"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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It's Only November, But The Celtics Are Not Right

Does someone want to let the Celtics know that the 2012-13 season has begun? For a team that has been known for its slow starts the last few years, I think it's safe to say they would be staring squarely at 0-5 right now if they hadn't played the Wizards twice already.

Boston (2-3, 1-2 home) fell 106-100 to Philadelphia (3-2, 2-1 away) tonight at TD Garden in a game that didn't seem that close since the Sixers seemingly led by nine or 10 points the whole time.

Rajon Rondo (14 points, 20 assists) and Kevin Garnett (19 points, 10 rebounds) have been themselves and this evening, Paul Pierce (24 points, 5 assists) decided to join them. Jason Terry was the only other guy in double figures with 13 points off the bench. The problem has been that the rest of the team hasn't really shown up yet, at least not consistently. And that's more than you can say for their so far invisible defense that allowed the NBA's lowest scoring team (that hadn't scored over 88) easily reach triple-digits, on the road.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised that the Sixers won since for whatever reason, they've been a bad matchup for the Celts the last few seasons. This was the same team that pushed them to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals in May. Evan Turner (25 points, 11 rebounds) and Jrue Holiday (21 points, 14 assists) seem to be progressing into the stars that franchise desperately needs. Dorell Wright and Thaddeus Young both had 15 points while Nick Young scored 10 off the bench.

Philly led 23-20 after one quarter and 57-45 at halftime. It turns out that was too much for Boston to overcome since the C's outscored the Sixers 29-26 in the third and 26-23 in the fourth but it wasn't enough.

The Sixers hit three more 3-pointers (7-4), grabbed seven more rebounds (38-31), had five more steals (12-7) and four more blocks (7-3). The numbers that really stand out for Philadelphia were their advantage in fast break points (26-9) and points in the paint (56-48). The Celtics aren't going anywhere allowing that type of differential to a team without a dominant point guard (sorry Jrue) or big guy.

Boston travels to Milwaukee tomorrow night (8:30 p.m., CSN) to face the Bucks (3-1). You'll remember that Milwaukee spoiled the Celtics' home-opener a week ago, 99-88. That no show was the first sign that this team has some major issues to address.

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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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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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