Rondo is Long Gone (to Dallas), Time for the Celts to Move On & Accept This Shitty Reality

Here is all you need to know about the current depressing state of the Celtics: their only must-see games anymore involve when links to their successful past return with their new and better teams. As the last link that remained to the 2008 title team, Rajon Rondo played the role of conquering hero last night at TD Garden for his first game back as a Maverick. We all know how he plays in big games and make no mistake, this one meant plenty to Rondo who went off for 29 points (his most in nearly two years) on a career-high five 3-pointers as Dallas crushed Boston 119-101.

Dallas (24-10 overall, 11-5 away) might not be the best team in the Western Conference but the addition of Rondo (6 rebounds, 5 assists) seems like a perfect fit. Barring injuries, there is no reason that team can't make a deep run in the postseason this spring. In addition to the big game performances, Rondo should excel with the wealth of scorers around him: Monta Ellis (22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals), Dirk Nowitzki (17 points, 7 rebounds) and Chandler Parsons (13 points, 7 rebounds). Tyson Chandler (8 points, 16 rebounds, 2 steals) is also still there to do all the dirty work around the hoop.

As always, the Celtics (11-19 overall, 8-10 home) showed the Red Sox how to put together a proper video tribute without going overboard on the awful music and nauseating schmaltz. That was shown after the first quarter where Rondo went off for a career-high 15 points as the Mavs jumped out to a 31-17 lead and frankly never looked back. Boston outscored Dallas 29-28 in the second quarter but the Mavs put it away with a dominant third (33-18). The C's pretended to make it interesting in the fourth (37-27) but come on, it was long over by then.

While Dallas can legitimately think about another title run, the best that Boston can hope for this season is sneaking into the JV Eastern Conference playoffs as the seventh or eighth seed. What a lofty goal, of course any C's fan that knows anything will tell you that ultimately shooting that low is counterproductive to the franchise's return from NBA purgatory (not the worst-hi Sixers and Knicks-but light years away from contenders) to national (not to mention local) relevancy.

Avery Bradley led the Celts with 22 points, while Jeff Green had 18 points and six rebounds, Tyler Zeller put up a double-double (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Jared Sullinger added 12 points and six rebounds. All those players are solid NBA starters but none of them were ever nor will ever be All-Stars. Sadly, the only way to win consistently in the NBA is to accumulate as many stars as you can. As it stands, Boston's only hope to get those (since none want to come here in free agency) is to win the lottery (which they are allergic to). Ugh, Green 18 baby!

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Celtics Fall 88-80 To Knicks In Game 6, Let The Breakup Begin

Listen, we all knew this day would eventually come. There is a reason no team has ever rallied from a 3-0 hole in the NBA playoffs. Likewise, as much as we want them to be, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett won't be Celtics forever. It seems only right that in possibly their last game together, the Celts fell 88-80 to the Knicks in one of the most bizarre contests tonight at TD Garden in Game 6 of the first round.

The Knicks move on to face the Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals beginning on Sunday afternoon. Go Indiana! New York won its first playoff series since 2000 while Boston lost in the first round for the first time since KG (15 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals) came aboard in 2007-08 (when they won the NBA title). The Knicks should have won this game by about 40 points since the Celts managed 10 points in the first quarter and 27 in the first half. Ugh, seriously. That will be one of the lasting memories of this series, the wretched offensive performances by the C's in almost every game.

The Knicks led by as much as 26 (75-49) early in the fourth quarter before the Celtics hit them with a 20-0 run. Yes, that really happened. Suddenly, Boston cut it to a four-point game (79-75) after Avery Bradley's (10 points, 3 steals) dunk with 3:31 left in regulation. To quote KG from five years ago, "Anything's possible!" Unfortunately, that wasn't the case this evening though as Iman Shumpert (17 points, 6 rebounds) and J.R. Smith (13 points, 7 rebounds) made plays down the stretch while Carmelo Anthony (21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) continued to be the most unclutch superstar in the NBA. Hell Pablo Prigioni (14 points, 5 rebounds) played better than him, Raymond Felton had 11 points, seven assists and two steals while Tyson Chandler added 9 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.

Jeff Green (21 points, 5 rebounds) showed plenty of heart (no pun intended), going to the line a whopping 14 times (two less than New York as a team). Whenever Garnett and Pierce leave, this will quickly become Rajon Rondo and Green's team. That is a scary proposition but at least this season, Green proved that when he puts his mind to it, he has the potential to be a star. I'd love to see Pierce return, if for no other reason than to erase the memory of one of his worst games as a Celtic: 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Crap like guys retiring with a certain team usually doesn't mean much to me but in this case, I think he's earned that right. However, Celtics GM Danny Ainge has to do a much better job of surrounding Pierce (1 year left on his deal) and KG (two years left) with more talent.

Jason Terry had 14 points and he sounded like he's not ready to retire quite yet. He was a bust for most of the season but maybe with another season in Green and White, he would become more comfortable. Of course, one could argue that the biggest domino in this whole scenario is head coach Doc Rivers. In the emotional aftermath of this loss, he sounded very unsure of his future in Boston. Obviously, they'll have him here as long as he wants to stay. Still, like Garnett and Pierce, he is too good to have to go through another rebuilding mode. Who could blame him if he wants to leave (assuming KG and Pierce also walk out)?

I feel like I wrote the exact same thing last June after Boston lost to Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals, and I'm too tired to look it up, but I can say with certainty that this will truly be a fascinating summer. Does Ainge go for it one more time with this nucleus plus a healthy Rondo, Jared Sullinger and a better supporting cast and bench? Or does he blow it up completely and start to move on? Tough decisions, that's presumably why he gets paid the big bucks and I'm just a lowly blogger.

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If Any Team Can Blow A 3-0 Series Lead In The NBA, It's Gotta Be The Knicks

My how things can change over two games in the NBA playoffs or roughly 12 days. The Knicks had a chance to sweep the Celtics on Sunday but lost 97-90 in OT. No problem, everybody knew they'd come back to Madison Square Garden tonight with J.R. Smith and get rid of the C's once and for all. Well it turns out that didn't happen either as Boston beat New York 92-86 to cut the series lead to 3-2.

This is where I remind you that no team in NBA history has ever rallied from an 0-3 deficit. All I said on Sunday is that I wanted to see what would happen in a Game 6 in Boston. I got my wish, the series returns to TD Garden on Friday (7 p.m., CSN). Enough can't be overstated about the heart, competitiveness and desire of Kevin Garnett (16 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks) and Paul Pierce (16 points). Jeff Green had 18 points for the Celts, Brandon Bass (17 points, 5 rebounds) kept them in it after they were down 11-0 to start the game while Jason Terry (17 points) was clutch for the second game in a row.

The Knicks are frontrunning clowns who cared more about playing dress up (showing up in all black clothes for a "Celtics funeral") than winning a basketball game. Carmelo Anthony had 22 points on 8-of-24 shooting and seven rebounds. Believe it or not, Raymond Felton (21 points, 6 rebounds) has been New York's steadiest player throughout this up and down series. Iman Shumpert added 12 points, six rebounds and three steals while Tyson Chandler grabbed 11 rebounds. Smith had 14 points but he was a Melo-esque 3-of-14 from the floor.

Other than the very ugly beginning, this was a game that Boston controlled for the final three plus quarters. They pulled to within 22-20 after one and led 45-39 at halftime. The Celtics outscored the Knicks 25-22 in the third and opened up a 15-point lead early in the fourth (75-60) before hanging on for dear life.

This was the team we loved to watch after they pulled together following Rondo's injury, they're tough, smart and don't back down from anyone. Boston shot 6.2% better from the field than New York (45.7%-39.5%) and they beat the Knicks at their own game by hitting six more 3-pointers (11-5). If that wasn't enough, the C's managed to dish out seven more assists (20-13) than the all-iso Knicks.

Now the Celtics have all the momentum in the series and this loss has to put some serious doubt in the Knicks' heads. Suddenly, all the pressure is on New York who FYI hasn't won a playoff series since 2000. So yeah, there is still plenty of work to do but the C's could actually pull this off.

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Celtics Pride Is Alive, Well Sort Of

It was long overdue (say 3 games) but the Celtics finally should some fight with stretches of solid execution mixed in and they were able to avoid getting swept by the Knicks. Boston beat New York 97-90 in overtime this afternoon in Game 4 of their first round playoff series at TD Garden.

Paul Pierce (29 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists), Jeff Green (25 points, 6 rebounds) and Kevin Garnett (13 points, 17 rebounds, 6 assists) carried the Celts while Jason Terry (18 points) picked a good time to show up for one of the first times this season.

Of course the C's had to make things way more difficult on themselves than need be since J.R. Smith was suspended for Game 4 and they led by 20 points in the third quarter (59-39). Carmelo Anthony scored 36 points with seven rebounds as only he can: on 10-of-35 shooting from the floor and 16-for-20 on free throws. HHaha my man was 0-for-7 on 3-pointers. The Knicks rallied and nearly stole this one since Raymond Felton (27 points, 3 steals) had the NBA game of his life. Iman Shumpert added 12 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocks while Tyson Chandler grabbed 11 rebounds.

Boston had nothing to lose and they played like it from the start. The Celtics outscored the Knicks 22-17 in the first quarter and took a 54-35 halftime lead. New York crawled back into it since KG, Green and Brandon Bass all picked up four fouls early in the third quarter thanks to the usual crooked NBA refs. The Knicks outscored the Celtics 30-14 in the third quarter to cut it to 68-65 heading into the fourth quarter. New York took the fourth quarter 19-16 as Pierce missed a last-second game-winner for the millionth time in the last few seasons.

I couldn't believe it with my own eyes but Terry took over in the extra session, hitting a huge 3-pointer, layup, two free throws then the garbage time layup to seal it. I didn't think there was any chance the Celts would get it done once it went to overtime but I'm happy that they proved me (and many others) wrong.

Boston's defense was outstanding as they held New York to 34.4% shooting while the Celts shot 44.7%. The Knicks made it very interesting by owning the boards (54-40 total, 16-3 on offensive rebounds). The Celtics had 12 more assists (22-10) as they remembered how to play team basketball against Melo's one-man team. Boston had seven more fast break points (15-8) while New York scored eight more points off Boston's turnovers (18-10).

History is still squarely on the Knicks' side since no NBA team has ever come back from down 3-0 in a series. Game 3 is Wednesday (time TBA, CSN) at Madison Square Garden and all I'll say is that if the Celts can somehow win that one, then it'll get interesting. However, I'm not counting on that by any means.

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They Might Have A Worse Record Than Them But The Celtics Still Own The Knicks

You wouldn't think a Celtics-Knicks game on a Monday in early January would get the blood pumping but that's exactly what happened as the events at Madison Square Garden were much more interesting than Alabama's 42-14 pasting of Notre Dame in the BCS Championship game.

Playing without Rajon Rondo, who was suspended for a game after making contact with a referee in Atlanta on Saturday, Boston (17-17, 7-11 away) still found a way to hold off New York (23-11, 13-4 home) 102-96 in their first of four meetings in the regular season.

Paul Pierce led the Celts with 23 points and six assists, Kevin Garnett had 19 points, 10 rebounds and three steals while Avery Bradley (13 points, 5 assists) played like himself from last season. Jeff Green put up 16 points and six rebounds off the bench and Jared Sullinger had 10 points and five rebounds as Boston won its third straight game-all against Eastern Conference playoff teams.

J.R. Smith had 24 points off the bench for the Knicks. Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points but he shot a putrid 6 of 26 from the field. Tyson Chandler added 13 points and 17 rebounds while Amar'e Stoudermire notched 13 points as a substitute.

The weird subplot is that KG and Melo got tangled up during the game in the fourth quarter (both earning technicals) and it apparently carried over to afterwards as Anthony tried to confront Garnett by Boston's team bus. Haha really dude? Luckily, there was about 1000 people there to make sure nothing actually happened.

This had the look and feel of a playoff game, right down to the scoreboard. Zing! The Celtics led 22-21 after the first quarter but the Knicks wrestled slight control away with a 56-53 halftime advantage. Boston's defense took over in the third quarter (23-16) and they were able to hang on in the fourth (26-24).

The Celtics won because they shot so well from the field (52.7%) and held the Knicks to 40.8%. The only reason New York made a game of it was because they hit eight more 3-pointers (14-6). No Rondo but Boston still had seven more assists (26-19) and 12 more points in the paint (40-28).

After we all left the C's for dead last week-rightfully so-they have certainly turned things around. They have the potential to go on a nice run here as the schedule really works out in their favor: their next five games are all at home. Only two of them are against playoff caliber teams (Rockets, Bulls) while the other three are cupcakes (Suns, Bobcats, Hornets).

Boston hosts Phoenix (12-23, 5th in Pacific Division) on Wednesday night (7:30 p.m., CSN) in their first of two meetings this season.

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Carmelo Drops A Triple-Double On The Celtics At MSG

If you watched tonight's Celtics-Knicks game, rest assured that you witnessed something that you'll never see again in an NBA game.

New York (32-29, 21-11 home) was on fire NBA Jam style all night as they won 118-110 over Boston (36-26, 15-17 away) at Madison Square Garden, knotting the season series at two in the finale.

Steve Novak (25 points) hit eight 3-pointers, setting a career-high in points. J.R. Smith (25 points) tied a team-record with seven 3-pointers all in the first half. The crazy thing is that both those guys came off the bench and Carmelo Anthony (35 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) was even better since he notched a triple-double.

Not having Mickael Pietrus or Ray Allen certainly hurt Boston's chances of A) stopping those guys and B) getting points from the bench. Boston's bench was outscored 55-2, haha that's not a misprint.

The Knicks hit 19 3-pointers (most ever allowed in Celtics franchise history) out of 34 attempts, tying a season-high in makes and falling one short of the franchise mark set way back in 2010-11. The Celtics played absolutely no defense and trailed 72-53 at halftime yet somehow, they hung around for virtually the entire way.

Paul Pierce scored a season-high 43 points (most for a Boston player in 6 years), including an incredible 17 of 18 from the free throw line. Kevin Garnett had 20 points, Avery Bradley scored 17 points (5 for 6 on 3-pointers!), Brandon Bass had 15 points and Rajon Rondo put up 13 points (2 for 4 on 3-pointers) and 13 assists. His double digit assist streak reached 23 games in a row.

Tyson Chandler also had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Knicks. The Celts could have clinched the Atlantic Division with a win but it's basically a formality with four games remaining and New York trailing by 3.5 games.

Boston flies home for another primetime game tomorrow at TD Garden against the Orlando Magic, minus Dwight Howard. The Celtics beat the Magic in back-to-back games in January, including that absurd comeback on January 26 (91-83) in Orlando. Odds are that the C's will play either the Magic or Hawks (their opponent on Friday) in the first round of the playoffs with the 4 vs. 5 matchup. I think most would agree that Orlando, especially with Howard banged up, would be easier to beat.

Three of the Celtics' last four games are at home. Rondo took a hard fall on his back and he's questionable for tomorrow. If there's any doubt on his status, they will surely be cautious since he's the franchise and their only hope to go far in the playoffs.

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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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Boston 1, New York 0 So Far This Weekend

The Boston Celtics held off the New York Knicks 91-89 tonight at TD Garden for three simple reasons: the C's play defense, they have a point guard and they use their bench (they outscored the Knicks 23-9).

It would be piling on to mention that Doc Rivers routinely coaches circles around Mike D'Antoni but I'll stick with the three main ingredients.

Boston (12-10) avenged its two-point loss on Christmas Day by winning for the seventh time in the last eight games.

Conversely, New York (8-15) continues to spiral downward. It seems inevitable that D'Antoni will be fired at some point this season, the Knicks can't go on playing this badly without a major change to shake up this poorly constructed team.

Paul Pierce was the best player on the parquet with a game-high 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Kevin Garnett had 15 points and eight rebounds while Ray Allen scored nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter aka winning time. Rajon Rondo was rusty in his return after missing eight games, he had seven points, seven assists, five rebounds and five turnovers.

Carmelo Anthony (26 points, 6 assists), Tyson Chandler (20 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals) and Amare Stoudemire (16 points, 11 rebounds) had nice numbers but it didn't help them get the most important thing-the win.

Only on a D'Antoni team would the last two shots in a one-possession game go to Landry Fields (11 points) and Steve Novak (0 points, that was his only playing time!), who both launched 3-pointers that didn't have a prayer of going in. It's baffling that somebody could be such a one-dimensional (offense!) coach and still be employed at the highest level.

New York led 72-62 in the third quarter but Boston slowly chipped away. The Celtics' defense won it for them since they held the Knicks to 34 second-half points. The teams play twice more in the regular season.

The C's will try to keep it going on Sunday as they host Memphis in a rare 12 p.m. tip-off since it's Super Bowl Sunday. Did you hear the Patriots are in the Super Bowl?

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Jason Kidd's dagger helps Mavericks to a season sweep of the Celtics

Catching up with the Boston Celtics' disappointing 101-97 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night at the TD Garden.

It was a good, tight game but Dallas (34-15) seemed to make all the plays down the stretch, including a clutch 3-pointer by ageless Jason Kidd (10 points, 9 assists).

For once, the Celtics (37-12) completely crumbled down the stretch, something we're unaccustomed to seeing from them. I will always hate on the Mavericks for being regular season heroes but it is impressive that they won both games vs. the Celtics this season. I'd love to see them in the NBA Finals but frankly, I don't think Dallas will get through either San Antonio, Oklahoma City or the Lakers.

As always with the Mavs, Dirk Nowitzki was the star with a game-high 29 points. Tyson Chandler has been a great pickup for Dallas, he added 14 points and 15 rebounds while Northeastern product (Huskies!) JJ Barea notched 11 points.

Jason Terry (17 points) and Shawn Marion (13 points, 9 rebounds) were great off the bench in the win.

Speaking of ageless, Ray Allen paced the Celts with 24 points. Kevin Garnett added 16 points, Kendrick Perkins (in his first start this season) put up 13 points and 12 rebounds while Paul Pierce (12 points) and Rajon Rondo (8 points, 12 assists, 3 steals) were more contained.

The one bright spot off the Boston bench was Marquis Daniels (10 points).

Dallas was up 34-27 after the first quarter and 54-51 at halftime. Boston tied it at 77 going into the fourth quarter but the Mavs got it done in the fourth quarter (24-20).

The Celts are back at it tonight against another serious contender: the Orlando Magic come to the Garden for a pre-Super Bowl game. Should be another tight one.

Back to backs are going to be an issue all season, huh?

A win slipped thru the Boston Celtics' hands last night as they suffered a couple defensive breakdowns in crunch time and as a result, lost 89-87 to the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Arena.

Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks (4-2) with a game-high 25 points and Jason Terry added 17 points off the bench. Not surprisingly, they both made the biggest shots in the win. Terry hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 87 and then Nowitzki hit a mid-range jumper over Glen Davis (8 points).

Boston (6-2) had two chances to tie or win it but an uncontested 3-pointer by Rajon Rondo (11 points, 15 assists, 6 rebounds, 5 steals) and a fadeaway three by Kevin Garnett (18 points, 15 rebounds) are not exactly the first, second or third options in a late-game situation.

Despite having their five-game win streak snapped, this one had some meaning for the Celts since KG had probably his most impressive game yet (3 alley-oops from Rondo). Let's close the book on last season, time has caught up to him somewhat but he's not washed up yet and that's a big development for this team.

Paul Pierce also had a very nice game with 24 points and seven rebounds. Ray Allen had 11 points. Jermaine O'Neal left the contest in the second quarter and didn't return with knee soreness. Can we merge him and Shaq together? There's just no way either of them is healthy for more than half a season apart.

Tyson Chandler had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Dallas, Caron Butler and JJ Barea (Northeastern in the house!) added 11 points apiece and the ageless Jason Kidd had a classic JKidd line: 0 points, 10 assists.

In the second night of a back to back, against two playoff teams, the Celts started off slowly as usual. The Mavs led 23-19 after the first quarter and 50-40 at the half (the first time this season that Boston has trailed by double digits).

Dallas is a team that lives on jumpers (which is why they choke every year in the playoffs) so when those didn't fall in the third quarter, the Cs climbed back in (29-20).

Boston was up by five late in the fourth quarter (19-18 Dallas) but couldn't get enough stops and/or timely buckets to get a nice road victory.

Dallas shot 50.0% to Boston's 41.8%. The Mavs also took 13 more free throws (20-7) and made 10 more (17-7). Boston had four more rebounds (42-38), four more assists (24-20) and five more steals (11-6). Dallas had six more blocks (8-2), showing how little lift there was in Boston's legs (third game in four nights).

The Cs get a couple days off then travel to Miami on Thursday to face LeBron, Wade, Bosh and the Heat for the second time this season. I guess the NBA is taking a page out of MLB's playbook to have overkill early in the regular season of the money matchups (ala Red Sox-Yankees). Thank you Donald Sterns.