Boston 105, Golden State 103

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I only caught the last nine minutes or so, but it seemed typical of a Celtics-Warriors matchup -- we had trouble defending them but got just about anything we wanted on our end. Kevin Garnett had a great game and a great fourth quarter, hitting the go-ahead 20-footer with five seconds left on a smart feed from Paul Pierce. That basket followed an ugly defensive possession where Brandon Bass and Rajon R-ndo miscommunicated on a high screen, allowing old friend Nate Robinson to drive for the tying layup. Robinson took an off-balance three-pointer on the possession following Garnett's clutch shot -- that sure seemed familiar -- and when it missed badly off the iron, short and left, Boston had a big win.

A big win, you say? A BIG win? Against Golden State? Without Monta Ellis (traded on Tuesday to Milwaukee for Andrew Bogut) or Stephen Curry (all sorts of random foot injuries that may lead the team to shut him down for the year)? Well, yeah.

First of all, it's the third game of an eight-game roadie, a trip on which we are currently 2-1. With roughly two-thirds of our remaining games on the road, we can't afford to drop games we should win, no matter where they're played. Secondly, I think it was important to carry over the momentum from Monday's hard-fought, emotional win over the Clippers. Finally, we've had a lot of problems in Golden State in recent years; last season's comfortable victory snapped a six-game losing streak in Oakland. So I wasn't taking this one for granted, even with the Warriors so shorthanded (though they did beat Sacramento by 26 Tuesday night with the same depleted lineup).

Speaking of Sacramento, they're next up, on Friday. With Denver looming on Saturday, the Kings game is a great opportunity to ensure a winning record on the West Coast portion of the trip (we head to Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Philly next week).

I'll be focusing on the NCAA tournament over the weekend, but will update with scores, at least.

Boston 95, Sacramento 90

Ray Allen does a lot of things I wish I could do. After last night, you can add tearing into Boston's second unit to that list.

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The Celtics starters had played a sloppy but effective first quarter, turning the ball over too much but keeping the clamps on the Kings for a 27-20 lead at the end of the period. The second unit promptly squandered that lead, and Boston went into the locker room down down by nine. Among the biggest transgressions: Surrendering 13 points to backup forward Donte' Greene in the quarter; Nate Robinson blowing the simplest play in basketball by not giving the ball back to Marquis Daniels on a two-on-one break, charging into Pooh Jeter instead; and Glen Davis getting blocked by DeMarcus Cousins, retrieving the ball, then trying a fadeaway 10-footer in traffic that was blocked by Omar Casspi. I certainly would have had a few choice words for the guys myself after that type of performance.

Actually, I have no idea what, exactly, set Ray off, but something did, and it kept Boston from dropping an obvious "trap" game at the end of a road trip. Robinson struggled with his offense in the second half, but was huge on defense, diving for loose balls and accumulating five steals. He played well enough to earn the nod over Rajon Rondo in crunch time, Doc Rivers electing continuity rather than bringing Rondo back in the fourth quarter as the Celtics put the game away. And Davis responded with ten points in the period.

Lest Allen's rare appearance as a vocal leader outshine his play, I should point out that he backed up his words with another outstanding game. He's been dialed in all year, now shooting nearly 51 percent from the floor overall and nearly 46 percent from behind the arc. Watching him play, Allen looks more like he's got shooting down to a science than anyone I've ever seen, and it's most noticeable when he puts the ball on the floor and then takes a pullup in the lane. Allen hangs on the air on these shots, calibrating himself and seemingly calculating the exact arc and power his shot needs. He's been the most fun Celtic to watch this season, and given that two of his teammates are having perhaps career years and a third has resurrected a career that seemed headed downward due to a knee injury, that's saying something.

Rondo had a strong game, too, going into attack mode early and supplementing Allen's scoring in the first half. Kendrick Perkins was solid inside off the bench, and I imagine it won't be terribly long before Doc Rivers installs him as the starter. After the All-Star break, perhaps?

Boston 109, Los Angeles Lakers 96

Revenge? Hardly. But a satisfying win nonetheless.

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For one game, at least, the Celtics solved all the problems that doomed them in the second half of Game Seven last June. Rather than getting stagnant in the second half, the offense ran smoothly and effectively, first through Paul Pierce (32 points), then through Rajon Rondo (16 assists, including 15 in the second half). Instead of getting killed on the boards, Boston came away with a with a decisive 43-30 rebounding advantage. Sure, Kobe Bryant had a relatively efficient 41 points on 29 shots, but he wasn't what beat Boston last season. And while looking ahead to a possible Boston-LA rematch in this year's Finals is putting the cart well before the horse (not to mention the Heat, Magic, and Spurs), should the teams meet again in June, Kobe won't beat Boston himself, either.

My power went out, of all things, during the second quarter, and I retired to a local cantina with my girlfriend, Liz, for the remainder of the contest. We joined a growing group of similarly situated folks in our neighborhood, and as the restaurant grew more and more packed, we spotted a couple along one of the walls who hadn't found a seat. She was wearing a Celtics jacket, he a Pearl Jam sweatshirt, and figuring that people so attired couldn't be that bad, I invited them to join us at our table. Amanda and Colby were two of only a handful of Boston fans at the bar, a group which included a young black woman in green-and-white striped socks who got off her bar stool to kick up her heels after literally every Celtics bucket. I generally try to avoid bars for important games, because I don't like to be distracted, but it was a fun way to watch.

Anyway, back to the basketball, with some bullets:

• Pierce was just outstanding today. Historically, Ron Artest has guarded him fairly well, but The Truth got off early, then tore the Lakers apart in the third quarter, scoring 14 points in the first seven minutes of the period. His hot hand forced the Lakers to switch Kobe on to him, which meant taking him off Rondo. The Lakers are one of the few teams that guard Rondo by sagging way off of him, a strategy that seems to perplex Boston's young point guard more on the road than at home. When Bryant guards Rondo, he's available to help and clog the lane, while his length counteracts some of the head start Rondo gets on penetration. With Bryant on Pierce, Rondo penetrated freely, finding the open man and an occasional layup for himself.
• Ray Allen fought off early foul trouble to score 21 points. Ray was 8-for-11 from the field and 3-for-7 from beyond the arc; the Celtics shot better than 60 percent from the floor and 52 percent from three for the game.
• Kendrick Perkins came off the bench for the fourth straight game. Many think he was the missing link -- that his torn ACL in Game 6 last year cost Boston the title -- but the big difference inside, from a Boston perspective, was Kevin Garnett. KG had 18 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists, but looking long-term, the major point is the one we've been making all year -- he's back to something close to his pre-injury form.
• Nate Robinson had his first decent game in a while. He still took one or two questionable shots ("A heat check," I explained to Liz when she objected to one of his hoists, to which Colby added: "Every shot Nate takes is a heat check") but he scored 11 valuable points.
• The only other bench player who did much of anything was Glen Davis. Big Baby has something of a reputation on showing up in big games, in part due to his playoff performances in KG's absence two seasons ago. He did seem to play with more focus today than he has in recent games, taking fewer long jumpers and patiently carving out space underneath before going up. By virtue of his extra-wide body, Davis has always had the ability to finish inside, but has often failed in that regard, going up quickly without using his body to protect the ball, seemingly forgetting that he's a lot shorter than most of the defenders who tend to hang around the basket.

After the game, Phil Jackson apparently had this to say: "It's not the playoffs yet. We're still playing regular season games. We'll get there in time."

On the one hand, Jackson's right: It is still the regular season, and Celtics fans should temper their reactions to Sunday because of that. And the Lakers succeeded with the ramp-it-up-in-the-postseason strategy last year on the way to their second title, a tactic that nearly got the Celtics a ring last season, too.

And yet this season has a number of things that last season didn't. The list starts with the San Antonio Spurs, the first team to 40 wins this season and current holders of a seven-and-a-half game lead over the Lakers. I'm still stumped as to how, exactly, the Spurs are doing this, but they are, and there's no reason to think they'll slow down enough to be caught. LA is facing the possibility of a conference finals series without home court advantage, something that really wasn't a concern last year.

The Lakers are also now four games behind the Celtics in the loss column, which could be meaningful should they meet in the Finals. If Perkins' absence in Games 6 and 7 wasn't the X-factor last year, than home court advantage might well have been, and at this pace, Boston would have it. (Again, I know I'm getting ahead of myself talking about a Boston-LA Finals. But I guarantee you the players are thinking about the same thing.)

At any rate, I just don't buy it. If Jackson wasn't concerned about the regular season, why switch Bryant on to Pierce? Why play Bryant, in his 15th NBA season, 40 minutes against the Heat? Why play Pau Gasol, wearied by playoff and international ball the last several years, 40 minutes or more on 15 occasions already?

Even if Jackson is telling the truth and doesn't care, his players do. Kobe, one of the all-time competitors (though perhaps a touch over-rated in that regard) certainly does. And Gasol and Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom looked, to me, more intimidated than disinterested in Sunday's second half.

In the big picture, Sunday's win means little more than my being able to wear a Pierce shirt tomorrow and talk a little trash with my friends here in LA. But for me, each win like this one means a little something. I think last summer had a profound effect on me; the outcome of the Finals shaking the very foundation upon which many of my ideas about basketball are built. Seeing these Celtics in form -- in 2007-08 form -- restores some order to my brain.

Boston 88, Portland 78

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The Celtics kicked off a four-game road trip with a chippy, sloppy win over injury-depleted Portland.

The Blazers, playing without Brandon Roy, Marcus Camby, and (of course) Greg Oden decided from the opening tip that they weren't going to be intimidated or pushed around by Boston, and Boston, for its part, seems to relish the opportunity. The result was a physical, ugly contest for three quarters. But some solid work on both ends of the floor from the second unit gave the Celtics a 15-point lead with 4:22 remaining, which proved to be enough of a cushion to protect against missed free throws and Portland suddenly getting hot from three-point range.

Things actually got really dicey when Marquis Daniels stepped to the line with Boston up 82-77 with 42 seconds left and promptly missed both free throws. But Kevin Garnett simply outworked LaMarcus Aldridge for the rebound, and Glen Davis was able to knock down a pair from the line to seal the victory. It was the final stamp on a terrific all-around night from KG, who put up a Rondo-esque ten points, nine boards, and nine assists.

Kendrick Perkins looked great again, with ten points and nine boards in nearly 21 minutes, a little bit more floor time than what we've been told Perk will be playing at this stage. Von Wafer also had a strong game off the bench, and I have to admit I'm starting to talk myself into him. He replaced Nate Robinson in the rotation in the second half and had a couple of nice buckets and a steal. I still think Nate's our guy at the backup 2 when Delonte West returns, but for now, as Nate continues to struggle to define his role, we may see more Wafer.

Boston 109, Orlando 106

Welcome back, Kevin.

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Sidelined by a right calf injury since December 29, Kevin Garnett returned to the Boston starting lineup Monday night and scored 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and brought the Celtics alive with his trademark energy and chatter. His biggest contribution, however, was a game-sealing steal of a Jameer Nelson pass in the final seconds. After deflecting the pass and securing the ball, Garnett flung out to a streaking Ray Allen, who dribbled off some clock before getting fouled and icing the game at the free throw line.

It was, more or less, a perfect return for KG in the eyes of Celtics fans. Garnett played 31 minutes and moved well for each and every one of them. Call me paranoid if you wish, but I know I wasn't the only Boston fan waiting to see KG in action before I believed that this most recent injury wasn't serious. The memory of two seasons ago, when Garnett and/or the team hid the severity of his knee problems for weeks, is simply too fresh.

This game was about far more than Garnett's healthy return, however. Doc Rivers, as expected, had the fellas play Dwight Howard more or less straight up. No double teams, no putting him at the line at every opportunity. Just straight-up defense, following the philosophy the Cs have been successful with over the past three-plus seasons: Let their best player get his and worry about shutting down the other guys.

The other guys, in the case of the Magic, are good enough to beat you on many nights, and they almost did. Howard had 33 points and 13 rebounds, and his teammates made 11 of 27 three-point shots in support. But they cooled down just enough in the fourth quarter for the Celtics -- who shot 60 percent from the field but just 3-for-10 from behind the arc -- to avenge the Christmas Day loss.

The one issue I had with the way the Celtics handled Howard was that they didn't attack him on the offensive end. Shaquille O'Neal drew a foul on Howard within the first two minutes of the game, but only took seven shots the whole night. Indeed, Howard ended the game -- after nearly 44 minutes of court time -- with just that one foul. Howard is more than capable of playing defense, and I get that Doc is loathe to change the game plan because of just one guy. But Shaq had a couple of buckets early, and it would have been worth it to see whether he could have kept rolling and/or gotten Howard into foul trouble. During one second-quarter sequence, Howard drew Shaq's second foul on an extremely dubious call, getting to the line simply by bringing the ball into Shaq's forearm. It looked bad when the ref called it and a replay on the Jumbotron confirmed that it was a bad call. The next Celtic possession was a perfect opportunity to go to O'Neal and give the officials an opportunity for a makeup call. Instead, Boston went to Paul Pierce. It didn't cost the Celtics any points, as Pierce hit a jumper, but Shaq picked up his third on the next Orlando possession, sending him to the bench. Had Boston gone to O'Neal, it might have been Howard headed to the bench for the rest of the half, rather than Shaq.

Speaking of Howard and the officials, I yelled at my television enough during the game that I feel obligated to mention the officiating, which was horrible in my estimation. In addition to the O'Neal foul mentioned above, Howard was the beneficiary of a bad call on Garnett's third foul late in the second period. Howard was trying to seal Garnett in the post, and Garnett fought throw Howard holding him off with his left arm to steal the entry pass. Danny Crawford apparently thought that KG grabbed Howard's arm to accomplish this, when in fact it was Howard, if anyone, who committed the foul. For someone who constantly complains that he doesn't receive enough protection from the officials, Howard certainly got plenty of it Monday night.

It wasn't just Howard; the Magic shot 36 free throws to Boston's 26, despite taking 27 three-pointers to Boston's ten and despite the fact that Boston scored a ton of points in the paint. Free throw discrepancies in favor of Orlando are rather commonplace given some teams' preferred strategy for defending Howard, but as I mentioned, Boston wasn't wrapping him up every time he caught the ball in a dangerous position the way some teams do. There's just no way Orlando should shoot that many more free throws while also shooting that many more jumpers. And I haven't yet mentioned what I considered to be the most egregious call of the game, a moving screen on KG that nullified a Ray Allen three with less than two minutes to play. I get that KG moves on screens, like basically every NBA big man, but under two minutes in a tie ballgame is a wacky time to start making that call, especially when Howard had been stepping into screens on the other end all night. The inconsistency drove me crazy.

Not to ramble on and on about Howard, but this game underscored for me the reason why I'm not overly concerned with the Magic, at least not as currently constructed. By giving up center Marcin Gortat in the Vince Carter-Jason Richardson trade with Phoenix, Orlando has left itself with no viable backup for Howard. And while Howard is young and fit and fully capable of playing as many minutes as he did, he's also foul prone and if the game had gone differently, Orlando could have found itself in some trouble -- and that's with Kendrick Perkins and Jermaine O'Neal out with injuries. Even so, there were a handful of occasions that Howard didn't challenge easy shots around the basket, and he didn't block a shot in a game for the first time since Game 2 of the Boston series last May. I have to think Howard is more conscious than ever about foul trouble, which negates some of his shotblocking ability and makes Orlando's defense that much less effective.

In order to get a backup, however, Orlando would probably have to part with either Ryan Anderson or J.J. Redick, young players who, like seemingly everyone else on the team, are real threats from downtown. Anderson entered Monday's game late in the first quarter and promptly hit four threes to bring the Magic back from an early ten-point deficit, and while Redick spent much of a crucial second-half stretch being taken to school by Ray Allen, he has -- against all odds -- became a vital role player that I know Orlando doesn't want to part with. Given that Gilbert Arenas has not emerged as much of a threat since arriving from Washington in the trade for Rashard Lewis, the loss of either one of those guys would be a major hit to their depth. And yet it's hard to see the Magic getting through Boston and the Lakers in the postseason without a backup center.

There was more to this game -- Pierce patiently waiting as Boston rode Allen's hot hand until the final minute, when he calmly sank a jumper after being fouled by Richardson to put the Cs up three; Glen Davis finally refusing to settle for jump shots; Nate Robinson's continued struggle to find his role in the absence of Delonte West -- but that's enough for now. The focus shifts to Detroit -- surprise blowout winners over the reeling Mavericks on Monday afternoon -- on Wednesday, with Utah coming in on Friday and road games in Portland, Phoenix, and Los Angeles against the Lakers to finish out the month.

Orlando 86, Boston 78

Caught the first quarter and second half of this one sandwiched around Christmas dinner.

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Saturday's game was an ugly, low-scoring affair, which was a pattern when the Magic and Celtics met last year -- during the regular season, anyway. I could say that the Cs would have won had they made a bunch of shots they usually make, but the same is true of Orlando. It was one of those games where both teams played pretty good defense, and the effort on that end was magnified from some pretty poor shooting from both sides.

From a Boston perspective, we lost this game because we didn't have Rajon Rondo, plain and simple. Nate Robinson had his worst game as Rondo's understudy, making just two of 15 shots, the majority of which were good looks. The Magic basically could leave Robinson alone on offense, the same way opponents do against Rondo -- but Rondo provides much more playmaking and doesn't use as many possessions as Nate does shooting jumpers. And while Robinson did a nice job keeping Jameer Nelson in check for most of the game, he lost him on a screen on a key possession late, as Nelson hit a three that I believe gave the Magic the lead for good.

While the Celtics probably would have won with Rondo, Robinson wasn't the only Celtic who had a bad game. Ray Allen mad just three of 13 shots, and Shaquille O'Neal had just two points and fouled out despite playing fewer than 13 minutes.

Of course, the Magic have some "we would have won easily ifs" of their own, most notably the fact that Dwight Howard scored just six points against a depleted Celtics frontline (Kendrick Perkins is of course out, and Jermaine O'Neal made his first appearance since November 8). More disturbing is the fact that Howard took just four shots. He was in a bit of foul trouble for most of the game, but his teammates weren't looking for him much even when he was on the floor.

This will be something to watch with Orlando's new look. While some of the departed Magic players -- guys like Rashard Lewis and Mickael Pietrus -- weren't exactly shy about hoisting shots, they were mostly spot up guys (or run off of screen guys). On the other hand, the new Magic players -- guys like Hedo Turkoglu and Gilbert Arenas -- tend to pound the ball a bit more and look for their own shot.

Howard is a really important offensive weapon. He's improved his arsenal this year, and because he's a poor free throw shooter, teams send him to the line a ton -- so he gets the opposition into foul trouble and helps put his team in the bonus situation fairly early in the quarter. But he's not so polished as to consistently demand the ball in the post, and the new additions may make it easier, in a sense, to forget about him on offense. That wasn't the case leading up to the Boston game (Howard had big offensive nights in those) but the Celtics have been very good over the past few seasons at taking away one part of your offense and forcing you to rely on another part (usually outside shots). It will be interesting to see if the Magic make Howard a focal point against the Celtics in future meetings (including, potentially, the playoffs). While the Celtics have generally done a decent job on Howard the past couple of seasons, I'm sure they'd rather have Brandon Bass (21 points on Sunday) try to beat them.

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.

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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 Next Lamb: The Atlanta Hawks

Game 14: Boston (9-4) at Atlanta (8-5)

Monday, November 22

7 p.m. Eastern

TV: NBA League Pass

I cannot think of a team I'd like to see less Monday night than the Atlanta Hawks.

Sure, the Hawks are erratic. I can't remember where I saw it, but I read somewhere that Atlanta is the only franchise in NBA history to start a season winning its first six games before losing its next four -- and they've done it two out of the last three years. But ever since they unexpectedly took us to seven games in the first round of the playoffs during the championship year, they more or less always bring it against Boston. It doesn't matter how they're playing at the time; we're always going to take their best shot. Last year, their best shot was good enough to sweep the season series.

In addition, Boston will likely again be without Rajon Rondo, who missed the Toronto game with the hamstring injury he suffered against Oklahoma City. Rondo against the much older and much slower Mike Bibby is a matchup that would certainly favor the Celtics. Nate Robinson's move to the starting lineup also robs the second unit of some of the firepower it needs to match buckets with Atlanta's explosive sixth man, Jamal Crawford.

Up front, the mobile Al Horford is likely to really give Shaq problems, and Josh Smith is a difference-maker on both ends of the floor. And former Celtic Joe Johnson always seems to light Ray Allen up.

I don't mean to seem too pessimistic -- we can still win the game. But the stars seem aligned against us. Little injuries, second night of a back-to-back, reeling after a couple of frustrating losses -- all of these things seem to be conspiring against us, and we're playing a team that always gives us trouble.

Toronto 102, Boston 101

Ugh.

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Normally, I wouldn't be too upset losing a game on the kind of freak play the Celtics lost this one on. Up three with 21 seconds left is a pretty good spot to be in, even when the other team has the ball. Toronto's Sonny Weems drove for a quick two, but Boston quickly inbounded the ball to Ray Allen, who is as automatic as it gets from the free throw line. So far, so good.

But Toronto didn't foul right away, and Allen -- a shaky ballhander in the open court -- evaded Leandro Barbosa and headed up court. Barbosa reached around from behind and either flicked the ball away or flicked Allen's arm -- I couldn't tell. No whistle, though, and the ball came loose and bounded to one of the Raptors. Paul Pierce blocked Barbosa at the rim, but the Celtics were in scramble mode, and the ball found its way to Amir Johnson, who was fouled with 2.7 seconds left. Johnson, a career 68.5 percent free throw shooter who is somehow shooting 87.5 percent from the line this season, hit both freebies (he was 9-for-9 from the charity stripe on the day) to put the Raptors up one. Pierce had a great look at the game-winner -- a 15-footer fading to his right that we've seen him hit time after time in his career -- but couldn't get it to go down.

So, yeah, we're not going to lose too many games that way.

But the truth is, Boston didn't deserve to win this game. Playing without Rajon Rondo and Jermaine O'Neal, the Celtics waited until the fourth quarter to turn on its defensive intensity. It looked like that would be enough as they turned a 90-79 deficit into a 97-94 lead, but you can't throw up your hands and curse your bad luck or look to the officials for a foul call when you don't show up to play for most of the game.

The game perhaps underscored the importance of Rondo -- though Nate Robinson had a huge first quarter and led the team with 22 points in Rondo's absence -- but it definitely solidified Boston's need for another big man. Shaquille O'Neal struggled offensively, but it was his defense that really killed us. It's not just that Shaq doesn't block shots anymore and can't move quickly enough to get into proper defensive position when the opposition drives. Guys aren't blowing by Shaq, but he continues to bail them out with fouls. Instead of forcing them to make a very diffcult shot over him on the move, he just hammers them and sends them to the line. He fouled out in 20 minutes today, and was part of a defense that took entirely too many fouls. Toronto, a good offensive team but one that nonetheless doesn't attack the basket all that much, shot 39 free throws -- and I don't remember thinking we got the short end of the stick from the officials very often. (Indeed, Boston shot 38 free throws and I think there were more questionable calls on them than on us.)

Semih Erden, after a promising start to the season, lately seems similarly incapable of staying out the court -- I believe this was the second straight game in which he picked up four fouls in the first half. If Jermaine O'Neal is going to miss a bunch of time with his balky knees, then the Celtics need to look for a solution on the interior or teams are going to continue the parade to the free throw line against us. As I've said previously, I'm not sure what, if any, solutions are out there, but Boston needs to be looking for them.

Boston 114, Washington 83

Just a few bullets on a night the Celtics made two-thirds of their shots and the opposition was without its best player.

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• Shaquille O'Neal, who had 16 points and six rebounds on Saturday against Memphis, had a second straight strong game, slapping up 13 and 6 in 22 minutes. As much trouble as he gave the undersized JaVale McGee on the offensive end, however, he gave up a number of offensive rebounds to McGee on the other end, especially in the first quarter. He did seem to be making a better effort to box out later in the game, however, so perhaps he simply didn't want to expend the effort early on.
• Delonte West saw his first action of the season and didn't look he missed a beat. The second team didn't play that well during its first stretch on the court, however, coming together only after the starters had put the game out of reach. Nate Robinson was still running the point the majority of the time, something that surprised me and that I hope will change. Robinson's few high points Wednesday night came when West and Marquis Daniels initiated the offense.
• Semih Erden played well, but he needs to do a better job of going and getting the ball with two hands, especially on rebounds. He's been wearing a brace on his left shoulder for the last several games, and I thought that perhaps the injury was causing the problem. But he took two lefty hooks in the second half, and I remember him fumbling a few one-armed rebounds in his first action this season (before he started sporting the brace), so I don't think that's it.
• Glen Davis had eight rebounds, added to his league-leading total of charges drawn (16 now), and had a couple of great assists, but he did way more facing up and driving than I'm comfortable with.
• Rajon Rondo had another 13 assists. The guy always puts the ball exactly where it needs to be. Always.
• 30 minutes for Rondo, 27 for Ray Allen, 27 for Paul Pierce, 23 for Kevin Garnett, and 22 for Shaq. That's more like it.
• Washington isn't very good with John Wall, and without him, they're terrible. I have no idea how they beat Toronto by 15 the night before. Gilbert Arenas seems content to drift around the perimeter launching three-pointers, and their bigs are erratic, to put it kindly. They have some one-dimensional scorers like Nick Young and Al Thornton -- and those guys are surely more effective with a playmaker like Wall in the lineup, but there just aren't that many good basketball players there.
• I do like the way Washington coach Flip Saunders seems to be holding everyone accountable and won't let the team get away with uninspired play. He kicked the whole team out of practice some days ago, and tonight, he called a timeout two minutes and 15 seconds into the third quarter after a defensive lapse by his team -- then called another 34 seconds later after another defensive lapse on the Celtics' next possession.

Boston 92, Oklahoma City 83

After giving up big advantages before eking out overtime wins in each of the last two games, it's good to win one without blowing a big lead -- without blowing all of a big lead, anyway.

[recap] [box score]

Everyone on the Celtics played pretty well, but the credit goes to the bench in this one. Marquis Daniels, Nate Robinson, and Semih Erden helped Boston out to a nine-point lead after the first possession of the second quarter, a working margin the starters were able to more or less maintain before staging a late second-quarter run put the halftime lead at 21.

That was crucial, because the Thunder made a big run in the latter stages of the third quarter, taking advantage of a Boston cold spell. They did it on the backs of their two studs, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who between the scored all 27 of OKC's points in the third period. James Harden broke that streak with a three-pointer to start the fourth, cutting the Boston advantage to six, but a couple of Glen Davis jumpers from the top of the key restored order, and the Celtics more or less cruised from there -- the Thunder never came within single digits again until their final possession of the game.

Simply put, Oklahoma City ran out of gas. In such a deep hole after the first half, Thunder coach Scott Brooks never had the opportunity to rest Durant and Westbrook, and they just wore down.

The Thunder are an interesting team. I didn't write a "The Next Lamb" about them, because I didn't know what to say, other than "They have Kevin Durant, everyone's favorite opposing player, and they have this guy, Russell Westbrook, who everyone compares to Rajon Rondo." They usually have Jeff Green, but he was out with an ankle injury. Without Green, Oklahoma City really is a two-horse outfit, and the Celtics do well against teams like that, particularly when a guy like Westbrook is more than happy to comply with Boston's invitation to shoot jumpers on every possession.

Indeed, this game went a lot like last year's date in Oklahoma City. In that one, Boston showed up at the tail end of a four-game road trip, after winning in San Antonio the night before. It seemed like a letdown game, but OKC came out a little flat and Boston jumped on them early, then put it away in the third.

I don't know what to make of the Thunder. Like a lot of people, I think I got a little carried away with their performance at the end of last season, and predicted them to finish second in the West. Durant's the best scorer in the game, and Westbrook's off to a great start (though he has a long way to go in terms of his decision-making). But beyond that, they have a bunch of guys with as-yet-unfulfilled potential. They're still a franchise that's in great shape, but it seems the talk of them as a contender is a bit premature.

Boston 109, Detroit 86

For the first time in this young season, Boston played pretty well on both ends of the court.

[recap] [box score]

Shaquille O'Neal didn't play tonight, which means we got our first extended look at two Celtics newcomers in the post: veteran Jermaine O'Neal and rookie Semih Erden.

Offensively, Jermaine is a known quantity. He got a couple dunks rolling to the basket -- a good sign the Celtics offense was clicking -- but at this point in his career, he's a jump shooter. His shot wasn't falling at first, but came around in the second half. His line, 5-for-8 for 12 points, is probably around what we can hope for from him.

It was at the defensive end where I noticed Jermaine the most, probably because he's such an improvement over Shaq at that end. Twice in the first quarter, JON helped as Austin Daye blew past Kevin Garnett. On the first, Daye crashed into Jermaine, getting away with the charge while scoring, but on the second, JON registered the block.

I still think that Jermaine should (and will) start at center even when Shaq is healthy. His help defense is a much better fit with what the starting unit is used to playing alongside Kendrick Perkins. Even if he doesn't start, however, I'd expect to see him on the floor in crunch time a fair amount -- mostly because of his defense, but also because he's not a liability at the free throw line. He needs to rebound better than he did against the Pistons, but that's my only real criticism.

The defensive end is also where I most noticed Erden. The Turkish rookie wasn't always in the right spot, but often recovered in time to challenge the shot. The best example came at the end of the first quarter, just a few minutes after Erden entered the game and blocked a Jason Maxiell shot on his very first defensive possession. On this trip, the Pistons ran a pick-and-roll with Rodney Stuckey dribbling left over the screen at the top of the key. Erden jumped out to hedge, but jumped too far, giving Stuckey the daylight he needed to cross over and drive to the basket. But Erden stuck out his long left arm and jarred the ball loose momentarily. Stuckey recovered and continued his drive, but Erden recovered and blocked the shot out of bounds.

Offensively, Erden showed flashes of his ability. His lone basket -- his lone attempt -- came on a breakaway dunk after a Von Wafer steal (the first positive thing Wafer has done as a Celtic, by the way). Erden took off down the court as soon as Wafer had the ball, corralled a long pass, took one dribble, and dunked relatively smoothly. Then, late in the game, Erden was in the left corner when an offense rebound came to him. He turned to back his man down, but saw Marquis Daniels cutting toward the basket. Erden fired a quick pass over his right shoulder that hit Daniels in the perfect spot, a spot where only he could catch the ball. Layup.

On the whole, I thought Erden acquitted himself well. He certainly looked less lost than you'd expect from a foreign rookie center playing his first NBA game. All he needs to do is get rid of those white sneakers he was wearing, and he'll be on his way.

Bullets:

• Not only did Wafer assist on the first basket of Erden's career, he also assisted on the first basket of Luke Harangody's career, a fast break layup that came after Daniels stripped Daye on the other end. Wafer also assisted on Harangody's other basket, a 17-foot jumper.
• Seventeen more assists for Rajon Rondo, and a much smarter floor game this time out: He had zero turnovers. As a team, Boston coughed it up only eight times, and assisted on 33 of its 42 field goals.
• Boston had the ball at the end of the second and third quarters, and I don't have too much of a problem with either play, though neither was spectacular. At the end of the first half, Rondo fed Pierce posting up at the foul line. Pierce drew the double and kicked to Rondo for the three at the horn. That's not necessarily the shot we're looking for, but Rondo nailed it. At the end of the third quarter, Pierce took a three. Not the best shot in the world, but we didn't have a lot of time to develop anything and I think the Captain was feeling it a little bit.
• Speaking of Rondo and shooting, on one first-half possession, he dribbled upcourt, casually went around a screen on the wing, and buried a soft 17-footer that looked oh-so-comfortable. There's a decent shot hiding in that kid somewhere, I know it.
• The one downside about this game was that Doc Rivers had to play the starters a bit more than could have been necessary had the second team taken care of business to start the fourth quarter. Boston was ahead by 20 after three, but a quick 8-2 Piston run brought Ray Allen and Garnett off the bench. (Pierce and Rondo followed shortly thereafter.) The minutes weren't out of control -- 36 for Rondo, 34 for Allen, 33 for Garnett, 32 for Pierce -- but the Celtics play again Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday and the fourth quarter added 3-5 minutes on the starters' odometers.
• Part of the reason Doc had to re-insert the starters was because the second team lacked organization on offense. When Nate Robinson tries to take on that role, he subordinates his offense too much, and the bench mob needs Nate's scoring ability. Marquis Daniels tried to do it against Detroit, but he forced a bunch of shots. Hopefully, when Delonte West gets back, we'll see the second unit really gel.

Links of the Day (November 1, 2010)

• I was at Staples Center for this. Actually, that was just one of three highlight-reel dunks by the Clippers against the Spurs; two by Eric Gordon and one by Blake Griffin. Speaking of Griffin, he really has to be seen in person to be fully appreciated. I've never seen a man of his size seemingly hang in the air the way he does. Aside from that, he showed great balance and footwork. I'd like to see the Clips allow him to face the basket a little more, especially against a team like San Antonio, who really doesn't have anyone to cover him.
• I -- along with the rest of the world -- also got to see the long-awaited NBA debut of Spurs rookie Tiago Splitter. He was significantly less unimpressive. I wasn't as concerned with how he played during the game as I was with what I saw in warmups. His shooting stroke is hideous; it comes with a hitch at the top, and from section 109, Row 14, seat 1, at least, it looked like he shot the ball out of his palm. I got to Staples about an hour early and Splitter was doing drills with an assistant coach; he probably made no more than one-fourth of the shots he put up from 12-15 feet, with little or no defense. It's been so long since Splitter first came on NBA radars that I don't remember what kind of player he's supposed to be, but to the extent that his value is tied to his shooting ability, he's going to be a big disappointment.
• Some informal point - counterpoint from Bill Simmons and Tom Ziller on the Miami Heat that gives you a pretty good idea of the two writers' philosophies when it comes to basketball.
• This post talks about Indiana center Roy Hibbert's improved passing ability. It is my hope that Detroit coach John Kuester is paying attention to what's going on in Indy and eventually starts using rookie Greg Monroe -- like Hibbert, a Georgetown product -- in a similar way.
• Boston has the most athletic point guard in the league, and it's not Rajon Rondo.
• Rondo was actually sixth on that list, but he's first on another: Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
• The NBA D-League Draft was Monday, and the Maine Red Claws -- the D-League affiliate the Celtics share with the Charlotte Bobcats -- had the third overall pick. D-League teams aren't affiliated with NBA teams the same way minor league baseball teams are affiliated with major league clubs. Rather, NBA franchises can assign any of their eligible players under contract to the D-League. All other players are free game to be signed by any NBA club, though teams have the option to have their last three pre-season cuts allocated to their D-League affiliate in order to better keep tabs on them (you'll recall that this is why the Celtics signed Tiny Gallon right before training camp ended).
• Looking over the results, we see that the Red Claws drafted Magnum Rolle with the third pick. Rolle was picked in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers, showed well in the Orlando Summer League, but didn't make the final roster. Looking at the rest of the team's selections, it's going to be interesting to see how guys like Avery Bradley and Semih Erden and Luke Harangody -- guys with guaranteed contracts but who will spend time in the D-League this year are going to get shots. Tajuan Porter and Armon Bassett are bona fide chuckers. And no, Lawrence Westbrook is not related to Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook (but is cousins with the NFL's Brian and Byron Westbrook).
• A couple days ago, I wrote a bit about the University of Vermont's Marqus Blakely narrowly missing out on becoming the school's first NBA player. He was taken twelfth overall by the Bakersfield Jam. Bakersfield is coached by Will Voigt, a native Vermonter and, as it happens, a family friend.
• Finally, what the hell is Antonio Daniels doing in the D-League draft? The 12-year veteran was taken near the bottom of the second round by the Texas Legends. Daniels was out of the league last year after being bought out by the Timberwolves, but he's not that far removed from a season in which he started 63 games for the Wizards. He was never more than an NBA role player, but isn't that Europe is for?

Boston 88, Miami 80

What did we learn about the Miami Heat last night? Absolutely nothing.

[recap] [box score]

In fact, the only thing we really learned is that anyone who thought that a team of three All-Stars could join up with a group of more or less replacement-level players and turn into a historically good team -- one capable of winning 73 games and beating the defending Eastern Conference champs on the road -- overnight doesn't understand, or temporarily forgot, how basketball works. Sure, injuries played a role -- Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers missed the game due to them, and Dwyane Wade's leg injury stole away most of his preseason and thus the chance to mesh with his new teammates. But so did the fact that the Heat starters basically had to play 3-on-5 on offense, and so did the fact that LeBron James and Wade have played such similar roles over their careers that a period of adjustment was inevitable, and so did the fact that Chris Bosh's perimeter-oriented game isn't necessarily the best complement to James and Wade.

Even when the Heat cut an 18-point third-quarter deficit to six by the end of the period (and eventually shaved it to three) we weren't witnessing a glimpse of the Heat's potential. We were witnessing something we've seen so many times before; James taking over a game. We've seen him do this before, with Cleveland, and it didn't work then, and it won't work now. Wade and Bosh were horrible tonight and played well below what is expected of them, but them playing at their best wouldn't have improved the team's production during that particular stretch. When you score on nearly every possession, there's little room for improvement.

Look, Miami was bad tonight. It was mentioned during the telecast that the Heat's nine-point first quarter and 30-point first half were worse than any quarter or half the team played last year (pre-James/Bosh). They'll get better. But they are not going to be as good as quickly as so many expected them to be.

Enough about the Heat. What did we learn about the Celtics?

Well, first, we learned that a lot of things haven't changed. We still lose focus once we get out to what appears to be a comfortable lead. We're still dependent on Rajon Rondo to create the majority of our offense. We're still an elite defensive team. Doc still only has the one in-game huddle speech ("If you trust each other, we'll win").

But we also learned -- or had confirmed for us -- a few new things.

First, Kevin Garnett's healthier than he was last year. He struggled in the opener, committing seven turnovers, but to me, it looked like he was just jittery -- not unusual for KG.

Second, we learned that Glen Davis might be ready to be a big contributor off the bench. This one comes with a caveat, because Davis historically puts on his best performances when the cameras are shining brightest. But beyond his performance on the offensive end (where he had 13 points), Davis turned in a really good defensive effort. He drew a couple of charges, which is fairly standard for him. But he also played some terrific on-ball, one-on-one defense against Bosh in the second quarter.

Third, our bench is going to be a major asset this season. In addition to Davis, I thought Marquis Daniels had a great game, looking aggressive on offense and nothing like the player he was at the end of last year. I'm a little worried that Nate Robinson still hasn't found a comfortable role in the offense, but hopeful that Delonte West's return will help with that. And while Jermaine O'Neal looked really rusty after an injury-plagued preseason, he had a couple blocked shots tonight and I think he'll be a perfectly serviceable player (either off the bench or with the starting unit.

Some bullets:

• I thought Shaquille O'Neal had a strong debut, even after missing two easy layups at the start of the game. The jury's still out on his defense, because the Heat decided not to attack him on the screen and roll with Joel Anthony. But he's still something of a force to be reckoned with on offense and on the glass, and he'll draw his fair share of fouls. That has value, even if he doesn't convert at the line.
• With that said, I thought Shaq didn't get rid of the ball quickly enough on a couple of occasions after grabbing a defensive rebound. We're a lot better in transition and on the secondary break than we are in the halfcourt, and Shaq will need to do a better job of getting the rock to Rondo quickly.
• Although the Celtics ultimately had a rebounding edge, they gave up a bunch of offensive rebounds in the first half. We weren't a great rebounding team with Kendrick Perkins; without him, we'll need to do a better job of finding bodies first, then going and getting the ball.
• Until West gets back, we'll probably see one of the starters playing with the second team. Last year, that guy was often Ray Allen. Tonight, it was Paul Pierce at first, and later, Rajon Rondo. Rondo makes sense in that it allows Robinson to play off the ball (the way he would when West is in the game), but I was surprised to see Pierce out there, mainly because he and Daniels are our only small forwards. It worked, though; Boston broke the game open in the second.

Win one is in the books, and with it, perhaps a small statement to the Heat and the rest of the Eastern Conference. There's a long way to go, of course, and I, for one, am glad to start the journey.

Preseason: Boston 96, New Jersey 92

The NBA Preseason: Where Marquis Daniels nailing a game-sealing three-pointer happens.

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

The big thing I took from this game is that as things stand now, Shaquille O'Neal should not be our starting center except in emergencies, for a number of reasons.

For one, he's a defensive liability. I knew that, but it's worse than I thought. In the first quarter last night, he gave up an easy bucket on the pick and roll, allowed something like nine quick points to Brook Lopez, and picked up three fouls in just over four minutes (though as Mike Fratello pointed out during the broadcast, the officials tend to call more fouls in the preseason than they do once the games start to count).

With the other positions on the starting unit solid defensively, opponents would attack Shaq. In addition to easy buckets, this would likely lead to foul trouble for the big fella, which throws the rotation out of whack and puts the Celtics in the penalty early. If Shaq comes off the bench, he'd be going up against the other team's second-string, which is typically less capable of exploiting defensive weaknesses.

Second, he fits well with the second team, or at least I think he does, because I haven't actually seen him play with the second team. But he's still a force to be reckoned with offensively (he backed down Lopez for about 12 feet on one first-quarter basket) and I imagine he'd wreak even more havoc against second-stringers. Moreover, with Nate Robinson and Delonte West the likely backcourt off the bench, we've got some real shooters to surround Shaq in the post.

Third, he doesn't fit perfectly with the starting unit. One of the things we heard coming out of training camp is that Kevin Garnett seemed to have a new commitment to working in the post, which is something we all want to see from him. But he can't really do that with Shaq in the game, since the other team isn't going to pay attention to Shaq unless he's near the basket. In contrast, a KG-JON high-low (in either permutation) is something for the other team to worry about.

I still think Shaq was a great signing and will be a valuable player for us this year. But I think Jermaine O'Neal should be the starter, once he gets healthy.

Some bullets:

• One caveat to what I said above about Shaq with the second team is that the current bench unit seems to have a very nice chemistry with each other. As I mentioned before, Robinson and West are shooters, but they aren't just spot-up guys, and Marquis Daniels' value is in his movement without the ball. There's room on the court for all of them and Shaq and Glen Davis; we just need to be conscious about getting too stagnant on O.
• I still have concerns about their size, but I hope Doc plays Robinson, West, and Daniels to start the second and fourth quarters (once Delonte gets back from his ten-game suspension to start the season, of course). They seem to play well together, and just as importantly, it'd save Paul Pierce and Ray Allen a significant amount of minutes over the course of the season.
• Garnett really does look better. His shot isn't falling, but watching him run up and down the court, you can just tell that his leg isn't bothering him the way it was.
• Semih Erden didn't have as good a game against the Nets as he did against the Sixers, but I really like what I've seen so far. He moves well enough, understands the game, and has skills. Most importantly, he's comfortable on the court, despite his youth and relative inexperience. I still don't expect to see a whole lot of him unless injuries hit, but I feel a lot more comfortable about the team if injuries to the big men do become a problem.
• Davis showed some decent variety in his offensive game.
• Pierce looked good attacking the basket.
• None of the guys vying for the 15th spot on the roster did anything to distinguish themselves in a positive way.

Boston 94, Sacramento 86

[recap] [box score]

This was a strong performance for about 30 minutes, before the bench came in and let the lead slowly slip away. By the time the starters returned, they were a little out of synch. The team never really seemed in danger of losing this game, but a more consistent effort would have been nice.

Return of the bullets:

• Kendrick Perkins missed this game with tendinitis in his left knee. (Why is tendinitis spelled that way and not "tendonitis"? It is, after all, itis of the tendon.) We don't know exactly how long Perk's going to be out, but word is that he'll miss the San Antonio game.
• Rasheed Wallace, starting in Perkins' place, played the most energetic game we've seen from him in a while. At one point, he jumped on the floor to tie up Carl Landry, earning a Tommy Point in the process -- the first one I can remember him receiving this year. (To be fair, Heinsohn hasn't given as many of these rewards for hustle plays this season.)
• Rajon Rondo was at his apothecarial best on Friday, dishing out a regular season career-high 18 assists. He was masterful, particularly in the first half, whipping the ball through the narrowest openings and playing with his usual flair. Too much flair, perhaps, but a lot of fun to watch -- and effective, against the hapless Kings, at least.
• Rondo's strip of Sean May in the second quarter gave him the Celtics single-season record for thefts. His 168th steal eclipsed the mark of Rick Fox. Whatever we can do to erase Fox's name from the team record books is a positive thing, in my opinion.
• Marquis Daniels got the DNP-CD in the first half, and didn't enter the game until the third quarter, when the game seemed well in hand. I think I heard Greg Dickerson say in a sideline report that Daniels is in some ways still learning how to fit in with the team, since he missed all that time with the hand injury. Sitting him for the whole first half is a funny way to get him comfortable.
• Nate Robinson sprained his ankle in the first half and didn't return to the game. I don't have any word as to how much more time he'll miss, if any.

San Antonio is in town on Sunday (8 p.m. Eastern, ESPN). The Spurs are missing their point guard, Tony Parker, but as they seem to do when they are missing one of their big three (Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Parker), they have been playing well of late. They knocked off the Cavs on Friday after beating Oklahoma City earlier in the week, alternating those wins with losses to Atlanta and the Lakers. Sunday's game is the last in a five-in-eight stretch, as difficult a series of games as you'll see in the NBA. Maybe we can catch them tired, though we shouldn't need to to beat them.

Boston 109, New York 97

[recap] [box score]

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

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

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

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

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

Celts Win Two, Sign Corpse of Michael Finley

Boston swept a Tuesday-Wednesday back-to-back against two teams not currently among the top eight in the Eastern Conference. First came a shaky win in Detroit, then another comfortable victory over Charlotte in Boston. Two big stories emerged:

1) The return of Paul Pierce. The captain was quiet against Detroit (nine points on just six field goal attempts) but exploded against Charlotte, shooting 9-for-13 (including four-for-six from three-point range). Pierce finished with 27 points in 26:30 of playing time, his first 20-plus-point game since he scored 35 in a losing effort at Atlanta on January 29. Pierce has missed five games since then with injuries and has been banged up the whole time, but still, more than a month without a 20-point game isn't the Truth we know.

2) The emergence of Nate Robinson. Nate broke into double figures for the first time as a Celtic in the loss to New Jersey, but had an impact in a Boston win for the first time against Detroit. He scored 14 points and played well enough that Doc didn't bring Rajon Rondo back in the fourth until the three-minute mark of a tight game. Robinson then scored 16 points against Charlotte. Doc's comment after the Detroit game was spot on: "That's exactly what we need from Nate. We want to wind him up and let him go."

By the way, Kendrick Perkins' return Wednesday from an illness marked the first time all season that the Celtics have had a completely healthy roster. Take notice, NBA: When we're at full strength, we're 1-0 and have an average margin of victory of 24 points!

In other news, we're apparently about to sign Michael Finley. On the face of things, I don't really mind: We're not paying him much of anything, and I don't know of any players who are likely to be bought out so that we can sign them for the stretch run like we have in years past. Even with Finley, we've got an extra roster spot.

What's interesting is that most reports stated that Finley asked for his release from the Spurs do to a lack of playing time. If true, that would suggest that Finley thinks he'll get more playing time in Boston, and that I do mind. Finley can't play worth a damn anymore. I saw him when the Spurs came to L.A. to face the Clippers, and I said to my companions at the game: "Finley should just retire. He doesn't look like he belongs on an NBA court." Any burn that Finley gets that takes playing time away from Robinson and Marquis Daniels and even Tony Allen (who, I must admit, has played well this year) is bad for Boston.

Now, it's also been speculated that Finley was looking for a better shot at a title, as San Antonio has been disappointing this year. If that's the case, fine, although I'm skeptical: I think I read somewhere that the Lakers were interested in Finley, and especially with Boston's recent struggles, if Finley was just ring-hunting, it stands to reason that he would go join the defending champs.

Lastly, I want to point out that Bill Walker has back-to-back 20-plus-point games for the Knicks. Walker was part of the Robinson deal. I was disappointed to see Billy Sky go, but not terribly upset, because it was clear Doc wasn't going to give him much of an opportunity. Whether Walker's recent good stretch will continue and whether it indicates a mistake Doc made I don't know, but I personally feel vindicated that the kid has shown he can play in this league, as I have thought all along.

Cleveland 108, Boston 88

[recap] [box score]

Let's get one thing clear from jump street: The Cavaliers may very well be too good for the Celtics this year. They have ten guys who would crack the Boston rotation right now, and it will be 11 once they re-sign Zydrunas Ilgauskas. They have the world's best player in Lebron James. Joining him in the frontcourt are two guys who have made a combined 17 All-Star Game appearances -- Shaquille O'Neal (15) and Antawn Jamison (2). They have an underrated lead guard in Mo Williams, himself an All-Star last year, the perfect scoring point for a team that runs its offense through its small forward. Their backup bigs have size, and they do everything backup bigs are supposed to do -- rebound, defend, and scrap for loose balls. As a team, they are excellent both offensively and defensively.

For a half, Boston -- even without Paul Pierce -- looked every bit their equal. The Celtics played the opening 24 minutes the same way they played their entire championship season; dictating the pace, making open shots, protecting the paint and forcing the opposition into jumpers as the shot clock wound down. But the second half, in which the Cavs outscored the home team 60 to 32, told an entirely different story. Cleveland got whatever they wanted offensively, and Boston's scoring dried up.

It's a defensible position to say Boston just doesn't have enough to get through the East this year. For the first time since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen arrived, I'm prepared to assert that a completely healthy Boston team isn't the best one in the conference.

The thing is, though, we can't say that for sure yet. Boston wasn't healthy on Thursday. By the midpoint of the second quarter, Cleveland wasn't, either, but at this point, Pierce means far more to the Celtics than Shaquille O'Neal means to the Cavs. Pierce's absence was a double hit, really; not only was the first team missing his offense, leadership, and defense on James, but the second team was missing its facilitator in Marquis Daniels, who replaced the captain in the starting lineup while battling the flu himself. And you can consider Boston being down yet another body if you think that Nate Robinson is going to improve after a slow start to his Boston career. Robinson was 2-of-6 on Thursday after going just 2-of-7 in his Celtics debut on Tuesday. Although Cleveland had come nearly all the way back from a 13-point deficit by the end of the third quarter, it was at the start of the fourth where this one really got away from Boston. The Cs desperately needed a spark off the bench to stop the bleeding, and it may be that in a week or two, Robinson is comfortable enough in his new surroundings to provide that spark. As it stood, however, Robinson provided little, and Rajon Rondo -- who played the first 45 minutes of the game before sitting the final 2:50, had tired himself out too much to attack the basket the same way he did in the first quarter (when he scored or assisted on each of the team's first 21 points).

Again, there's a distinct chance -- probably even a likelihood -- that the Cavs are just too good for us. We'll know for sure before the regular season is out; we're in Cleveland on March 14 before hosting the Cavs on April 4. As close followers of these pages know, I'm generally pretty optimistic about the team -- and the first half of this one was very encouraging -- but truth be told, I'm not very confident right now.

Boston 110, New York 106

[recap] [box score]

Last night's game against the Knicks lacked the defensive intensity that has been a Boston trademark over the last two-plus seasons, but despite the the fact that is was close throughout the second half, it was also one of those games where I felt we were never in any danger of losing. That seemed to be the team's attitude, too, after scoring 38 points in the first period. Once that happened, the Celtics seemed to believe that they could score at will. Fortunately, they were basically right -- rarely have I seen an NBA game with as many uncontested layups as this one.

Rajon Rondo led the team with 15 points and 16 assists, and Ray Allen had 24 points. He also contributed the game's key play, a blocked layup with under a minute to go that caused a shot-clock violation and preserved a three-point lead.

Boston was without Paul Pierce, who sat because of his injured thumb. There's talk that he'll miss maybe a week, which would keep him out of Thursday's showdown with Cleveland. (The Cavs, by the way, won their first game with Antawn Jamison last night, overcoming 37 points from rookie Marcus Thornton to beat New Orleans.)

The Celtics did, however, have Nate Robinson. Robinson's stat line is unimpressive and his impact on this game was minimal. However, the influence he could have on this team was apparent just from the way he flew around the court. Once he gets settled in and learns the offense and defensive schemes, he'll be a great addition, basketball-wise.

There was a nice moment when Eddie House came into the game in the first period. The Boston crowd gave him a standing ovation and several Celtics came over and clowned around with him for a second. House, of course, was the main price of Robinson. Another inclusion in that deal (along with J.R. Giddens) was Bill Walker, a RwH favorite who never really got much of a chance in Boston. Billy Sky threw down a thunderous dunk and drilled a three in about 13 minutes of playing time, his first floor time with the Knicks.

VIEWING ALERT: The Cleveland game is on TNT at 8 p.m. on Thursday.