Monday, November 27, 2006

First Place Celtics?

Check the standings fans--your 16-time World Champions are now atop their division. Sure, it's probably the worst division in professional sports, but, hey, take it where you can.

In what is becoming a pleasantly recurring theme, when Paul Pierce, Wally Szczerbiak and Ryan Gomes score in double figures, we win. Pierce threw down 34 (while guarding one of the toughest guys in the NBA in Michael Redd). Szczerbiak had 21 and Gomes added 15 in the 111-98 win, that might be enough to re-boost the confidence of this young group after some abysmal losses.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Streaking To Respectability

Three straight. Holy cow, a few days ago, we thought they wouldn't win 25 games all year. Well, that might still happen, but it now seems more likely that this band of very young players may be finally getting it. It showed in this one as they held off a late charge to beat the Knickerbockers, 122-118.

Doc Rivers has been perilously close to the proverbial hot seat, but seems to have extricated himself with his inspired running game and tough defense that have exemplified the 3 game run.

Paul Pierce contributed another monster game (39 points) and Ryan Gomes gave us all more evidence that he may be for real (22 points and 14 rebounds). The balanced attacked was fleshed out by Szczerbiak (20 points) and Sebatian Telfair (19 points). Of course, anytime you knock off any over-rated New York team, it's even sweeter.

Are they worth getting excited over yet? Not bloody likely. But they are getting tantalizingly close.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Tel-FAIR? Tel-WICKED GOOD!

Sebastian Telfair sent a vibrant message to his former team--"You made a mistake". The new C's point guard poured in 15 points and dished out 7 assists in Boston's 118-90 thumping of the Portland Trailblazers.

The Celtics have now won two straight after a hideous 1-6 start, and have registered back-to-back blow-outs.

Paul Pierce poured in 29 and Wally Szczerbiak added 19 as the new "run and gun" Celtics rested the entire starting squad in the 4th Quarter. And guess what? The kids outscored Portland anyway in the frame, 41-25. Hey, maybe 35 wins are within reach.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Green Double '06-'07 Win Total In One Night!

OK, take every frustrating element of the Celtics season so far and reverse the polarity. Then, pack all that newly minted positive karma into one 48-minute package. Voila! A 26-point blow-out over the Indiana Pacers--with Larry Legend watching the proceedings from the cheap seats! Does it get any better than this?

Remember the old days when the C's would turn on the jets in the 3rd Quarter and lay waste to their opponents? Well, last night's 67-point second half had a similar resonance. Captain Paul's 32 point performance was as elegant and smooth as it's ever been. Sebastian Telfair turned in a very nice defensive stint. Wally Szczerbiak tossed in 20 points, while the constantly improving Ryan Gomes added 12 more along with 12 rebounds.

This might be the formula for success: run the floor with abandon on offense and make sure each player does his job on defense. Sounds simple, right? Yeah, go ask the coach!

Friday, November 10, 2006

It Feels Like The First Time

If this were any other win during the long slog that is the NBA season, it would accurately be termed "ugly". Twenty-five turnovers should not result in a victory for any team on any night.

But, being the very first victory of the season for the Green, we can be excused for labeling this 110-108 win over the Bobcats a "beauty". And there were comely elements to it: like Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak each scoring 35 points; like Ryan Gomes banking his first career triple double; like Delonte West nailing the game-winner as the OT clock expired on a sweet (and brilliantly savvy) pass by the Captain.

So, we'll ignore the warts and take the "W", and hope that those "W's" are closer to 40 than 30 when the season ends the day before Patriot's Day.