It’s All About the D, Baby
Even with Ray Allen missing the past couple of games, the beat goes on for the Celtics, winners of nine straight.
As a Celtic fan, even I have to admit shock at the quick turnaround this team has shown.
Sure, I knew the addition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen would help this team, but you still need a bench to win, right?
So after last season’s 24-win debacle, I would have been genuinely happy with a .500 campaign and perhaps squeaking into a playoff spot.
Uh, yeah.
After yesterday afternoon’s smothering defensive stand against a hot Raptors’ team, Boston has now won nine straight games – its longest streak in 14 years.
This Celtics’ squad is playing dominating D – they are number one in the NBA with just 86.5 points per game allowed (to put that in perspective, second-best Detroit is giving up 91.2). Sunday, they followed the game plan perfectly – don’t let the Raptors light it up from outside – en route to a 90-77 win in Toronto.
This latest victory takes Boston to 20-2 (8-2 on the road) and gives it a 7.5-game lead over Toronto in the Atlantic Division. The Cs are also four games up on Detroit for the Eastern Conference lead, setting up an intriguing matchup against the Pistons on Wednesday night.
But how about the fact that no other NBA team has less than five losses? Think about that for a moment.
Paul Pierce continues to lead the way offensively, scoring just 18 points (10 in the first quarter as Boston assumed immediate control of the game), but doing it fairly efficiently on just 15 shots, while also helping out with six boards. With KG and Ray Allen aboard, obviously Pierce isn’t getting near the amount of touches he has in recent years, but he’s playing a more well-rounded game as evidenced by his 5.0 APG – the second-best total of his career.
Best of all, gone is the scowl of the past couple of years, replaced by a bright smile. The Truth is having fun again. Wouldn’t you be having fun playing alongside Garnett, too?
Speaking of The Big Ticket, he pitched in 16 points yesterday, also a substandard offensive showing for him, but Garnett continues to do the little things right. Like how about dishing six dimes Sunday?
With Boston rolling, KG doesn’t have to play the kind of minutes he did with the T-Wolves, and his numbers are down across the board – especially in the block department, where, after a seven-swat performance against the Bulls a week and a half ago, he’s gone three straight games without registering a block. What’s up with that?
There’s no doubt that Boston’s defense-first approach and the fact that it has three go-to guys is cannibalizing all their totals, but, again, when you’re 20-2, who cares? Yes, I know the answer to that. It’s us fantasy owners who are getting killed here.
Guarding against the 3-pointer is just one of the areas Boston has completely turned it around this year. Last season, the Celtics were one of the weakest perimeter defensive teams in the year. This season, opponents are sinking just 30 per cent from the beyond the arc – that’s the best in the association.
At this pace, the men in green should cruise to their first Atlantic Division title since 2004-05, which is also the last time this team made it to the playoffs.
Of course, even though this turnaround has been driven by the D, Boston’s offense has also recovered nicely. Last year, this team had one of the worst offenses in the NBA; this season, Boston ranks 11th at 100.7 PPG – not dominating, no, but with its defense, that’s more than good enough. In fact, with a 14.2 differential between points scored and allowed, Boston is by far the best in the NBA (with Detroit a distant second at 8.5).
Boston’s aggressive D held a high-powered Toronto team to a season-low in points yesterday (the Raps’ previous low was 84 on December 7 against…yup, the Celtics). You can expect that to happen to plenty of teams when they run into the Celtics these days. In fact, Boston is now 3-0 against the defending Atlantic Division Champions this season.
By the way, if you’re one for believing that history repeats, consider that the only other Celtic team to start 20-2 – the 1963-64 incarnation – went on to win the NBA title.
As if it needed it, Boston is about to get a big boost as Ray Allen, out the past two games with a sore right ankle, is expected to return Wednesday.
The Celtics had Scot Pollard (back) ready to play yesterday, but he took a DNP-CD.
Rajon Rondo pitched in with 14 points Sunday, and he’s been getting hot offensively, with 15.5 PPG in last two outings as he helps fill the gap left by Ray Allen. The knock on him was his ability to knock down shots, right? Well, have you noticed that his dude is sinking 53 per cent of his attempts from the field this season?
Eddie House came through with a nice contribution off the bench, sinking 3-of-4 treys on the way to 11 points with two assists, a steal and a block. He’s seeing some significant minutes off the Beantown bench, and has responded with 8.5 PPG, giving him some value in very deep fantasy leagues.
Tony Allen, starting the past couple of games for Ray Allen, has filled in admirably. He reached double digits in scoring both games, totaling eight rebounds, six steals, four assists and three 3-pointers in the two games. The extra PT is helping him find his shooting touch after missing most of last year with torn knee ligaments.
James Posey bounced back from an offgame with a big show off the Boston bench Sunday, scoring 10 points with seven rebounds, a steal and an assist. He’s doing a great job defensively in the last two games with 12 rebounds and three steals. Posey also nailed two 3-pointers yesterday. Although he doesn’t get as many attempts from beyond the arc in this offense, he’s been deadly on the shots he is getting (45.6 per cent from downtown).
Starting with Wednesday in Detroit, Boston will definitely be tested more seriously. Sunday, the Celtics face Orlando, which handed them one of their losses earlier this year. To end the calendar year, Boston has a western road trip – always a challenge. And it comes home vs. Houston to start 2008.
i have been a celtic fan since 1956. i have that same feeling again that i had back then when the celtics were winning all those titles. much to the hate of other jealous cities they are back winning again. it took 80 years for the redsox to start winning.the patriots are winning. why not the celts. go boston.
Good for you, Joseph, for sticking it out during our lean years. I am also a Sox fan, but have no time for the Pats, sorry. So what about the Bruins? Don’t you like them, too?
At any rate, seeing the Celtics winning again makes things feel right in the world. Don’t you long for another one of those classic Celtic-Laker Finals? Oh man, those were the greatest.
[...] Re: NBA News/NBA Fantasy News 2006/2007 Mr. Big Shot Beats Boston After turning the ball over and giving the Celtics a chance to win, Chauncey Billups knew what he had to do when he got a second chance. “I knew there was enough time to get a pump fake, if I didn’t have a clean look and I saw him running at me,” said Billups of the foul he drew against Tony Allen with one-tenth of a second left in Wednesday’s tie game against the Boston Celtics. And, as he’s done so many times in his career, Mr. Big Shot stepped up to the line and calmly nailed both free throws to give Detroit the win in a statement game, as Boston was finally handed its first home loss of the season. In a playoff-type game, the Celtics, off to a franchise-best tying 20-2 start — including nine straight wins heading in — were finally brought back to earth by their Motown rivals, 87-85, in what many think could be an Eastern Conference Finals preview. Billups continued his offensive roll of late with a game-high 28 – a dozen coming in the decisive fourth quarter. He’s averaged 22.6 PPG with 4.0 RPG and 1.4 SPG over the past five, and has been particularly deadly from beyond the arc in the last three games with seven treys. Billups also dished eight dimes last night, snapping a mini slump where he hadn’t been contributing much in that category. Anyone concerned that the now 31-year-old Mr. Big Shot would be slowing down needs not worry. The Pistons have trimmed his minutes a bit, and that has meant slightly less touches, but the extra rest has obviously helped as Billups is draining shots at a 44.5 percent clip – a career best. His 3-point shooting has rebounded slightly (especially, as mentioned, over the past few games) and he’s getting to the line more often (a career-best 6.5 attempts per game) where, as evidenced last night when he sunk 10-of-11, he’s been lights out, nailing 91 percent on the season. Thanks to a commitment to defense, Boston has shown remarkable improvement this season, as I discussed earlier this week. However, this team will need to figure out how to get past Detroit if it has designs on a trip to the Finals. The Pistons have now won 14 of their last 15 against the Celtics. So while Boston hopes the answer to defeating Detroit is under the tree next week, let’s take a quick tour around the rest of the NBA… Gordan Giricek, whose PT has dropped dramatically this season, looks like he’s done like dinner in Utah after an altercation with head coach Jerry Sloan during Wednesday’s game. Sloan sent Giricek to the locker room and then later ordered the back-up two-guard to go home to Salt Lake City. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” Giricek said. “And I don’t have no comment for anything.” Perhaps the Jazz should order Giricek to take some English classes after that gem of a statement. At any rate, you’ve got to figure his days in Utah are done after this episode. That actually might not be a bad thing for him considering his value has been in free fall for the past couple of seasons.It looks like Flash is back. After hitting 8-of-17 for 36 points last night, he’s now averaging 30 PPG in his last three contests. Flash had one of those great all-around games Wednesday we’ve come to expect with 10 assists, six rebounds and two blocks. How about a 20-for-22 showing from the charity stripe? This dude has been living at the line lately, with 50 FTs made over the last three games. Think about that for a second. Fifty bonus points in just three games? That’s sick.Yao Ming didn’t exactly light it up on offense last night (7-for-18 for 19 points), but he sure did continue his rebounding roll, dominating Dwight Howard on the glass to the tune of a season-best 17 boards. Yao is pulling down 14.7 boards per game over the last three contests. He added two steals and three blocks Wednesday, giving him 10 blocks over the last three games. Yao’s scoring has dropped significantly this year, but he’s enjoying the finest rebounding season of his career and it looks like, if he stays healthy, he’ll break his career high in steals, not that this is a category you come to expect much from him in, but it’s a nice little bonus. http://www.houstonrockets.ws Injury Report LaMarcus Aldridge (plantar fasciitis) returned to the Blazers last night after sitting out the previous five games. He looked a bit rusty, sinking just 7-of-15 shots for 15 points to go along with only seven boards in 37 minutes, while failing to get a steal or a block. Aldridge has thrived in a starting role on the red-hot Blazers, winners of nine straight games, but you have every reason to be a bit concerned about this injury, usually a malady that tends to linger all season long. It looks like Aldridge should be re-inserted into your lineup for now, but I’d suggest constant monitoring of this situation. And if anyone has been making inquiries about his availability, now might be a good time to hear them out. Tip-ins: The Cavs are reeling, but King James continues to roll, nailing 12-of-21 from the field and 5-of-6 from the line for 32 points Wednesday. He adding eight boards and hit a trio of treys. LeBron’s shooting has been phenomenal this year, with a career-best 48.5 percent from the field…Monta Ellis keeps seeing consistent PT – a rarity on the Warriors – and he’s been making the most of it, hitting 10-of-15 shots last night en route to 24 points with five boards and five assists in 36 minutes. As long as Nellie doesn’t yank him from the starting five, Ellis is a great play…Caron Butler put an exclamation point on his career season, recording the second triple-double of his NBA career Wednesday with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. He hit three 3-pointers to help end an offensive slump and added three steals in a tremendous all-around game. Both of his triple-doubles have happened this season…Is there anyone hotter than Brandon Roy right now? The dude could win Western Conference Player of the Week for the third straight time the way he’s rolling now. He nailed 10-of-16 last night for 25 points to go along with nine rebounds and eight assists, falling just short of his first career triple-double. Roy also drained three 3-pointers as Portland rallied to beat the Raptors. If Roy stays healthy this year, something special is going to happen for the Blazers…You better hurry up and grab Anthony Johnson. He’s flying off waiver wires everywhere after his three-game binge of 16.3 PPG and 10.0 APG. He’s even beginning to light it up from outside with four treys in the last two games. Johnson has emerged from the Hawk PG murkiness as the starter and he doesn’t look like he’s going to surrender this honor anytime soon given his sudden scoring prowess…Emeka Okafor is still playing big minutes and he recorded a pair of blocks Wednesday, but you’ve got to wonder if Nazr Mohammed’s presence will eat away into Okafor’s scoring and rebounding. He sunk just 2-of-8 for six points with just nine rebounds – not the kind of numbers you expect from your double-double machine. Let’s wait and see how this plays out for a couple of games before panicking…Tony Parker, out the past four games because of his ankles, says he’ll definitely be back in action Saturday…Sean Williams and Josh Boone will remain in the Nets’ starting lineup for the time being. If you need blocks, Williams is your man…Stephon Marbury was a surprise DNP last night, and it appears he might need some rest before he’s ready to play again…Chucky Atkins (groin), could make his season debut as soon as Friday. Anthony Carter’s limited value is about to crash…Delonte West, out the past eight with plantar fasciitis, expects to return Friday. Wait and see how he performs before assessing how his presence will affect the ever-murky Seattle PG situation. Game of the Night Houston at Denver: This is a battle between two Western teams that have been a bit underwhelming of late. Houston has struggled recently and is battling to get back into the playoff picture, while Northwest Division-leading Denver is enjoying a big year, but is spinning its wheels right now and suddenly has to worry about a hard-charging Blazer club. The Nuggets’ recent domination of the Blazers – especially in Denver – appears over. Denver’s nine-game home winning streak against Portland ended Sunday. Prior to that, the Nuggets had downed the Blazers 15 times in 17 tries in Denver. Offense hasn’t been a problem for the Nuggets, as they rank fourth in the NBA with 106.3 PPG, led by Allen Iverson, third in the association with 25.9 PPG. A.I. looks to be getting on one of his infamous rolls, averaging 34 PPG in the last two. Carmelo Anthony, on the other hand, has struggled with his shot in recent games. Over the past five, he’s sinking just 34.9 percent from the floor including a substandard 6-for-17 showing on Sunday. ‘Melo is averaging just 17 PPG in his last two outings. Linas Kleiza is starting to look like a good option in deeper leagues, especially for those seeking help in 3-pointers. He’s nailed 10 from downtown over the past six games and that’s helped him pick up his scoring of late, with 13.5 PPG in his last two contests. As for Houston, things are looking grim as Tracy McGrady (knee) is not expected to suit up tonight. The team will try to help him deal with the pain so he can play, but it’s not sounding promising. http://www.houstonrockets.ws [...]