Never In My Wildest Dreams Did I Ever Expect The Celtics To Be in 1st-Place This Season

I'm done trying to make sense of what exactly the Celtics are trying to accomplish in what should be an unquestioned rebuilding season. Through reasons outside of their control, namely the Eastern Conference being a toxic dump with only two teams (2!) currently over .500-Heat and Pacers-they are in much better shape than we'd like to see. In fact, Boston (8-12 overall, 4-5 home) accomplished something tonight that believe it or not they never did last season: by beating Milwaukee (3-14 overall, 1-8 away) 108-100 at TD Garden, the Celts now lead the Atlantic Division all by themselves.

What the hell? They avenged two losses to the Bucks earlier this season by having all five starters score in double figures. Jordan Crawford had a game-high 25 points and five assists, Jeff Green notched 18 points, Brandon Bass put up 16 points and nine rebounds, Avery Bradley added 15 points (including an absurd shot from behind the backboard) and Jared Sullinger tossed in 12 points with eight rebounds. Things went so well for the C's that even Courtney Lee (11 points) looked like a solid player.

Milwaukee certainly knows how to tank, this is a team that started Ekpe Udoh (3 blocks), Khris Middleton (14 points) and John Henson (11 points, 5 rebounds) in the same lineup. Their best players at the moment are O.J. Mayo (19 points) and Brandon Knight (15 points, 6 assists) so good luck with that. Wait, they want to lose. Damn it!

Boston is off until Friday (7:30, CSN) when they host Denver (11-6, 3rd in Northwest Division).

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Celtics Beat Mavericks In The Worst Double Overtime Game In NBA History

Maybe it's because they blew a 14-point lead (68-54) from the third quarter or perhaps it doesn't feel so great since the Celtics squandered not one but two shots to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime. Still, I guess we should be thankful that Boston (12-9, 8-4 home) found a way to hold off Dallas (11-11, 4-8 away) 117-115 tonight at TD Garden in double overtime.

All you can say is that this was an exceedingly ugly game. How else do you describe 28 turnovers by the Mavericks or suffering through two overtimes officiated by Joey Crawford? Boston outscored Dallas 34-17 on points off turnovers.

Paul Pierce rescued the Celts with a game-high 34 points (1st Celtic with 30+ points this season), six rebounds and four steals. Rajon Rondo just missed another triple-double with 16 points, 15 assists, nine rebounds and three steals. Kevin Garnett had 16 points and five rebounds, Jason Terry scored 10 against his former team while Jeff Green (16 points, 5 rebounds) and Chris Wilcox (10 points, 6 rebounds) were great off the bench and honestly should have played more.

The Mavericks are still without the talents of superstar Dirk Nowitzki but O.J. Mayo (24 points, 6 rebounds) is turning into the All-Star nobody thought he would be. Remember when the Celtics could have flipped Ray Allen for him? Yeah, that could have worked. Shawn Marion (16 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists) wasn't that far off of a triple-double of his own, Dahntay Jones and Chris Kaman (5 rebounds) scored 12 while Derek Fisher added 10 points.

I think the average age of Dallas is 53 when you factor in Vince Carter (10 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists). Darren Collison (20 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals) was spectacular off the bench so I have no clue why he doesn't start over that fossil Fisher, who still hits daggers left and right.

Boston could never shake Dallas, despite leading 27-25 after the first quarter, 48-43 at halftime and 76-70 heading into the fourth. The Celtics hit 12 more free throws (25-13) and made eight more steals (16-8). They needed all of that since the Mavericks shot way better (51.1%-43.0%), hit two more 3-pointers (8-6), grabbed eight more rebounds (50-42) and handed out three more assists (27-24) with two more blocks (7-5). Oh and Dallas had 20 more points in the paint (60-40).

At the end of regulation, Rondo isolated on Fisher but he got blocked, thinking he'd get fouled but he wasn't. Even worse, Pierce basically did the same thing at the end of the first overtime as Jones stuffed his feeble attempt.

The C's passed their first Texas test of the week but it will get harder this weekend as they travel to Houston (8 p.m., CSN) on Friday and San Antonio (8:30 p.m., CSN) on Saturday. The Rockets are 10-11 and fourth in the Southwest Division while the Spurs are 18-5 and first in the Southwest Division. Nobody expected much from Kevin McHale's Rockets but mostly thanks to James Harden and some emerging young guys, they are pretty competitive. As for San Antonio, they continue to defy age and play excellent team basketball while battling Oklahoma City for the top spot in the Western Conference.

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It took A While But The Celts Are Rounding Into Form, Win Their Fourth Straight

Sadly Tony Allen wasn't able to suit up this afternoon in his return to Boston and his new squad similarly didn't show up as the Boston Celtics (13-10) waxed the Memphis Grizzlies (12-12) 98-80 this afternoon at TD Garden.

Zach Randolph has been out for a while with a knee injury and he's their best player so that explains why Memphis-which made a run to the Western Conference semifinals last season-has been so inconsistent out of the gates this season.

Brandon Bass missed the game for the Celts with a sore knee but they rolled on anyway to their fourth straight win.

Kevin Garnett led all scorers with a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds. For the third game in a row, KG hit a 3-pointer (by design). I never thought I'd write those words but he seems to have a decent touch from long range. Apparently, he used to shoot 3s once in a while with the Timberwolves but thanks to college and alcohol, I really can't remember that.

Paul Pierce had 21 points, six rebounds and six assists while Ray Allen (4 of 14 shooting) added 12 points and Rajon Rondo handed out 14 assists. Chris Wilcox put up 12 points and five rebounds off the bench while rookie JaJuan Johnson had his second good performance in a week with 10 points, four rebounds and two blocks (not all in garbage time either).

An interesting note: Pierce is now nine points behind Larry Bird (ever hear of him?!) for second in all-time scoring for the Celtics. Expect him to break that in the first half, maybe even the first quarter of the next contest.

With Super Bowl 46 hanging over everyone, the Grizzlies thankfully didn't put up much of a fight. Rudy Gay had 21 points and seven rebounds but Sam Young was the only other starter in double-figures with 10 points. O.J. Mayo scored 15 off the bench and Dante Cunningham had 10 points in the loss.

The C's led 24-16 after one quarter and 43-35 at halftime. They were still up eight (69-61) after three and they saved their best for last with a strong fourth (29-19).

Boston owned almost every category: shooting percentage (49.3%-36.8%), 3s (7-3), free throws made (19-13), rebounds (45-38), assists (28-13), steals (9-5), fast break points (26-10) and points in the paint (44-34).

The worst team in the NBA, the Charlotte Bobcats, come to the Garden on Tuesday night. It will be a worthless game except for the fact that Pierce will pass Bird which is pretty remarkable. Get ready for the big one on Thursday: the Lakers make their only appearance of the season on Causeway Street for a primetime matchup.

Go Patriots!

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Ho hum, Celts win 11th straight and have best record in the NBA

It's funny how fast things can change in the NBA. A few weeks ago, the Celtics looked old and very vulnerable. Well they're still old but after winning their 11th straight last night, 110-105 over the Grizzlies, Boston (20-4) has the best record in the NBA.

Sure, the Celts have thrived against mostly weak teams but still they are 12-1 on the road. Since last night was the final game of a brief three-game road trip and because it was against a team that plays the style that gives Boston the most trouble (young, athletic), a seasoned fan had to know it wouldn't be easy.

It was basically a carbon copy of countless games from the last three seasons; the Celtics made just enough winning plays at the end to come away with the win. The biggest shot was Ray Allen's (18 points) three-pointer off a busted play with 17.5 seconds left.

Paul Pierce led the C's with 19 points and six assists. Rajon Rondo had 18 points and nine assists, Kevin Garnett had 13 points and eight boards while Kendrick Perkins added 13 points and six rebounds before fouling out.

The bench gave Boston a big left as Rasheed Wallace scored 15 and Eddie House had nine points.

Memphis (10-14) has one of the best starting fives in the league, really. Rudy Gay was coming off a career-high 41 point game and he followed that up with a team-high 23 points and seven rebounds. O.J. Mayo had 21 points and Zach Randolph added 20. Marc Gasol, who's much tougher than his older brother Pau, notched 15 points and eight boards while Mike Conley Jr. tossed in 11. Rookie Sam Young had 11 points off the bench.

Memphis led 31-28 after the first quarter and 55-54 at the half. Boston turned it on in the third quarter (31-26) and held on in the fourth (25-24).

The C's come home for three games, starting with Allen Iverson and the Sixers on Friday night.