This Is Getting Silly: Celtics Pick Up 7th Straight Win, In 3OT Vs. Denver (NBA's Hottest Team)

Two weeks ago when Rajon Rondo was declared out for the season, who could have predicted how these next seven games would turn out for the Celtics? Boston (27-23, 19-9 home) picked up their seventh straight win tonight, 118-114 in triple overtime against Denver (33-19, 11-16 away) at TD Garden in what was the best game of the regular season so far not only for the C's but the NBA as a whole.

Boston hadn't won a triple overtime game since 1999 and what made this extra sweet was that it was against the NBA's hottest team: the Nuggets entered with nine wins in a row. Paul Pierce (27 points, 14 rebounds, 14 assists) notched his eighth career triple-double (second in two weeks) while playing 54 minutes. Kevin Garnett was also excellent with 20 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals in 47 minutes. Avery Bradley added 13 points, five rebounds and three steals. The unexpected hero for the Celts was Jason Terry who had a season-high 26 points and three steals off the bench. Jeff Green continues to play well and shut up his early season critics (myself included) with 17 points, three blocks and two steals.

Ty Lawson paced Denver with 29 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Former Knick Danilo Gallinari had 18 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks, Kenneth Faried added 14 points, 12 rebounds and three steals while Andre Miller (15 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds) and Corey Brewer (13 points, 3 steals) were in double figures off the bench.

Other than Boston starting the game on a wacky 12-0 run, this game was back and forth the whole way as it should be. Lawson tied it at 92 with less than a second left in regulation after driving the lane and getting a floater off the glass. With 23 seconds left in the first overtime, Green tied it at 99 with a 3-ball then Lawson missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer. Down three with five seconds left, Pierce tied it at 107 with a 3-pointer in the second overtime. Gallinari missed a layup with one second left. Terry hit the go-ahead three in the second overtime then he laid it in at the buzzer so technically he scored Boston's last five points.

I can't even imagine how tired Pierce, Garnett and the rest of the team are after this marathon (game-time: 3 hours, 4 minutes). There are only two games left before the 2013 All-Star break: tomorrow (7 p.m., CSN) in Charlotte (11-39, 5th in Southeast Division) then against Chicago (30-20, 2nd in Central Division) on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., CSN) at the Garden. He's never done it before but I wouldn't be surprised to see Doc Rivers pull a Gregg Popovich and sit KG and Pierce against the Bobcats. There is no reason to push them hard after tonight's grueling task. Likewise, they should still be able to beat hopeless Charlotte even without them.

UPDATE 2/12: Guard Leandro Barbosa is out for the season after tearing his left ACL in last night's loss to the Bobcats. Ugh, he's the third Celtic to go down in the last three weeks with a season-ending injury. It's a shame too because he had been playing well with more minutes since Rajon Rondo tore his ACL. Boston will need to get another guard to take his spot.

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The Washington Wizards Are A Disgrace

I only listened to the first half of the Celtics-Wizards game on the radio this afternoon as I drove back from Rhode Island and then I periodically checked my phone for the score during breaks in the Patriots-Ravens game (don't ask me why).

Still, I'm not afraid to say that Washington (2-14) is a disgrace since they lost to Boston (6-9) 100-94 at the Verizon Center.

Rajon Rondo missed his second straight game with a wrist injury while Keyon Dooling (5th straight) and Chris Wilcox (6th straight) were also out resting their old bones. To make matters worse for the Celtics, Ray Allen sprained his ankle in the second quarter and never returned. Luckily for the Green, they were playing what I'm comfortable in labeling the worst team in the NBA.

If you're keeping score at home, half of Boston's wins so far this season are against Washington. What's more, the C's only have two road victories and would you believe that they were both in our nation's capital?

The Avery Bradley magical mystery tour continued as he got his third career NBA start. In 41 minutes, he put up a truly unique stat line: three points (on 1 of 8 shooting), seven assists, six rebounds and six turnovers.

WEEI's Sean Grande (Celtics radio play-by-play guy) brought up something that I never knew: Bradley was the top recruit in the high school class of 2009, ahead of No. 2 John Wall. Speaking of Wall, he led the Wizards with 27 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Unless Bradley's mom, dad or another close relative was in charge of those rankings, I'll never get that designation (not that it matters).

Paul Pierce had an outstanding game, he nearly put up a triple-double with 34 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and three steals. It was the fifth 30-point, 10-assist performance of his career (tying Antoine Walker's franchise record for the past 20 years) and first time he'd done it in almost six years. He's also only the third guy in the NBA (joining LeBron and Russell Westbrook) to have 34-10-8.

Kevin Garnett (17 points) was the only other Celtics starter in double-figures. Mickael Pietrus (14 points) and Brandon Bass (13 points, 9 assists) continued to be pseudo-starters off the bench.

Nick Young had 19 points for the Wizards while JaVale McGee scored 13 points and Jordan Crawford had 12 off the bench.

It's a shame that these teams only meet once more (March 25 in Boston) this season since it is one of the only guaranteed victories for the Celts these days.

Things will be much different tomorrow night as the Orlando Magic and Dwight Howard come to Boston for the first of two meetings this week. Boston has no answer for Howard (not that many do) so expect him to put up monster numbers and for his team to roll since it's a back-to-back, the Celtics are short-handed and they're playing a good opponent.

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The Greg Stiemsma Era In Boston Is Everything I Dreamed It Would Be

I might be unemployed but if Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers feels like stepping down at any point this season, I think I'm the man to take his place. Proving that your favorite blogger knows his hometown teams, I suggested last week after losing in New Orleans that Rivers should shake up his lineup with the only possible solution: replacing zombie Jermaine O'Neal with rookie Greg Stiemsma.

Five days later, Doc must have read my post since today he made the switch when O'Neal sat out with some old man injury (sore hamstring/broken dentures). Stiemsma's presence helped spark Boston (3-3) to its third straight win and second in as many nights against the Washington Wizards (0-5), 100-92 at TD Garden.

Don't be surprised if the Wizards are the worst team in the Eastern Conference this season or maybe even the entire league, they are that awful. Washington is the only winless team remaining in the NBA.

Before training camp, I can honestly say that I had never heard of Stiemsma. Truth be told, looking at pictures from his college days at Wisconsin, I remember him (which is saying something since everyone on the Badgers looks exactly the same). It tells you something about O'Neal that The Steamer is already better and more consistent than him at this juncture.

In 21 minutes, Stiemsma had 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks. He provides energy and a defensive presence that the Celts lack without him protecting the rim. Plus, it allows New England to embrace its racist roots. We always need a white scrub to root for on the C's-somewhere Brian Scalabrine weeps.

So while O'Neal and Kevin Garnett (10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) age in dog years, Ray Allen continues to defy all logic and not get older at all. Remember when everyone wanted to trade him a few seasons ago? Well it turns out ol' Ray is still the best shooter in the NBA. This evening he had a team-high 27 points including an absurd 6 of 7 on 3-pointers. His prego wife was loving it, proving that he's accurate off the floor as well. Rim shot!

Paul Pierce added a season-high 21 points in his third game and Rajon Rondo had 13 assists (7 turnovers), seven rebounds and six points. Brandon Bass continued to be excellent off the bench for Boston with 14 points and six rebounds.

Andray Blatche, who is a fat slug, put up a game-high 28 points and nine rebounds based mostly on long jumpers and free throws. If you know a more soft and less motivated big guy than him (that's American and not European), I'd be shocked.

JaVale McGee (17 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks) had another nice performance against the Celts. His length and athleticism really gives them trouble, it's a shame he's on a currently hopeless team. John Wall had 11 points and eight assists (7 turnovers) while Nick Young scored 10 points on a brutal shooting night (3 of 14).

Boston's bench outscored Washington's 21-17 thanks to Bass and Marquis Daniels (7 points).

Predictably on the second night of a back-to-back, against the same opponent, it was close the whole way. The Celtics won because they hit seven more 3-pointers (10-3) and shared the basketball (28-14 assists). The Wizards made five more free throws (19-14), had seven more steals (10-3), six more blocks (10-4), six more fast break points (17-11) and 12 more points in the paint (50-38).

Washington head coach Flip Saunders, who I nominate for the worst coach in the NBA, was ejected for arguing about a non-call 1:44 into the game. He doesn't deserve to get paid for this game, seriously. He probably just wanted more time to style his sweet lax bro hair.

Washington led 24-23 after one quarter and 48-47 at halftime. The Wizards were up 70-69 heading into the fourth but the winless team wasn't able to notch its first win of 2011-12. Boston took it home with a 31-22 last frame.

Another patsy comes to town on Wednesday night as the New Jersey Nets (1-5), who are about as bad as Washington, visit the Celtics. It should be another win for the Green which will tell us absolutely nothing about them. The only aspect of it that interests me is seeing how my guy Marshon Brooks (rookie from Providence College) does for the Nets. He's been putting up nice numbers off their bench so far.

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This Much Is Certain: The Celtics Will Beat Shitbum Teams In The 2011-12 Reg. Season

I know we are only a few games into the 2011-12 NBA regular season but since it's shortened, I feel like I'm more justified in making knee-jerk reactions about the Boston Celtics. After all, that is what being a fan is all about.

Write this down in stone: barring things like back-to-backs or the end of long road trips, the Celts will pile up wins against bad teams and in the Eastern Conference particularly, there are plenty of those.

Tonight, Boston (2-3) won its first road game of the season by beating the Washington Wizards (0-4) 94-86 at the Verizon Center.

If you're ever played basketball at a YMCA or in a park, this was the classic old man team beating the younger one. The Celts used veteran intelligence to beat the much more athletic and quicker Wizards.

It also helped that Boston had the two best players on the court: Rajon Rondo recorded his first triple-double of the season (14th of his career) with 18 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds while Kevin Garnett had a breakout performance with 24 points and nine rebounds. KG was extra motivated since for whatever reason, he hates Washington's Andray Blatche (10 points).

John Wall (19 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds) is the franchise player for the Wizards which is fine and dandy but they're screwed as long as Flip Saunders-a supreme bozo-is the head coach and knuckleheads like Blatche, Nick Young (18 points) and JaVale McGee (16 points, 14 rebounds, 5 blocks) are the best players around Wall.

Boston built up a nice lead with a solid first half. They were up 28-17 after the first quarter and 51-34 at halftime. Washington rallied in the third (26-22) and fourth (26-21) but the terrible first 24 minutes killed them.

Ray Allen scored 13 points for the Celts, Paul Pierce had nine points while Jermaine O'Neal and Brandon Bass (off the bench) notched eight points apiece.

For the game, the Celts shot nine percent better (50-41), hit three more 3-pointers (5-2), grabbed two more rebounds (41-39) and handed out 11 more assists (26-15) thanks to Rondo. The Wizards hit five more free throws (20-15), had two more steals (7-5), three more blocks (8-5) and eight more fast break points (19-11).

Boston's bench outscored Washington's by a 22-15 margin. I noted that because these same teams play tomorrow night at TD Garden. Just a beautiful scheduling move by David Stern (I know he isn't in charge of every schedule, humor me). The Celtics bench is deeper and better so they'll need it to play well again if they want to sweep this mini-series with the Wizards and keep Washington winless.

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Celtics barely show up but still beat Wizards

Last night's Boston Celtics vs. Washington Wizards game at the TD Garden was so sloppy that it resembled the first time at college that you got drunk. Haha, yeah that bad.

Neither team was into it. Boston (55-24) won 104-88 over Washington (21-58) in a game that was much closer than that.

The Celtics battled through fatigue from Thursday's night beatdown in Chicago. The Wizards are just playing out the string in another Lottery-bound season.

Boston kept pace with the Miami Heat ahead of their battle tomorrow afternoon in Miami which will likely determine which team gets the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Three Celtics had double-doubles. Paul Pierce had 22 points and 13 rebounds, Rajon Rondo added 20 points, 14 assists and six steals while Kevin Garnett had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Nenad Krstic put up 17 points and six rebounds and Ray Allen notched 13 points.

Andray Blatche led Washington with 20 points and 10 rebounds, John Wall scored 20 points, Jordan Crawford added 19 points and JaVale McGree put up 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Tomorrow is the last important game of the regular season for Boston. After that, they travel to DC on Monday to face the Wizards (great scheduling) and then host the Knicks on Wednesday in the regular season finale.

Boston Celtics lose a disgusting game to the Washington Wizards

The Washington Wizards are an awful team. They had no business beating the Boston Celtics last night in DC except for the fact that the Cs (33-10) went ice cold in the second half (27 points) and the Wizards (13-29) made all the plays, like a banked in 3-pointer by rookie point guard John Wall (16 points).

Washington won 85-83 at the Verizon Center as Paul Pierce (12 points, 8 rebounds) had a chance to put Boston up one late with a jumper but it was long.

This game doesn't have any deeper meaning and there's no cause for panic since the Celtics had won five in a row coming into last night. It was just frustrating to see a garbage team, filled with scrubs like Rashard Lewis (18 points, 11 rebounds), JaVale McGree (16 points, 3 blocks) and Andray Blatche (11 points) make all the plays.

Don't get me wrong, I love Wall and I think his dance that he invented at Kentucky is one of the funniest things I've ever seen but he didn't do anything special last night. He runs up the court 100 MPH and then tries to pass back or do other things which you simply can't get away with in the NBA. I know he'll have a good career but let's not go overboard yet.

Kevin Garnett led the Celts with 17 points, Ray Allen had 16 points, Rajon Rondo notched 13 points and nine rebounds while Semih Erden started and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Boston put it on cruise control way too early (sounds familiar huh?) as they led 35-20 after one quarter (they were up by as much as 16 right away) and 56-46 at halftime. Washington played well in the third (24-16) and put it away with a bad high school girls fourth quarter (15-11). Yuck.

I'm not going to bother going through the numbers of this ugly affair since it was one of the worst games Boston will play all year and I'd rather not relive it.

The Celts host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night to face the NBA's worst team. If they do anything but beat the shit out of that mess of a team, it'll be a joke.