A little slow posting this one from Wednesday night because I've been really busy this week.
[recap] [box score]
Beating the Nets is no great accomplishment, but it is an important one, as Orlando is still hot on Boston's heels for the second spot in the East as the season's final week approaches.
The good: 31/5/9 from Rajon Rondo; 15 bench points from Eddie House; nine and nine from Mikki Moore; four points and five assists from Stephon Marbury in his best all-around game as a Celtic.
The bad: A 31-point first quarter by the Nets; an inconsistent defensive effort all night; and two poor trips up-and-down in the final minute that gave the Nets a shot to win after having trailed 106-99.
Next game is Friday night, at home against Miami (no national TV).
Showing posts with label Mikki Moore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mikki Moore. Show all posts
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Boston 104, Atlanta 92
So much for the Hawks.
[recap] [box score]
After a young Atlanta took the eventual world champs to seven games in the first round of last year's playoffs, the Hawks were lauded as up-and-comers in the East. And while they still have a pretty good hold on the fourth seed and thus a first-round playoff series at home, they hardly seem like a team that can challenge any of the Eastern conference's best three teams when the playoffs begin in a couple weeks.
Friday night's win over the brooding Hawks marked a season sweep for the Celtics, and came (again) without the services of Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe. The final margin was only 12 points, but it got to 20 in the fourth quarter, and it was the kind of game where the outcome never seemed in doubt in the second half.
Major credit goes to our undermanned frontcourt. Our three frontcourt players had great games: 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 blocks for Kendrick Perkins; 19 points for Glen Davis; 9 points and 6 boards off the bench for Mikki Moore. These guys played Al Horford and Josh Smith to a stalemate, and Perk anchored a defense that held Atlanta to 35.6 percent shooting. Defensively, let's also give some credit to Ray Allen, who did a great job of checking Joe Johnson. Johnson, you may recall, gave the Celtics all sorts of problems in last year's postseason.
Four days off now until our next game on Wednesday against New Jersey. The peculiarities of the NBA schedule give us a very light slate the rest of the way. So while the other teams are beating each other up, we can rest a little bit and try to get everyone healthy.
Speaking of "beating each other up," third-place Orlando clobbered first-place Cleveland on national TV last night, the kind of loss that made the Cavs, now losers of two straight after a franchise-best 13 consectuive wins, seem mortal in a way they hadn't before. The Cavs still have a vise grip on the Eastern Conference's top seed, so Boston would actually like to see Orlando losing more down the stretch than Cleveland.
Speaking of the playoffs, I've been thinking for a while now that with Detroit's struggles this season, the Celtics might have to go through Detroit, Orlando, and Cleveland to reach the Finals, quite a gauntlet. This group of Pistons have a championship ring, have gone to six consecutive Eastern Conference finals, and now have Allen Iverson, the kind of player you never want to go against in a playoff series.
Or, I should say, had Allen Iverson. The Pistons announced yesterday that Iverson would miss the rest of the season with his back injury, though there's plenty of speculation that The Answer's discontent at coming off of the bench played a role in this decision. Whatever the reason, Detroit now induces less fear, and Boston may not even have to worry about them; Saturday's loss to Philadelphia (in which the Sixers clinched a playoff spot) put the Pistons in eighth place in the East, half a game back of Chicago and two ahead of Charlotte.
[recap] [box score]
After a young Atlanta took the eventual world champs to seven games in the first round of last year's playoffs, the Hawks were lauded as up-and-comers in the East. And while they still have a pretty good hold on the fourth seed and thus a first-round playoff series at home, they hardly seem like a team that can challenge any of the Eastern conference's best three teams when the playoffs begin in a couple weeks.
Friday night's win over the brooding Hawks marked a season sweep for the Celtics, and came (again) without the services of Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe. The final margin was only 12 points, but it got to 20 in the fourth quarter, and it was the kind of game where the outcome never seemed in doubt in the second half.
Major credit goes to our undermanned frontcourt. Our three frontcourt players had great games: 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 blocks for Kendrick Perkins; 19 points for Glen Davis; 9 points and 6 boards off the bench for Mikki Moore. These guys played Al Horford and Josh Smith to a stalemate, and Perk anchored a defense that held Atlanta to 35.6 percent shooting. Defensively, let's also give some credit to Ray Allen, who did a great job of checking Joe Johnson. Johnson, you may recall, gave the Celtics all sorts of problems in last year's postseason.
Four days off now until our next game on Wednesday against New Jersey. The peculiarities of the NBA schedule give us a very light slate the rest of the way. So while the other teams are beating each other up, we can rest a little bit and try to get everyone healthy.
Speaking of "beating each other up," third-place Orlando clobbered first-place Cleveland on national TV last night, the kind of loss that made the Cavs, now losers of two straight after a franchise-best 13 consectuive wins, seem mortal in a way they hadn't before. The Cavs still have a vise grip on the Eastern Conference's top seed, so Boston would actually like to see Orlando losing more down the stretch than Cleveland.
Speaking of the playoffs, I've been thinking for a while now that with Detroit's struggles this season, the Celtics might have to go through Detroit, Orlando, and Cleveland to reach the Finals, quite a gauntlet. This group of Pistons have a championship ring, have gone to six consecutive Eastern Conference finals, and now have Allen Iverson, the kind of player you never want to go against in a playoff series.
Or, I should say, had Allen Iverson. The Pistons announced yesterday that Iverson would miss the rest of the season with his back injury, though there's plenty of speculation that The Answer's discontent at coming off of the bench played a role in this decision. Whatever the reason, Detroit now induces less fear, and Boston may not even have to worry about them; Saturday's loss to Philadelphia (in which the Sixers clinched a playoff spot) put the Pistons in eighth place in the East, half a game back of Chicago and two ahead of Charlotte.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Boston 99, Atlanta 93
This game was broadcast on NBATV, so I can comment only on what I can glean from the box score.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
Kevin Garnett sat this one out with soreness in the knee that had kept him out for the past month or so. It's unclear, at this point, if he'll play Sunday against Oklahoma City, but I wouldn't count on it, even though the discomfort was so minor that Garnett reportedly didn't see a doctor. This also probably sets back his timetable for returning to full service. He'd averaged about 16 or 17 minutes in his four games back, and was reportedly set to play another eight per game starting next week. They've been very cautious -- perhaps overly so -- in bringing him back, so I would expect a full night out of Garnett until the playoffs. I'm not yet concerned about him not being full-strength for the playoffs, but it's something to keep an eye on.
With Garnett and Leon Powe out, heavy responsibility -- along with the start -- went to Glen Davis, and he responded in a big way with 19 points, tying a career-high with 12 rebounds. But the man they call Big Baby was just one of a handful of second-team players who came up big Friday night. Eddie House led the way with 12 points off the bench, and Stephon Marbury finally found his shooting stroke, hitting three of four three-pointers on his way to 11 points, his high since joining the Celtics 15 games ago. Hopefully Marbury, who has struggled mightily with his jumper, will get a little rhythm going. Mikki Moore had ten rebounds in 30 minutes, his playing time increased because Kendrick Perkins played just 21 minutes before fouling out.
Boston also put in a solid defensive effort, an encouraging sign for a team that really struggled on that end of the floor without Garnett. The Hawks shot 42% for the game and scored only 60 points through three quarters.
Ray Allen and Paul Pierce had 22 and 21 points respectively, but this one's a loss without the play of the second team. Perkins and Rajon Rondo had off-nights, KG and Powe were out, and the second team stepped up and filled their shoes, on the road, against the fourth-place team in the East.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
Kevin Garnett sat this one out with soreness in the knee that had kept him out for the past month or so. It's unclear, at this point, if he'll play Sunday against Oklahoma City, but I wouldn't count on it, even though the discomfort was so minor that Garnett reportedly didn't see a doctor. This also probably sets back his timetable for returning to full service. He'd averaged about 16 or 17 minutes in his four games back, and was reportedly set to play another eight per game starting next week. They've been very cautious -- perhaps overly so -- in bringing him back, so I would expect a full night out of Garnett until the playoffs. I'm not yet concerned about him not being full-strength for the playoffs, but it's something to keep an eye on.
With Garnett and Leon Powe out, heavy responsibility -- along with the start -- went to Glen Davis, and he responded in a big way with 19 points, tying a career-high with 12 rebounds. But the man they call Big Baby was just one of a handful of second-team players who came up big Friday night. Eddie House led the way with 12 points off the bench, and Stephon Marbury finally found his shooting stroke, hitting three of four three-pointers on his way to 11 points, his high since joining the Celtics 15 games ago. Hopefully Marbury, who has struggled mightily with his jumper, will get a little rhythm going. Mikki Moore had ten rebounds in 30 minutes, his playing time increased because Kendrick Perkins played just 21 minutes before fouling out.
Boston also put in a solid defensive effort, an encouraging sign for a team that really struggled on that end of the floor without Garnett. The Hawks shot 42% for the game and scored only 60 points through three quarters.
Ray Allen and Paul Pierce had 22 and 21 points respectively, but this one's a loss without the play of the second team. Perkins and Rajon Rondo had off-nights, KG and Powe were out, and the second team stepped up and filled their shoes, on the road, against the fourth-place team in the East.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Playing Catch Up
Quite a lot has happened since my last post. Basketball first: We crushed Phoenix. We blew out Denver. And we lost to the Clippers.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
Very frustrating loss, and not just because of the terrible call at the end of the game. It's not the sole reason we lost, but now that I've mentioned it, I might as well bring it up now and get it over with. Score tied at 90 with 34 seconds left, Rajon Rondo goes to the line for two free throws. He hits the first, misses the second, and Glen Davis chases after the rebound with the Clippers' Mardy Collins. I was at the game in the 300 level and this happened in the completely opposite corner of the arena, but Davis came up with the ball as the whistle blew.
Rhymes With Hondo: "Hmm. Didn't look like a foul."
PA announcer: "Timeout, Clippers."
How'd the Clips call timeout when we had the ball??? There was no mention of a foul call, but that had to be it. Unless ... no, that couldn't be it. But Baby still has four fouls. Really? My theory was confirmed when I returned home. This from a buddy who watched the game on TV:"I think the Clips announcers summed it up where it was one of those plays where [Clippers coach Mike] Dunleavy said 'we're calling a TO on the rebound' and the ref just jumped the gun."
As best as I can tell, and I haven't seen a replay, Collins may have reached for the ball before Davis, and the ref gave the timeout too early. There was more than a shotclock left and we still would have had to do some work, but that offensive rebound was huge.
Still, we did a ton of stuff wrong all game long. Here's what Doc had to say, from the Boston Herald via CelticsBlog:
"We were awful. We absolutely did not deserve to win that game. I thought we played slow all night. We pouted all night. We just thought we could show up and win a game, and we didn’t."
And then:
"We didn’t make the extra pass all night. We walked the ball up the floor all night. There were so many things we did poor. The fact that we actually had a chance to win is amazing."
He's right, but he deserves some of the blame.
Two major errors in this game.The first is familar to regular readers. We went to isolating Pierce at the foul line way too early, with maybe five minutes to go in the game. Once we did that, I turned to my friend and said "If we run this play the rest of the way, we're going to lose." And we did, and we did.
A couple factors contributed to this failure. For one, Pierce looked completely disinterested in this game from the getgo. Two, he wasn't hitting his shot, although he showed some signs of both in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Three, he had twice disclocated the thumb on his shooting hand in the third quarter (X-rays are negative, by the way). Also, unlike Dallas, against whom this play worked so well, the Clippers were doubling Pierce, which they can do off of Rajon Rondo. Pierce doesn't pass so well out of the double team, in part because he has a pretty sloppy handle. It bogged our offense way down, and resulted in at least one turnover and too many other empty possessions. I just don't get why we don't look for Ray Allen more often in those spots.
The second major error Doc made came when the Clippers took a 92-91 lead on the possession immediately following the phantom timeout call. Though there were 19 seconds left, Doc called our final timeout. There are three reasons to call a timeout in a final possession situation like this:
1)Advance the ball to half court
2) Set up a play
3) Get the right personnel on the floor
The first two simply do not apply in this particular case. Nineteen seconds is plenty of time to get the ball upcourt and into a set. And the set we ran is the same set we had been running for the last several possessions. I see no reason to call a timeout to make sure we knew to get the ball to Pierce.
The third reason, personnel, may apply here, as Eddie House subbed in for Rondo after the timeout. It's true that the pick and pop works better with House than it does with Rondo since the defense actually has to worry about Eddie, so I suppose this substitution made sense. But I don't think that this play is so much better than our others that we need to call our last timeout there.
Why does it matter? Because after Pierce missed and Zach Randolph hit the second of two free throws on the other end, we had 5.2 seconds left ... and no timeout to advance the ball. Just another one of the little things that I don't think Doc does very well.
Okay, on to the other stuff.
Gabe Pruitt was cited for DUI in the wee hours after the game. Not really big news, but I suppose it's possible some sort of disciplinary action is forthcoming, either from the league or the team.
The Clippers game was the first for our brand new backuip power forward/center, Mikki Moore, who we signed earlier in the week. I like the signing, although I would have liked Joe Smith more (though Smith has not yet been bought out by Oklahoma City). Moore, who pronounces his first name "Mikey," is by all accounts a good teammate and locker room guy, and he brings size and a strong work rate defensively and on the glass. His weak spot is his offense and for that reason some are worried about his suitability for the role P.J. Brown played last year. But I'm of the opinion that Brown wasn't nearly as valuable as he was made out to be last year. If you want to argue that we need a better offensive player than Moore or Brown this year because we don't have James Posey, well, I'm listening. But I'm not worried that Moore isn't going to give us what we need.
Moore hit a couple of jumpers in his debut, but was generally pretty slow on some defensive rotations, a combination, I'm sure, of him not even practicing with the team before stepping on the court and having played all of six minutes in two weeks. I'm sure he'll shake the rust off.
Also, in case you haven't heard, we're almost certain to sign Stephon Marbury tomorrow. I'll let you go to Google and read whichever report(s) you like most, and I'll have more on this when (if) it happens. This post is long enough already.
Next game is Friday night, at home vs. Indiana. No national TV, though we do get the Pistons at home at 1 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
Very frustrating loss, and not just because of the terrible call at the end of the game. It's not the sole reason we lost, but now that I've mentioned it, I might as well bring it up now and get it over with. Score tied at 90 with 34 seconds left, Rajon Rondo goes to the line for two free throws. He hits the first, misses the second, and Glen Davis chases after the rebound with the Clippers' Mardy Collins. I was at the game in the 300 level and this happened in the completely opposite corner of the arena, but Davis came up with the ball as the whistle blew.
Rhymes With Hondo: "Hmm. Didn't look like a foul."
PA announcer: "Timeout, Clippers."
How'd the Clips call timeout when we had the ball??? There was no mention of a foul call, but that had to be it. Unless ... no, that couldn't be it. But Baby still has four fouls. Really? My theory was confirmed when I returned home. This from a buddy who watched the game on TV:"I think the Clips announcers summed it up where it was one of those plays where [Clippers coach Mike] Dunleavy said 'we're calling a TO on the rebound' and the ref just jumped the gun."
As best as I can tell, and I haven't seen a replay, Collins may have reached for the ball before Davis, and the ref gave the timeout too early. There was more than a shotclock left and we still would have had to do some work, but that offensive rebound was huge.
Still, we did a ton of stuff wrong all game long. Here's what Doc had to say, from the Boston Herald via CelticsBlog:
"We were awful. We absolutely did not deserve to win that game. I thought we played slow all night. We pouted all night. We just thought we could show up and win a game, and we didn’t."
And then:
"We didn’t make the extra pass all night. We walked the ball up the floor all night. There were so many things we did poor. The fact that we actually had a chance to win is amazing."
He's right, but he deserves some of the blame.
Two major errors in this game.The first is familar to regular readers. We went to isolating Pierce at the foul line way too early, with maybe five minutes to go in the game. Once we did that, I turned to my friend and said "If we run this play the rest of the way, we're going to lose." And we did, and we did.
A couple factors contributed to this failure. For one, Pierce looked completely disinterested in this game from the getgo. Two, he wasn't hitting his shot, although he showed some signs of both in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Three, he had twice disclocated the thumb on his shooting hand in the third quarter (X-rays are negative, by the way). Also, unlike Dallas, against whom this play worked so well, the Clippers were doubling Pierce, which they can do off of Rajon Rondo. Pierce doesn't pass so well out of the double team, in part because he has a pretty sloppy handle. It bogged our offense way down, and resulted in at least one turnover and too many other empty possessions. I just don't get why we don't look for Ray Allen more often in those spots.
The second major error Doc made came when the Clippers took a 92-91 lead on the possession immediately following the phantom timeout call. Though there were 19 seconds left, Doc called our final timeout. There are three reasons to call a timeout in a final possession situation like this:
1)Advance the ball to half court
2) Set up a play
3) Get the right personnel on the floor
The first two simply do not apply in this particular case. Nineteen seconds is plenty of time to get the ball upcourt and into a set. And the set we ran is the same set we had been running for the last several possessions. I see no reason to call a timeout to make sure we knew to get the ball to Pierce.
The third reason, personnel, may apply here, as Eddie House subbed in for Rondo after the timeout. It's true that the pick and pop works better with House than it does with Rondo since the defense actually has to worry about Eddie, so I suppose this substitution made sense. But I don't think that this play is so much better than our others that we need to call our last timeout there.
Why does it matter? Because after Pierce missed and Zach Randolph hit the second of two free throws on the other end, we had 5.2 seconds left ... and no timeout to advance the ball. Just another one of the little things that I don't think Doc does very well.
Okay, on to the other stuff.
Gabe Pruitt was cited for DUI in the wee hours after the game. Not really big news, but I suppose it's possible some sort of disciplinary action is forthcoming, either from the league or the team.
The Clippers game was the first for our brand new backuip power forward/center, Mikki Moore, who we signed earlier in the week. I like the signing, although I would have liked Joe Smith more (though Smith has not yet been bought out by Oklahoma City). Moore, who pronounces his first name "Mikey," is by all accounts a good teammate and locker room guy, and he brings size and a strong work rate defensively and on the glass. His weak spot is his offense and for that reason some are worried about his suitability for the role P.J. Brown played last year. But I'm of the opinion that Brown wasn't nearly as valuable as he was made out to be last year. If you want to argue that we need a better offensive player than Moore or Brown this year because we don't have James Posey, well, I'm listening. But I'm not worried that Moore isn't going to give us what we need.
Moore hit a couple of jumpers in his debut, but was generally pretty slow on some defensive rotations, a combination, I'm sure, of him not even practicing with the team before stepping on the court and having played all of six minutes in two weeks. I'm sure he'll shake the rust off.
Also, in case you haven't heard, we're almost certain to sign Stephon Marbury tomorrow. I'll let you go to Google and read whichever report(s) you like most, and I'll have more on this when (if) it happens. This post is long enough already.
Next game is Friday night, at home vs. Indiana. No national TV, though we do get the Pistons at home at 1 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Utah 90, Boston 85
A frustrating loss, but one that needs to be kept in persepective.
[recap] [box score]
The big difference in tonight's game was that Kevin Garnett went out just before halftime with what they're calling a sprained right knee. Apparently the knee has been bothering him a bit of late, and when he went up for a rebound on a break, he seemed to tweak it a bit on takeoff. It was a scary moment, as it always is when there's a non-contact knee injury. But it looked like KG wanted to return, and probably would have if it was, say, the playoffs. As frustrated as I get when the Celtics lose, shutting him down for the night in the hopes that he can come back Sunday against Phoenix was the right move.
And yes, Utah was also missing their power forward, Carlos Boozer. But Boston is definitely the least deep of the title contenders this year; more than any other team, the Celtics are reliant on their starters, in particular Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. We can't realistically expect to win against a good team like the Jazz without one of those three, particularly in a place as difficult to win as Utah.
This game was winnable, though. The Celtics hit just 19 of 29 free throws. And I didn't much like the offense down the stretch. We went to the pick and roll with Rondo and Pierce, like we did against Dallas last week, but Pierce wasn't hitting his shots, probably because he played more than 45 minutes and was battling a very physical Utah defense the whole night (because I'm trying to keep this loss in perspective, I'm not going to complain about the officiating, which was inconsistent, at best, all night). Pierce picked up one offensive foul on that play, and missed almost everything else. We went to the well too early, and too often. When we have Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo (who caused some problems for Deron Williams in the fourth quarter), we shouldn't run that play into the ground. We've got other options.
The cap to the frustrating night came when Utah missed a free throw with eight seconds left up three, but got the offensive rebound and sealed the game. Boston had no timeouts left, and the three-point shooting team was in. With no timeouts remaining, Doc couldn't sub in, and that left Allen and Pierce on the low block, and Utah overwhelmed them and got the board. When I was watching them line up, I was worried about that exact thing happening, but I guess with no timeouts, there's nothing Doc could have done.
Time to put this one past us. Hopefully KG will be fine for Sunday (2:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC) and we can get a win against a Suns team that has put up an average of 141 points in two games since firing Terry Porter. Alvin Gentry has re-installed their uptempo offense, and even though both those offensive explosions came against the hapless Los Angeles Clippers, 141 points against any NBA team is impressive.
Patrick O'Bryant, we hardly knew ye. The young center -- whom Boston signed as a free agent in the offseason -- was shipped to Toronto in a three-way deal that resulted in Raptors reserve point guard Will Solomon being sent to Sacramento. Boston's take? Another heavily-protected second-round pick from Sacramento, quite similar to the Cassell deal. Like the Cassell move, this is a clear money-saving measure - the picks are protected enough that it's quite possible we'll never actually get them.
I had hoped that O'Bryant -- our only true backup center -- would evolve into something under the tutelage of Clifford Ray, but it seems as though he lacks the toughness, defense, and half-court offense to fit into the Celtics' current plans.
Shipping Cassell and O'Bryant out leaves us with two roster spots open to sign players who may be bought out in the coming days. The most desirable target is Oklahoma City veteran power forward Joe Smith, who was part of the Tyson Chandler trade a few days ago that was rescinded after Chandler failed a physical. Smith has been a buyout candidate all year, and would be a very nice fill-in for our undersized bench corps.
The other rumor is Sacramento power forward Mikki Moore, whom the Kings were allegedly trying hard to move before the trade deadline. I'd rather have Smith, but Moore would be better than nothing.
I suppose it's possible that if Boston signs both of them if both are bought out. However, I still wouldn't rule out Cassell returning to the team. I have to wonder if the injury to Tony Allen had something to do with the O'Bryant trade: did we move Cassell with the intention of signing a guy like Smith, then have second thoughts about leaving our backcourt so thin when it was realized that Allen would miss two months? It's hard to imagine that the front office didn't at least suspect that Allen would miss significant time, but anything's possible. Either way, a frontcourt contributor has to be our top priority, but I would be surprised to see a backcourt acquisition down the stretch here. The Knicks' Stephon Marbury is probably the target, though we still need him to be bought out before we can sign him. If not the Starchild, then Cassell seems like the most likely option. I don't know of other guards who are likely to be bought out. Under NBA rules, Cassell cannot re-sign with Boston until 30 days have passed from the day he was traded, but I can't see any other team picking him up in the interim. Even if there was interest from other contenders, I'm sure his preference would be to return to Boston.
There were some rumors that we were trying to get Andres Nocioni, traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Kings as part of a deal for Brad Miller and John Salmons. I can see the appeal of Nocioni -- a tenacious defender with a bit of a mean streak who can hit the three; someone in the mold of James Posey, who was so key to the title last year and who signed with New Orleans in the offseason. But the rumored deal included some size: O'Bryant, Scalabrine, Glen Davis, along with Tony Allen. I've gotten conflicting reports on whether it was just all or some of that group, but either way, I'm glad we didn't do it. We could probably use Nocioni, but it doesn't make sense to bolster the wing at the expense of an already undersized second-team frontcourt.
Despite a lot of small deals, it was a relatively quiet trade deadline in terms of biggest impact deals. The biggest move and the one that matters to the Celtics was the Orlando Magic acquiring Houston point guard Rafer Alston (the Rockets then filled their hole at the point by acquiring Memphis' Kyle Lowry, who will share time at the 1 with Aaron Brooks). Jameer Nelson's season-ending shoulder injury left the Magic with a big hole, and if Alston can knock down some three-pointers, the Magic might not miss a beat.
[recap] [box score]
The big difference in tonight's game was that Kevin Garnett went out just before halftime with what they're calling a sprained right knee. Apparently the knee has been bothering him a bit of late, and when he went up for a rebound on a break, he seemed to tweak it a bit on takeoff. It was a scary moment, as it always is when there's a non-contact knee injury. But it looked like KG wanted to return, and probably would have if it was, say, the playoffs. As frustrated as I get when the Celtics lose, shutting him down for the night in the hopes that he can come back Sunday against Phoenix was the right move.
And yes, Utah was also missing their power forward, Carlos Boozer. But Boston is definitely the least deep of the title contenders this year; more than any other team, the Celtics are reliant on their starters, in particular Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. We can't realistically expect to win against a good team like the Jazz without one of those three, particularly in a place as difficult to win as Utah.
This game was winnable, though. The Celtics hit just 19 of 29 free throws. And I didn't much like the offense down the stretch. We went to the pick and roll with Rondo and Pierce, like we did against Dallas last week, but Pierce wasn't hitting his shots, probably because he played more than 45 minutes and was battling a very physical Utah defense the whole night (because I'm trying to keep this loss in perspective, I'm not going to complain about the officiating, which was inconsistent, at best, all night). Pierce picked up one offensive foul on that play, and missed almost everything else. We went to the well too early, and too often. When we have Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo (who caused some problems for Deron Williams in the fourth quarter), we shouldn't run that play into the ground. We've got other options.
The cap to the frustrating night came when Utah missed a free throw with eight seconds left up three, but got the offensive rebound and sealed the game. Boston had no timeouts left, and the three-point shooting team was in. With no timeouts remaining, Doc couldn't sub in, and that left Allen and Pierce on the low block, and Utah overwhelmed them and got the board. When I was watching them line up, I was worried about that exact thing happening, but I guess with no timeouts, there's nothing Doc could have done.
Time to put this one past us. Hopefully KG will be fine for Sunday (2:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC) and we can get a win against a Suns team that has put up an average of 141 points in two games since firing Terry Porter. Alvin Gentry has re-installed their uptempo offense, and even though both those offensive explosions came against the hapless Los Angeles Clippers, 141 points against any NBA team is impressive.
Patrick O'Bryant, we hardly knew ye. The young center -- whom Boston signed as a free agent in the offseason -- was shipped to Toronto in a three-way deal that resulted in Raptors reserve point guard Will Solomon being sent to Sacramento. Boston's take? Another heavily-protected second-round pick from Sacramento, quite similar to the Cassell deal. Like the Cassell move, this is a clear money-saving measure - the picks are protected enough that it's quite possible we'll never actually get them.
I had hoped that O'Bryant -- our only true backup center -- would evolve into something under the tutelage of Clifford Ray, but it seems as though he lacks the toughness, defense, and half-court offense to fit into the Celtics' current plans.
Shipping Cassell and O'Bryant out leaves us with two roster spots open to sign players who may be bought out in the coming days. The most desirable target is Oklahoma City veteran power forward Joe Smith, who was part of the Tyson Chandler trade a few days ago that was rescinded after Chandler failed a physical. Smith has been a buyout candidate all year, and would be a very nice fill-in for our undersized bench corps.
The other rumor is Sacramento power forward Mikki Moore, whom the Kings were allegedly trying hard to move before the trade deadline. I'd rather have Smith, but Moore would be better than nothing.
I suppose it's possible that if Boston signs both of them if both are bought out. However, I still wouldn't rule out Cassell returning to the team. I have to wonder if the injury to Tony Allen had something to do with the O'Bryant trade: did we move Cassell with the intention of signing a guy like Smith, then have second thoughts about leaving our backcourt so thin when it was realized that Allen would miss two months? It's hard to imagine that the front office didn't at least suspect that Allen would miss significant time, but anything's possible. Either way, a frontcourt contributor has to be our top priority, but I would be surprised to see a backcourt acquisition down the stretch here. The Knicks' Stephon Marbury is probably the target, though we still need him to be bought out before we can sign him. If not the Starchild, then Cassell seems like the most likely option. I don't know of other guards who are likely to be bought out. Under NBA rules, Cassell cannot re-sign with Boston until 30 days have passed from the day he was traded, but I can't see any other team picking him up in the interim. Even if there was interest from other contenders, I'm sure his preference would be to return to Boston.
There were some rumors that we were trying to get Andres Nocioni, traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Kings as part of a deal for Brad Miller and John Salmons. I can see the appeal of Nocioni -- a tenacious defender with a bit of a mean streak who can hit the three; someone in the mold of James Posey, who was so key to the title last year and who signed with New Orleans in the offseason. But the rumored deal included some size: O'Bryant, Scalabrine, Glen Davis, along with Tony Allen. I've gotten conflicting reports on whether it was just all or some of that group, but either way, I'm glad we didn't do it. We could probably use Nocioni, but it doesn't make sense to bolster the wing at the expense of an already undersized second-team frontcourt.
Despite a lot of small deals, it was a relatively quiet trade deadline in terms of biggest impact deals. The biggest move and the one that matters to the Celtics was the Orlando Magic acquiring Houston point guard Rafer Alston (the Rockets then filled their hole at the point by acquiring Memphis' Kyle Lowry, who will share time at the 1 with Aaron Brooks). Jameer Nelson's season-ending shoulder injury left the Magic with a big hole, and if Alston can knock down some three-pointers, the Magic might not miss a beat.
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