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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The Night We All Lost Any Remaining Hope In The Celtics This Season

It is going to be a very short stay in the 2013 NBA playoffs for the Celtics. Boston lost 90-76 in Game 3 to New York tonight at TD Garden, giving the Knicks a 3-0 series lead in the first round series with the chance to sweep the Celts on Sunday afternoon (1 p.m., ABC).

Boston has still yet to crack 80 points in a game as their half-court offense without Rajon Rondo is gone. Ironically, their defense has been good enough to win for most teams (holding NY to 90 or less in each game) but when you haven't topped 78 points, you won't win any games in the postseason.

Carmelo Anthony had a game-high 26 points, Raymond Felton added 15 points and 10 assists while J.R. Smith notched 15 points off the bench. The only real intrigue to Game 4, since the outcome feels like a forgone conclusion already, is whether Smith will play since he was ejected in the fourth quarter after catching Jason Terry (14 points) with an elbow in the face.

Jeff Green led the C's with 21 points and nine rebounds, Kevin Garnett had 12 points and 17 rebounds and Paul Pierce put up 17 points and five assists. The problem for Boston (among many other issues) is a lack of depth. I'd say that getting only 12 total points from the rest of the team in Game 3 would be tough to overcome. Green, KG & Pierce have been OK in this series, the problem is that nobody else can consistently help them. Avery Bradley is a puddle, Courtney Lee barely plays and Brandon Bass is also MIA. Yeesh.

I'm certainly not rooting for it but nothing happened tonight to make me change my mind that I feel like the Knicks will end this in four painful games. We knew it at the time that Rondo went down the knee injury that this season was going nowhere fast. However, the Celtics found a way to play decent for a while which gave us some false hope that they could turn it on in the postseason and make this a competitive series at the very least. Not so much, New York has been the better team by a mile and Boston can't get out of their own way without puking on their sneakers.

UPDATE 4/28: Smith was suspended for Game 4.

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The Celtics Are In A World Of Trouble Without Rajon Rondo

Capping off this night of suck for Boston sports teams (3 games, 3 blowout losses), the Celtics clocked in for the most costly setback of all since they are the only ones in the playoffs at the moment. The Knicks beat the Celtics 87-71 in Game 2 tonight at Madison Square Garden, giving New York a commanding 2-0 lead in the first-round series.

If you thought only scoring 25 points in the second half of Sunday's loss was pathetic (and it really was), Boston somehow sunk even lower with 23 points in the second half this evening. This was almost a carbon copy of Game 1: Boston led 48-42 at halftime and seemed in control. That is until New York hit them with a 32-11 third quarter. Game over.

The Knicks might have the most predictable and boring offense in the NBA-give the ball to Melo and J.R. Smith then get out of the way-but it is doing more than enough against the overmatched Celts. Anthony had a game-high 34 points, 6th Man of the Year Smith added 19 points off the bench (including a crazy 3 from nearly midcourt at the end of the 1st half) while Raymond Felton scored 16 points and Kenyon Martin (who Boston could have signed during the season) posted 11 rebounds and four blocks.

Paul Pierce was decent with 18 points, six rebounds and six assists but Kevin Garnett (12 points, 11 rebounds) was in foul trouble all game so he could only play 24 minutes. Where's Eddie F. Rush when you need him or Kenny Mauer? Jeff Green had 10 points, Jordan Crawford added 10 points off the bench and Brandon Bass grabbed 10 rebounds. Call off the search party because Jason Terry reappeared with nine points (after going scoreless in Game 1) but of course he did all his damage in the first half.

Our only hope is that David Stern wants this series to go more than four games since right now, the C's don't appear capable of winning once. That means, he has to send some crooked refs (like the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph) because Boston needs a victory on Friday (8 p.m., CSN) or the dream is over. It should be a great atmosphere at TD Garden for Game 3, the question is if the Celts can beat the Knicks without Rajon Rondo?

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You Win This Round Carmelo

Celtics Games Without Kevin Garnett In The Lineup Are Unwatchable, There I Said It

I suspect that if you're reading this, you have already figured out what my keen eyes have noticed about the Celtics these last few games: they are hopeless without Kevin Garnett so there is basically no reason to watch them lose. Tonight, the Knicks (46-26, 27-10) didn't break a sweat in a 108-89 blowout of the C's (108-89) at Madison Square Garden.

New York has won eight games in a row while Boston had their modest two-game win streak snapped. This closed the season series with the Knicks ahead 3-1 over the Celtics, Boston won the first meeting but lost the last three in progressively worse fashion. They've dropped four of six without KG but apparently he could come back sooner than they thought (I doubt it). The good news is that there are only nine games left in the regular season for Boston. I can't take many more of these preseason-esque scrimmages.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 24 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Something called Chris Copeland had 22 points and five rebounds off the bench, Raymond Felton scored 18 points, J.R. Smith had 15 points, 12 rebounds and two steals while Steve Novak and Iman Shumpert both notched 10 points.

Boston basically had two guys show up: Paul Pierce (24 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists) and Jeff Green (27 points) unless you count 10 points apiece from Jordan Crawford and Courtney Lee.

The Celts are in Minnesota tomorrow night (8 p.m., CSN) to face the Timberwolves (26-46, 5th in Northwest Division). Normally I would say this game will suck but Celtics head coach Doc Rivers hinted tonight that Pierce is going to sit out so yeah, avert your eyes kids from this dumpster fire.

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Knicks Have No Problem With The KG-Less Celtics

With Kevin Garnett (left ankle) out for the next two weeks (wink wink), there is a serious cloud developing over the Celtics. Tonight, they got blown out by the Knicks 100-85 at TD Garden. Besides KG, Courtney Lee (sprained ankle) also had the night off so even though Tyson Chandler (neck) was out for New York (43-26, 19-16 away), that meant that Boston (36-34, 24-11) had no chance to win.

The Knicks won their fifth game in a row while the Celtics lost their fifth consecutive game. New York has won the last two games in Boston to take a 2-1 season series lead, they wrap it up on Sunday at Madison Square Garden although there is a very real possibility that they could meet in the first round of the playoffs.

J.R. Smith had 32 points, seven rebounds and three steals off the bench for the Knicks while Carmelo Anthony added 29 points, eight rebounds and three steals. No other player for New York had double figures but who cares?

Boston had five guys in double digits but none of them had 20 points or more. Jeff Green had 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Paul Pierce put up 16 points, six rebounds and six assists, Jordan Crawford added 14 points and six assists in his first start as a Celtic while Brandon Bass notched 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Jason Terry had 10 points off the bench.

It doesn't matter how it happens but the C's desperately need a win tomorrow night (7:00 p.m., CSN) at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland against the shitbum Cavaliers (22-47, 5th in Central Division) who won't have Kyrie Irving in the lineup.

UPDATE 3/27: Lee and Garnett didn't make the trip to Cleveland so they're both out tonight.

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They Might Have A Worse Record Than Them But The Celtics Still Own The Knicks

You wouldn't think a Celtics-Knicks game on a Monday in early January would get the blood pumping but that's exactly what happened as the events at Madison Square Garden were much more interesting than Alabama's 42-14 pasting of Notre Dame in the BCS Championship game.

Playing without Rajon Rondo, who was suspended for a game after making contact with a referee in Atlanta on Saturday, Boston (17-17, 7-11 away) still found a way to hold off New York (23-11, 13-4 home) 102-96 in their first of four meetings in the regular season.

Paul Pierce led the Celts with 23 points and six assists, Kevin Garnett had 19 points, 10 rebounds and three steals while Avery Bradley (13 points, 5 assists) played like himself from last season. Jeff Green put up 16 points and six rebounds off the bench and Jared Sullinger had 10 points and five rebounds as Boston won its third straight game-all against Eastern Conference playoff teams.

J.R. Smith had 24 points off the bench for the Knicks. Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points but he shot a putrid 6 of 26 from the field. Tyson Chandler added 13 points and 17 rebounds while Amar'e Stoudermire notched 13 points as a substitute.

The weird subplot is that KG and Melo got tangled up during the game in the fourth quarter (both earning technicals) and it apparently carried over to afterwards as Anthony tried to confront Garnett by Boston's team bus. Haha really dude? Luckily, there was about 1000 people there to make sure nothing actually happened.

This had the look and feel of a playoff game, right down to the scoreboard. Zing! The Celtics led 22-21 after the first quarter but the Knicks wrestled slight control away with a 56-53 halftime advantage. Boston's defense took over in the third quarter (23-16) and they were able to hang on in the fourth (26-24).

The Celtics won because they shot so well from the field (52.7%) and held the Knicks to 40.8%. The only reason New York made a game of it was because they hit eight more 3-pointers (14-6). No Rondo but Boston still had seven more assists (26-19) and 12 more points in the paint (40-28).

After we all left the C's for dead last week-rightfully so-they have certainly turned things around. They have the potential to go on a nice run here as the schedule really works out in their favor: their next five games are all at home. Only two of them are against playoff caliber teams (Rockets, Bulls) while the other three are cupcakes (Suns, Bobcats, Hornets).

Boston hosts Phoenix (12-23, 5th in Pacific Division) on Wednesday night (7:30 p.m., CSN) in their first of two meetings this season.

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Carmelo Drops A Triple-Double On The Celtics At MSG

If you watched tonight's Celtics-Knicks game, rest assured that you witnessed something that you'll never see again in an NBA game.

New York (32-29, 21-11 home) was on fire NBA Jam style all night as they won 118-110 over Boston (36-26, 15-17 away) at Madison Square Garden, knotting the season series at two in the finale.

Steve Novak (25 points) hit eight 3-pointers, setting a career-high in points. J.R. Smith (25 points) tied a team-record with seven 3-pointers all in the first half. The crazy thing is that both those guys came off the bench and Carmelo Anthony (35 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) was even better since he notched a triple-double.

Not having Mickael Pietrus or Ray Allen certainly hurt Boston's chances of A) stopping those guys and B) getting points from the bench. Boston's bench was outscored 55-2, haha that's not a misprint.

The Knicks hit 19 3-pointers (most ever allowed in Celtics franchise history) out of 34 attempts, tying a season-high in makes and falling one short of the franchise mark set way back in 2010-11. The Celtics played absolutely no defense and trailed 72-53 at halftime yet somehow, they hung around for virtually the entire way.

Paul Pierce scored a season-high 43 points (most for a Boston player in 6 years), including an incredible 17 of 18 from the free throw line. Kevin Garnett had 20 points, Avery Bradley scored 17 points (5 for 6 on 3-pointers!), Brandon Bass had 15 points and Rajon Rondo put up 13 points (2 for 4 on 3-pointers) and 13 assists. His double digit assist streak reached 23 games in a row.

Tyson Chandler also had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Knicks. The Celts could have clinched the Atlantic Division with a win but it's basically a formality with four games remaining and New York trailing by 3.5 games.

Boston flies home for another primetime game tomorrow at TD Garden against the Orlando Magic, minus Dwight Howard. The Celtics beat the Magic in back-to-back games in January, including that absurd comeback on January 26 (91-83) in Orlando. Odds are that the C's will play either the Magic or Hawks (their opponent on Friday) in the first round of the playoffs with the 4 vs. 5 matchup. I think most would agree that Orlando, especially with Howard banged up, would be easier to beat.

Three of the Celtics' last four games are at home. Rondo took a hard fall on his back and he's questionable for tomorrow. If there's any doubt on his status, they will surely be cautious since he's the franchise and their only hope to go far in the playoffs.

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Good old Denver Nuggets, the best punk team in the NBA

You have to admire the stubbornness of the Denver Nuggets. They refuse to play defense or any semblance of team basketball and they won't change for their head coach George Karl or just about anybody.

Sure they got to the 2009 Western Conference Finals (where they got smoked by the Los Angeles Lakers) but does anyone not named Lala actually think they have a prayer to get anywhere close to there again? Superstar/dope Carmelo Anthony should be traded any day now (please so we can stop listening to all the rumors) and then they'll go back to the basement of the Western Conference.

Denver (13-8) came to Boston (17-4) last night but were not at full strength as Carmelo sat out with a knee injury (wink wink, sure big guy). Not surprisingly, the Celts rolled to their eighth straight win (the eighth such streak of the Big 3s illustrious tenure in Boston) 105-89.

I'm just glad I didn't shell out money to see Anthony and be left with former UMass star Gary Forbes starting in his place, what a letdown.

Ray Allen led the Celtics with a game-high 28 points while Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (9 rebounds) both notched 17 points. Rajon Rondo was clearly not himself (limited to four points) but he still had 13 assists against Denver's variation of the Swiss cheese defense.

Boston head coach Doc Rivers had to protect his starters too since they were in the first leg of a back to back. Glen Davis, who should be considered a front-runner for sixth man of the year if he keeps this up, added 16 points, six rebounds and three steals off the bench.

It was good to see college stars can still do things in the NBA as Ty Lawson paced the Nuggets with 24 points and seven assists. J.R. Smith also had 16 points off the bench. The only Denver starters that did anything (and that's being kind) were Arron Afflalo (16 points) and Nene (12 points), who has to be Giselle's favorite NBA player.

The Cs jumped ahead right away, 35-21 after one quarter. Even without Melo, the Nuggets can put up points with the best of them so they closed it to 59-52 at the half.

It wasn't a pretty second half but Boston did enough in the third (21-17) and fourth (25-20) quarters to hop on their charter flight with few worries.

For the game, the Cs shot 55.9% to 42.3% for the Nuggets. Boston made eight more free throws (25-17), rebounds (42-34) and assists (26-18). Denver had five more steals (13-8) but the Celts had a whopping edge in blocks (10-1).

I have no idea why TNT agreed to this game in prime time (favor to their boy Doug Collins?) but the Celtics go to Philadelphia tonight to take on the still terrible 76ers.

Good to have you back on the Celtics bandwagon

With a healthier Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Boston Celtics look like a new team. As long as they can get the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, thus skipping the Cavs until the Eastern Conference Finals, I'm drinking the green and white Kool-Aid straight with no chaser.

Last night's 113-99 domination over the Denver Nuggets (47-25) at the TD Garden was evidence that you need to start paying attention to the C's (46-25) again.

Pierce (27 points, 7 rebounds) was named Eastern Conference player of the week for last week and it appears like after a poor season, by his standards, the Truth is coming back to his old self at just the right time.

Garnett (20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) will never be the guy of two years ago, let alone five or ten years ago, since he's logged so many NBA minutes but I'll never count out KG in my life.

Ray Allen added 16 points and Rajon Rondo had his second triple double of the season with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 15 assists.

The C's bench continues to do some nice things with Nate Robinson (8 points) and Michael Finley (7 points) already proving their worth. Tony Allen hadn't done anything in months but he looked great last night with 13 points as Pierce and Marquis Daniels got into early foul trouble.

As it stands right now, Denver is the number two seed in the Western Conference. However, with head coach George Karl receiving cancer treatments and the underlying fact that this team is full of Grade A clowns, who knows what to expect.

Carmelo Anthony (32 points) has had another monster season but does he make his teammates better? J.R. Smith had 21 points off the bench while Arron Afflalo (13 points) and Chauncey Billups (12 points) were the only other Nuggets in double figures.

Boston owned the boards (45-36) and led by Rondo they passed it beautifully (30-21 assists). They also limited themselves to 11 turnovers to Denver's 17.

That was the first of a season-high six-game homestand and the Sacramento Kings come to the Garden tomorrow night for a game that should get pathetic ratings going up against the Sweet 16.

And John Denver is smiling somewhere

Talent-wise, you'd be hard pressed to find more than two or three teams in the NBA (Lakers, maybe Magic) more talented than the Denver Nuggets.

They can score with anybody, they're great at home and they've been on a roll lately. All this meant that yesterday's game at the Pepsi Center, wrapping up the four-game West Coast trip, was nearly impossible to win for the Celtics.

The Nuggets (37-19) proved in the first quarter of their 114-105 win why they're so good and later in the game why they'll probably never win a title, since they rely way too much on clowns like Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin.

Chauncey Billups, who's having a career year, led the Nuggets with a game-high 26 points and seven assists, Melo added 23 points and eight assists while both Nene (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Martin (12 points, 10 rebounds) had double-doubles. Smith scored 19, including 16 in the fourth quarter.

Even though it was a loss, there were plenty of good signs for Boston. Ray Allen continues to play as if he just jumped out of a time machine, he had a team-high 25 points. Kevin Garnett (15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks) looked as explosive as I can remember him all season.

Rajon Rondo (15 points, 11 assists) and Kendrick Perkins (14 points) had another good game and Marquis Daniels was a revelation off the bench with 15 points in 18 minutes.

If Paul Pierce (2 of 10 shooting, 5 points) had been anything like himself and not the currently crippled Truth, the C's might have pulled this one out.

Denver was up twenty points in the first quarter and almost ran the Celtics (35-19) out of the building, up 37-19 after the first twelve minutes.

Thanks to great play from its second unit, the Celts clawed back into it and were down only 54-47 at the half.

Boston tied it in the third quarter but they were gassed by that point and the Nuggets had way too much firepower to be held down for too long.

Nate Robinson and Marcus Landry should be in uniform tomorrow night as the Knicks, their former team, come to town in Eddie House's first return to the TD Garden since he was traded last week.

Denver will never win with Carmelo

NBA players are just like everyone else in one sense: they're prone to taking a day off from work here or there.

Far be it from me to criticize David Stern's league but do we really need 82-game regular seasons? If the answer is still yes, then you get what you wish for with steaming turds like last night's Boston Celtics-Denver Nuggets game.

They had both played the day before but you wouldn't know it by the way the Celts (46-12) completely worked over the host Nuggets (37-20), 114-76.

It's just one game and as professional sports show time and again, you can't base much off of one regular season contest. Still, that's the third best team in the West? Really?

For all his success in one year at Syracuse, the NBA version of Carmelo Anthony is basically a representation of everything that's wrong with today's NBA (shakes fist and spits while talking on soapbox): He's selfish, dirty, a me-first player. I'm just glad he's not on a team I care about.

Ray Allen led the C's with 26 points and six rebounds. Paul Pierce added 22 points and six boards. Rajon Rondo filled it up with 14 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Finally, a recharged Leon Powe had 16 points and five boards off the bench.

Denver has never played defense for as long as George Karl has been there but they have been playing very well since they hoodwinked the Pistons into taking Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups earlier this season.

J.R. Smith paced the Nuggets with 19 points, five rebounds and five assists. Carmelo managed 18 points and six boards while Linas Kleiza (10 points) was the only other Denver player in double-figures. Billups had maybe his worst game as a pro: 3 points on 1-of-8 shooting, five assists, four turnovers, four fouls in 34 minutes. His plus/minus was -38.

The only moment of intrigue in the second half was that Boston rookie J.R. Giddens scored his first NBA point. He had four to be exact. Fellow rookie Bill Walker also had four points, including a sick alley-oop on a fastbreak from Eddie House.

This was never competitive as Boston led 29-20 after one and 60-37 at the half.

One can only imagine how badly the Celts could beat the Clippers if they bring that same intensity to tomorrow night's game in LA. It's the last game of the six-game road trip so the C's might be looking ahead to getting home.