1st Quarter Mark of Boston Celtics Season

All the readers of this blog know and hopefully tolerate my constant ramblings of my favorite team in sports: the Boston Celtics.  The 2012-2013 version of the team is not the powerhouse of years past, but I started the season very confident.  In the offseason, the Celtics lost Ray Allen.  Obviously this upset me, and I named my fantasy team Judas Shuttlesworth for the year.  However, we had a great draft including getting Jarred Sullinger late in the first round, which is pretty impressive since he had been projected as a lottery pick just a year ago, but slipped because of injury risks.  Also, they added Jason Terry and Courtney Lee in the backfield, resigned Brandon Bass, and got Uncle Jeff back from his scary heart condition. 

They did not start all that hot and are at approximately .500 winning percentage at the quarter mark of the season.  Unimpressive defense, lack of big men, and falling apart when Kevin Garnett go to the bench are the main gripes I have been hearing.  Rondo was suspended for getting in a pushing match with Kris Humphries and we are still awaiting the return of Avery Bradley.  Pierce has been disappointing this year, but he is likely to improve as the season continues. 

As the new guys get more comfortable, the defense has improved, and the offense has consistently been good, which is a welcome addition.  In the past few years, we had struggled to create baskets, being forced to run Ray off a ton of screens.  I am still cautiously optimistic about the year, but increased competition from the two teams in New York within our Atlantic division may challenge the Celtics winning their fifth straight division championship and being relegated to the wild card.

Celtics Manage a Win in Game 2 without Rajon Rondo

The Celtics were without Rajon Rondo for Tuesday night's Game 2 of the first round of the NBA playoffs.  Boston fans were tense, with the early exit from Lord Stanley's Playoffs by the defending champ Bruins, and a tense situation in Boston with Bobby Valentine.  Everyone had written off the Celtics from having a chance at victory without their mercurial point guard, and this would have been the case had PAUL PIERCE not gone absolutely bananas.  The Celtics' 4th quarter was insane, with them going on a strong run offensively, and playing lock down defense.  Avery Bradley made all kinds of athletic plays, and KG was doing KG things.  Great for the Celtics to get a win down in Atlanta and even the series up 1-1 heading back to Boston.

Celtics Embarrass the Heat, Continue to Win

I am a huge NBA fan, basketball is awesome, and while I have enjoyed the NCAA College Basketball Tournament, the Celtics are my true passion.  I have been stressfully following this lockout shortened season, and may have even overreacted about the Celtics in February.  However, they have turned it around in a big way, capped off by beating the Miami Heat in Boston Sunday afternoon.  They have been without Ray Allen for the past few weeks, but my boy Avery Bradley has stepped in and really delivered.

The Celtics win was the largest point differential loss that the Heat have faced this year.  Rajon Rondo went absolutely nuts, achieving his 18th triple double, and making the Heat PGs, Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers look like mannequins.  Pierce and Garnett both had great games, with Garnett absolutely shutting down Chris Bosh, and playing physical and angry as usual.  However, I was most impressed with Avery Bradley.  He was able to completely shut down former NBA Finals MVP, Dwyane Wade, blocking him in the dunk below.  This is a pretty impressive achievement for the youngster, who has really come into his own with Ray on the sidelines.

The Celtics have been 10-1 without Ray, which is pretty scary, if he is able to come back soon and keep up his hot shooting from the beginning of the season.  I think Ray should start, but he is a bit of a liability on defense, but his offense makes up for it.  Playing Kevin Garnett at center is a risk that Doc Rivers has taken to try and get more active and allow the offense to not be bogged down by a slow big like the useless Jermaine O'Neal or Shaq.  Greg Stiemsma is still raw, but he is playing with heart!  Pierce is still playing solid, and if he is on, then he is going to draw the best defensive player, leaving the other Celtics open to score baskets.

I am not saying they are going to win the NBA championship this year, but the Celtics are looking great.  My only fear is that they are peaking too soon, theres still 3 weeks until the playoffs start.

Celtics 0-2

The Celtics have gotten off to a terrible start in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. They lost the first two games to the Heat in Miami and are coming home to play the next 2. I am feeling a lot less confident, but I am certainly not saying that they are drawing dead. The first game on Sunday was awful, the Celtics were down the entire game, and Miami and Wade had their foot on our necks the whole way. Some terrible officiating including the Pierce ejection, and 2 miscalled flagrant fouls (that have since been changed) would have resulted in potentially 7 extra points in Boston's direction.

Game 2 went down last night, and the Celtics looked a lot better, however they were not enough for the Heat. Bosh had a solid game 2, much better than his Sunday performance. KG played bad again, missed a ton of shots, got owned by Wade on a sick crossover move, and got owned again by Lebron at the end of the game going for a layup. Rondo and the bench played pretty well, but lack of significant contributions from the rest of the Big 3 resulted in the L. Lebron seems to have settled into his role as the #2 option for the team, but his amazing skill allows him to take over games at will, which he did in the second half.

Game 3 is going to be insane in Boston, and a win is vital, Shaq being back in the lineup could shake things up. I am looking for a huge game from the entire Celtics roster and hopefully the Heat will struggle like they did during regular season games at the TD Garden. Around the rest of the league, I see no way that the Hawks can actually beat Chicago, but in the West both underdogs are totally live. Memphis is playing some scrappy basketball, and as long as Mike Conley does alright, we could definitely see them knocking off OKC. Lakers should be able to beat Dirk and the Mavs, although Pau and Odom are going to need to get angry to win! Go Bruins!

Ray Allen is the Man!

That was an awesome opening weekend of NBA playoffs. Upsets abound in Orlando, San Antonio, and Los Angeles, as well as close games everywhere else! My Celtics were losing during most of the game, but the clutch play of our big 4 (yes I include Rondo) and great play calling by Doc Rivers was topped off with this game winning shot by Ray Allen. Watch the video.