Boston 122, Toronto 102

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

[recap] [box score]

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

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

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

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

Boston 93, Toronto 79

[recap] [box score]

Bullets tonight (and lots of 'em):

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

Boston 102, Atlanta 90

One night after an emotional, up-and-down win in New York over the Knicks, the depleted Celtics returned home and beat the Hawks.

[recap] [box score]

Rajon Rondo missed the game with the ankle injury he suffered in the fourth quarter on Wednesday. That makes five missed games and counting for Rondo this year, who missed four games earlier with hamstring and foot injuries. In each of those games, Nate Robinson has gotten the start in Rondo's stead, and until tonight, he had performed well in each -- much better, in fact, than he's been most of the time coming off the bench this season. He reached double figures in scoring in three of those contests, and it seemed that he was more comfortable with the first team -- when he could focus on scoring -- than with the second unit, where he has had to create for others in the absence of Delonte West.

Robinson struggled a bit on Thursday, and I lead with a sour note on an otherwise satisfactory evening because it appears that Rondo will miss a few games and Boston will need to figure out what to do with Nate in the starting lineup.

Nate's problem tonight was, quite simply, that he tried to be too much like Rondo. Steve Kerr and Kevin McHale, announcing the game for TNT, noticed this in second half, when Robinson threw a flashy, left-handed, lookaway pass to Semih Erden on the break, but Robinson had forced a pass early and had really tried to do too much the entire game. Robinson has never been a traditional point guard, and never will be; he's a scorer trapped in a point guard's body. (Height-wise, anyway, he's actually trapped in a ballboy's body.) When Boston got a comfortable lead in this game in the third quarter, it was with Paul Pierce assuming ballhandling duties and Nate Robinson and Ray Allen playing off the ball.

I really like Nate (not that I always have) and think he's been a great addition to the team. And he's played well this season. And it definitely feels weird to say that Nate was looking to set other people up too much when he took 15 shots. But he's a better player when he's being Nate than he is when he's trying to be Rondo. If he can't just be Nate, then we can expect to see more of Pierce initiating the offense (which was a smart move by Doc, by the way).

A few bullets:

• Pierce, by the way, responded to his playmaking duties with ten assists. And he did a great job -- with help, of course -- on Josh Smith, which in theory should be a really tough matchup for him.
• It was nice to see Erden bounce back with a good game. The rookie has been forced into action far too early, and he's had his ups and downs. Wednesday night in New York was definitely one of the down notes. Given the impossible task of stopping Amar'e Stoudemire, Erden got lit up early, and you could tell from his body language that he wasn't going to be a factor the rest of the night. Thursday, he picked his head up and scored ten points.
• Points-rebounds double-doubles for Kevin Garnett (17/14) and Glen Davis (18/10). We need those guys to keep rebounding well, particularly with so many of our centers on the sidelines. (Erden didn't grab a rebound in nearly 24 minutes against the Hawks).
• Luke Harangody got seven-plus minutes of playing time and didn't play half badly. At this point in his young career, he's solely a pick-and-pop guy, Matt Bonner or Brian Scalabrine, perhaps without quite as much range. Whether he develops into something more remains to be seen, but I do think he has potential in at least that limited role. His shot is still really weird-looking, but he's got a smooth, quick release on his jumper -- much quicker than I've seen out of anyone else who played power forward in college. I'd prefer that he not turn and run downcourt immediately after releasing the ball -- maybe he's just confident, and thinks everything he puts up is going in. I hope that we don't need him to contribute this year, but I think he'll become a serviceable rotation player in time, which isn't bad for the 52nd pick in the draft.
• I would be remiss to not mention the fact that Atlanta was shorthanded, too, with Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford missing the game. Johnson and Crawford are the Hawks two best scorers, and, indeed, the two Hawks who most tortured the Celtics last season, when Atlanta swept the season series 4-0. Without those two, the Hawks -- particularly the starting five -- were impotent on offense, with the exception of Marvin Williams (which makes sense, considering that he's a three and therefore a tough cover for Allen). Josh Smith, in particular, should be ashamed of his performance, as he played with a peculiar blend of apathy and being out-of-control on his way to 0-for-8 on the floor. He didn't make his presence felt on the glass or on defense, either. Johnson and Crawford are key guys, but Smith and Al Horford are too talented to combine for nine points against a short-handed opponent.

The next lamb is the Indiana Pacers, who will be led to the slaughterhouse on Sunday in a 1 p.m. game. I will be at said slaughterhouse, making my fourth annual mid-December trip to Boston to see the Cs. Looking forward to the weekend, and I'll post again on Monday.

The Celtics Should Be Talking to Erick Dampier

There's been an interesting discussion over at Celtics Hub regarding whether the Celtics should release Von Wafer (who has done nothing so far and is unlikey to do anything moving forward) and sign another big. The pros for such a move are summed up here; the cons are here.

I have no idea if the team has reached out to Erick Dampier, nor do I know if Dampier is even remotely interested in joining the team as an insurance policy. And make no mistake, that's all Dampier would be -- an insurance policy. The offseason signings of Jermaine O'Neal and Shaquille O'Neal were supposed to make center a position of strength for the Celtics, especially when Kendrick Perkins returns from ACL surgery, which presumably will be some time in February. If any two of those three guys are healthy, whatever big the Celtics may add is superfluous and won't see the floor much.

But Shaq has already missed six of the team's first ten games, and Jermaine is having some problems with his knees and may miss the next few weeks. It's irrational to think that the O'Neals' nagging injuries will just disappear as the season goes on. Plus, even when Perk gets back, it's not like he'll be his old self right away.

Dampier, the 14-year veteran who was cut by the Bobcats after going to Charlotte from Dallas in the Tyson Chandler trade, is the option that makes the most sense.

One option that has been suggested is that Boston bring back Stephane Lasme, the journeyman who came oh-so-close to making the team out of training camp. But at 6-8, Lasme isn't big enough to play center. While big minutes for Kevin Garnett (35 mpg) and Glen Davis (31 mpg) are an ancillary concern about the lack of center depth, Davis also isn't big enough to play center. Signing Lasme would thus only cut into Davis' minutes, and Davis is both young enough to handle his increased workload and effective enough that his being on the court a lot is not a major problem. With Lasme, KG would still have to play big minutes, and would still have to play out of position at center.

Adding a guy like Magnum Rolle isn't an attractive option because he's a rookie and lacks the experience to be a major contributor, even if Doc trusts him with substantial playing time, which he won't. The other D-League possibility being bandied about, Tiny Gallon, is both too small to play center (like Lasme) and too raw to be a contributor (like Rolle). The Celtics already have a young big man on their roster, Semih Erden. While Erden hasn't been spectacular, he's shown that he's capable enough to play an emergency role, and he has the size to play center. It's unreasonable to expect that Rolle or Lasme or Gallon would be even as effective as Erden has been in the early going.

I don't think rookie Luke Harangody, already on the Celtics roster, is the answer, either. He suffers from the same inexperience and size issues that the young guys listed above have. While he was something of a rebounding machine in college, he's shown a preference for playing the wing -- though perhaps that's in part because it looked like he might need to be able to play small forward in order to get minutes with the team.

To be sure, Dampier has his limitations. He's close to a non-factor offensively and turns the ball over a lot for a player with those limitations. But he's a decent defender, and has NBA size and experience. If the Celtics are going to cut Wafer (their last non-guaranteed contract) and thus hamper their roster flexibility, then Dampier is the only guy who makes sense.

And time is of the essence. Dampier's situation is kind of curious; he was rumored to be signing with the Rockets, but didn't, and it's unclear to me why he hasn't hooked up with Miami, where he'd be an obvious improvement over Joel Anthony. As the Heat continue to struggle on the interior, I imagine they'll make another, stronger push for Dampier, and I don't expect that Dampier will be on the market too much longer.

As far as roster flexibility goes, while it's true that Danny and Doc would be hamstrung by cutting Wafer and giving Dampier a guaranteed contract, I'm not sure for what the team would need that roster flexibility, other than another big. Delonte West's return gives the Celtics three solid backup wing players (West, Marquis Daniels, and Nate Robinson), and rookie Avery Bradley, if forced into duty due to injury, would probably be at least as effective as the young project bigs mentioned earlier. And I haven't heard of any veteran centers that are likely to become available via trade later in the season -- at least not any that could be had for Wafer's modest contract.

A bigger concern for me, if the Celtics signed Dampier, would be what happens if the O'Neals and Perkins do stay (read: get) healthy late into the season. Then they'd have a situation where they'd have four veteran centers and not nearly enough minutes to go around. For that reason, as mentioned above, I'm not sure Dampier is interested in signing with Boston. But it's a conversation worth having. It appears that center is a position that needs to be addressed, and the time for addressing it is now.

Links of the Day (October 24, 2010)

• Ever wondered what, exactly, a flex offense is? Wonder no more.
• I was never a big comic book fan as a kid, but I'm sure some of you were. ESPN.com's NBA preview last week had a Marvel superhero theme to it. It's (of course) available for ESPN Insiders only, but Celtics Life had the most comprehensive look at the artwork that I saw.
• Pick and Scroll simulated a season on NBA 2k11. The end result: Celtics in six (over the Spurs).
• The top ten dunks of the preseason.
• Celtics links: Celtics Hub breaks down Rajon Rondo's jumper, Celtics Blog's Greg Payne gives his thoughts on the preseason, and Von Wafer gets into it with Delonte West, perhaps illustrating why Wafer has the reputation he has.
• I'm not sure whether the argument between West and Wafer stemmed from this game, but here's a minute-long clip of West and Semih Erden playing two-on-two against Wafer and Luke Harangody. I link to it separately because it reminds me of the two-on-two games between the garbage time players on my team my junior year in high school. My coach always had a "roll the ball out and let 'em play" philosophy, and the result was a lot of five-on-five in practice, with no burn for the end of the bench. Those four guys would play intense games of twos on a side court while the other ten scrimmaged. The day before the state championship game, at the end of practice, our coach had us gather round and watch one final two-on-two game at one of the main baskets, a liter of Pepsi to each winner. Maybe it's because I just turned 30, but these are the memories I seem to be cherishing lately.

Preseason: Boston 104, New York 101

Paul Pierce, for the win. On his birthday. And Jermaine O'Neal's birthday. And Doc Rivers'. (Weirdish, right?)

[recap] [box score] [highlights from Red's Army]

Actually, as Red's Army points out, it was Pierce for the lead, and Rondo for the win. But Rondo was apparently the only Celtic not celebrating a birthday yesterday, so the lede goes to the Captain and the Truth.

Looking at the box score, one thing jumps out: 40 minutes for Rondo? 39-plus for Ray? 36 for Pierce?

Apparently, Pierce convinced Doc to play the starters the whole way. And since I pointed out the other night that our bench hung with Philly, I should point out that the Knicks bench hung with our first unit, or at least part of it. (30 points from Amare Stoudemire certainly helped).

I don't mind too much, just because these guys will need to be able to play those type of minutes at some point this year, and because they had all sat the night before, and because KG only got 11 minutes before getting ejected.

Only other thing worth noting from the box score is 16 and 12 from Luke Harangody.

Glen Davis, Shaquille O'Neal, and Delonte West sat out with nagging injuries.

Let's get to the regular season already.

Preseason: Philadelphia 103, Boston 92

[recap] [box score]

Bullets gleaned from the box score and recaps around the Web:

• Pierce, KG, Ray, and Rondo all sat this game out to rest, and Shaq and Delonte were out to rest some nagging injuries. Even so, the Cs hung in until the fourth quarter, despite the fact that Philly played their starters most of the game.
• Jermaine O'Neal had a poor shooting night (1-of-6) but grabbed 12 rebounds in 19 minutes. I still think he's gotta run with the first team while Perk is out.
• First run for rookie Avery Bradley. An inauspicious start offensively (two points on 1-of-6 shooting and three turnovers), but reportedly a good showing defensively against Sixers starting point guard Jrue Holiday. Good to see the kid get his feet wet.
• Doc seems to be giving Von Wafer every opportunity to win a job. Wafer got the start and played 39 minutes, but his stat line isn't impressive, and neither are the reviews from Celtics bloggers who were able to watch the game. Stephane Lasme, on the other hand, seems to have made the most of his 28 minutes. He didn't put up gaudy numbers, either, but is being praised for his strong defense on Andre Iguodala.
• Mario West seems to be the odd man out of the battle for the last spot, playing just seven minutes. Oddly, I randomly came upon a two-year-old link earlier today, which indicates that this shouldn't be a surprise.
• Luke Harangody had 11 points, including eight in a row in the second quarter. He also went 2-of-2 from deep, his three-point shot being a surprise development from Summer League.

Recaps from other bloggers: Celtics Town, Celtics Hub

Preseason: Boston 91, Toronto 87

[recap] [box score] [highlights at Red's Army]

This one wasn't televised here in Los Angeles (shocking), so just a bullet or two based on what I can glean from what I've read.

• Jermaine O'Neal made his Celtics debut on Sunday, recording three rebounds and two blocked shots in about seven-and-a-half minutes. He did not attempt a shot. With Doc resting Shaq on Tuesday, JON should get some reps with the first team.
• It's only preseason, and it's only Toronto, but I can't help but point out that our bench closed this one out against what is more or less the Raptors' first team. The Celtics were up three heading into the fourth quarter, and didn't play a single starter for the final 12 minutes. Toronto, on the other hand, brought in Andrea Bargnani, DeMar DeRozan, and Joey Dorsey with 6:20 remaining and the score 79-78, Boston. That trio finished the game alongside Jarrett Jack and Leandro Barbosa, who came in later for Jose Calderon and Sonny Weems, respectively. Our second unit is pretty good, folks.
• Continuing the 15th man watch: Mario West got the DNP-CD, Von Wafer did nothing notable in 4:12 of playing time, and Stephane Lasme's only real contribution in 9:35 was this jam over Bargnani.
• More on the 15th man: Jay King over at Celtics Town proposes cutting Luke Harangody to make room for Lasme in addition to Wafer or West. As King himself acknowledges, it's highly unlikely for financial reasons (Harangody's salary is guaranteed). That aside, I don't really agree with the idea. Sure, Harangody's been unimpressive in camp and in preseason and his Summer League performance may have been meaningless, but he's inexperienced. The other guys aren't exactly hardened vets, but Wafer and West have played full NBA seasons, and Lasme's kicked around in a few training camps. I haven't seen anything that suggests that those three are more likely to improve than Harangody is. Moreover, Doc has shown time and again that he's not going to play guys he doesn't trust. I recognize that Wafer and West "fill a need" and they and Lasme may be more ready to contribute now than Harangody is, but the likelihood that any of them play meaningful minutes is so small that it would be foolish to make room for them by cutting a rookie who has shown some potential, however short-lived that potential was.

Celtics Blog has some more bullets, if you're interested.

Quick Cs draft thoughts

I usually love the NBA Draft, but I just couldn't get up for it this year. Maybe it's a hangover from losing to the Lakers. Maybe it's because I had to watch on DVR since it starts at 4:30 out here. Maybe it's because I just don't think it's that good of a draft class -- especially relative to all the hype it's gotten over the past couple of years.

I'll probably have some more draft stuff tonight or over the weekend, but here's what I think about Boston's two picks:

#19 overall: Avery Bradley, PG, Texas. I didn't like this pick much, but I'm starting to come around to it. The safe selection was James Anderson, a smooth SG with a sweet stroke out of Oklahoma State who was snapped up with the next pick by the San Antonio Spurs (given that franchise's draft history, it's a good bet Anderson will turn out to be a fine NBA player). With Ray and Tony's futures with the team uncertain, a backup wing who can shoot it fills a need nicely.

But Danny Ainge doesn't always play it safe in drafts, and I kind of agree with him here. I know very little about Bradley, just that he came into college with huge expectations -- I think some people had him ranked ahead of John Wall -- and was disappointing on a Texas team that imploded mid-year and finished well below its potential. On the Celtics, Bradley would spell Rajon Rondo -- let's not forget that no matter how young Rondo is, backup PG is a need, too -- and maybe even get a little time alongside him if he turns out to be a scorer.

Ainge has a rep for falling in love with guys that not everyone else is enamored with. Sometimes it works out (Rajon Rondo) and sometimes it doesn't (J.R. Giddens). Anderson was the safe pick, the pick you make when there isn't someone you love available. I think Ainge loved Bradley, and swung for the fences by with him. Time will tell.

#52 overall: Luke Harangody, PF, Notre Dame. Harangody's an interesting player to me, in part because I've been relatively silently singing his praises since his freshman year with the Irish, when he averaged 11/6. Heading into that season, there was a ton of talk about North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough, and I thought there was no reason that Harangody couldn't produce similarly, at least offensive. He averaged a double-double that year, then nearly 23/12 as a junior, before putting up like a 22/9 last season with a few injuries.

The comparisons to Hansbrough aren't great since Harangody's got a bit more of a traditional post game than Hansbrough, who somehow scores most of his points on the interior by contorting his body so that it is parallel to the backboard, then releasing the ball well below his shoulder. I'm not in love with Harangody's post game, but he's got a little polish there. His outside shot is bizarre -- he has a very low release point and he, I swear, jumps two or three feet backwards when he shoots it -- but it goes in often enough that it can be counted as a weapon in his arsenal.

He's a pretty good rebounder with a big frame; give him some time with an NBA training staff and he could really fill out into one of the stronger players in the league. His defense needs a ton of work, however -- he's not a shotblocker and I think he gets pushed around at times. If he can get stronger and play defense with the same intensity he plays offense, he'll at least not be a total liability on that end.

Is Harangody a future NBA starter, which is the minimum you'd expect from a guy who basically averaged a double-double for three years in a conference like the Big East. Probably not. Is he the kind of guy who would've grabbed some minutes from Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace in Game 7 against the Lakers, possibly winning us a championship? Absolutely. And for that, he's well worth the 52nd pick.