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.

Reminder: RwH on College Hoops

I'm still blogging about the tournament over one 19'9". Here are my picks and analysis for Thursday's Sweet 16 games.

Boston 113, Denver 99

[recap] [box score]

The Celtics concluded an encouraging four-game stretch with a decisive victory over the Nuggets in Boston.

Boston's 110-97 loss in Utah on Monday threatened to leave Cs fans uneasy after a couple of encouraging games. A loss to Denver at home would largely erase the positive that came out of back-to-back victories in Houston and Dallas.

The Nuggets did their part to make this an easy victory. Their defense was non-existent, and they were perhaps feeling the effects of having played the night before (a relatively stunning loss to the Knicks in New York). Then again, they've really struggled on the road this year; they're just 17-19 away from home, by far the worst mark among division leaders. It was strange to see a relatively listless game after three very intense contests.

Boston clinched a playoff spot with this win, and there is hope that the team is starting to play its best ball at the right time. Everyone is more or less healthy; despite the odd off-game from or another of them, the starters seem to have shaken off injury and are playing well; Michael Finley has been better than anyone realistically thought he could be; and Glen Davis is finally starting to do the things on the court that a man who weighs 290 pounds should do. We still need to figure out what do with Rasheed Wallace, whose refusal and/or inability to get into shape is both obnoxious and curious this late in the season. It's really having an effect on his play, particularly defensively, where he barely challenges any shots and is routinely beaten for rebounds. Whether that's due to his age and fitness or his apparent apathy is unclear, but it's at the point where I don't trust him to get any better and don't feel particularly comfortable when he's in the game.

Plenty of tests remain in the season's final few weeks, although we're really playing to keep our rhythm and go into the playoffs on a high note; we're a long shot to catch Orlando for the second seed in the East and in no real danger of giving up home-court advantage in the first round by falling to the fifth seed. I suppose we'd rather have the three than the four, just so we could avoid Cleveland in the second round, though in all likelihood we'd need to go through the Cavs anyway.

Next game is Friday at home vs. Sacramento. Next TV game is Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern on ESPN, in Boston, against the Spurs.

Boston 102, Dallas 93

[box score] [recap]

This was just a very good basketball game and a very good win for the Celtics. After holding a lead for most of the game, the Celtics found themselves down seven points on the road in the fourth quarter. In the past two months, Boston lost a bunch of games that followed this script, with the opposition's run snowballing quickly into a double-digit lead and the game rapidly slipping away. Tonight, however, Boston dug in their heels, executed on both ends, and came away with the win.

Another encouraging sign was that for the second straight night, the team ran real offense in the final minutes, relying heavily on Rajon Rondo, who had several key buckets on his way to 20 points. Paul Pierce got off to a quick start and led the team with 29 points; Ray Allen hit four of eight three-pointers and finished with 21 points; and Kevin Garnett, despite his offensive struggles, grabbed nine rebounds and have five of the team's 11 steals.

Mission accomplished on two-thirds of the team's very tough three-game Western trip. Utah on Monday is as tough a matchup as this one was tonight. The team has already sent a message with two impressive wins on a back-to-back, but a win in Salt Lake City would put the league on notice that the Celtics are not done yet.

Boston 94, Houston 87

[recap] [box score]

This was a terrific start to the road trip. It only gets tougher from here and this was not a flawless game, but there were a lot of good things. Bulleted good things, in fact, in no particular order:

• Rajon Rondo held Aaron Brooks to 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting. Brooks can really play, and he's one of the few guys in the league that might be quicker than Rondo. But Rondo, with help, kept Brooks under control, and that's a key to beating Houston.
• Five offensive rebounds for Glen Davis. Frankly, we basically suck on the offensive glass, especially with Shelden Williams reserved to a cleanup role, so this is a welcome development. Big Baby still needs to work on converting these second-chance opportunities -- he had his shot blocked four times -- but he finally seems willing to mix it up and do Leon Powe-type things, so it's a step in the right direction.
• Continued strong play from the Big Three, which combined for 60 points on 23-for-42 from the field.
• Solid performance from the bench. Davis had seven points and seven boards, Rasheed Wallace had seven points and nine rebounds, and Nate Robinson contributed another eight points. Nothing spectacular, but if we can get 70 points from our starters on a night we play our signature good defense, this is all we need from that group.
• My favorite: Real offense in crunch time! Up five with under a minute to play, needing a bucket to seal the game, we didn't isolate Paul Pierce and let him go one-on-one after letting the shot clock run down. Instead, we ran an actual play, got the ball to KG on the wing, and curled Pierce off a screen on the opposite block. Houston botched the switch, Garnett hit Pierce with a perfect pass, and the captain laid it in to lock up the W.

All in all a good win where we just outplayed the other team, and don't have to attribute it to unusually hot shooting or bad play from the bad guys. Sure, we made ten of 23 three-pointers, but we also missed six of 16 free throws and scored 12 fewer points than the Rockets from the line (despite the fact that Houston wasn't noticeably more aggressive than we were throughout the game). Let's hope we can keep it up Saturday night against Dallas.

NCAA Tournament Day One Thoughts

I don't know how many of my admittedly few readers care about college basketball or what I think about college basketball, but I just wrote 2,500 words on an incredible first day of the NCAA Tournament and I think I owe it to myself to try and get someone to read them.

Last regional breakdown over on 19-9

I've talked briefly about the West regional here, on my college basketball blog. Check there throughout the tournament for picks and recaps.