Boston 102, New York 96

So, I made a New Year's resolution this year not to let a Celtics game go by without posting. I just checked and my last post was November 18. I've had some computer problems (still ongoing) and the new job is keeping me busy, but still, no excuse.

There's a reason, though, that I'm still a few pounds overweight and my apartment looks like I'e just moved in: I suck at resolutions. So it's no surprise that it wasn't until the fourth game of the New Year that I actually got around to posting. (To be fair, the Memphis game was on NBATV, which I apparently don't get, and I was visiting my girlfriend -- who I hadn't seen in nearly a month -- for the Indiana and Atlanta wins.)

Indeed, the last time I had seen the Celtics before Monday night was up here in the Bay Area, when the boys in green put forth two of the sorriest efforts you'll ever see; back-to-back blowouts to the Warriors and Kings. I was at both of those games in person -- likely the only time I'll get to see them live this season -- and it was just pathetic. To be honest, they looked done, and the only thing that kept me from declaring the same -- or nodding in agreement as everyone else did -- is that we were basically in this same spot last year, and we nearly made the Finals. I know better than to count this team out.

There's a lot of fight in these guys. After the terrible three-game California swing (the Celtics got blown out by the Clippers in LA before making the trip to NorCal), they let the Grizzlies run away from them in the second half at the Garden. The next game was a surprisingly convincing home win over the Pacers, followed by a win over the Hawks, highlighted by a 33-9 third quarter that erased a big halftime deficit and may well mark the turning point of this season.

Tonight against the Knicks at Madison Square was one of the more intense NBA games I've seen in a long while. There's a historical rivalry there, sure, but there's also been a lot of recent chippiness between these teams. The Knicks have had a great first few months of the season, and they may have been extra anxious to flex their muscle against the team that's bullied them in recent seasons.

Whatever the reason, this game was physical in the first half and quickly escalated in the second half. Carmelo Anthony in particular was in an ornery mood, fruitlessly trying to draw fouls in the first half and growing increasingly frustrated with each uncalled perceived infraction. He quickly grew out of control in the second, barking incessantly at the officials and Kevin Garnett, who for once wasn't the instigator. Melo and KG picked up techs for yapping at each other, and Anthony easily could have been ejected two or three times in the closing minutes. He finished something like 6-for-22 and probably cost his team the game with his loss of composure -- everything was painfully forced for him on the offensive end.

For Boston, Paul Pierce once again made all the big shots, including an incredibly difficult step back, fadeaway 20-footer over Tyson Chandler that sealed the game. Avery Bradley, playing in just his fourth game after offseason shoulder surgery, put together his first solid offensive performance. Jeff Green scored a bunch, which is, I'm afraid, about the most we can hope for at this point. Jared Sullinger had another savvy performance, playign with a craftiness and a physicality that belies his lack of pro-level experience. Garnett was his usual solid self.

Oh yeah: They won this one without Rajon Rondo, who was dinged a game for apparently making contact with a ref against the Hawks. The contact was so slight that it didn't warrant a technical during the game -- it looked to me like Rondo, having just been called for pushing off on Josh Smith, went over to talk to the official and the two inadvertently brushed shoulders. Rondo's reputation is starting to come back to bite him.

This post is sort of all over the place, and I'm sure I haven't captured the atmosphere of this game particularly well. But I was reminded tonight of March 13, 2012, when I saw the Cs take on, and beat, the Clippers in LA. As I wrote back then, it was, by far, the most intense and volatile atmosphere I'd ever experienced at a regular-season NBA game. The Celts had lost to the Lakers the night before; the Clips had just lost to the Warriors and were eager to establish themselves against the old guard. But Boston rose beautifully to the occasion, showing the young bucks that the old guys still had it.

I won't be so dramatic as to say that that game was the turning point of the season. But Boston was a mediocre 21-19 heading into that game -- they went 18-8 to close the season. Those Celtics went on to play one of the gutsiest playoff series I've ever seen, battling injuries and all sorts of other adverse conditions in nearly beating Miami in the Eastern Conference finals.

Thanks to the current three-game winning streak, these Celtics now sit at 17-17, squarely at .500. Tonight's win might be more or less meaningless in terms of the team's overall record, but it marked the first time that this team -- this new team, with improved depth and talent -- showed itself capable of winning a game like that one I saw in LA last year. Only time will tell if it was a fluke, a little MSG Magic, or the true character of this squad.

New York 118, Boston 110

[recap] [box score]

Look at New York's three-point shooting on Tuesday -- 19 for 32 -- and you'd think that the Knicks were simply too hot to be beat. And while it's true that they were on fire from behind the arc, the fact is that Boston's defense was as bad as it has been all season. The rotations were off all night, and even when they made an adjustment to better guard the three-point line, they left the paint wide open, ceding a number of easy baskets to Tyson Chandler.

And yet the Celtics gave themselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter, mostly thanks to Paul Pierce, who had a season-high 43 points, largely on the back of a 17-for-18 performance at the free throw line. Battling foot injuries, though, he was almost as ineffective on defense as he was effective on offense, and Carmelo Anthony got plenty of his 35 points against Pierce. (Melo added 12 boards and ten assists for his second career triple-double.)

Other than Pierce's offense, Avery Bradley was a bright spot for the Cs, draining 5-of-6 three-pointers, most from the corners. It's beginning to look like his outside shot, which was atrocious at the beginning of the season, has improved permanently to something respectable. Rajon R-ndo had 13 points and 13 assists -- remarkably, something of a pedestrian performance for him lately -- but sat for some of the second half after falling awkwardly on his back after colliding with Chandler on a rebound. R-ndo refused to go back to the locker room for treatment, however, and gamely finished out the game

Really, though, the big story in this one was the difference in bench production. In about 50 minutes of court time, the Boston reserves scored a total of two points. The Knicks got 25 each from Steve Novak and J.R. Smith, who combined to go 15-for-20 from beyond the arc.

To be fair to Boston's second unit, two of Boston's top reserves (Bradley and Brandon Bass) have moved permanently to the starting lineup, and the next two missed the game -- Ray Allen was a late scratch with his lingering ankle injury after participating in shootaround, and Mickael Pietrus went back to Boston to have fluid from his knee drained. But I can't help but contrast the Celtics with, say, the Spurs, who I watched dismantle the Kobe Bryant-less Lakers in the nightcap. San Antonio has like 11 guys who play and contribute, while there are nights, like tonight, where you wonder how Keyon Dooling and Marquis Daniels and Sasha Pavlovic even have NBA jobs.

Anyway, back at it Wednesday night, 8 Eastern, in Boston against Orlando. I think our magic number is two; we just need some combination of two wins and Knicks losses and we've got the division, unless we lose our last four and Philly wins its last five. With a road game in Atlanta and then a home date with the revenge-minded Heat looming before the season finale against Milwaukee, it'd be nice to get this one against the Magic to take some of the pressure off.

Celtics Drop Two to Start Season

I've been in DC since last week, spending time with friends and family over the holidays. I've been too busy to blog, but I haven't been too busy to catch Boston in their season-opening games -- a 106-104 loss in New York on Christmas Day, and a 115-107 defeat in Miami Tuesday night.

In both games, Boston started out very slowly, digging a double-digit hole for themselves in the first half. In both games they clawed back to have a realistic shot at winning, taking the lead into the fourth quarter against the Knicks and getting to within three of the Heat late in the fourth.

It's a disappointing start to the season, and yet we should take it with a grain of salt -- the same grain of salt, I should point out, that would accompany our gloating over a 2-0 start, had the ball bounced that way.

The first way to put these losses in perspective is to remember that Paul Pierce hasn't seen the floor yet due to a sore heel. Boston badly missed his offense in a stagnant fourth quarter against the Knicks, and his presence on the defensive end of the floor could have meant a Boston win in either game (or perhaps in both).

The second is to remember that we just played the Knicks and the Heat, two of the better teams in the league. Miami is the odds-on favorite to win the title this year and are in great form (they absolutely took apart Dallas in a Finals rematch on Christmas Day) and New York just might be the third-best team in the East. Even if the Knicks aren't quite as good as some think they are, it's indisputable that Boston's first two opponents are two of the tougher teams in the league to guard. So the fact that we've surrendered 110.5 points per game -- normally a very alarming number -- is tempered by the fact that we've done so against two of the league's best offensive outfits (teams that play at a fast pace, to boot). If New Orleans lights us up Wednesday night, then I'll start to worry about the D.

Honestly, we're not that far from 2-0. We didn't deserve to win either game, really, not with the way we played in the first half, but we hung around, like we always seem to. Carmelo Anthony got hot in the fourth quarter in New York and a rookie named Norris Cole beat our zone (!) in the fourth quarter in Miami -- if not for those guys, we really could have opened with two wins. Two road wins, without the Captain.

That's probably stretching it. My point is, I'm not too concerned. The season ahead is lockout-shortened, but it's still long. Losing on the road to the Knicks and Heat was likely to happen.

Here's what I do hate: Ray Allen has played 38 and 40 minutes, respectively, in the first two games. Allen is, as always, in outstanding physical condition, but that's just too many minutes. Way too many. I'm going to give Doc a little bit of a pass because of the bodies he's missing (Pierce and the newly-signed Mickael Pietrus play the wing), but given Doc's tendencies, I'm expecting that I'll be complaining about the minutes situation all year. Doc did do a nice job limiting Kevin Garnett to 33 minutes Tuesday after KG played 37 in the opener, and this despite the fact that Chris Wilcox sat the whole second half with some sort of (hopefully minor) injury. But Rajon R-ndo can't play 40-plus minutes a game, either, if we're going to make a deep playoff run after what will be a very grueling season.

Save for one absolutely critical turnover in the waning moments against Miami, by the way, R-ndo has been almost flawless. He followed up a 31/5/13 performance against New York with a 22/8/12. Even better: He hit nine of 12 free throws against New York and seven of 11 against Miami. Seventy percent from the line from your point guard isn't normally something to get excited about, but normally your point guard didn't shoot under 60 percent from the stripe last season. What's more, I think this improvement could be permanent; he's slowed his pace at the line way down and everything about the shot looks smoother. A somewhat reliable free throw stroke should give him the confidence to go to the bucket more this year, which we're going to need.

Another bright spot, offensively, has been the bench. Brandon Bass had 20 points and 11 rebounds against the Knicks, while Keyon Dooling did the heavy lifting with 18 off the bench against the Heat. I'm more confident in Bass' ability to contribute regularly than Dooling's; Dooling will rarely shoot as well as he did Tuesday night, and the confidence these strong evenings brings may end up doing more harm than good if it convinces him to play outside his rather modest offensive abilities. Put another way, I'm going to need to see several more games of solid shooting from Dooling before I get comfortable watching him cock the ball way back -- behind his shoulder, to the side of his head -- truly one of the more bizarre shooting strokes in the NBA.

A lot to improve on, but no need to panic just yet.

Boston 96, New York 86

For the second straight game, the Celtics came back from a double-digit second half deficit to win a game on the road and keep pace with the Chicago Bulls atop the East.

[recap] [box score]

I wasn't able to watch Saturday's game, but Monday's game -- the fourth quarter, at least -- was all about "want to." Word is that Doc Rivers called the team's first half play "soft" in the locker room at halftime, and that inspired them, but this game didn't turn around until 7:26 remained in the fourth quarter. The Knicks' Chauncey Billups had just hit a three-pointer and Rajon Rondo, stumbling over a Ronny Turiaf screen, had crashed into him. Billups' four-point play gave the Knicks a nine-point lead. Boston, which had been struggling to keep pace with New York all game, could have given up at that moment.

Instead -- with all the momentum heading the other way, with a blood-soaked bandage struggling to contain a cut over Ray Allen's right eye, with the Madison Square Garden crowd periodically into chants of "Paul Pierce sucks!" -- the Celtics scored the game's next 13 points. New York came back briefly to tie it, but Boston got the last ten points of the game for the final margin of victory.

I wish I had been writing down the sequence of plays, because it was full of defensive deflections, diving for loose balls, and stalwart defense. Two hustle plays come to mind, though: Rajon Rondo covering more than half the court, width-wise, to chase down a Ray Allen miss and throw it out of bounds off of Amare' Stoudemire; and Kevin Garnett diving for a loose ball near midcourt, his long arm tying up Stoudemire even as the ball rested squarely in Stoudemire's lap. The former play led to a Pierce bucket that brought Boston within two; the latter led to a KG jumper after he won the tip that completed the 13-0 run and put the Celtics up four.

This game was a battle. Troy Murphy was the first of three players to shed blood on the night, suffering a superficial cut in the first half that resulted in a trickle of red down the bridge of his nose. Allen was the second, falling victim to a stray Jared Jeffries elbow while contesting a rebound -- an inadvertent elbow, it appeared, but a reckless one. New York's Carmelo Anthony was the third, colliding with Rondo's elbow while going for a steal and opening a small cut over his eye. And the most blatant hit didn't even draw blood -- after grabbing a first half rebound, Anthony barely missed Glen Davis with one elbow before connecting with the side of Baby's head with the second.

Not one of these plays, by the way, drew a foul call from the officials.

In the end, Boston snatched this victory from the jaws of defeat. But the Knicks were complicit. Quite frankly, they panicked. They're 7-9 since trading for Anthony, and the frustration of unmet expectations on the league's biggest stage are starting to boil over. A win over the Celtics could have done a lot to buoy their sinking ship, and as that win slipped away, they sped up the process with bad shots and tentative offense, looking to the officials for help that wouldn't come.

To their credit, though, the Knicks are certainly relevant, especially if relevance is measured by how much I dislike them. In past years, I've gotten fired up in games against New York due to some lingering chippiness between Pierce and Quentin Richardson, and the presence of Turiaf, whose reckless disregard for his fellow players' welfare has led me to believe for some years now that he's one of the dirtiest players in the game. But this season it's different, the vitriol the Knicks have for the Celtics encouraged by the team's first meeting in New York this season, which Pierce punctuated by bowing to the crowd after his game-winner. There's a chance we see these guys in the playoffs -- the Knicks are currently the seven seed -- and while they don't seem like a threat to win a seven-game series against us, it'd certainly be a hell of a fight.

Boston 115, Golden State 93

We'll get to the game in a minute. First, a few words about Bill Walton.

[recap] [box score]

The former Celtic filled in as color commentator alongside play-by-play man Mike Gorman for Tuesday night's broadcast. (Tommy Heinsohn doesn't often make the West Coast swings these days.)

I've done a complete 360 in my opinion of Walton, the broadcaster. (I've always appreciated Walton, the player, though I've only been able live his career through listening to others talk about him, because I was just a little too young to remember him.) Like many, I grew tired of Walton's boorish exaggerations ("John Stockton is one of the true marvels, not just of basketball, or in America, but in the history of Western Civilization!") and forced catchphrases ("Throw it down, big fella, throw it down!"). Over time, however, I came to appreciate him. He's still over the top, but he knows he's over the top. I don't want to use the term "schtick" because Walton's enthusiasm is genuine, but he certainly has a modus operandi.

One of his tendencies is to poke fun at middling NBA players, either by insulting them outright ("The only way Danny Schayes is getting into the Hall of Fame is if he pays the admission fee") or by so exaggerating their abilities that you know his tongue is planted firmly in his cheek ("If Eric Piatkowski continues playing at this level, he's going to replace Jerry West on the NBA logo.")* Tonight's target? Warriors starting center Andris Biedrins, who has fallen off a cliff -- he went from averaging 12 points and 11 rebounds two seasons ago to five and eight last year -- despite not yet turning 25. In the first quarter alone, Walton dropped the following gems:

• After Biedrins fouled Kevin Garnett: "You don't want fouls on Biedrins, if you're Boston. You want him in the game."
• A few moments later: "What does this Biedrins fellow do?"
• After Biedrins bricked a pair of free throws when Delonte West, who had missed the last 39 games with a broken wrist, entered the game for the first time: "Biedrins is the one who looks like he has a broken wrist."
• And finally, after Biedrins missed a layup: "He's playing scared. He's playing ... like his feet hurt."

No, I don't know what the last one means, either. And yes, it's probably unnecessarily mean to pick on Biedrins. But it's Walton, and we, as Celtics fans, can forgive him. His undying loyalty to the franchise probably colors my opinion of him.

Walton's playing career, of course, was abbreviated due to injury, and it appeared that his broadcasting career would similarly be cut short thanks to a debilitating back condition. Walton has taken a lot of time off from the microphone in recent years. I'm not sure if he's planning on making the rest of the trip with the Celtics or whether this was a one-shot deal because the Cs were in his native California -- and I won't be able to tell (the Celtics play on TNT on Thursday and at the Clippers on Saturday, which means I get the local broadcast here in LA instead of the Boston telecast on League Pass). But it's good to see him healthy enough to put on the headset, even if only for a few hours.

Bullets:

• Walton and the numerous Celtics fans in attendance at Oakland's Oracle arena were treated to a vintage Rajon Rondo performance. 19/6/15 with two steals, and one of those nights where it just feels like he can get wherever he wants, whenever he wants.
• Kendrick Perkins banged knees with someone in the third quarter and didn't return. It doesn't seem serious, and it's the left knee, which is not the one he ripped up in the Finals last year. Something to watch, but probably nothing to worry about long-term. The short term is a different story; Boston has to keep winning to stay ahead of Miami in the race for home-court advantage in the East, so even a brief Perkins absence -- especially with Shaq still out -- could be disproportionately costly.
• This was Boston's first win in Golden State in seven years, which is fairly remarkable considering that the Warriors have made the playoffs once in the previous six seasons and compiled a combined record of 213 wins and 279 losses over that time (they are 26-30 this year).
• One thing that makes playing the Warriors so difficult is that they have some really talented offensive players. After a poor defensive showing in a first half in which they surrendered 60 points, the Celtics held Golden State to just 33 second-half points.
• Another thing that is difficult about playing the Warriors is their style. They have no conscience whatsoever, and opposing players can get caught up in the hoist-the-first-halfway-decent-shot-you-get mentality. Nate Robinson fell victim to this a couple of times, though at this point it might be safe to just assume that Nate will always do the wrong thing.
• Fortunately, Golden State is really quite bad defensively (they are second in the league in steals, but that's due in large part to the pace of the game -- more possessions for the other team means more steals, and they do encourage more risk-taking on the part of the opposition's offense). Their deficiencies on that end allowed Boston to win handily despite a 14-point deficit at the free throw line.

Next game is at Denver on Thursday, at 10:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT. In their first game without Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups** -- and with the quartet of players from the Knicks not yet in uniform -- the Nuggets hung 120 points on Memphis Tuesday night in a comfortable win. It's still too early to say what the new-look Nuggets are going to be like, but my money's on a continued emphasis on running (Ty Lawson is better-suited to an uptempo game than Billups) and the three-point shot. Wilson Chandler, acquired from the Knicks, brings a little bit of a defensive mindset that was lacking in every key Denver player other than Arron Afflalo, so there might be some minor improvements there. But probably not enough to worry about, though I might well be underestimating the "We're out to show everyone that we don't need 'melo" factor.

*All the past Walton quotes come from this Web page, which has a great compilation of his hits.

** Thoughts on the Carmelo Anthony trade:

1) There was a time when I was pretty sick of all the trade talk, but by the time the deal was close to being done, I found the whole thing very interesting. It was really a staring contest between Anthony, the Nuggets, and the Nets, with the Knicks sort of lingering around the outside. The Nets had extended the Nuggets a Godfather offer: Very-good-but-not-great point guard Devin Harris, promising rookie big Derrick Favors, the third overall pick in last summer's draft, and an incredible four first-round picks. It was a better deal than the itself attractive package the Knicks were offering, which was breakout PG Raymond Felton, Chandler, sharpshooter Danilo Gallinari, and bruising Timofey Mozgov, plus a first and two seconds, but it came with a caveat: New Jersey wouldn't pull the trigger unless Anthony signed an extension.

Once the Knicks -- Anthony's preferred destination -- upped their offer to include Gallinari, it was good enough for the Nuggets to take, which effectively gave no teeth to New Jersey's insistence that Anthony sign an extension prior to a deal going through. Anthony could more or less insist he be shipped to New York under those circumstances by refusing to sign a contract extension, which I'm guessing he did (because I believe Denver would rather have taken Jersey's offer).

Of course, the Nets could have called Anthony's bluff. 'Melo didn't have a no-trade clause or something similar that they were trying to get him to waive; he was just using the extension as a tool to get what he wanted. New Jersey could have rolled the dice by doing the deal anyway, forcing 'Melo to decide between signing an extension with a depleted Nets squad and losing tens of millions of dollars in free agency.

Here's the thing. 'Melo signed an extension worth three years and $65 million. Because of rules that allow teams to pay their own free agents more, that's more than he would have made in the first three years of a new contract with the Knicks in free agency (my calculations have it at around $6 million more, but my understanding of this part of the CBA is severely lacking).

But that's the current CBA, which expires this summer. It's a near-certainty that the new agreement will restrict player salaries below what they currently are, and thus the difference between signing an extension and waiting for free agency could easily climb into the tens of millions of dollars. So the Nets could simply have called Anthony's bluff and agreed to the trade, banking on Anthony not wanting to give up that much money. The same holds true for the Nuggets; Anthony said he wouldn't sign an extension, but if Denver wasn't getting value for him, it might have been a good strategy to simply hang on to him and hope he'd stick around for the money. It's a lot of money to give up.

Instead, the Nets and Nuggets blinked and the Knicks and Anthony got what they wanted.

2. Or, at least, what they think they wanted. Anthony has non-basketball reasons for wanting to play in New York, and I can't criticize those. And I can't say that I think it's a bad move, necessarily, for the Knicks. But I do think it's hardly a sure thing that the Knicks will be materially better for it, both now and in the future.

For starters, I think there are serious deficiencies with a Anthony-Amare' Stoudemire core. There's no commitment to defense in either of those players, and head coach Mike D'Antoni is famously focused on offense. Even if we assume that Boston will be out of the picture after this year and that Orlando has irrevocably screwed up its team with its trades this year, the Knicks are still going to have to deal with Miami and Chicago for the next several years. Both are outstanding defensive teams that aren't slouches on the offensive end, either. You can't beat either of them in a seven-game series simply by being very good on offense, and at best, that's all the Knicks will be: very good on offense. Additionally, the pairs and trios of stars that have worked of late have worked because of complementary skill sets: The Big Three in Boston, for example, work because they fit together (Garnett on the inside, Paul Pierce as a slasher, Ray Allen as a shooter), because of Rondo, and because Garnett can affect a game so profoundly without doing much offensively; LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh have worked in Miami because of defense and James' uncanny passing ability. A couple of guys who need the ball a ton -- paired with a point guard, Billups, who isn't a traditional playmaker and might not be a great fit, at his age, for D'Antoni's offense -- don't really fit together all that well.

Secondly, if we think of these teams as engaging in some sort of arms race, the Knicks are already one star behind Miami. The new CBA might even make it all but impossible to build a core consisting of three studs the way the Heat have. But even if it doesn't -- even if, say, Chris Paul or Deron Williams makes it to New York the offseason after this one to take Billups' place -- they'll be a full two years behind in chemistry. And the way things are currently set up, with the draft and various salary cap exceptions, you can add a player or two per year to your core. That is, the Heat, having already assembled their "Big Three," can start adding role players to join Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem this offseason. The Knicks will have to make do with surprising rookie Landry Fields alongside Anthony and Stoudemire, saving their cap room until they can get another stud, and then adding free agents in the seasons following. So they'll be another player behind Miami because of that, too.

This all assumes that the model the Heat have followed is a successful one. Time will tell on that, though it certainly can be argued that competing with James/Wade/Bosh is too tall a task for Anthony/Stoudemire/whomever.

3. Again, I'm not saying it was a bad deal for the Knicks. They'd placated their fan base for two years by explaining that they were clearing cap room for a big move last year, and having missed out on James, they needed to do something. And they might not have wanted Anthony to go to the Nets, who are scheduled to move to Brooklyn in a couple of years. (I think this is overstated, though, as is the argument that Anthony will drum up interest in the team. That's a decent argument for most NBA franchises, but not the Knicks, one of the league's most popular outfits. They've got no problems selling tickets and merch at MSG.) But I don't think it gets tem any closer to contending for a title, this year or beyond.

Boston 118, New York 116

[recap] [box score]

My thoughts are all over the place, so here's a bunch of bullets:

• When Paul Pierce hit what proved to be the game-winning shot with four tenths of a second left on the clock, I joked that he had gone a tenth of a second too early. I was referring, of course, to the rule that you can't catch and shoot with three tenths of a second left, while four tenths gave the Knicks the chance to tie or win. The way Amar'e Stoudemire and Danilo Gallinari were going, New York really did seem dangerous, even with the clock as low as it was. Even though I had been up and out of my chair for most of the final few minutes, I have to say that I didn't react at all when Stoudemire's three-pointer snapped cleanly through the net and Madison Square Garden erupted. It just wasn't that surprising. That's how well the Knicks were going offensively.
• Of course, the officials went to the monitor and determined that Stoudemire had not gotten the shot off in time. The clock was just a formality; I don't need a stopwatch to know that Amar'e Stoudemire can't catch and shoot in four-tenths. If the guys with the fastest releases can't do it in three-tenths, then Amar'e can't do it in four.
• While I normally don't really like the Pierce isolation at the end of games, I liked it tonight. Pierce was sharp from the beginning, alerting swiping the opening tap and laying the ball in for the game's first points. He had scored 30 points by the time Doc drew that final shot up for him, and the Knicks don't have a guy who can guard him. He had earned the right to show the Madison Square Garden crowd what he had told the world hours earlier: that Celtics-Knicks isn't a rivalry -- not currently, anyway.
• Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett got into it a little bit in the third quarter, though everything appeared fine by the fourth. More troubling is the left ankle sprain that Rondo suffered on the first possession of the fourth quarter. He returned to the floor but was hobbled and it appeared as though he had to talk Doc into letting him stay on the court. If he doesn't go Thursday night against Atlanta, I won't be surprised.
• There's probably some concern about the defense and how we match up with the Knicks moving forward. Before anybody panics too much, let's remember that our top three centers were out with injuries. We didn't even have a third-string center last season; this season, our fourth-string guy -- a Turkish rookie, no less -- is trying to check Amare Stoudemire.
• That doesn't explain the trouble we had with the screen and roll in the fourth quarter, when Erden was safely on the bench. I can't explain it for sure, but I will offer one possibility: Glen Davis, who is supposed to help on the roll, was preoccupied with whoever he was guarding at the three-point line. Davis doesn't have to deal with good long-distance shooters very often, but the Knicks surrounded Stoudemire with four three-point marksmen. Davis seemed hesitant to leave his man, which left the lane wide-open for Stoudemire and Raymond Felton.
• Give Doc credit for making the right personnel adjustments most of the night. Generally speaking, you want to dictate the matchups rather than have the matchups dictate you, but the Knicks weren't going to worry about Erden and the depleted Celtics just don't have anyone that would compel D'Antoni to go big. He played Rondo-Marquis Daniels-Ray Allen-Pierce-Garnett during the second quarter and used Nate Robinson well.

No time tonight for a "Next Lamb" post, but Boston puts its 11-game winning streak on the line Thursday night against Atlanta on TNT. Tip's at 8 p.m.

The Next Lamb: The New York Knicks

Game 24: Boston (19-4) at New York (16-9)

Wednesday, December 15

7 p.m. Eastern

ESPN

Last meeting: @Boston 105, New York 101 (10/29/2010)

Long time, no talk. Another semester of law school is in the books, and I've got little to do until Friday other than recycle the mountains of empty TaB cans that have accumulated in my apartment over the last several weeks. So it's time to talk a little Cs.

Last time I posted a game recap, Boston had nearly blown a big lead late against Portland before hanging on for its fifth straight victory. Since that game, the Celtics have continued their winning ways, stretching the streak to 10 with wins over Chicago, New Jersey, Denver (sans Carmelo Anthony), Philadelphia, and Charlotte.

That ten-game streak marks the longest active streak in the league. Second is Miami, with nine straight wins.

Third? Eight games. The New York Knicks.

That's right, after starting off 8-9, the Knicks have run off eight in a row and certainly seem like a different team than the one we beat in the season's first week. "Different" might not be the right word, actually. These Knicks are doing the same thing they've always done under coach Mike D'Antoni -- namely score points and not play defense -- but they're doing it much more effectively this season. Amar'e Stoudemire, in particular, has hit a groove (he's scored 30 or more points in a franchise-record eight straight games) and point guard Raymond Felton has brought a little bit of scoring punch along with his playmaking prowess, a double Chris Duhon never could pull off. Felton's no Steve Nash, but he's grown comfortable in D'Antoni's system rather quickly. Wilson Chandler got off to a great start on the wing for them and has put up solid numbers all year; just as he started to cool off, it seemed like Danilo Gallinari shook off his slow start and began to heat up.

Where the Knicks are vulnerable is on the interior. Stoudemire's been starting at the five with Chandler and Gallinari alongside in the frontcourt. If Shaq plays, it'll either force Stoudemire to work on defense or D'Antoni to bring in one of his real centers, Timofey Mozgov and Ronny Turiaf -- both of which are good things for Boston. But Shaq's missed the last two games with a sore calf and is questionable for Wednesday. If he can't go, the start will likely fall to Semih Erden, who has done a nice job of late but who isn't going to force D'Antoni into any lineup changes.

As well as the Knicks have been playing during this streak, they've won only two games against teams I would describe as anything other than "bad": at New Orleans against the suddenly struggling Hornets, and at home against the Nuggets in Carmelo Anthony's shameless showcase after sitting out two nights before in Boston. Basketball, when you boil it down, is just offense and defense, and the Knicks are pretty good at offense and pretty bad at defense. If you can pretty well on both ends -- not just okay, but it doesn't have to be spectacular, either -- you have a good chance at beating them, winning streak or no winning streak.

Boston 105, New York 101

[recap] [box score]

Rajon Rondo stole the headlines with his gaudy stat line, so we might as well start by talking about him. Ten points, ten boards, and a personal-best 24 assists is certainly an active night. But he's played better games in his NBA career. I've never been shy about showering praise on Boston's fifth-year point guard, but he turned it over seven times, made just four of 12 shots, and was just two-for-six from the foul line.

Just throwing out stats is probably a little harsh. He started out shaky, with five turnovers in the first 19 minutes of the game. He then went about 22 minutes of game action without coughing it up again, during which time he had no fewer than 13 assists. The two turnovers he had in the fourth quarter don't really bug me, but his decision to challenge Amar'e Stoudemire at the rim with an 11-point lead, 1:45 to go, and 18 on the shot clock was a terrible one. (Stoudemire easily blocked the attempt and Landry Fields hit a three on the other end to start the Knicks' comeback.)

Additionally, with Boston up four and about 30 seconds left, Ray Allen threw a high pass to Rondo in an attempt to break the Knicks' full-court pressure. Rather than go up and secure the ball, Rondo tried to grab it and move quickly. It went through his hands and the Knicks had a chance to cut the lead to two or one. I understand the thought; Rondo's not a good free throw shooter and I'm sure he was eager to find a teammate, either for an easy bucket or to get the ball to someone more solid from the stripe. But ball security was the more important concern given the game situation. While Allen was charged with the turnover on this play, I thought Rondo could have saved it.

Look, there's a pretty good chance that Rondo leads the league in assists this season. He's going to play a ton of minutes, and he's going to play the majority of them joined by one teammate, at most, who is capable of consistently creating his own shot. He also plays 41 games in front of a scorekeeper who thinks that tossing the ball into Kevin Garnett in the post and watching KG pause, face up, pause, drive right, and then throw in a short jump hook counts as an assist (which Rondo did for his 21st assist against the Knicks). And there's no doubt that Rondo's an elite playmaker. But stats don't always tell the whole story, and tonight, despite 24 assists, the story was that Rondo wasn't brilliant.

Bullets:

• Paul Pierce was really good tonight, with a pretty gaudy stat line of his own: 25 points, 14 rebounds, and five assists. He's been shooting the three-pointer very well to start the season, and he hit four of six shots from behind the arc against the Knicks.
• Garnett also had a double-double with 24 points and ten boards. His 12-for-17 shooting night is particularly encouraging.
• Glen Davis had a third straight outstanding game to start the season. He's really been terrific on both ends of the floor. Particularly noteworthy tonight was his on-ball defense of Stoudemire, which called to memory the defense he played on Miami's Chris Bosh in the opener. Baby seems like he's really dedicated himself to defense; after fouling out while trying to stop a Raymond Felton drive late in the fourth quarter, he could be seen chastising teammates for not getting back on D.
• Twice in the first half, Boston ran a nice little set I'm not sure I had seen them run before. It's a staggered screen for Rondo on the wing, with the first screener waiting until the second screener rolls to the bucket before popping out. The first time they ran it, Davis was the first screener and Shaq the second; Rondo found Davis for a 15-foot jumper (and probably could have hit Shaq for a dunk. The second time they ran it, Pierce was the initial screener and Davis set the second one; Rondo looked at Pierce just long enough to get the Knick defender leaning that way, then zipped a pass to Baby underneath for a bucket. If I have time, I'm going to try and find some video of it over the weekend.
• Shaquille O'Neal hurt his knee in an awkward collision with Stoudemire in what I thought was the third quarter but what the play-by-play suggests was the fourth. The wire story says it's a bruise and isn't serious. Even so, it's probably a good thing the Celtics don't play again until Tuesday.
• Doc ran out a few small lineups tonight, in part because the Knicks played pretty small, and in part out of necessity -- Jermaine O'Neal was inactive with soreness in his left knee, the same injury that bothered him at the end of last year. I don't think it's serious and hopefully JON will be ready by Tuesday. If either O'Neal isn't ready for that game against Detroit, we'll probably get our first regular season look at rookie Semih Erden.
• I'm going to try to track our end-of-quarter plays all season. We only had one real possession to end a quarter against New York, and it went okay. The set wasn't anything special, just Pierce beating someone off the dribble. That made a Knick defender leave Rondo open on the perimeter, and Pierce found him. The key was that Pierce started his move early enough that Rondo -- not a great three-point shooter -- had time to shovel the ball to Von Wafer, who is allegedly a three-point marksman. Wafer was open as the defense had rotated to Rondo, but alas, he took far too much club from the corner and his shot sailed over the rim.

The Next Lamb: The New York Knicks

Game 3: New York (1-0) at Boston (1-1)

Date: Friday, October 29, 2010

Time: 7:30 p.m. (Eastern)

TV: NBA League Pass (still free! Also free for the time being on League Pass Broadband!)

The Knicks have not been very good for the last several years, and Boston has had little trouble with them recently. New York plays the uptempo style that coach Mike D'Antoni ran with success in Phoenix, but he hasn't had the horses in the Big Apple that he had out in the desert.

During the offseason, however, the Knicks went out and got him one of those horses -- Amare Stoudemire -- from the Suns. They were hoping for LeBron James or Chris Bosh (actually, they were hoping for James and Bosh), but Stoudemire is a great consolation prize. Their other big move in free agency was to go out and get Charlotte's Raymond Felton to run the point. Felton is far from Stoudemire and D'Antoni's running mate in Phoenix, Steve Nash, but he's a significant upgrade over Chris Duhon and Toney Douglas at what is a very important position in the D'Antoni system.

The first look in the regular season at New York's new pieces was not terribly encouraging. The Knicks won, yes, and it was on the road, but it was against what is probably going to be a pretty bad Toronto team. And despite their frenetic pace, they scored just 98 points. Blame 43 percent shooting, including 7-for-24 from deep, for that. I didn't watch the game so I can't be sure, but last season, at least, the Raptors were not good defensively. So this may have just been a case of the Knicks missing shots.

Boston has not been a model of offensive efficiency in the early season, managing just 88 and 87 points in its first two games. The Knicks, however, will be a much easier team to unlock than the Heat and the Cavs were. Honestly, I think scoring against New York for a team like Boston comes down to things like mindset, energy, and effort. I'd like to think that after dropping that game to Cleveland, Boston will be hungry, particularly returning home. At the same, it is the third game in four nights at the very start of the season. We don't play again until Tuesday, however, so if it's necessary, Doc may play the starters a bit more than he normally would.

Defensively, Boston perhaps catches a break with Anthony Randolph's ankle injury keeping him out. Randolph, who came over from Golden State this offseason in the David Lee sign-and-trade, has only flashed potential in the early part of his career, but he's a skilled, mobile tall guy who would really put Boston in a tough spot if paired with Stoudemire up front. Instead of having to deal with Stoudemire while Kevin Garnett checks Randolph, Shaquille O'Neal will get the Russian rookie Timofey Mozgov, a banger who is more his style. (That's a great matchup for the Cs on both ends and I would expect to see us pound it to O'Neal in the post early.)

A quick note on the Celtics: As I was writing this, I got a flood of items to my RSS feed indicating that Delonte West punched Von Wafer after practice today. It's a developing story, and one you might hear about on tonight's broadcast if you watch the game. To be fair to Delonte, according to Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski, Delonte believes that Wafer was responsible for a comment, published by Alex Kennedy from an anonymous Celtic, that it was easy to tell when Delonte hadn't been taking his medication. (Delonte, if you don't remember, is bipolar.)

Muy Beno: Yao's Minutes Cap, Getting Technical, and Links

(As a reminder, when I wish to write about NBA topics that are general in nature, I tag the post "Muy Beno" in honor of the best Slovenian point guard the league has ever seen.)

Yao's Minutes Cap

After the Celtics game, I caught the Lakers' narrow win over the Rockets. It marked Yao Ming's return to the court after missing the last season and a half with a foot injury. Due to that injury (really, due to an accumulation of such injuries over his career), it's been widely reported that Yao will be on a strict minutes limit this season: No more than 24 minutes per game, with no "carryover" minutes if he doesn't play his full allotment one night, and no back-to-backs.

Last night, Yao fouled out after 23 minutes and 21 seconds of court time, so the minutes limit didn't become an issue. What I found interesting, however, was how coach Rick Adelman chose to allocate those minutes. Yao started the game and played the first seven minutes before giving way for Brad Miller. Yao then returned for Miller at the 8:25 mark of the second quarter, playing five minutes before yielding to Miller again. The second half saw a similar pattern; Yao played the first six minutes of the third quarter and the first five and a half minutes of the fourth quarter before fouling out.

If this pattern continues, it means that Yao will not be on the court at the end of games, which is unusual for a starter and almost unheard of for one of Yao's abilities. Miller is a decent fill-in; a skilled big man who excelled in Adelman's system in Sacramento and every bit the free throw shooter Yao is. But Yao's a better shotblocker and commands more attention from opposing defenses, or at least he does when he's healthy. It may be that Adelman is simply planning to ease Yao back in, and will change up the rotation as the big man re-gains his conditioning. It might mean changing up the rotations -- perhaps starting Miller in the third quarter so he doesn't have to play a double shift in between Yao's stints -- but the Rockets probably will want Yao on the court at the end of games.

Getting Technical

Another big story this offseason was the NBA's new guidelines for technical fouls. The new rules in essence prescribe a technical foul for demonstrative reactions towards officials.

The Lakers' Derek Fisher and the Rockets' Kevin Martin were the only two players to receive technicals on the NBA's opening night. Fisher got rung up for a forearm or elbow to the chest of a Rockets player who was setting a screen, but Martin's was clearly a product of the new guidelines: after being whistled for a foul on a Kobe Bryant jumper, Martin turned and took a few steps downcourt, swiping his arm rather tamely through the air while uttering a few choice words.

Martin's tech was certainly justified within the letter and spirit of the new guidelines. However, it was considerably less demonstrative than the reaction Dwyane Wade had to a no-call on a late drive against Boston; Wade actually jumped and clapped right in front of the official after that play, the kind of reaction that garnered techs last year, before the new guidelines.

I was against this new emphasis on curbing player behavior entering the season because I was afraid too many games, players, and teams would be plagued with technicals. However, I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of demonstrative behavior from the players during the games I watched on Tuesday. A game that included not only Wade but LeBron James and the Boston Celtics would have almost certainly resulted in multiple techs last year. The sample size is too small to say that the players have got the message, but David Stern may be on to something here.

With that said, we need consistency. If Martin deserved a tech, so did Wade; if Wade deserved to get off scot-free, so did Martin. While a single technical foul may be trivial to the outcome of a game, it starts to matter when you consider the suspensions that accompany technicals once players reach 16 for the season. Substantial inconsistency from officials in the implementation of these guidelines could result in some serious inequity as the season goes on. (While officials' dispositions certainly varied widely last year, now that a wider range of conduct will presumably be punished by a technical foul, more players might be affected by the rules that set suspensions for accumulation of technicals over the season.)

Links of the Day

• The New York Knicks may have violated NBA rules regarding workouts of college players, according to Yahoo! Sports. Check out the story for the details of the allegations; what I'm most interested in are the possible penalties. The linked article mentions that penalties for similar infractions in the past have been fines for the organizations involved and suspensions for the team officials involved. However, the article also indicates that there may be factors in this case that make the Knicks' conduct more severe than those past incidents, which raises the question of whether additional organization penalties might be handed down. When the Minnesota Timberwolves were caught tampering with Joe Smith back in 2000-01, it cost them three-first rounders and hamstrung their franchise for years. The Knicks have traded away a bunch of their upcoming first-rounders, and I'm sure the NBA would be reluctant to really stick it to one of its flagship franchises, particularly since New York seems to be climbing out of the hole it's been in over the past several seasons. However, it seems worth mentioning as a possibility.
• SLAM Online has a nice little question-and-answer session with veteran NBA play-by-play guy Mike Breen.

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.

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.

Boston 107, New York 105

[box score] [recap]

One of the nice things about being a fan of an NBA team is that you can watch your team struggle against an inferior opponent, watch them blow a 14-point third quarter lead just as quickly as they got it, and still get that rush of adrenaline when your power forward drills a 20-footer at the horn to win it.

We all know that there's a lot that's not right with this team, and all the places the Celtics struggled Sunday were familiar. It all needs to get sorted out. But I've got too much going on to worry about it. Tonight, I'm relishing an entertaining, hard-fought win, even if it wasn't pretty.

Boston 105, Miami 98

The Celtics were once again a little shaky in the fourth, but made the necessary plays in the final minutes and won their sixth straight.

[recap] [box score]

Cleveland's win over Philadelphia clinched home court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs (and LA's loss at Portland gives them a leg up on securing homecourt for the Finals, should they get there). However, Boston's win combined with Orlando's surprising loss to New York in the Magic Kingdom gave the Celtics a leg up on the second seed in the East. Boston leads Orlando by two games, and if I understand my tiebreakers correctly, the "magic number" is one: Any Boston win or Orlando loss in the season's final three games gives Boston the #2.

Next game is Sunday, Cleveland, at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC. I have a feeling that Doc Rivers is going to play this game down, as he has with any "big" matchup all year -- for Doc, all regular season games are worth the same. I think that's probably the smart play, particularly in this case. The Celtics likely won't need the game for seeding purposes. It's best not to over-extend this late in the season, and there's some psychological risk in going all-out in this game and not quite getting there. On the other hand, a victory, on Cleveland's home floor, without Kevin Garnett, could be damaging to the Cavs, especially if the Celtics are treating it like any other game. The Cavs have been nearly invincible at home, losing only to the Lakers so far, and realizing their own basketball mortality might have a negative impact.

Or it might not. I'm grasping at straws a bit. Cleveland's really good this year.

Speaking of Garnett, the word is that he'll play in the season finale on Wednesday.

New York 100, Boston 88

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

[recap] [box score]

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

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

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

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

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

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