If this was the last time that the Big 4 (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo) played together for the Boston Celtics, what a way to go out.
The C's (23-19, 7-11 away) won a wildly entertaining game 105-103 against the Warriors (18-22, 10-11 home) at Oracle Arena tonight. KG (24 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists) hit a jumper from just inside the 3-point line with five seconds left then former Celtic Nate Robinson (20 points, 11 assists, 4 steals) clanked a hero 3-pointer and Boston survived.
It was Boston's eighth win in their last 10 games.
The NBA Trade Deadline is tomorrow and while I don't think Danny Ainge will do anything major at this point, he is the same guy who came out of nowhere last season and traded Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City at the last second.
I've arrived at the conclusion that Ainge might as well let this season ride out with the current cast. Blow it up in the summer when some contracts expire and the Celtics have two first-round draft picks plus they can spend money in free agency. If anything, this group has proven that they deserve one last shot. However, with Chris Wilcox now out for the year with a heart ailment, ala Jeff Green, the C's desperately need a big man (Chris Kaman please).
Brandon Bass had 22 points and nine rebounds, Rondo had eight points, 14 assists and six rebounds while Pierce added 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. Only nine guys played for Boston but Mickael Pietrus (15 points on 5 3-pointers) and Greg Stiemsma (8 points, 8 rebounds) each had their best performances in months.
It seems like nothing has changed under Golden State's new head coach Mark Jackson and even with Monta Ellis shipped out of town: they are still allergic to defense. The Warriors were playing shorthanded since Stephen Curry and the reacquired Stephen Jackson were out with injuries.
Rookie Klay Thompson, who could be Austin Rivers' twin brother, scored a career-high 26 points, the always underrated David Lee notched 22 points and eight rebounds while Dorell Wright scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Dominic McGuire had 10 points off the bench.
Golden State led 25-21 after one quarter and 60-55 at halftime. Boston responded in the third quarter (26-17) and made enough plays in the fourth (outscored 26-24) to hang on for their second win in a row.
The Celtics recorded 32 assists on 40 baskets which is insane. That made up for the Warriors dominating in the paint to the tune of 60-42.
Boston will try to make it three straight on the road (and 3-1 on this trip) when they visit the Sacramento Kings on Friday for their only meeting of the season. The Kings are just as awful as you remember so barring anything crazy tomorrow (knock on wood), the Celts should win it.
UPDATE 3/15: What did I tell you? The Celtics didn't make any moves today at all although they hinted that they'll buy out Jermaine O'Neal.
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