Clippers shock the Celtics at TD Garden

If I told you that Blake Griffin only had 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists when the Los Angeles Clippers visited the TD Garden, you would have thought the Celtics had rolled by like 20+ points, right?

Welcome to bizarro world as the young superstar was held completely in check yet the Clips (25-40) won 108-103 over the Celtics (46-16), who were disinterested in playing defense all game.

Despite basically no-showing for three quarters, it looked like Boston might make an epic comeback as they whittled a 23-point lead (65-42) down to three (86-83) with less than six minutes remaining. That's as close as they would get though as Los Angeles made all their shots down the stretch and deservedly came away with only their seventh road win of the season.

Mo Williams (game-high 28 points) and DeAndre Jordan (21 points on almost all dunks) were the unlikely stars for the Clippers. Former Celtic and my old college buddy Ryan Gomes added 12 points, Randy Foye notched nine points and 12 assists while Chris Kaman scored 10 off the bench.

Ray Allen led Boston with 23 points, Nenad Krstic added 20 points and nine rebounds while Paul Pierce had 19 points. Kevin Garnett (5-for-19) put up 16 points and eight rebounds despite the worst shooting performance I can ever remember from him. Rajon Rondo also struggled from the field (6-for-15) but he had 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the game was when Boston's five newest players: Krstic, Jeff Green (6 points), Carlos Arroyo (4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists in his debut), Sasha Pavlovic (2 points) and Troy Murphy (2 steals) were all on the floor at the same time. It speaks to Boston's immense depth (if Shaq and Delonte West ever get healthy) that these will mostly be bench players when Glen Davis returns.

Los Angeles was ahead right from the start, 30-17 after the first quarter and 60-42 at halftime. Boston recovered with a strong third quarter (24-16) and fourth (37-32) but it wasn't enough.

The Clippers shot 52.0% to 44.0% for the Celtics. LA hit three more 3-pointers (9-6) and had seven more assists (28-21). Boston made the comeback with six more steals (10-4), four more fast break points (12-8) and eight more points in the paint (48-40).

After seeing their five-game win streak snapped, Boston will try to get a new one started tomorrow night when they visit the City of Brotherly Love. The Sixers have been playing great lately but the Cs have owned them the last few years. This could be a potential first round matchup in the playoffs this season.

On top of the world Ma!

As a slave to fantasy sports, it hit me last night that none of the Boston Celtics this season will probably have a great year statistically. Sure Paul Pierce or Ray Allen can get the hot hand any night and put up 25+ points and Rajon Rondo is a triple-double waiting to happen but nobody is a straight gunner which for the most part is what fantasy basketball is all about.

Fortunately, the product the Celtics are currently putting on the court more than makes up for this useless quibble. They didn't play well at all last night in Minnesota but still survived with a 92-90 victory at the Target Center.

Boston (6-0) was down five points after the first quarter and eight at the half (49-41) but they slowly chipped away and let the young Timberwolves (1-4) make enough dumb plays and launch enough bricks to pull it out.

It might be my noted affection for Al Jefferson (18 points) and fellow PC alum Ryan Gomes (11 points, 7 rebounds) but I've said for the last few seasons that Minnesota has a lot of talent, if they could plug in a few decent veterans they might get somewhere. So far with new coach Kurt Rambis patrolling the sidelines (sans goggles) and Kevin Love out with an injury, it's hard to tell if the T-Wolves are making much progress.

Oleksiy Pecherov had the game of his life last night with a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds but it wasn't enough. Corey Brewer added 13 points and promising rookie point guard Jonny Flynn had 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Balance was the order of the day for the C's as out of the ten guys that saw the floor, nine scored at least six points.

Rajon Rondo led the way with 18 points, six assists and three steals. Kevin Garnett (in his second game back in Minnesota) had a double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. He also had the play of the game late in the fourth quarter as he tied up Brewer when it looked like the former Florida star had an open lane to the basket.

Ray Allen scored 14 points, Kendrick Perkins had 12 points, eight boards and three blocks while Paul Pierce notched 10 points.

The Suns come to Boston tomorrow night.

Remembering what life would be like without KG

It's easy to forget that the Celtics acquired KG a couple days after trading for Ray Allen two summers ago. There is a reason why people (myself included) weren't that excited about a team that only slightly upgraded by trading for Ray Allen. Garnett is a difference-maker as he proved last season in Boston's championship run.

The C's lose its defensive identity when Garnett (flu) is forced to miss a game like he did yesterday afternoon against his former team, the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Boston (40-9) did just enough for a 109-101 home win over the youthful Timberwolves (16-30) in a Super Bowl matinee. Oh by the way, it was the Green's 11th consecutive victory.

Still, it was a reality check of what life would have been like without KG; the Celts would be fighting for home court in the Eastern Conference and would not be title contenders.

Paul Pierce led Boston with a game-high 36 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Ray Allen added 22 points and Tony Allen scored 14 off the bench. In only his second career start, Glen Davis notched 12 points, six boards and three steals.

Kendrick Perkins scored eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Rajon Rondo had five points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Minnesota was paced by its star, former Celtic Al Jefferson, who had 34 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. It's a joke that he didn't make the All-Star team this season in the West.

Randy Foye added 21 points and nine assists while former Providence College star and Celtic Ryan Gomes notched 17 points and four steals. Sebastian Telfair, the other ex-Celtic, had 10 points and eight assists.

Boston jumped out a sizable lead after a 29-24 first quarter and 33-20 second quarter. The T-Wolves came back in the third (29-25) and fourth (28-22) but Pierce would not let his team choke away such a winnable game.

The Celts travel to Philly tomorrow night and Garnett's status is up in the air.

Where Would We Be Without KG?

When the Minnesota Timberwolves came to the Garden last night, the team with the worst record in the NBA was meeting the team with the best. None of this seemed to matter as the Celtics were extremely lucky to come away with a 87-86 win.

The T-Wolves have count 'em six former C's: Al Jefferson, Antoine Walker, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff (who by this point is a mummy). True Boston fans (and not the ones who are Johnny Come Lately bandwagon fillers) will remember them all, especially the young guys and 'Toine.

The Celts made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002 led by 'Toine, Pierce and a team that shot about 45 threes a game. Not surprisingly, they came crashing to a halt against the Nets. The young guys who were here last year (Bassy) or the last two (the rest) were part of a rebuilding project that never really went anywhere. That is until they were packaged along with two No. 1 picks for Garnett last summer. Jefferson is an absolute beast and at 22-years old is destined to be a star but as we've seen all year, and fittingly last night, KG is a winner that makes plays few others can.

Things weren't looking good as Boston (34-7) was down one with under a minute. They got a stop and the rebound but Pierce travelled. The T-Wolves (7-35) though shot themselves in the foot as they failed to get the ball inbounds in time. Ray Allen drove to the basket on the next possession but his layup rimmed out. Kendrick Perkins was there for the putback slam. Minnesota had one last chance but they couldn't get anything off. KG ended up out on Telfair near midcourt. No surprise who ended up with the ball as time ran out. Garnett pounded his chest and held up the Boston part of his jersey. A memorable moment in what could have been a disastrous game.

In terms of one-on-one matchups, there were a couple of surprises in terms of final results. Perkins (game-high 21 points, 4 rebounds, 3 blocks) actually outplayed Jefferson (15 points, 5 boards, 2 steals, 2 assists, 2 blocks). Telfair played great (18 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals) while Rajon Rondo (4 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block) was invisible.

Pierce had 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Ray Allen shot 4 of 18 for 12 points and four rebounds. KG left in the fourth with an abdominal strain but finished the game with 10 points and 16 rebounds. Tony Allen (6 rebounds) and Leon Powe each added seven points off the bench.

Gomes had 13 points while Rashad McCants had 12 points and seven boards. Green had nine points, three boards and two assists. Corey Brewer had eight points and 'Toine had only three.

The C's got to the basket much more and were rewarded by making 25 of 30 from the line. Minnesota was just 12 of 16. Boston dominated the glass (47-35) while the T-Wolves got more steals (13-7).

The rematch in Minnesota in a few weeks should be even more emotional for Garnett since he had spent his whole career there. The Celts hit the road to face Orlando tomorrow afternoon. The teams split the first two games (with the home team winning both) so it should be a tight contest.