"Today was a Good Day (for Celtics Tanking)"-Ice Cube's New Remix

While most of the civilized world watched The Oscars tonight, I was deeply engrossed in a meaningless Celtics-Lakers matchup at the Staples Center. Haha just kidding, I was glued to The Academy Awards and only switched over during commercials or categories/speeches that I didn't care about. Talk about perfect timing, Boston (20-33 overall, 8-18 away) tied it at the buzzer with a three-pointer by Avery Bradley (20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) just as The Oscars wrapped up. Los Angeles (14-41 overall, 8-19 home) outscored the Celts 12-5 in overtime for a 118-11 win.

Coupled with the news earlier in the day that Jared Sullinger would miss the rest of the season with a foot injury, this was an interesting day for the C's. Oh and Isaiah Thomas (21 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) played well in his Celtics debut then got ejected rather quickly for a pretty low-key outburst (slamming the ball on the court after a bad foul call on him). It's enough to make you wonder if the NBA is corrupt, haha that's right my bad. While Sullinger's injury history in the NBA and college is worrisome to say the least (assuming he's a key piece of the future here), still I can't say it's a bad thing that one of their better players is done for the last 30 games. Now can we cut the crap about Boston going for a fraudulent playoff spot in the Eastern Conference? Please.

Another great aspect of this game was that former Harvard star Jeremy Lin (remember him?) torched the Celts for a game-high 25 points and six assists off the bench. LA's starters combined for 34 total points as Carlos Boozer (12 points, 8 rebounds) was the only guy in double-figures. In addition to Mr. Linsanity's heroics off the bench, Wesley Johnson had 22 points, five rebounds and two steals while Swaggy P aka Nick Young added 19 points and Jordan Hill notched 10 points and five rebounds.

Jae Crowder led Boston with 22 points and seven rebounds off the bench, Evan Turner had a double-double (12 points, 12 assists and 6 rebounds), Brandon Bass posted 15 points and five rebounds while Marcus Smart put up 11 points and five rebounds. Even if they are losing many games down the stretch (fingers crossed), the Celtics at least should be way more exciting with Thomas in the lineup. He's the shortest guy in the NBA at 5-foot-9 and we always love our undersized guards (Nate Robinson, Dana Barros, Dee Brown, etc.) in Boston.

The C's were up 32-26 after the first quarter but that advantage shrunk to 58-56 at halftime. Boston outscored LA 20-17 in a grimy third quarter then the Lakers took the fourth 33-28. Of course, this could have been over earlier since LA was up four points with 12 seconds left but like a bad porn star, they couldn't close the deal. See what I did there (logs off forever)?

LA shot nearly nine percent better than Boston from the field (51.2%-42.9%) and hit six more free throws (25-19). The Celtics grabbed two more rebounds (48-46) including seven more offensive boards (13-6), had five more assists (27-22), nine more fast break points (15-6) and 11 more points off turnovers (30-19).

Boston is right back at it tomorrow night (9, CSN) in Phoenix against the free-falling Suns (29-27 overall, 9th in the West). It'll be a mini-reunion for the C's with Marcus Thornton and Brandan Wright who were both traded away this season in separate deals and Gerald Green who played in Boston approximately 50 years ago (give or take a few decades).

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Hey It Could Always Be Worse: The Celtics Are Way Better than the Lakers

Just like in life, sometimes in sports you need the occasional reminder that as bad as things may temporarily appear, there is always another player/team/fan base/city that has it much worse. That truism was on display tonight at TD Garden as the NBA's former greatest rivalry played not on national TV (when does that ever happen?) as the Celtics (6-11 overall, 4-7 home) beat the Lakers (5-15 overall, 3-7 away) 113-96.

It is easy to get depressed regarding the Celts, believe me that's why I rarely write about their soul-crushing defeats, but seeing LA up close was a reminder that they are in much worse shape both this season and going forward. Love him or hate him, I think most would have to admit that Kobe Bryant (22 points) is one of the greatest players of all-time in the NBA. In his 18th season and at age 36, he's still very good but the issue is that Los Angeles has surrounded him with a bunch of stiffs and nobodies, many of whom would be better served playing in the NBDL or on the Sixers.

LA's next highest scorer was Nick Young who had 16 points off the bench. Harvard's Jeremy Lin added 14 points, Jordan Hill notched 13 points and Wayne Ellington came in with 11 points off the bench. That's it, Carlos Boozer and Wesley Johnson who both started combined for two points. Haha how is that possible? The Lakers are stuck with Kobe for next year but other than rigging the lottery (miss you David Stern!), it's hard to figure how they'll work themselves out of this pickle.

Every Boston starter had at least 12 points led by Tyler Zeller with his career-high 24 points and 14 rebounds. Rajon Rondo barely missed out on a triple-double (12 points, 16 assists, 8 rebounds), Jared Sullinger had a double-double (17 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals), Jeff Green scored 19 points and Avery Bradley rounded out the group with 16 points. The Celtics only got 25 total points from its bench but it obviously didn't cost them.

Coupled with Wednesday's overtime win vs. Detroit, this is only the second time this season that the C's have won two games in a row. The Celts got off to a good start, leading 30-20 after the first quarter. The Lakers cut it to 53-48 by halftime but then Boston hit them with a third quarter similar to the first (33-22). Normally, no lead is safe when the Celtics are in front but the Lakers are the rare exception where you can overlook them. Boston outscored LA 27-26 in the fourth.

When you see the final numbers, it is kind of amazing that the Lakers were even able to keep it relatively close for a while. Boston shot 9.8% better from the field (51.1-41.3%), grabbed 16 more rebounds (54-38), dished out more than twice as many assists (29-14) and made three times as many steals (6-2). As if that wasn't enough, the Celts also scored 20 more fast break points (27-7) and eight more points in the paint (54-46).

The next game for the Celtics should look way different since the Wizards (13-5 overall, 1st in Southeast Division) come to the Garden on Sunday afternoon (1, CSN) as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. If it inevitably gets ugly, the C's should take heart in the fact that nobody but their friends and family will be watching on an NFL Sunday and with the Revolution in the 2014 MLS Cup that same afternoon (3, ESPN).

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Blowout Losses By the Celtics are My New Drug

I have to admit that in a weird way I'm enjoying all these blowout losses by the Celtics, juxtaposed with almost nightly college basketball games featuring Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Julius Randle and Marcus Smart. Boston (4-8 overall, 2-5 away) had us worried when they won four games in a row a few weeks back, including a buzzer beater at Miami (explain that), but now they have lost four consecutive games including the last three by 13+ points. Long story short: either they're getting a hang of this tanking business or they are just not that good without Rajon Rondo on the court.

Tonight was their best effort so far in that regard (cough, tanking) as they were down 18-1 to the Rockets (8-4 overall, 5-2 home) at Toyota Center and never recovered in a 109-85 loss. You know the C's truly blow when a stiff like Terrence Jones (24 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks) has a career-best game against them. Haha keep them coming guys!

It was a night for bums to shine as Patrick Beverley added 16 points for Houston. James Harden (15 points, 5 rebounds) and Dwight Howard (10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals) didn't have to do any heavy lifting. Chandler Parsons had 11 points and six assists while Jeremy Lin scored 11 points with five assists off the bench. Houston will never win a championship with this group but they'll get to the playoffs and be entertaining to watch.

For Boston, only three players were in double-figures (which is music to our ears): Courtney Lee led them with 17 points (always a good sign), Avery Bradley had 11 points and Jared Sullinger notched 10 points and nine rebounds.

If you thought tonight was ugly for the Celtics (and it certainly was), tomorrow night (8:30, CSNE) at San Antonio's (9-1, 1st in Southwest Division) At&T Center should be a complete joke. I doubt that the Spurs would overlook them like the Heat did so you can count on a blowout loss for the C's. Playing a back-to-back on the road against two solid teams is a great way to extend this modest losing streak into something substantial.

UPDATE 11/20: Gerald Wallace was fined $10,000 by the NBA for dropping an f-bomb to the media after last night's loss.

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Celtics Show No Signs Of Slowing Down, Win Their Fifth Straight Game

Over the summer and during the preseason when people talked about this being Boston's deepest team in years, this is what they imagined, not the struggles of November and December. For the second game in a row, the Celtics' (19-17, 12-6 home) bench was superb as they helped them beat the Rockets (21-16, 7-10 away) 103-91 at TD Garden.

Boston avenged a 101-89 loss in Houston on December 14 and picked up their fifth straight victory just for fun. The Celts pretty much led wire to wire, however they almost blew a 17-point lead (62-45) from the third quarter as the Rockets cut it to 83-81 in the fourth but the C's hit them with a 12-1 run to end it.

Paul Pierce led the home team with 23 points and six rebounds, Kevin Garnett had 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocks and Rajon Rondo put up 12 points and eight assists. Avery Bradley scored seven points but his real contribution was holding James Harden to 24 points and five assists, seriously. That ended Harden's streak of 14 straight games with 25+ points.

Jared Sullinger had another double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Courtney Lee added 14 points while Jeff Green scored nine.

Chandler Parsons had 18 points for the Rockets while Harvard's Jeremy Lin notched 12 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Omer Asik had seven points and 11 rebounds but a 1 for 8 night at the free throw line took the shine off his work.

Free throw shooting was a teamwide epidemic for Houston, they went 12 for 29 so that was the primary reason why they lost. I can't ever remember an NBA team having that kind of wretched performance. It was stunning, especially since they entered shooting 76% as a team. The Celtics also shot 8.1% better than the Rockets (51.9-43.8%) from the field which was the other main theme of the game.

Boston gets the weekend off then they basically get Monday off as well since the Bobcats (9-26, 4th in Southeast Division) come to TD Garden (7:30 p.m., CSN) in the third game of a five-game homestand for the C's. Charlotte played well at the beginning of the season but it's been all downhill from there, they are still one of the NBA's worst teams.

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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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