Celtics Fall 88-80 To Knicks In Game 6, Let The Breakup Begin

Listen, we all knew this day would eventually come. There is a reason no team has ever rallied from a 3-0 hole in the NBA playoffs. Likewise, as much as we want them to be, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett won't be Celtics forever. It seems only right that in possibly their last game together, the Celts fell 88-80 to the Knicks in one of the most bizarre contests tonight at TD Garden in Game 6 of the first round.

The Knicks move on to face the Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals beginning on Sunday afternoon. Go Indiana! New York won its first playoff series since 2000 while Boston lost in the first round for the first time since KG (15 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals) came aboard in 2007-08 (when they won the NBA title). The Knicks should have won this game by about 40 points since the Celts managed 10 points in the first quarter and 27 in the first half. Ugh, seriously. That will be one of the lasting memories of this series, the wretched offensive performances by the C's in almost every game.

The Knicks led by as much as 26 (75-49) early in the fourth quarter before the Celtics hit them with a 20-0 run. Yes, that really happened. Suddenly, Boston cut it to a four-point game (79-75) after Avery Bradley's (10 points, 3 steals) dunk with 3:31 left in regulation. To quote KG from five years ago, "Anything's possible!" Unfortunately, that wasn't the case this evening though as Iman Shumpert (17 points, 6 rebounds) and J.R. Smith (13 points, 7 rebounds) made plays down the stretch while Carmelo Anthony (21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) continued to be the most unclutch superstar in the NBA. Hell Pablo Prigioni (14 points, 5 rebounds) played better than him, Raymond Felton had 11 points, seven assists and two steals while Tyson Chandler added 9 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.

Jeff Green (21 points, 5 rebounds) showed plenty of heart (no pun intended), going to the line a whopping 14 times (two less than New York as a team). Whenever Garnett and Pierce leave, this will quickly become Rajon Rondo and Green's team. That is a scary proposition but at least this season, Green proved that when he puts his mind to it, he has the potential to be a star. I'd love to see Pierce return, if for no other reason than to erase the memory of one of his worst games as a Celtic: 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Crap like guys retiring with a certain team usually doesn't mean much to me but in this case, I think he's earned that right. However, Celtics GM Danny Ainge has to do a much better job of surrounding Pierce (1 year left on his deal) and KG (two years left) with more talent.

Jason Terry had 14 points and he sounded like he's not ready to retire quite yet. He was a bust for most of the season but maybe with another season in Green and White, he would become more comfortable. Of course, one could argue that the biggest domino in this whole scenario is head coach Doc Rivers. In the emotional aftermath of this loss, he sounded very unsure of his future in Boston. Obviously, they'll have him here as long as he wants to stay. Still, like Garnett and Pierce, he is too good to have to go through another rebuilding mode. Who could blame him if he wants to leave (assuming KG and Pierce also walk out)?

I feel like I wrote the exact same thing last June after Boston lost to Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals, and I'm too tired to look it up, but I can say with certainty that this will truly be a fascinating summer. Does Ainge go for it one more time with this nucleus plus a healthy Rondo, Jared Sullinger and a better supporting cast and bench? Or does he blow it up completely and start to move on? Tough decisions, that's presumably why he gets paid the big bucks and I'm just a lowly blogger.

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If Any Team Can Blow A 3-0 Series Lead In The NBA, It's Gotta Be The Knicks

My how things can change over two games in the NBA playoffs or roughly 12 days. The Knicks had a chance to sweep the Celtics on Sunday but lost 97-90 in OT. No problem, everybody knew they'd come back to Madison Square Garden tonight with J.R. Smith and get rid of the C's once and for all. Well it turns out that didn't happen either as Boston beat New York 92-86 to cut the series lead to 3-2.

This is where I remind you that no team in NBA history has ever rallied from an 0-3 deficit. All I said on Sunday is that I wanted to see what would happen in a Game 6 in Boston. I got my wish, the series returns to TD Garden on Friday (7 p.m., CSN). Enough can't be overstated about the heart, competitiveness and desire of Kevin Garnett (16 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks) and Paul Pierce (16 points). Jeff Green had 18 points for the Celts, Brandon Bass (17 points, 5 rebounds) kept them in it after they were down 11-0 to start the game while Jason Terry (17 points) was clutch for the second game in a row.

The Knicks are frontrunning clowns who cared more about playing dress up (showing up in all black clothes for a "Celtics funeral") than winning a basketball game. Carmelo Anthony had 22 points on 8-of-24 shooting and seven rebounds. Believe it or not, Raymond Felton (21 points, 6 rebounds) has been New York's steadiest player throughout this up and down series. Iman Shumpert added 12 points, six rebounds and three steals while Tyson Chandler grabbed 11 rebounds. Smith had 14 points but he was a Melo-esque 3-of-14 from the floor.

Other than the very ugly beginning, this was a game that Boston controlled for the final three plus quarters. They pulled to within 22-20 after one and led 45-39 at halftime. The Celtics outscored the Knicks 25-22 in the third and opened up a 15-point lead early in the fourth (75-60) before hanging on for dear life.

This was the team we loved to watch after they pulled together following Rondo's injury, they're tough, smart and don't back down from anyone. Boston shot 6.2% better from the field than New York (45.7%-39.5%) and they beat the Knicks at their own game by hitting six more 3-pointers (11-5). If that wasn't enough, the C's managed to dish out seven more assists (20-13) than the all-iso Knicks.

Now the Celtics have all the momentum in the series and this loss has to put some serious doubt in the Knicks' heads. Suddenly, all the pressure is on New York who FYI hasn't won a playoff series since 2000. So yeah, there is still plenty of work to do but the C's could actually pull this off.

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Celtics Pride Is Alive, Well Sort Of

It was long overdue (say 3 games) but the Celtics finally should some fight with stretches of solid execution mixed in and they were able to avoid getting swept by the Knicks. Boston beat New York 97-90 in overtime this afternoon in Game 4 of their first round playoff series at TD Garden.

Paul Pierce (29 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists), Jeff Green (25 points, 6 rebounds) and Kevin Garnett (13 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists) carried the Celts while Jason Terry (18 points) picked a good time to show up for one of the first times this season.

Of course the C's had to make things way more difficult on themselves than need be since J.R. Smith was suspended for Game 4 and they led by 20 points in the third quarter (59-39). Carmelo Anthony scored 36 points with seven rebounds as only he can: on 10-of-35 shooting from the floor and 16-for-20 on free throws. HHaha my man was 0-for-7 on 3-pointers. The Knicks rallied and nearly stole this one since Raymond Felton (27 points, 3 steals) had the NBA game of his life. Iman Shumpert added 12 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks while Tyson Chandler grabbed 11 rebounds.

Boston had nothing to lose and they played like it from the start. The Celtics outscored the Knicks 22-17 in the first quarter and took a 54-35 halftime lead. New York crawled back into it since KG, Green and Brandon Bass all picked up four fouls early in the third quarter thanks to the usual crooked NBA refs. The Knicks outscored the Celtics 30-14 in the third quarter to cut it to 68-65 heading into the fourth quarter. New York took the fourth quarter 19-16 as Pierce missed a last-second game-winner for the millionth time in the last few seasons.

I couldn't believe it with my own eyes but Terry took over in the extra session, hitting a huge 3-pointer, layup, two free throws then the garbage time layup to seal it. I didn't think there was any chance the Celts would get it done once it went to overtime but I'm happy that they proved me (and many others) wrong.

Boston's defense was outstanding as they held New York to 34.4% shooting while the Celts shot 44.7%. The Knicks made it very interesting by owning the boards (54-40 total, 16-3 on offensive rebounds). The Celtics had 12 more assists (22-10) as they remembered how to play team basketball against Melo's one-man team. Boston had seven more fast break points (15-8) while New York scored eight more points off Boston's turnovers (18-10).

History is still squarely on the Knicks' side since no NBA team has ever come back from down 3-0 in a series. Game 3 is Wednesday (time TBA, CSN) at Madison Square Garden and all I'll say is that if the Celts can somehow win that one, then it'll get interesting. However, I'm not counting on that by any means.

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If I'm The Celtics, I Keep Creating Trade Rumors & Doing Anything To Piss Rajon Rondo Off

I rarely say something like this but it's too bad that there was a Bruins-Rangers game at the same exact time not to mention a day full of great college basketball games because today's Celtics-Knicks game was a wildly entertaining experience.

Boston (19-17) won its fourth straight, 115-111 in overtime against New York (18-19) at TD Garden.

It was all thanks to Rajon Rondo's one of a kind ability (18 points, 17 rebounds, 20 assists; his 17th triple-double all-time and second in his last three games) as he turned in an all-time classic performance in his career. He's only the third player (Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain) to have 15+ points, 20+ assists and 15+ rebounds in a single game. He's also the third point guard in the last 25 years (Jason Kidd, Magic Johnson) to have 15+ points, 15+ assists and 15+ rebounds. It was also the fifth game in a row that he's had 10+ assists; the longest stretch since he had six in a row in 2010. In short, maybe the Celtics shouldn't trade this guy. He seems decent.

Paul Pierce notched a season-high 34 points and seven rebounds while Kevin Garnett (18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals), Brandon Bass (18 points, 4 blocks) and Ray Allen (12 points, 4 steals) joined Rondo in double-figures.

Pierce was the goat then the hero late in the fourth as he missed a contested jumper when they were down one (101-100) but sent it to overtime with his tying 3-pointer. Carmelo Anthony (25 points, 7 rebounds) missed a chance to win it at the buzzer than he no-showed overtime which is the typical fraud contributions you can expect from him.

The ghost of Amare Stoudemire had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Jeremy Lin added 14 points, Tyson Chandler grabbed 13 rebounds while Iman Shumpert and Steve Novak scored 14 off the bench for the Knicks.

Turnovers were the difference as New York coughed it up 22 times which led to 23 points for Boston. The Celtics also had nine more points in the paint (21-12).

The Knicks have been a much better team since Lin was inserted into the starting lineup but the Celtics have won six out of the last seven against them dating back to last season's playoffs. Boston is 2-1 against New York this season and all three contests were thrillers. Therefore circle April 17 on your calender since the C's go to Madison Square Garden that night for the final regular season meeting.

Boston concludes this three-game homestand on Tuesday as the sneaky good Houston Rockets (21-17) visit for their only matchup this season. It's hard to explain how the Rockets are doing that well especially since I don't think I've seen one of their games but you know that Kevin Martin is a solid NBA scorer, Kyle Lowry is a good point guard and they have depth. Oh and by the way Kevin McHale is their head coach.

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Knicks Snap 8-Game Losing Streak To The Celtics With 106-104 Win In 2011-12 Opener

The truncated 2011-12 NBA regular season began this afternoon, on Christmas, with a sloppy but very entertaining game between the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden.

The Knicks (1-0) held on for a 106-104 win after the Celtics (0-1) missed not only a chance to win it but also a jumper that would have tied it at the end of regulation.

Last season, between the regular season and playoffs, Boston went 8-0 against New York. The Knicks hadn't beaten the Celtics since April 6, 2010. In total, Boston had won 20 of the last 22 meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals.

I'm not enough of a prisoner of the moment to declare that New York is the favorite to win the division or that they're a better team than Boston. That probably has to do with the fact that I never have faith in a team coached by Mike D'Antoni or led by Carmelo Anthony. Two guys that don't give a shit about defense, all that matters to them is scoring points and there's no doubt that they get it done in that regard.

I will give credit to Carmelo though, I think he's the best pure scorer in the NBA these days and his game-high 37 points (8 rebounds) were the difference in the win for the home team. He had 17 points in the fourth quarter, as many as the Celtics entire squad.

It's not me being a homer when I say that Rajon Rondo (team-high 31 points, 13 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals) was easily the best player on the floor. Ray Allen (20 points) and Kevin Garnett (15 points, 8 rebounds) had quiet games despite numbers that look alright.

The other lasting impression on the Celts was Brandon Bass. In his debut for the Green, he put up his first career 20-point, 10-rebound game. He had 20 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.

I think it's safe to say that Celtics fans will forget about Glen "Big Baby" Davis in about a week now that we have Bass. He's a pro; he knows his strengths, he's consistent and he doesn't try to be something he's not. In other words, he's everything that the up and down Davis was not and likely never will be.

This being the NBA, it only took about two quarters to remember everything I hate about the league: officials having way too much power, no ball movement, tons of commercials and too many fouls.

Paul Pierce was out with a heel injury so his most lasting contribution was sitting on the bench in a suit and sporting a pair of red earrings that I'm pretty sure my mother owns.

Boston was lifeless without its captain in the first half. They trailed by 10 at halftime and that seemed like a gift since they seemingly couldn't play much worse. At one point, the Knicks were up 17 (49-32) less than midway through the second quarter.

Predictably against a team that still doesn't have a clue how to play defense-despite now having Tyson Chandler (7 points, 6 blocks)-the Celtics hit the Knicks with a 25-7 run to take their largest lead of the contest at 77-69 with 3:55 left in the third quarter.

Credit to New York as they stepped up in the fourth quarter; they made shots while Boston's offense sadly dried up without a true go-to scorer.

Amare Stoudemire put up 21 points for New York while Toney Douglas added 19 points. Rookie Iman Shumpert had 11 points off the bench before leaving with a strained MCL.

Sasha Pavlovic started in Pierce's place and I'm not kidding when I say I hope that he's released when Mickael Pietrus is ready to play. In 15 minutes, Pavlovic didn't take a shot with one assist, one rebound and four fouls plus a technical foul (that was completely bogus). To call him completely worthless is being generous. Doc Rivers talked him up in the preseason which is a classic coach's tactic of building up a player that he knows sucks.

New York jumped out to a 34-23 lead after the first quarter thanks to typical run and gun D'Antoni ball. As fast as you could say "what's Spike Lee wearing?" Boston started to find itself in the second quarter (29-28) to close to within 10 (62-52) at halftime.

Rondo abused Douglas, he must have had six or seven layups. The Celtics played outstanding in the third quarter (35-17) to take a commanding 87-79 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately that's when Joey Crawford (the worst NBA ref, which is saying something) and his crew started to take over in crunch time. I'm not going to say that the Celtics lost because of them but it certainly didn't help that they were hit with two shady technicals in the fourth.

The Knicks found more offense in the fourth (27-17). Marquis Daniels had a wide open 3-pointer that rimmed out before the final buzzer, Rondo got the rebound and Boston took its final timeout. Once again, Rivers drew up a nice play as KG had a jumper that he can usually hit. The problem was that it didn't go in.

Almost all the final stats favored the Celtics. They shot 4% better (51.3%-47.3%), grabbed 10 more rebounds (41-31), handed out 11 more assists (28-17), had 18 more points in the paint (48-30) and eight more fast break points (16-8).

More than anything I can point to, the Knicks won simply because they made seven more 3-pointers (9-2). Without Pierce, Allen was the only Celtic looking to take threes. That'll change soon enough. Amare actually hit as many threes by himself as Boston did as a team.

This loss doesn't bother me at all; if the C's had won despite sleeping through the first half and the Knicks making tons of shots, I would have been surprised. Their rally was impressive but ultimately, they paid for their poor start and all the energy they put into the rally. The other three games against the Knicks this season should be like this, very close and fun to watch.

Boston travels to Miami on Tuesday for the Heat's home opener (and a rematch of the Eastern Conference semifinals last spring). I hardly watched any of it, gotta build up my NBA tolerance, but I saw that Miami rolled 105-94 in Dallas today.

The Celts go to New Orleans the next night before finally coming back to TD Garden on Friday for their home opener against Detroit. I won't complain about the schedule-since the Lakers played today then tomorrow and Tuesday-but three games in four days to start it off is tough for this older group (3rd oldest in the NBA).

The key for Boston will be to not get off to a poor start. I expect them to lose to the Heat on Tuesday but then bounce back against the Hornets and Pistons. With any luck, Pierce and Pietrus will be active on Tuesday. That would make for a closer and more interesting contest as far as I'm concerned.

UPDATE 12/26: No official word yet but apparently Pietrus won't play tomorrow in Miami or Wednesday in New Orleans. Expect him to be active on Friday for the home opener against the Pistons.

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