Friday, April 29, 2011

I am so ready to beat these jokers..

Is it Sunday yet?
I am so ready for this series to start. Despite that debacle a few weeks ago, we have owned the Heat all season. And I believe things will be no different during the playoffs. Here's a few reminders for Celtics and Heat fans:



Sunday, April 24, 2011

On to the next one.

"Eat this."
Celtics finished off the Knicks at MSG today 101-89. They will now move on to face the winner of the Heat-Sixers series in round 2. The Heat lead that series 3-1, and will look to wrap-it up on Wednesday night in Miami. The main reason this sweep is so huge for the C's is that it guarantees Shaq and the rest of the squad at least 1 full week of rest.

The Celtics were in control most of this game. New York made a run and got within 6 in the 4th, but the Celts pulled-it together and finished the job. I knew the bench would not stay down much longer, and today they were a key part of the C's victory. Big Baby scored clutch baskets throughout the 1st half and finished with his series-best of 14 pts & 5 rebounds.

But the story again today, and the story of this series, was the "Big Four" of Ticket, Truth, Rondo & Ray. Rondo got to the basket at will, and despite the Knicks trying to deter him w/a hard-foul early on, he finished with 21 pts & 12 dimes. Paul & Ray started off slow, but hit big shots when it mattered. They put in 13 and 14, respectively. The Big Ticket led the Celtics with 26 points today, and stoically hit big shot after big shot down the stretch. He also was a perfect 6 for 6 from the FT line.

This was the first sweep since 1992 when the C's eliminated the Pacers in 4, and only the 2nd road close-out win since KG & Ray joined the team in 2007. The C's continue to get better & better, and now will get a nice extended rest to regroup and possibly get Shaq ready for some significant playing-time. Enjoy the time-off Celtics fans, and be sure to check out Chuck's recap over at Red's Army.
(video courtesy of Chris Forsberg)

Friday, April 22, 2011

Silent.

"Swissssh."

"Get off me."
The MSG crowd was raucous and rowdy at the beginning of the night. By the end of it, they were silent.
Spike Lee even left early. It was that bad. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the rest of the Boston Celtics were the reason why. Behind the Captain's 38 and Ray's 32, the Celtics convincingly beat the Knicks 113-96 in
NYC tonight. Knicks fans will probably say their team is "banged-up" or that they didn't play "hardenough", but it's hard to deny the C's offensive effort and more importantly, the way they turned things around on the glass tonight.


Pierce had a look of determination in his eye from the jump. Watching on tv as he came out on the floor, he just had a menacing look like he was not going to be denied tonight. And sure enough, he wasn't. With his 38 points, he passed Kobe Bryant as the active-player with the most 30+ point performances at MSG with 8. Ray Allen dropped in 32 points of his own, including 8 of 11 from downtown. He was absolutely unstoppable once he got going. And of course we cannot forget about Rondo. Rajon had easily his best playoff game of 2011 thus far, notching a triple-double of 15 pts, 11 boards and an incredible 20 assists-which tied a Celtics playoff record. Jermaine O'Neal continued to silence his skeptics by playing another solid game. He had 3 blocks, 2 assists, 6 points and 3 boards in 27 minutes. This from a guy who many, including myself, did not think would be healthy enough to play at all this postseason.

 The only concern this evening was the C's bench-they continued to struggle and looked lost at times. However I am confident that together with Doc and their teammates they will tighten things up. The Celtics now will look to sweep the Knicks on Sunday, my birthday, at Madison Square Garden. What a great present that would be! Tip-off is at 3:30pm. Check out Chuck's recap at Red's Army.com for more, including a link to the complete box score.


Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Scrap.

"MINE."
Another scrap tonight. Celtics defeat a gutsy, relentless Knicks team 96-93. Carmelo Anthony was simply not human. Hitting shot after shot he finished with 42 points. Rajon Rondo led the C's with an epic 30 of his own.
Kevin Garnett was the true hero though, hitting the game-winning turnaround in the lane with 14 seconds left, then stealing the ball in the final seconds to seal the win. Check out a full-recap over at Red's Army.


Here's some postgame vid courtesy of Chris Forsberg:











Monday, April 11, 2011

Meaningless.

Bitten again by the injury-bug.
Other than to the 2nd unit's pride, tonight's Celts-Wiz game was meaningless. Celtics lose in OT 95-94. Jeff Green had his best game as a Celtic, scoring 20 points to go with 15 boards. Delonte West left the game in the 3rd quarter with a sprained right ankle. This guy just cannot catch a break. Let's cross our fingers that he's ready to go by the weekend.

We now know that the Celtics 1st round opponent will be the New York Knicks. Game 1 will be Sunday afternoon at TD Garden. C's also wrap-up regular season vs New York on Wednesday night at TD. Tip-off for "Fan Appreciation Night" will be at 8pm. I'll be there. Check out our full recap of tonight's game w/links to the box score at Red's Army.com.


Friday, April 8, 2011

C's 104 Wiz 88-Postgame videos from Chris Forsberg

"Get off me."
Here's some postgame vids from my boy Chris Forsberg. Also, read the full recap from Chuck over at Red's Army. . C's face the Heat in Miami on Sunday. Tip-off's at 3:30pm.





Thursday, April 7, 2011

Give it away now.

See you in the playoffs sucka.

That song just popped-in my head when thinking about tonight's game. In my opinion, the C's gave it away. Missed layups, getting out-hustled, not executing etc. Sure, D.Rose had his 30 points, but we knew that was going to happen. Regardless though, the C's drop one in Chicago to the Bulls tonight 97-81.

Celtics opened the game hitting their first few shots and looking pretty good. But as time went on, they got out of their game plan, partly due to some great Bulls defense, and the game slipped away in the 2nd half. C's shot a paltry 20% from behind the arc and 38% from the field. Once again, it seemed that Ray didn't get enough touches and he and Rondo combined for 14 points.

Not much more to say tonight as I have to get to bed. But you can read John's recap and get the full boxscore over on Red's Army. Don't panic folks, this game tonight really means nada in the grand scheme of things. Frustrating and disappointing? Yes. But the be all/end all to the season? Hell no.

Celtics are back in action tomorrow night at the Garden to face the Wizards. Tip-off is at 7:30pm. I'll be out of town for a wedding all weekend, but we'll have all the action covered over at Red's Army.com.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Good news, bad news..

"Get off me!"



Good news is, the C's beat a subpar Detroit Pistons team 101-90 at the Garden tonight. Bad news is, after absolutely killing-it with 6 minutes of great play, Shaq strains his left calf and does not return.

This was an up and down game where the C's would get a double-digit lead, and then Detroit would claw back. The main cause of that being 19 Celtic turnovers. A 33-18 3rd quarter in favor in the C's was crucial in them holding down the Pistons. Kevin Garnett led all scorers with 23, Paul Pierce had 22, and Rondo dished out 14 assists. Glen Davis and Delonte West both played well off the bench, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively.

But the real story tonight of course is Shaq. It's very clear that without his help, the odds are against us in the postseason. We need his big body down low to battle in the paint. I'm sure as the week goes on, we'll find out what Doc and Danny's plan is. You want Shaq healthy for the playoffs, but you also need him to get some burn and get his wind back before the postseason starts. Stay tuned...

Celtics are now off until Tuesday when the Sixers come to town. Tip-off is at 7:30pm. Be sure to read Red's Army's recap as well.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Out of gas..

C's were a step behind in the 4th quarter.
Tough one to watch this evening. You really felt like the C's were firing on all cylinders tonight, but a rough 4th quarter costs them the game. They fall in Atlanta to the Hawks 88-83 on the 2nd night of a road back-to-back.

There are alot of things you can blame tonight; getting out-rebounded 52-38 and 14-2 on the offensive glass, missed layups, missed free-throws..but the bottom-line in my eyes was that the C's just ran out of gas in the 4th quarter.

You can read and comment on Chuck's recap and get links to the boxscore on Red's Army.com.

Celtics travel back to Boston and next play on Sunday against the Pistons. Tip-off at the Garden is at 6pm.