth, we made enough plays to win -- which we didn't do the other night in crunch time against Houston. All this despite not having Kendrick Perkins -- out with the shoulder injury he aggravated Friday night against Cleveland -- and Tony Allen. (Toronto was missing starting center Jermaine O'Neal, and their point guard, Jose Calderon, played just 22 minutes as he continues to deal with a hamstring injury).

Noteworthy performances:

-Rajon Rondo was the catalyst for our offense he had been before Christmas, perhaps taking advantage of a slowed Calderon for 14 points and 11 assists.

-Brian Scalabrine got the start in Perkins' place, and while he found foul trouble early and eventually fouled out, he gave us 25 minutes of solid, energetic defense, and he chipped in offensively with seven points. Can't really ask for more than that from the guy at this point.

-Glen Davis was the other big whose playing time benefitted from Perk's absence. While Davis did grab 11 rebounds, he was missed 11 of his 12 shots from the floor, a mix of open jumpers and easy layups. I don't really understand Doc's reasoning here; Davis was struggling offensively and got 30 minutes (a lot for a guy his size), while Leon Powe had five points and three rebounds in just nine minutes. I'm inclined to give Powe most of Baby's playing time anyway (though they are often on the court together), but that is particularly so when Davis struggles like he did today. He was sulking, too, not running back as hard on D as the game wore on and the misses piled up.

-Kevin Garnett also struggled, going just three of 16 from the field. He was just an inch or two off the entire night. I would say the majority of his jumpers missed the exact same way: front rom, backboard, and off. It's good to get a win even on a night where he can't buy one.

-Paul Pierce didn't have a very big game, though he did make a big bucket late. I hope it doesn't have anything to do with a knee injury he suffered in the first quarter; Scalabrine was knocked down and fell into Pierce's knee -- it looked like a little bit of a hyperextension or something. Pierce came back in the second quarter and didn't look to be hobbling around. I'm inclined to think that his lack of shooting (just five of 11) had more to do with how hot Ray was than anything with his knee.
We've got these same Raptors in Boston Monday night (7:30 p.m. Eastern). I don't know if Perkins or Tony Allen or O'Neal or Calderon will be playing. Because it's on NBATV, I won't be able to watch it, but I'll look at the box score and see if I can pick up on anything.

New York 100, Boston 88

I only caught bits and pieces of this one, but I didn't like too much of what I saw.

[recap] [box score]

I didn't like to see Kevin Garnett tweak his calf (although the pass he threw on that play was gorgeous, and I challenge anyone to name another 7-footer in history who throws that pass).

I didn't like to see Ray Allen going 0-for-9 from deep.

I didn't like to see Rajon Rondo playing only 26 minutes. Eddie House came in for Rondo with 3:26 remaining in the third quarter and the Celtics down 70-62; Rondo didn't re-enter the game until 2:54 was left in the game, with Boston down 93-86. I know Rondo wasn't very effective last night, but along with Paul Pierce (who played well), he's the only guy we have who can get the offense going when jumpers aren't falling. Eddie wasn't really hitting last night. It was clear we needed an offensive spark, and when we need an offensive spark, Rondo shouldn't be on the bench. (This is an argument, by the way, for why Stephon Marbury wouldn't be such a bad fit for us. His ability to create for himself and others is unmatched on our second team, with the possible exception of Tony Allen, who I'm trusting less and less these days.)

It wasn't all bad. I thought Scalabrine played as well as he's played this year, though we could have used a couple of the open jumpers he missed (he certainly wasn't alone in missing open jumpers last night, though). He was quite effective defensively.

Really, this one wasn't as bad as it looked. I don't want to make excuses and I'm sick of doing so, but if we hit a couple of jumpers -- open jumpers -- it's a different ballgame. The Knicks didn't play that well defensively -- they played well, for them, but that doesn't mean a whole lot, given that they allow a league-worst 48 percent shooting from opponents. We had open looks, but with the exception of Pierce, simply couldn't get anything to go down. And the Knicks caught a couple of breaks in the fourth quarter, getting easy buckets on possession where we played good D only to have the loose ball fall directly to them.

Cleveland lost to Washington on Sunday, so we're still percentage points ahead of them in the early stages of the race for homecourt advantage (although the five-loss Lakers now have the best record in the NBA). The next couple of weeks are going to be a good test for us, as we have a Tuesday-Wednesday back-to-back at Charlotte and home vs. Houston ahead of the big matchup in Cleveland on Friday. We have road games at playoff contenders Toronto, New Jersey, Miami, Orlando, and Detroit later this month. I think we'll know the true state of our team much better then.

Boston 102, Philadelphia 78

An outstanding performance on both ends from the defending champs. The Celtics held the Sixers to 28 points in the first half -- our best defensive half of the season, and Philly's worst offensively -- and the 76ers final total is only somewhat respectable thanks to the work of Louis Williams and Marreese Speights in a 31-point fourth quarter against our second- and third-stringers.

[recap] [box score]

Scoring in the NBA really doesn't get any more balanced than this. We scored 102 points tonight despite having just four guys in double figures, and no one had more than Ray Allen's 23. But all 11 guys who played scored -- Patrick O'Bryant's sweet jump hook on the second-to-last possession took care of that. Four guys off the bench had at least eight points: ten each for Leon Powe and Tony Allen; nine for Glen Davis, and eight for Eddie House.

Rajon Rondo again played great; he set the tone with three quick steals and finished with 12 assists. Kendrick Perkins also got off to a fast start, and had four blocks. Ray continued his torrid shooting, and Pierce didn't force anything (he shot just 1-for-6 in 27 minutes).

A few quick thoughts:

-Doc used a new substitution pattern in the first quarter tonight -- at least, I don't remember seeing it before. The first sub off the bench was Glen Davis, and he came in for Garnett. Usually, Doc removes Perk from the lineup with a few minutes remaining in the first, leaving KG out there to finish the quarter. That very well could be because Perkins is often in foul trouble, but I like the idea of resting Garnett in the first quarter if possible. It manages his minutes a bit better and gives us the option to go to him earlier in the second if the bench gets in trouble.

-Brian Scalabrine looks like he's made his way into the regular rotation. He's been playing pretty well, and I commend him for playing within himself despite the fact that every time he touches the ball the crowd yells for him to shoot. Still, if he's going to play meaningful minutes, he needs to be a little more aggressive, a little more like an NBA player. Too often, he's playing without conviction offensively. (On the defensive end, he's always playing hard).

-Tommy Heinsohn was back on the broadcast tonight, and late in the game, he mentioned the importance of the Celtics not being complacent when they play in Philly, because the Sixers were bound to be steamed about this blowout. He made reference to the next game being in Philadelphia, but it's actually back in Boston on December 23rd (look for me in section 312!). I think Speights' bush-league flagrant-two on Scalabrine in the waning moments took care of any concerns about complacency. Scalabrine was driving to the bucket for a reverse layup when Speights just reached out and shoved him in the back. It led to an ejection for Speights and a jawing match between Powe and Reggie Evans (this incident reminded of how much I hate Evans, by the way). I'm sure Boston will be plenty fired up on the 23rd.

-Tony played well tonight, but again he made the boneheaded play of the game. With time winding down in the third quarter, Boston was holding for one shot, though the shot and game clocks weren't quite synched; there was maybe a second and a half difference between the two. Tony drove for a layup and missed, and as the ball was coming off the rim, the shot clock buzzer -- which is quite discernible from the game clock horn -- sounded. Tony, who was in a great position to grab the rebound and lay it back in, apparently heard the buzzer and thought the quarter had ended, as he grabbed the ball and sort of tossed it over his head while walking backward. No harm, no foul, but it still bugs me to see stuff like that.

-Next game is Saturday night in Charlotte (7 p.m. Eastern, no national TV). Despite the fact that Friday's 115-108 overtime win at Indiana moved them to just 5-10 on the year, the Bobcats should have our attention. Though we went 3-1 against them last year, the one loss was in Boston in January, and we needed that miraculous House steal and Ray three at the horn to beat them in Charlotte in November. Of the other two wins, one was closeish and the other wasn't. And the Bobcats only had Gerald Wallace for one of those games due to various injuries.

In addition to Wallace, there are two Bobcats who are most concerning. The first is point guard Raymond Felton. Rondo has some trouble against quicker point guards, and Felton is one of the quickest. He averaged 17 points and nine assists in the four games against us last year, a few ticks above his season averages in each category.

The other is Jason Richardson, who averaged nearly 30 points per game in the first three contests with Boston last year (he was held to nine in the final game in April). Richardson is the brand of two-guard (think the Hawks' Joe Johnson) that Ray Allen has trouble with: a decent shooter with a good mid-range game who can get to the rim. That's the key matchup.

With Sean May and Adam Morrison continuing to disappoint, Bobcats coach Larry Brown has been going to some small lineups, with rookie D.J. Augustin joining Felton and Richardson on the perimeter. The selection of Augustin in this summer's draft left many scratching their heads, as Augustin and Felton are similar players and there aren't too many NBA teams who have been successful playing two guys who are each six feet tall, if that, alongside each other. I'm looking forward to seeing this lineup, and not a little bit because I have something of a financial interest in Augustin's development (I need him to average 24 mpg or more in a full NBA season after his fourth year in the league).

Perhaps the best news for the Cs is that while Ray Allen was the only starter to play more than 30 minutes against Philly, the Bobcats' big guns logged heavy mileage in the overtime win at Indiana. Felton played about 48 minutes; Richardson and Wallace each played around 42.

Boston 110, New York 101

Stagnant, pre-Big Three-style fourth-quarter offense made this one closer than it should have been, but it's nice to win a game over a decent team without KG -- and without Paul Pierce having to play Superman.

[recap] [box score]

Quick hit thoughts:

-I'm the first to criticize Brian Scalabrine, so I should give him some praise when he actually plays well. Starting in place of the suspended Kevin Garnett, Scal contributed, and not just with Scal contributions like rebounds and fouls. He actually hit three jumpers, two at the end of the third quarter, and the game-icer late in the fourth. He hasn't exactly earned all the money we've given him, but it's nice to see he has a good game in him once in a while.

-The bench played great in the second quarter; so great, in fact, that unless I'm mistaken, Pierce and Rajon Rondo sat the entire period. Particularly high marks go to Leon Powe, who I think got all 14 of his points in the second, mostly against everyone's favorite backup power forward, David Lee. Eddie House actually did some point guard-type stuff, including a few nice assists on fast breaks. I believe that the bench players hit their first ten field goal attempts. It helps, of course, that the Knicks have no interest whatsoever in playing defense.

-Nice to see Kendrick Perkins play as aggressively and as well as he did. The Knicks are basically playing without a center, and for all his offensive limitations, Perkins can score over guys like Lee and Zach Randolph. He even channeled KG a few times: hitting a wide-open Rondo for an easy layup; running the pinch post play with Rondo for another easy assist; and then a three-possession stretch where he kicked it out to Pierce for a three, blocked Wilson Chandler on the other end, and then hit an eight-foot turnaround bank shot over his right shoulder on the left side of the court. Not sure where it comes from, but I'll take it whenever we can get it.

-Defense wasn't great tonight, but the Knicks did only shoot 43 percent, and they're a team that likes to push the ball and put pressure on your defense. Considering we were without our best defensive player, I think we acquitted ourselves pretty well on that end.

-Even in victory, I'm not sparing Tony Allen. Tonight's example that he simply has no feel for the game of basketball: Up 12 early in the fourth, Tony gets the ball, wide-open, 17 feet from the basket, with two seconds left on the shotclock. This isn't exactly his shot, and he's been criticized for being a little selfish this year, but this is a time where no one would complain if he put it up. Instead, he kicks it to Glen Davis, 19 feet from the basket at the other elbow, who can barely catch the ball before the shot clock expires.

You can almost see what's going through Tony's head during plays like this: "I'm open, and the shotclock is running down, but Coach told me not to take so many jumpers. Baby's open. I'll pass it to him and show everyone that I'm not selfish."

Generally speaking, good basketball players "get it." There are obviously different degrees of this, but most good basketball players at least show a modicum of savvy about the game. Tony doesn't.

-Last thing: Does everyone on the Knicks have to be a punk now? This post from the weekend mentions the Jamal Crawford-Ray Allen skirmish from last preseason. It also mentions the Crawford-Pierce double ejection last MLK Day, but that was as much Pierce's fault as it was Crawford's. But it's not just Crawford. Nate Robinson is like the quintessential guy who shows up at the playground who no one wants to play with. Always complaining about a foul, always looking for a fight. Some might say it's a short-man thing, but being of rather diminutive stature myself, I'm not going to go there. Randolph started something with Powe in the first half tonight that led to double techs. Later, Randolph had words for Pierce for no discernible reason.

Those guys have always had that edge, though. What surprised me tonight was watching Chris Duhon drain a wide-open three, then turn and say something to the Celtics bench. He hit another wide-open three later, and again was talking smack.

Hey, Chris, I know you're not very used to hitting jumpers, but there's a reason we're letting you shoot: Compared to your average NBA guard, you suck at shooting. Talk all you want; we're not sending anyone out to guard you, because we don't think you can beat us -- and guess what? We're right?

Is this what happens when you let Isiah Thomas near a franchise? Everyone -- even Chris Duhon -- becomes a jerk? You're in the house of the defending champions, fellas, and the champs whipped you four times last year. You also play on a team that, despite a good start this year, has been the laughingstock of the league for the previous couplefew seasons. I'm not saying you have to genuflect, but maybe you shut up long enough to win a game.

EDIT: After I made this post, I saw this Ball Don't Lie post, which refers to this Boston.com blog post, which refers to some interesting post-game comments from Quention Richardson. Okay, Q.

Boston 96, Chicago 80

Not much to say about this one, as the Celtics put forth an impressive defensive effort in improving to 2-0. Chicago shot 29.8% from the field for the game. 'Nuff said.

[recap] [boxscore]

That being the case, I'll make a couple quick macro points, say something about the Bulls, and check out perhaps a little more briefly than usual. Or not.

-Tony Allen is my least favorite Celtic, in large part because I just don't think he understands the game of basketball very well. Tonight's exhibit: The chucking he did with the game well in hand. I think he took shots on three straight possessions at one point, with the crowd screaming to get the ball to Brian Scalabrine and with Gabe Pruitt and Patrick O'Bryant in the game. Tony is already a part of the rotation; he doesn't need to show his scoring ability (not that he did tonight, anyway, going 1-for-8). Get the other guys involved. Even Pruitt, who is trying to show that he deserves a spot in the rotation, deferred to Scal. I'm not saying that we desperately need to get Scalabrine a bucket, but Tony should know to play unselfishly with the bomb squad in the game.

-ESPN announcers Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy made a huge deal of how into the game Boston's starters were in the last few minutes. I didn't really understand that; watching the scrubs close out a win is one of the most enjoyable parts of being a star. And they shouldn't have been surprised, either; the Cs stars did it all last year, too. And because it will give me an excuse to post my favorite YouTube link (which I've posted here before, and which I'll surely post again), they did it this preseason, as well (check the bench).

-O'Bryant needs to work his way into the rotation, or we need to find someone else to play backup center. I like Powe, and I like Glen Davis, but those guys are both undersized fours. Playing one of them at five with the other at four is just too small. And I hope that the Scalabrine-Powe-Davis frontcourt that Doc put out in the second quarter was some sort of Halloween trick-or-treat stunt.

-I realize that it's only two games into his coaching career, but have no idea what Vinnie Del Negro is doing. Three of his four best players are guards, and yet only one of them is starting. Meanwhile, he's starting two power forwards (Tyrus Thomas and Drew Gooden), and at one point in tonight's game, subbed them both out for two centers (Joakim Noah and Aaron Gray) who are limited offensively. Del Negro may not yet know what his best lineup is -- Jackson was saying it's the three-guard lineup, which I don't think Chicago has even played yet this year -- but of all the possible combos, he's played some of the worst.