Celtics Lose For the 10th Time in Their Last 11 Games, A Heartbreaker to the Warriors

When the highlight video is put together from the lottery-bound 2013-14 season, I hope the Celtics include some clips from tonight's 99-97 loss to the Warriors at ORACLE (all caps?) Arena. This was a game that Boston (13-24 overall, 5-14 away) had no business being in, let alone almost winning. Thankfully, Golden State (25-14 overall, 12-4 home) came to their senses long enough for Stephen Curry (19 points, 7 rebounds) to hit the go-ahead 3-pointer w/2.1 seconds left. Gerald Wallace is no Curry so obviously his 3-pointer at the buzzer had no chance.

Boston was a 12-point underdog and Golden State is seen a darkhorse contender in the Western Conference. This fell into the classic NBA trap game category since the Warriors were coming off a long road trip on the East Coast and who can take the Celtics seriously? Now Boston has lost 10 of their last 11 games to achieve the fifth worst record in the NBA. Don't stop until you get to the bottom fellas!

Jeff Green had a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds. Jared Sullinger had a double-double off the bench with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Kris Humphries (16 points, 14 points, 3 blocks, 2 steals) put together maybe his best game in Green and White (trade him immediately!) while Jordan Crawford added 10 points and seven assists.

Golden State is one of the few teams in the NBA that I always watch if they are on TV. Curry and Klay Thompson (17 points) aka the Splash Brothers are awesome, probably the two best shooters in the league, and they have some other nice pieces like Andre Iguodala (22 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals), David Lee (16 points, 7 rebounds) and Andrew Bogut (13 rebounds). Celtics killer/journeyman Marreese Speights had 13 points in 13 minutes. Maybe the C's can acquire him like they did with Jerryd Bayless earlier this week.

I kept waiting for the Warriors to pull away/the Celtics to fall apart like they usually do but it never materialized. Golden State led 24-21 after the first quarter but trailed 49-47 at halftime. The Warriors put together a nice third quarter (25-18) but needed Curry's usual heroics to get it done in a shaky fourth (outscored 30-27).

Here's a bizarre stat: Boston had eight blocks while Golden State had none. The C's go for the rare 0-5 road trip tomorrow night (10, CSN) in Portland (27-9, 1st in Northwest Division). After hanging with the Warriors, there is no chance in a back-to-back (and final game of a week-long trip) that the Celts can do that again versus one of the best teams in the NBA.

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Don't Be Ridiculous: You Can't Expect Rajon Rondo To Play Through A Bruised Hip

The Celtics' miserable tour of California continued tonight with another lopsided loss. The Warriors (21-10, 10-4 home) weren't really challenged as they cruised to an easy 101-83 win over Boston (14-15, 5-10 away) at ORACLE Arena.

It's the first time since November 3 (three games into the 2012-13 season) that the Celts have fallen under .500. They played without Rajon Rondo who apparently suffered a bruised right hip against the Clippers on Thursday. Hey, at least looking on the bright side, they only lost by 18 rather than 29 like they did to Los Angeles. That means that they should lose to Sacramento by less than 10!

Stephen Curry led Golden State with 22 points, nine assists and three steals. David Lee had 20 points and five rebounds while rookie Harrison Barnes added 15 points and eight rebounds. Klay Thompson notched 13 points and Jarrett Jack scored 14 off the bench for the Warriors, one of the NBA's biggest surprises.

Courtney Lee (18 points, 5 rebounds) was Boston's leading scorer which is about all you need to know about this utterly forgettable contest. Jason Terry and Paul Pierce scored 13 while Jared Sullinger put up 12 points and eight rebounds, showing why he should get more minutes moving forward. Brandon Bass had 10 points and Jeff Green grabbed nine rebounds but shot 2 for 11 from the field, yeesh.

It's hard to call a December game against Sacramento (10-19, 4th in Pacific Division) a must-win but that is the depressing state that the Celts find themselves currently stuck in. It is a dreaded back-to-back but the C's should never lose to these Kings under any circumstances. We'll get to see DeMarcus Cousins up close and personal, a guy the C's supposedly covet since he has already worn out his welcome in Sacramento.

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The Big 4 Makes Their Case For Danny Ainge To Hold Tight Tomorrow

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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Jeff Green shows why he was a steal in the Perkins trade, hope the haters were watching

It only took a few games for Jeff Green to prove why he'll be a big part of the Boston Celtics and that dreaded time when the Big Three are old and grey (retired).

Green had 21 points off the bench last night as the Celts (45-15) held off the Golden State Warriors (27-34) 107-103 at TD Garden.

Normally, an offensive explosion against the Warriors isn't newsworthy since I'm pretty sure I could drop like ten on them but even the haters had to be impressed by the variety of ways Green can score. He can get out and run on the fastbreak, he can pull up and hit jump shots and he's a good free throw shooter.

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen both scored 27 points while Rajon Rondo handed out 16 assists and had five steals. Nenad Krstic added 11 points.

Monta Ellis showed why he's the NBA's best pure scorer as he put up 41 points while David Lee added 26 points and 12 rebounds. It was pretty much a two-man game though since Dorell Wright (11 points) was the only other Warrior in double figures.

Boston was up 32-27 after the first quarter and 64-53 at halftime. Golden State never went away as they outscored the Cs 28-24 in the third 22-19 in the fourth.

For the game, the Celts shot 53.4% to 47.6% for the Warriors. Boston hit two more 3-pointers (7-5) thanks to Allen (5 3-pointers) and four more free throws (22-18). Golden State grabbed 11 more rebounds (39-28) but Boston had nine more assists (26-17).

The Cs hit the road to face the Milwaukee Bucks tomorrow night. I'm pretty sure those teams haven't played yet this season. The Bucks are not playing well and it looks like they'll miss the playoffs so the Celtics should handle them.

Bill Walton rules

First of all, I have to give props to Bill Walton last night. Taking over on the West Coast trip for Tommy Heinsohn, Walton was absolutely on fire for the entire game. Ripping players left and right, making fun of anything under the sun, it truly was a joy to listen to. I love Tommy and I'm sure Walton never wants to leave California but the Celts should find a way to incorporate him (for the playoffs?) more moving forward.

I've never drank Four Loko (my college experience sadly came a few years too early) but I imagine downing one of those is similar to watching the Golden State Warriors play basketball. One of my buddies from home has season tickets to the Warriors and at first I thought it was a waste of money since the NBA is seriously flawed. However, it would be a trip to see that team play a bunch of games. There's nothing like them: no shot is bad, no player is lacking for overconfidence, defense is non-existent.

It looked like the Celtics (41-14) might get run out of Oracle Arena but they recovered with a fine second half to take a 115-93 win over Golden State (26-30) in their first game after the All-Star break.

In any sport, a sign of a great team is that they can play any style and still beat you. Kevin Garnett (24 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists) and Rajon Rondo (19 points, 15 assists, 6 rebounds) especially seemed to pick it up against the layup line known as the Warriors.

Paul Pierce added 23 points and Ray Allen had 18 points while Glen Davis was nice off the bench with 12 points and 10 assists.

Besides the stud guards Stephen Curry (18 points) and Monta Ellis (15 points), Golden State now has some quality supporting players including David Lee (17 points) and Dorell Wright (19 points) who has become one of the NBA's best shooters out of nowhere.

Boston was up 31-30 after one quarter but it was tied at 60 going into halftime. The Cs won the third quarter (28-15) and the fourth was more of the same (27-15) as the team with the defensive identity showed up when it mattered.

The Celts shot 55.6% to 39.3% for the Warriors. Golden State made 14 more free throws (22-8) but Boston had 17 more rebounds (52-35) and assists (35-18). The Cs had a season-high 30 fastbreak points and 54 points in the paint. What a wacky game. You mentally prepare yourselves for a Warriors game but you can never imagine just how insane they play.

The only bad news for the Celtics was that Kendrick Perkins hurt his left knee although it didn't look too serious. He's questionable for tomorrow night's game in Denver against the Carmelo Anthony-less Nuggets.

New York Knicks, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, same difference

Scheduling the New York Knicks-a perennial NBA doormat-on St. Patrick's Day in Boston was pure genius on the part of the Celtics.

It might have been the Guinness and car bombs talking but the Celts (43-24) looked like contenders once again as they romped for the third straight time at home over the NBA equivalent of a No. 16 seed.

Paul Pierce had his best game in months, leading the Green and White with 29 points while Kevin Garnett added 22 points. Marquis Daniels was the only other Celtics in double figures with 10 points as no starter played more than 28 minutes, a great thing with a tough three-game road trip starting tomorrow night.

David Lee (29 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists) has taken over the crown of best American white player in the league, sorry Troy Murphy, but right now he doesn't have much help from his loser Knick (24-44) teammates.

Al Harrington was the next highest scorer for New York with 16 points off the bench. Tracy McGrady scored 12 points and Toney Douglas had 11.

This one was over after the first quarter as the C's sprinted to a 35-19 lead in the first quarter. Seeing the Knicks play defense is about as rare as seeing a black person in Southie on St. Patrick's Day. Zing!

Boston was up 68-49 and the crowd could only drink their shamrock shakes and count the time until they could wait in line outside the numerous Garden watering holes after the game.

The C's go to Houston tomorrow night for what should be a tight game against the overachieving Rockets, who are currently outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference.

The Nate Robinson era starts with a thud, but also a win

It was a strange night at the TD Garden last night as Eddie House, Bill Walker and the New York Knicks came to town for coincidentally enough, Nate Robinson's debut with the Boston Celtics.

The fact that Walker (7 points) had more production than House (4 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds) and Robinson (4 points, 2 steals) should tell you all you need to now about that trio's impact on the proceedings.

Playing without an injured and sick Paul Pierce, the C's (36-19) slogged their way to a 110-106 win over the Knicks (19-37), who lost their eighth in a row.

Ironically, the turning point in the game was a block by Ray Allen (24 points, fourth straight game with 20+ points) on Wilson Chandler (19 points) with Boston clinging to a 109-106 lead with under a minute left. Allen, who will never be known for his defensive prowess, came out of nowhere to swat Chandler's layup into the seats.

For three quarters, the Celtics and Knicks ran up and down the court, scoring a ton of points but in the fourth quarter, Boston finally put the clamps on New York and took the fourth 16-15.

All-Star David Lee showed off his game with 28 points and 15 rebounds, Sergio Rodriguez added 18 points, six assists and five rebounds while Al Harrington scored 18 points off the bench.

Rajon Rondo had 15 points and 16 assists, Kevin Garnett had 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Marquis Daniels scored 14 points starting in place of Pierce and Kendrick Perkins notched 12 points.

Besides Ray Ray's defensive play, the only thing to remember from the game is the montage the Celtics showed on the Jumbotron when Eddie House checked in for the first time. Always a fan favorite in his three seasons with the Celts, House rightfully got a standing ovation.

Boston is currently a game ahead of the Hawks and in third in the Eastern Conference. They have a big showdown with King James and the Cavs tomorrow night at the Garden and on TNT. Should be quality entertainment.

What has happened to the Celtics?

Did I enjoy seeing KC swish a buzzer-beating game-winner yesterday afternoon at MSG vs. the Knicks? Of course. Am I worried about the Celtics since it took overtime to defeat the hapless Knicks, 107-105, and Boston seems to be rapidly aging? Without question.

Boston (10-4) has not looked good since the beginning of the season. They take way too many threes, they are 29th in the NBA in rebounding (explain that one) and they extremely vulnerable to young, athletic teams.

New York (3-10) is a complete joke. All they do is take threes and try to make Sportscenter with their wannabe And-1 moves (I'm talking to you Nate Robinson).

Yesterday's game meant nothing and the NBA treated it as such, putting it at 1pm on an NFL sunday. I'm sure many people in New England didn't even know it was happening. I couldn't completely focus on it with more exciting and important football games on but the C's seemed to be in control up 30-22 after one quarter but it was down to 56-53 at the half.

Paul Pierce scored a season-high 33 points, Rajon Rondo nearly had a triple-double with 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds while Kendrick Perkins added 16 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks. However, Garnett (10 points on 4 of 15 shooting) and Ray Allen (13 points on 3 of 13 shooting) looked more fit for a coffin.

Boston got the lead up to 14 points early in the second half (67-53) but New York responded with a 20-6 run to tie it and then they went ahead by five points.

Al Harrington had 30 points and nine boards off the bench for the Knicks while David Lee (22 points, 15 rebounds) and Robinson (19 points) provided the supporting cast.

I believe Tim Donaghy is out of jail and he could have been working the game yesterday because there were some mighty shady calls. An offensive foul call on Ray Allen was one of the worst I can ever remember but most importantly, the refs' ineptitude didn't cost either team the game.

Can somebody please work with Rondo on his free throw shooting? The guy is 8 for 24 from the line this season. It is beyond painful to watch him up there. It's a glaring hole in his game that will be exploited forever until he can at least become decent.

The Celts will look to get back to playing their style of basketball Wednesday night as they host the Sixers at the Garden.

Would noted moron Stephon Marbury help the C's?

Yesterday was not a good time to be one of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic all lost-something which won't happen often on the same day for the rest of this season.

The Celts (29-6) lost for the fourth time in their last six games, this time submitting a flat 100-88 loss at Madison Square Garden to the improved but still mostly shitty New York Knicks (13-19).

Paul Pierce (31 points, 7 rebounds) did his best to keep his team in the game but he wasn't getting much help. Ray Allen (16 points) was the only other Celtic in double-figures. Kevin Garnett (6 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks) was shaken up late in the third when Knicks forward David Lee (14 points, 14 rebounds) inadvertently kicked KG in the calf.

Wilson Chandler led the Knicks with 31 points and eight rebounds while Al Harrington added 30 points and seven boards. Chris Duhon notched 12 points and five assists.

With reports swirling the last few days that the Celtics are interested in acquiring malcontent Stephon Marbury, I have to say that my opinion is quickly changing. At first, I thought it was an awful idea but now that I think about it, maybe it could work. The C's would have nothing to lose and they could ditch Marbury as soon as he started banging interns in his car outside a Boston club. Haha, but seriously he could add some scoring punch to our bench which right now is a real weak point of an otherwise championship-caliber team.

The Charlotte Bobcats host the Celtics tomorrow night as the Green look to get back to playing the outstanding basketball of the season's first 29 games.

The Knicks' NBA Jam defense is not going to stop anybody

With 19 inches of snow accumulating over the past few days and a constant cycle of putting 10 layers on, shoveling and moving cars, we can be temporarily be forgiven by not really paying much attention to the Celtics.

That's not to say they don't deserve it, they certainly do but on a day when the Patriots had another vital late-season game and the Bruins also played at the exact same time as the C's, you can only flip the channel so much.

There is nothing left to say about the Celtics (26-2). They beat the Knicks (11-16), 124-105, last night at the Garden, winning their 18th game in a row. It matched the best streak in history (1981-1982; are you listening old-timers?) while also tying the NBA mark for best start through 28 games.

For the second time in six days, Rajon Rondo set a new career-high in points (26 points) with six rebounds, five assists and two steals. As the Comcast announcers say every game, Rondo truly improves each time out, it's incredible.

Boston's starting five (the best in the NBA) came to play as usual. Ray Allen scored 18 and Paul Pierce added 17 points. Kendrick Perkins had 12 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks while Kevin Garnett notched 12 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Tony Allen (11 points, 5 assists) and Leon Powe (10 points, 5 rebounds) led the bench. Glen Davis missed the game after getting into a car accident on the Mass Pike on the way to the game. He suffered whiplash and a concussion but he should be fine.

Quentin Richardson led New York with a game-high 29 points. Nate Robinson added 23 points (including a sick putback dunk) and Chris Duhon (when did he get good?) scored 20 points and had 10 assists.

David Lee put up 17 points and eight boards while Al Harrington scored 10.

Despite what the Celtics players and coaches said, this wasn't much of a game after the first quarter which the C's took 40-21. The Knicks outscored Boston, 37-26 in the second but the C's won the third (32-29) and fourth (26-18).

For the game, the Celts shot a season-high 65.8% which is nearly impossible. They actually missed ten free throws (14-24) but made up for it by getting more than double the amount of rebounds (47-23) for New York.

Those two records (franchise win streak and best 29-game start) can both be broken on Tuesday when the Sixers come to the Garden. With a win there, the Celts set up a monster game Christmas night in LA against the Lakers.