Celtics Destroy Lakers 116-95, Win Their 6th Straight Game As KG Goes Over 25,000 Points

For Celtics fans, tonight was basically a perfect night. Not only did Boston (26-23, 18-9 home) stomp the Lakers (23-27, 8-17 away) 116-95 at TD Garden but the Celts tied a season-high with their sixth straight win and Kevin Garnett (15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) made NBA history in the process.

KG went over 25,000 points for his career, becoming only the 16th player ever to accomplish that. He's such a humble and team-first guy but it was nice to see him enjoy it for a brief moment as the Garden gave him a well-deserved standing ovation. Nobody else has ever had 25,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 5000 assists, 1500 blocks and 1500 steals. The crazy thing is that even at 36 and with 17 years in the NBA under his belt, he is still playing at a very high level.

116 points was one off their season-high as the Celtics absolutely shredded the Lakers abysmal defense. Paul Pierce (24 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) continues to make a case to be an All-Star (should somebody get hurt or have to miss it). The speedy and dynamic defensive backcourt of Courtney Lee (13 points, 5 rebounds) and Avery Bradley (10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) continually harassed LA. Jeff Green was terrific off the bench with 19 points, Jason Terry added 15 and Chris Wilcox (8 points, 9 rebounds) had his best game of the season.

Times are tough in Lakerland with Pau Gasol out for 6-8 weeks and Dwight Howard (9 points, 9 rebounds) crippled. Kobe Bryant (27 points, 7 rebounds) can only do so much. He was the lone starter in double figures with Jodie Meeks (13 points) and Antawn Jamison (11 points) both making a case for more minutes.

Like Game 6 of the NBA Finals between these teams (also at the Garden) in 2008, this one was never really close and got out of hand rather quickly. Boston led 27-23 after one quarter and 58-44 at halftime. An outstanding third quarter (37-25) by Boston ensured that nobody went over 33 minutes (Bradley) and KG was limited to 23.

The Lakers get one more crack at the Celtics-February 20 back in LA-but that team is a disaster so I wouldn't worry in the least bit about that. Boston shot 11.4% better from the field (52.9-51.4%), grabbed five more rebounds (48-43), dished out nine more assists (25-16), had eight more steals (10-2), two more blocks (5-3), 18 more fast break points (22-4) and 22 more points in the paint (58-36).

The C's can chill the next few days as New England gets pounded by a blizzard but they have a serious challenge awaiting them on Sunday night (6 p.m., CSN) as the Denver Nuggets (32-18, 2nd Northwest Division) stop by. Nobody is talking about them but the Nuggets are one of the hottest teams in the NBA. They've won eight in a row including a 128-96 blowout against the Bulls tonight (on TNT after Celtics-Lakers) to move up to fourth in the Western Conference. Denver can really get up and down the court which is a tough matchup for the Celts: they're third in the NBA in scoring per game (104.7), second in rebounds per game (45.4) and third in assists per game (23.9). The good news for Boston is that they don't play much defense either, allowing 100.6 points per game (23rd in the NBA).

UPDATE 2/8: Fab Melo, fresh off his first NBA basket last night, was sent back to Maine today. To say he's raw and not quite ready yet for the NBA would be too kind. Keep working Fab.

UPDATE 2/10: Melo was recalled from the Red Claws. In other Syracuse products news, Kris Joseph was traded from the Red Claws to the Springfield (MA) Armor for power forward James Mays who is a D-League all-star this season.

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Celtics Roll Over The Sixers In Game 3 Of The Eastern Conference Semifinals, Take 2-1 Lead

After Game 1 and Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series were both decided by one point, the Boston Celtics chose to see what would happen if they showed up from the first quarter on; I'd say the result was all they could have hoped for and then some.

Boston took Philadelphia's best shot in the first quarter (33-28) and proceeded to pummel them into submission over the final three frames as the Celts won 107-91 tonight in Game 3 at the Wells Fargo Center.

In taking a 2-1 series lead and grabbing back the home-court advantage that they lost in Game 2, the Celtics led by as many as 27 points (105-78). Kevin Garnett (27 points, 13 rebounds), Paul Pierce (24 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals) and Rajon Rondo (23 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists) all surpassed 20 points in a game for the first time this season.

Michael Pietrus added 13 points off the bench but I'd be remiss if I didn't cite Boston's defense, which held Philly to 33 combined points in the second and third quarter.

Thaddeus Young (22 points) seems to be healthy now and he made his case for a starting spot in Game 4 over Elton Brand. Jrue Holiday had 15 points, nine assists and six rebounds while Andre Iguodala scored 10 points. Lou Williams and Jodie Meeks both had 13 points off the bench. The trio of Brand, Evan Turner and Spencer Hawes totaled 11 points, all together.

So is Philadelphia more like this than the gritty team they showed in Games 1 & 2? Were those close games enough to force Boston to wake up and realize that they have a very favorable road ahead of them if they can just keep winning? I guess we won't figure that out until Game 4 on Friday (8:00 p.m., ESPN). After all, the Celtics blew out the Hawks in Game 4 of the first round but then they lost by one in Game 5.

Pierce played by far his best game since Game 2 vs. the Hawks, when Rondo was suspended. He didn't even shoot well (6 for 17 from the floor) but he drove to the basket (11 of 14 on free throws) at will and threw down not one but two dunks.

Game 4 means everything because I think if Boston can win it, Philly will pack it in. Otherwise, it will be a series again. If you are a Celtics fan, you had to love their performance tonight because they were ruthlessly efficient: they never gave the Sixers any hope that they could win and they effectively took the crowd out of it.

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Farewell Illadelphia

Gotta love the NBA, where a bad team can outplay you for most of it and then you can steal the win with a last-second shot/defensive breakdown.

That was the story as old as time that unfolded last night as the Boston Celtics escaped with a 102-101 win over the 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Kevin Garnett (14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 blocks) took a lob pass from Rajon Rondo (19 points, 14 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) and scored a lay-in with 1.4 seconds left, giving the Celtics (18-4) their ninth straight win. For good measure, KG stole the inbounds pass that followed that to ice it.

The Sixers (7-15) looked good as their young talent was thriving and sometime star Andre Iguodala (14 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds) made two late baskets that appeared like it would equal a win.

Jodie Meeks led Philadelphia with 19 points (starting in place of rookie Evan Turner who was awful). Elton Brand played more like himself (13 points, 14 rebounds) than the ghost of the last few seasons. Jrue Holiday had 12 points and six assists while Spencer Hawes added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Thaddeus Young and Louis Williams (a certified Celtics killer) both had 16 points off the bench.

Ray Allen led Boston with a game-high 23 points, his second great game in a row. Paul Pierce (10 points) was silent all game but Glen Davis (16 points, 7 rebounds) continued to ball with both Shaq and Jermaine O'Neal out last night.

Boston shot 55.9% to Philadelphia's 45.7%. The Sixers owned the glass (39-33 overall, 15-5 in offensive boards) but three more steals (8-5) and blocks (6-3) helped the Celts clinch this tight one.

The Celtics go to Charlotte where they'll take on the Bobcats tomorrow night, a team they typically own, as they go for ten consecutive victories.