KG will punch you in the balls then a month later beat you on the scoreboard

I guess I've been hanging with Charlie Sheen too much lately (WINNING!) since I somehow forgot in my last Celtics blog post that the Suns had beaten them three out of the last four times they had played.

Oh well, last night was the same old Phoenix Suns that I remember as the Boston Celtics rolled them 115-103 in a chippy, weird game at the TD Garden.

It was Troy Murphy's debut for the Celts (44-15) but he only put up one point and two rebounds. Fear not though, Sasha Pavlovic is on the way!

Boston led by as many as 29 points in the third quarter before Phoenix (31-28) cut it to as few as eight points but that was as close as their bench could get them.

From their last meeting in late January (a Suns blowout), Kevin Garnett had some unsettled beef with Channing Frye. Don't ask me why since KG was the one that punched him in the balls and got tossed from that game. He might be old but if you get Garnett riled up like that and you're a marginal player, look out. He put up a game-high 28 points and eight rebounds, shooting 12 of 14 with three assists and two blocks.

Ray Allen had 19 points, Rajon Rondo put up 16 points and 15 assists with five rebounds and three steals. Paul Pierce scored 16 points with 13 rebounds and Nenad Krstic had 13 points as continues to prove his worth offensively.

Glen Davis had 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench but he left the game with a minute left after coming down awkwardly on his left knee following a dunk. Boston can't afford another injury, especially to their best bench player.

The Suns' starters were awful as only Grant Hill and Vince Carter scored in double figures (both had 11 points). Phoenix's performance can be summed up by Carter and Frye knocking heads in the third quarter (down 29) and both being out for the rest of the game. What a mess.

Phoenix's bench looked great and it makes you wonder why Suns coach Alvin Gentry doesn't play some of these young guys more. Aaron Brooks scored 17 points with seven assists, former BC star Jared Dudley put up 15 points while Marcin Gortat had 13 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks. Why in the world does Robin Lopez (6 points, 4 rebounds) start over Gortat? Mickael Pietrus added 11 points.

It'll be another track meet tomorrow night as the Celtics host the Golden State Warriors. Boston tore apart Golden State last week on their West Coast trip and it promises to be more of the same tomorrow night at home where they play particularly well.

The one where Oregon (Aaron Brooks) actually beats Auburn (Marquis Daniels)

After the initial solid play after Kevin Garnett got hurt a few weeks ago, the Boston Celtics are clearly missing their leader.

They lost their second straight game last night, 108-102 at the TD Garden to the Houston Rockets (who were missing Yao Ming and Kevin Martin).

Houston (17-21) shot lights out (52.7%) for the entire game, as evidenced by having seven players score in double figures: Aaron Brooks (24 including 5 of 8 on 3-pointers), Kyle Lowry (17), Chase Budinger (13), Luis Scola (12), Jordan Hill (12), Shane Battier (10) and Patrick Patterson (10).

It's easy to make excuses and say the Rockets hit ridiculous shots (which they did) but the Celts (28-9) also didn't play defense at all so therefore they didn't deserve to beat a team they should normally have no trouble smoking.

Marquis Daniels (19 points) and Ray Allen (19 points) seemed to be the only Celtics to really put up much of a fight. Paul Pierce had 16 points, Glen Davis scored 12 points while Rajon Rondo added nine points and 12 assists but none of them were really on.

The Rockets led 27-22 after one quarter and 50-49 at halftime. When they took the third (30-25), you had the feeling the Cs were in trouble since Houston was on fire. The fourth was even (28-28) but that was enough for the visitors since Boston could never get a stop.

The Celts shot 50.7% but the Rockets had twice as many 3-pointers (10-5) and grabbed seven more rebounds (38-31). Boston had eight more steals (13-5) and 26 more points in the paint (48-22) but it wasn't enough against a jump-shooting team that couldn't miss.

Boston had practice today and then they'll try to get it right tomorrow night when they host the Sacramento Kings, one of the NBA's worst teams.

Well this is getting old

Nothing seems to be going right for the Boston Celtics as they lost again, 89-85 to the Houston Rockets at the TD Banknorth Garden last night.

It was the Celtics' (29-8) sixth loss in their last eight games and it was particularly costly as they lost the top spot in the Eastern Conference to the Cavs (who won). The Orlando Magic are also only a game back now from the suddenly vulnerable C's.

Playing without Tracy McGrady (captain of the NBA's all-overrated team), the Rockets (22-15) were just a little bit better than Boston.

Yao Ming led the way with a game-high 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Aaron Brooks had 19 points off the bench to spark Houston and Ron Artest managed 17 before fouling out. Journeyman Von Wafer had 12 points, including a huge 3-pointer in the fourth.

Paul Pierce had 26 points, five boards and four assists in the loss. Kevin Garnett added 18 points and eight boards while Ray Allen (13 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds) and Glen Davis (12 points off the bench) were the other bright spots.

Kendrick Perkins (0 points, 5 fouls) and Rajon Rondo (5 points, 5 assists) were beyond useless and not surprisingly, they're the barometers to the Celtics' success.

Houston shot better from the floor (48.6%-42.9%) which made up for nine more Celtics free throws (19-10).

The next game is going to be as hard as they come in the regular season as Boston travels to Cleveland to take on the Cavs, who are the NBA's only remaining unbeaten team at home.