The Knicks are One Sad Basketball Team

Credit to the Knicks, after getting absolutely embarrassed by the Celtics on their home floor Sunday afternoon, they came to Boston tonight and found a new and different painful way to lose to one of their biggest rivals. Sure the C's (11-14 overall, 6-6 home) blew a 17-point lead earlier in the game but that was nothing compared to New York (6-16 overall, 3-8 away) choking away an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter in an eventual 90-86 loss at TD Garden.

Who could blame Knicks head coach Mike Woodson for looking like a defeated man for most of the night. Apparently he'll be able to keep his job until Tyson Chandler comes back but honestly, will his return even matter? Through bad contracts, ineffective, old and/or injured players plus being centered around perhaps the most one-dimensional and overrated player in the NBA-Carmelo Anthony (26 points)-means that New York is likely stuck in this predicament for a long time.

These teams meet twice more, the next time is January 28 at Madison Square Garden. Is there any chance Woodson will be paid to be there too? The Celts are basically the anti-Knicks: no stars (without Rajon Rondo), few egos, unselfish play and they at least attempt to give defense a whirl plus they have a coach that is constantly learning on the job.

Jared Sullinger (19 points, 6 rebounds) led four players in double figures for the Green; Avery Bradley had 13 points and six assists, Brandon Bass notched 10 points and eight rebounds while Courtney Lee was a real spark off the bench with 18 points (3 for 3 on 3-pointers).

New York's big acquisition Andrea Bargnani put up 22 points and seven rebounds but where did that get them? Amar'e Stoudemire (18 points, 5 rebounds off the bench) has actually played pretty well recently but that still doesn't come close to justifying his Looney Tunes contract.

Boston led 29-26 after the first quarter and 54-48 at halftime. New York went ahead with a strong third quarter (25-14) but their fourth was typically pathetic (outscored 22-13). The Celtics shot 8.5% better from the field (48.5-40), they blocked four more shots (5-1) and scored 11 more fast break points (14-3).

This is a sweet spot in the Celtics' schedule as they are in the midst of a five-game homestand with three more on tap beginning with Monday (7:30, CSN) vs. Kevin Love and the Timberwolves (11-12, 4th in Northwest Division). He had an amazing performance (42 points, 14 rebounds, 8 3-pointers) but it wasn't enough as Minnesota fell 117-110 at San Antonio this evening to fall back under .500. At some point, the Timberwolves are going to be good, right?

Tonight snapped a two-game losing streak for Boston and with Minnesota, Detroit and Washington all coming to town next week, this unfortunately could be the start of another win-streak. Other than Brooklyn, who else is going to challenge them in the putrid Atlantic Division this season?

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Huzzah, The Celtics Are Fun To Watch Again

Say this for the Celtics without Rajon Rondo (and Jared Sullinger), they might not be nearly as talented but they sure are enjoyable to watch. Rather than having one guy dribble for most of the 24-second clock then figure out a play, they share the basketball, play defense and everyone seems to pull their weight more equally. Tonight, Boston (25-23, 8-14 away) won 99-95 at Toronto's (17-32, 12-13 home) Air Canada Centre, their fifth straight victory since Rondo went down.

Kevin Garnett had a season-high 27 points and 10 rebounds, Courtney Lee added 15 points, Paul Pierce struggled from the field (2 for 11) but still had 12 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, Avery Bradley scored 11 points and even Brandon Bass found his way into double figures with 10 points. That's right, all five Celtics starters plus Leandro Barbosa (14 points off the bench) all scored 10+ points. Not something you saw much earlier in the season.

Even though they had lost three of their last four in Toronto, beating the Raptors isn't normally worth a damn but this was at least notable because Toronto was up 10 (79-69) heading into the fourth quarter. After getting smoked in the third quarter (34-19), the C's rallied for an excellent fourth quarter (30-16).

Former UConn star Rudy Gay, acquired from Memphis last week, filled the stat sheet with 25 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. Kyle Lowry had 18 points, seven assists and four steals, Amir Johnson had a double-double (16 points, 12 rebounds) and DeMar Derozan put up 13 points. Andrea Bargnani notched 13 points off the bench for the Raptors.

This game was just an appetizer for the main course tomorrow night back in Boston: Celtics vs. Lakers (23-26). It's the first of two meetings between the bitter rivals and it gets the full primetime experience (8 p.m., TNT) despite the fact that LA has been the NBA's biggest disappointment so far this season. Pau Gasol hurt his foot last night so he'll be out but Kobe Bryant is still on the Lakers so it should be a great atmosphere as Boston goes for their sixth win in a row.

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Celtics Post Their 1st Blowout Win Of The Season, Vs Hapless Raptors Of Course

Even though the circumstances were strange-a ultra rare Saturday afternoon game at home-the Celtics still dismantled the Raptors, 107-89 at TD Garden in their first blowout victory of the season. As such, we were treated to the usual performance of KG geeking out while watching Geno disco dance on the jumbotran. Now that's entertainment!

There are few things left in this world that you can count on besides death, taxes and the Raptors (2-7, 1-4 away) being awful. Well at least they have a dedicated fanbase. Oh. The Celtics (6-4, 3-2 home) on the other hand are starting to look like a different team, in a good way.

After missing Thursday's game in Brooklyn, Rajon Rondo returned and put up an easy 20 assists (in 32 minutes; his 33rd straight game with 10+ assists). Jason Terry had a season-high 20 points, Paul Pierce had 19 points and six rebounds while Kevin Garnett tallied 15 points and five rebounds in 17 minutes. The best part of the final margin is that it let the starters get some additional rest going into tomorrow's game (the fourth in five days).

It might not be long until rookie Jared Sullinger is pushing to be back in the starting lineup again, especially when Brandon Bass is slumping. Sullinger recorded his first NBA double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. All the bench guys seem more comfortable as they feel out their respective roles. Jeff Green scored nine points while Chris Wilcox and Leandro Barbosa each had eight points.

Unless Toronto's ultimate goal is to lose a bunch of games every season and then make stupid draft picks, I honestly can't comprehend their team-building strategies. They actually have some decent individual players but nobody that will ever sniff an NBA All-Star Game and as we all know, the NBA more than any other sport is a star's league. Andrea Bargnani had 15 points, Jose Calderon added 10 points and nine assists and DeMar DeRozan notched 10 points. John Lucas scored 15 points off the bench with Linas Kleiza and rookie Terrence Ross checking in with 10 points apiece.

Even on the second night of a back-to-back and very busy week, the Celtics should still roll over the Pistons (1-9), one of the NBA's worst teams, tomorrow night (7:30 p.m., CSN) in Motown. Make sure to tune in after the Patriots-Colts (4:25 p.m., CBS) game ends. Former Boston assistant coach Lawrence Frank is Detroit's head coach who could be on the hot seat if his terrible team keeps playing at this pitiful level.

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Any Big East fan could have told you, Luke Harangody is a beast

Earlier in the week, I made a mistake when I referred to Celtics guard Von Wafer as the last guy on the bench. I neglected to mention rookie guard Avery Bradley and rookie forward Luke Harangody, two college players that came out too early (Bradley) or seem to be undersized and without a position in the NBA (Harangody).

With Kevin Garnett out the last five games, Harangody has been playing more minutes and last night was his first real solid performance as he put up 17 points and 11 rebounds (in a career-high 27 minutes) that fueled a 122-102 win over the Toronto Raptors at the TD Garden.

Anyone that pays attention to college hoops could tell you that both, particularly Harangody can ball. You don't play four years in the Big East at Notre Dame and dominate like he did when you're a stiff.

Clearly, it'll be hard for him to find minutes on a championship contender like this one but he seems to have the ingredients to be a solid role player in the Ryan Gomes, Leon Powe mode.

Since the Raptors (12-24) don't play any semblance of defense, it should be no surprise that the Celtics (28-7) usually own them, save for one weird choke job in Toronto earlier this season.

Paul Pierce led the Cs with 20 points, Ray Allen scored 17, Glen Davis had 14 points and Shaquille O'Neal added 12 points. Nate Robinson regained his scoring touch, putting up 15 points off the bench.

Rajon Rondo had nine points and seven assists in 26 minutes (with six turnovers) as Doc Rivers tried to limit the starters minutes in the first night of a back to back stretch and three games in four nights.

DeMar Derozan paced Toronto with 20 points, Andrea Bargnani and Linas Kleiza both added 17 points, Jose Calderon had 11 points and nine assists while Amir Johnson scored 10. Off the bench, Leandro Barbosa scored 15.

The Raptors must possess as many foreigners (four played last night) as almost any other team, fitting since they're in Toronto which is a very diverse city, especially for Canada. It also makes sense that they don't have any interest in stopping anybody on the defensive end.

Boston was up 34-22 after one quarter and 67-45 at halftime (their most first half points this season). The Raptors cut into the deficit a bit in the third quarter (32-27) but it didn't matter as the Celts closed it out (28-25) and sent everyone home happy.

It was the second straight outstanding shooting display by Boston (57.5%) and Toronto wasn't shabby either (50.6%). The Celts made five more 3-pointers (11-6), three more free throws (19-16) and had 12 more rebounds (43-31). Boston had six more assists (31-25), three off their season-high while Toronto had four more steals (8-4) and five more blocks (7-2).

Thanks to Rondo's carelessness, the Cs had five more turnovers (16-11) and half the amount of fastbreak points that the Raptors had (14-7). The Cs did pound it down low with 10 more points in the paint (54-44).

Boston is in Chicago to face the Bulls tonight. Derrick Rose seems to always play well against the Celtics and this has developed into one of the Cs bigger rivalries over the past few seasons.

If only every team was like the Raptors

The Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors faced each other again last night at the TD Banknorth Garden and for the second time in two days, the C's (31-9) came out on top.

Paul Pierce pumped in 39 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a 115-109 Celtics win in overtime.

Who knows how much these past two strange games meant other than solidifying the fact that Boston currently owns Toronto (16-23).

Tony Allen and Kendrick Perkins sat out once again so that meant Brian Scalabrine (11 points) played 28 minutes and Leon Powe added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Kevin Garnett had 20 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks while Rajon Rondo notched nine points, eight assists, five rebounds and only one turnover.

Andrea Bargnani continued his solid work with a team-high 23 points and eight boards. Chris Bosh added 18 points and 11 rebounds while the immortal Roko Ukic scored 16 points off the bench.

Boston had nine more rebounds (46-37) and six more assists (26-20), two categories that are great indicators if a team won the game or not.

The New Jersey Nets come to the Garden tomorrow night for the start of a home and home set with Boston. The Nets aren't as bad as everyone expected; Devin Harris has been great, Vince Carter has been playing well and rookie center Brook Lopez has improved every game.

Thank you Canada: for your crappy basketball team and your 18+ drinking age

Ray Allen almost single-handily ended the Celtics' four game losing streak and tailspin (seven losses in their last nine) as he delivered a season-high 36 points yesterday afternoon in a 94-88 win over the Raptors at the Air Canada Centre.

As shooters (and pretty girls) are known to do, Ray has been rather erratic lately. He came out on fire though (hitting five 3-pointers in the first quarter) and shot 11 for 14 in the game, 8 of 10 on threes.

The Celts (30-9) needed all those points as a game that they led by 20 in the third quarter got close in the fourth. One of Boston's biggest issues during this rough patch has been their lack of closing power in fourth quarters. Toronto (16-22) cut it to five with 1:30 left in the fourth but they ran out of gas.

Rajon Rondo had 14 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in the win. Paul Pierce added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists while Kevin Garnett notched 10 points (3 of 16 shooting) and 11 rebounds.

Glen Davis played 30 minutes since Kendrick Perkins was out with a shoulder injury. Big Baby was a brutal 1 of 12 from the floor but he did grab 11 boards.

If you're facing the Raptors and Andrea Bargnani is their leading scorer, you're probably in good shape. The former top pick, had a team-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Jamario Moon (15 points, 7 rebounds) and Chris Bosh (15 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks) were the other bright spots for Toronto.

Jason Kapono and Joey Graham both scored 12 off the bench.

In a strange scheduling quirk, Toronto comes to the Garden tonight as the Celtics try to build off yesterday's uneven but ultimately decent performance.