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I don't know, the "experts" were claiming that things were going a little too easy for the Celtics, that they had nothing but meaningless wins over inferior opponents in the final weeks of the regular season, plus two blowout victories against the Atlanta Hawks to open the postseason ... Supposedly, they weren't being "challenged" enough, and needed to toughen up in preparation for some stiffer competition in the later rounds; therefore, these so-called "experts" suggested that it might be in Boston's best interests if they played a couple of close games against the Hawks, just to test their mettle a little bit. Hey, after all, the Hawks are so far out of the C's league, that they can afford to play in some tight contests against them, since they're obviously good enough to prevail and win this series, right? Right?
Y'know, for the last week or so, I've had to listen to Felger and Tanguay over at Comcast (newengland.comcastsportsnet.com) argue that this series was going to be boring as hell and that maybe the Celtics should have at least one close game - rather than four straight blowouts - in order to better prepare themselves for the second round ... Now, while it's nice to hear the C's spoken of in such reverent terms after watching them languish in obscurity over the last few seasons, it just made me "nervous" to hear people getting so cocky.Both teams had to suffer through the inconvenience.The Atlanta Hawks, masters of the space-time continuum! Hey, maybe the Philips Arena staff just needed 1.21 Jigowatts (bttf.com) to get those clocks running again ...
That was the standard Celtics response to the dilemma of playing without a shot clock from the start of the second half until 6:48 remained in the game.
However, at least one player detected the aroma of home cooking once the digits went blank.
“It was different, man,” Kevin Garnett said after the Celtics’ 102-93 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. “I think when Josh (Smith) got a block on (Rajon) Rondo (in the third), the seconds were three seconds. Then all of a sudden they called a shot clock violation. That was kind of weird. That’s playing on the road, man. You can’t (complain) and moan about that stuff. It’s called homecourt for a reason.”
The Hawks did respond better to the awkwardness of listening for the public address announcer to count down the last five seconds of each possession.
“We all played ball without a clock growing up,” Ray Allen said. “We’ve all seen a lot of different and weird things, but this really didn’t help or hurt us.”
That’s not to say that the situation was completely free of human error. Virtually the entire C’s bench jumped up in protest when Al Horford had enough time to hit a third-quarter 3-pointer thanks to a particularly long gap in the countdown between the fourth and third seconds.
The Celtics were then whistled for a shot clock violation when, as the ball bounced out of bounds off Smith’s block of Rondo, the announcer appeared to have reached three seconds.
Celtics forward Paul Pierce is doing fine after receiving treatment and massage on his injured back yesterday. Pierce injured his back during hard foul in the first quarter of the Game 2 win over Atlanta on Wednesday. The six-time NBA All-Star is expected to play in Game 3.
After Monday's practice, Doc Rivers said it would be tough for any Celtics to be honored for any individual league awards because of the role-playing style his team plays.
Apparently, Kia Motors really does have the power to surprise. After Tuesday's practice, the NBA and Kia proved Rivers wrong and named Kevin Garnett the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, recognizing KG's impact on a Celtics defense that ranked first in field goal percentage allowed, three-point field goal percentage and scoring differential, and ranked second in points allowed.
Garnett is the first Celtic to win the award since its inception in 1983, and he joins an elite club of defensive stalwarts who've won the award, including Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Dennis Rodman, Dikembe Mutombo and David Robinson.
Our starting Point Guard, Rajon Rondo, was born four months before
the Celtics won their last Championship.
The veterans on our team were all little kids.
The Celtics of today are not the storied teams of old. The direct
connections that flowed back in the days when the new guys played
rookie seasons as the Legends that preceded them were nearing
retirement and eventual enshrinement in the Hall of Fame were gone.
Red Auerbach died over a year ago, never to see this magical season
from his familiar Loge seat.
So who guides these young players, with so much drive and enthusiasm?
We do.
We, who grew up watching Russell and Cousy, Heinsohn and Havlicek,
Bird and McHale, and all the others.
We are that connection. We are Red Auerbach's cigar, Loscy's
hard-nosed play, and Johnny Most screaming that Havlicek stole the ball.
We want this team to win, we have hoped and prayed and bragged and
whined and begged for this team to win as we sat through the seasons
of degradation and losses both of games and of people.
This season, they gave us one of the finest regular seasons in NBA
history. They took game one against the Hawks. But we need look no
further than Detroit and Washington to see where complacency and
comfort get you.
Wednesday night, the Celtics host the Hawks again.
Celtic Fandom, it's your time. If you can go to the game, rock the
building to it's very foundation, until the buried remains of the old
Boston Garden thrum with the sound. If now, be outside, add your
support from the street. if you're at a restaurant or a bar, rock
THAT building to it's core. If you're at home, watching on tv,
listening on the radio, or online, let our voice be heard so the
team knows we are there, across the country and around the
world. Then do the same for the away games in Atlanta. We KNOW they
never fill their court, so let US do it!
Just after learning he made his sixth All-Star team, Celtics forward Paul Pierce's first reaction was: "Joe Johnson?"It's been a couple months, but it's possible that the former Celtic could have this "dis" still sitting in the back of his mind, eating away at him. So, what better way to show up his ex-teammate and prove that he's an All-Star calibre player than by coming out like gangbusters in the postseason*?
Pierce was surprised that his ex-Celtics teammate, now with the Hawks, made the Eastern Conference team at guard over his current teammate, Ray Allen. Pierce was one of seven players voted in as an East reserve by the conference's coaches. Celtic Kevin Garnett already was voted in as a starting forward by the fans, while coach Doc Rivers and his staff earned the right to coach the East.
Johnson is averaging 21.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 5.3 assists for the 18-23 Hawks. Allen is averaging 18.2 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists for a Celtics team that is an NBA-best 36-8 after last night's 96-90 win over Dallas.
"I felt like [Allen] probably should have been over Joe Johnson," Pierce said. "That's just my opinion, though. They don't have a good record. They are not a .500 team. If that's the case, I think you should be on a .500 team or better.
"No knock on Joe Johnson. He's definitely an All-Star. He's definitely put up numbers and he is definitely a great talent in the NBA. But I think it also should do a lot with what you do as a team."
Pierce said "that's crazy" when he heard Allen didn't make it.
Wondering when the last time the Lakers and Celtics were both the No. 1 seed in their conference?
Relax, we've already looked it up for you -- it was 1988. How has the world changed since then? Take a look:
Making their debut
1988: Scottie Pippen, Reggie Miller, Kenny Smith, Mark Jackson
2008: Morris Almond, Marco Belinelli, Coby Karl, Oleksiy Pecherov
Hot video game
1988: Super Mario Bros. 3 (Nintendo Entertainment System)
2008: Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo Wii)
MVP finalists
1988: Jordan, Bird, Magic, Barkley
2008: Garnett, James, Paul, Bryant
Born
1988: Kevin Durant (9/29)
2008: Baby Kidd (TBA)
Still in the league
1988: Artis Gilmore, Caldwell Jones, World B. Free, Paul Mokeski
2008: Dikembe Mutombo, Eric Piatkowski, Bo Outlaw, Penny Hardaway
Number of players attempting 200 3-pointers
1988: 4
2008: 93
Isiah Thomas
1988: All-Star, NBA finalist, most beloved man in Detroit
2008: Coach of worst Knicks team ever, most hated man in New York City
No. 1 song on Billboard 100
1988: "Get Out of My Dreams, Get Into My Car," Billy Ocean
2008: "Bleeding Love," Leona Lewis
All-Star highlight
1988: James Donaldson makes the Western Conference roster
2008: San Antonio wins Shooting Stars competition
Television
1988: Writer's Guild of America goes on strike
2008: Writer's Guild of America goes on strike
NCAA Champion
1988: University of Kansas
2008: University of Kansas
What, you think I'm talking about the end of the regular season? Heck no, I'm ready to get on that road to Banner Number 17 (drivefor17.tv)! Besides, who could be disappointed in a 66-16 record (nba.com)? Or securing homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs? Or achieving the greatest turnaround in league history (plus-42 in wins)? Or becoming the first NBA team to go from worst to first in their conference?
Proof that mascots are evil creatures (bostonherald.com):Last night, in the process of the Celtics completing a series sweep of the Chicago Bulls for the first time since 1986-87, Kevin Garnett and James Posey engaged in some late-game trash talking with Benny the Bull.UPDATE: Chicago responds (boston.com):
“Bulls can talk,” said Garnett, who initially was upset after he and Posey were hit in the back by clothing fired from a T-shirt launcher during a timeout in the closing minutes of the C’s 106-92 victory. “Walking off the floor we got hit by some shirts.”
Garnett initially had to be restrained by a member of the officiating crew as Benny stood a safe distance away.
“I turned around, saw the guy in the bull hat, and we had some words,” Garnett said.
Posey, not a favorite in Chicago dating back to when he was a member of the Miami Heat, cringed in mock fear.
“I don’t know - I feel threatened,” Posey said. “I don’t feel safe. They really have tough love here, but it was definitely an inside job. They made the mascot do it. I got hit in the back walking away. That spot on my back is sore. I might have to get treatment on it.”
The Benny encounter brings to mind an incident four years ago when Ricky Davis returned to Cleveland for the first time in a Celtics uniform and witnessed the sight of Moondog, the Cavaliers mascot, mopping the floor with a replica of his old Cleveland jersey. Moondog later was suspended for the act.
A Bulls official said this morning that their mascot Benny the Bull is innocent. He is accused of hitting Celtics players Kevin Garnett and James Posey with T-shirts, according to the players.Of course he doesn't conduct interviews, mascots can't speak ... They're silent assassins that way.
Bulls officials say that the incident was a result of an accident by its promotional team, the IncrediBulls. One of the members apparently fell down as it was shooting T-shirts into the crowd.
“When the IncrediBull member tripped, the shirts were accidentally launched in the direction of the Celtics, but they did hit the floor first according to what we saw. When it took place we did take steps to apologize to the Celtics’ bench and the referees during the timeout and let them know what happened during that same timeout," said Bulls spokesman Tim Hallam.
The Bulls have watched the incident over video.
Instead of hitting the crowd, the T-shirts hit the Celtics players. When Garnett and Posey turned to look where the shirts came from, all they saw in their vicinity was Bennie.
Bulls officials said they told the game referees what had happened. Then the referees told the Celtics bench the story. However, the Celtics did not buy the tale.
Benny the Bull may comment later today, but says he is innocent of all charges.
However, according to the Bulls officials, Benny does not speak and conduct interviews.
