Celtics Push Closer to a Playoff Spot With 99-90 Road Win at Cavaliers

The Cavaliers truly had absolutely nothing to play for tonight at Quicken Loans Arena against the Celtics so it was surprising that they even gave it much effort for a while. Cleveland (51-28 overall, 29-10 home) is locked into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and they can't move up or down so they eventually conceded a 99-90 road win to Boston (37-42 overall, 18-22 away). The Cavs sat Kyrie Irving (hip) for the entire game while LeBron James (14 points, 7 assists), Kevin Love (19 points, 6 rebounds), Timofey Mozgov (13 points) and J.R. Smith did not get off the bench in the fourth quarter.

Every win matters to the Celts so they obviously were happy to snap Cleveland's 18-game home winning streak, even if it was under shady circumstances. With the victory, Boston held onto the seventh spot in the East. Hopefully they can get out of that position and let Brooklyn (who has the same record) slide in while Boston drops to No. 8 to face Atlanta.

Five Celtics scored at least 12 points and Evan Turner dished out 13 assists. Rookie Marcus Smart led Boston with 19 points, Isaiah Thomas put up 17 points and five assists off the bench, Avery Bradley had 15 points, former Cav Tyler Zeller notched 13 points and five rebounds while Brandon Bass scored 12 points with five rebounds and three assists.

The only other Cavalier to score in double-figures was the ghost of Mike Miller (11 points). Tristan Thompson grabbed an impressive 12 rebounds in only 16 minutes off the bench for Cleveland. The Cavs had won the first two meetings of the season including a 110-79 beating in their most recent matchup on March 3 so I really wouldn't read much into this outcome. Plus, these same teams face each other again on Sunday (3, CSN) at TD Garden in another game that means everything to the Celts.

Boston cruised in the first half: up 28-17 after the first quarter and 54-40 at halftime. Cleveland made it interesting with a strong third quarter (37-25) before they packed it in during the fourth (outscored 20-13). As a team, the C's had five more assists (30-25), seven more steals (11-4) and eight more fast break points (9-1).

With the Celtics' triumph, Charlotte was eliminated from playoff contention (sorry MJ). That leaves only Indiana (36-43) and Miami (35-44) with a chance to make it but right now, Boston and Brooklyn are in the driver's seat for those last two berths with three games left to play for all those clubs.

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One-Eyed Olynyk & Turner (Another Triple-Double) Leads Celts to Key 100-87 Win vs. Pacers

Wednesday at TD Garden was one of those rare times when the Celtics felt totally relevant again at least on a local level for a few fleeting hours. Against one of the other shitbag teams that they are battling with for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, Boston (34-41 overall, 19-19 home) picked up a huge 100-87 win over Indiana (32-43 overall, 13-25 away). The C's went up two games on the Pacers and pulled within half a game of Miami (7th) and Brooklyn (8th).

Evan Turner's third triple-double of the month (13 points, 11 rebounds & 12 assists) propelled the Celtics but before, during and after the game, everyone was talking about Kelly Olynyk's (19 points) left eyelid which had been swollen shut after he caught an elbow by Shavlik Randolph in shootaround. The best part is that while discussing his injury with Celtics reporters, he managed to note that his buddy Dougie Hamilton has broken ribs, something that no Bruins writers knew (we had assumed it was a concussion). You've gotta love Canadians, they are such honest people.

Tyler Zeller also scored 19 points, Avery Bradley added 11 while Jae Crowder notched 13 points off the bench. George Hill led the Pacers with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists. C.J. Miles scored 12 points and the ghost of David West put up 10 points and eight rebounds. Rodney Stuckey scored 16 points off the bench for Indiana.

Showing how much one superstar can determine an NBA team's fate, Indiana seems to have never adjusted from Paul George's gruesome leg injury over the summer. Other than him, granted he's a budding superstar, this is basically the same squad that was in the Eastern Conference Finals last season vs. Miami. Clearly, they've given up and they couldn't be bothered slumming it in the gutter for the eighth-seed and a quick exit vs. Atlanta a near certainty.

Boston carried over its momentum from Monday's win at Charlotte into this one. They were up 22-16 after the first quarter and 50-39 at halftime. The Pacers outscored the Celtics 23-18 in the third quarter but the home team closed it out just fine with a 32-25 fourth quarter.

A welcome byproduct of the Celts being competitive almost all the time is that for the first time in years, they are actually very enjoyable to watch. Whatever head coach Brad Stevens is doing to get the most out of a limited roster, he has accomplished and then some. Boston plays hard and unselfishly, a style that rarely works in the NBA (Spurs, Hawks this season, anyone else?). They grabbed seven more rebounds (46-39), dished out 12 more assists (29-17), made four more steals (9-5) and scored 10 more fast break points (19-9).

It is another really important matchup on Friday as the struggling Bucks (37-38) visit the Garden. Milwaukee is three games ahead of Boston so a win by the C's would cut that down to two manageable games. At this point, I've completely changed my tune and I want to see Stevens & Co. in the playoffs. After all, what's the difference between mid-first round draft picks? They might as well gets some postseason experience for everybody involved with this young team.

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If the Playoffs Started Today: The Celtics Would Be In & the Bruins Would Be Out, Wait What?

There are 12 games left in the 2014-15 regular season, but somehow the Celtics (31-39 overall, 13-22 away) have hung around long enough to put themselves in a good position to make the postseason. Boston won 110-91 tonight at Barclays Center vs. Brooklyn (29-40 overall, 12-20 home) to take a 1.5 games lead on the hosts. The C's picked the perfect time to snap their three-game losing streak since Charlotte and Indiana both also lost. Boston went up half a game on Charlotte and one game on Indiana for the eighth-seed in the Eastern Conference.

Evan Turner was the catalyst in the victory with his second triple-double (19 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds) as a Celtic. It was a very balanced night of scoring for Boston as six guys scored in double-figures. Avery Bradley led the way with 20 points and seven rebounds while Tyler Zeller had 18 points and seven rebounds then Brandon Bass notched 12 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Other than Turner, the story of the game for the C's was Kelly Olynyk's 18 points and five rebounds off the bench. He had been in a major shooting slump so it was nice to see him hit three of the five 3-pointers that he attempted. Jonas Jerebko had 10 points and six rebounds with Jae Crowder putting up nine points and five rebounds. Not surprisingly with those numbers, Boston's bench outscored Brooklyn's 39-28.

The Nets were led by Brook Lopez's game-high 31 points. There with a couple problems with that though since seven (!) different Celtics had more rebounds than him (4). Furthermore, only two other Nets scored in double-figures: Thaddeus Young (12 points, 9 rebounds) and Deron Williams (10 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds). Lopez had a great night but clearly just dumping the ball down to him mostly on the low post meant that nobody else on Brooklyn could really get going or even touch the ball.

Brooklyn led 28-23 after the first quarter but then Boston slowly took over. The Celtics outscored the Nets by 10 (31-21) in the second quarter to take a 54-49 lead into the break. Despite playing their second game of a back-to-back, the Celts looked like the fresher team as they took the third quarter (29-25) and truthfully the Nets might have given up in the fourth (27-17).

The Celtics shot 15.1% better from the field (51.1%-36%), hit five more 3-pointers (6-1) and dished out 10 more assists than the Nets (25-15). Boston wrapped up the season series with Brooklyn 3-1 (their only loss was by 2 points the day after Christmas).

Up next, the C's take on the Heat (32-37) on Wednesday (7:30, CSN) at TD Garden. Miami is ahead of Boston by 1.5 games but that will change shortly as the Heat travel to Milwaukee tomorrow night before coming to Boston. So if they lose to the Bucks, a Celtics win vs. Miami would leave them tied for seventh-place in the East.

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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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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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Trader Danny is Finally Awake: Let The Summer of Trades Begin!

It is not exactly Kevin Love but at least we have signs that Celtics president Danny Ainge is still alive. Boston finally made some news (albeit not creating much of a splash) this quiet offseason as they were involved today with Brooklyn and Cleveland in a three-way trade that will be official tomorrow. By flipping a second-round pick to the Cavs, the Celts acquired shooting guard Marcus Thornton (from Brooklyn) and center Tyler Zeller (from Cleveland) along with a protected 2016 first-round pick that belonged to the Cavs.

Before you go out and buy a Thornton or Zeller Celtics jersey, be aware that hopefully there's a good chance that neither guy ever steps foot on the Garden parquet as a member of the C's. Kevin Love is still in Minnesota which means that all deals are still possible. That's why this means today's moves are all about getting more assets that Ainge can package to acquire Love or someone else better than their current team of nobodies.

If they are stuck here, Thornton has the better chance of making an impact. Last season, he averaged 8.3 points per game in 24.4 minutes per game on the Nets. In his five-year NBA career, the former second-round pick has averaged 13.4 points per game with 0.9 steals, 3 rebounds, 83% free throw, 36% 3-point shooting and 38% shooting from the field. Like almost everyone on the NBA, he can play. It's all about opportunity which is why he racked up huge numbers (21.3 points per game in 2010-11 and 18.7 points per game the following season) in hapless Sacramento. In many ways, he's like Jordan Crawford-a proven scorer that only does one thing.

I've never been a fan of Zeller or his two overrated brothers either in college or the NBA. I think they're all soft and stiffs. Somehow he was a first-round pick by Dallas in 2012 (17th overall) but surprise, surprise he has failed to live up to those expectations. He had 7.9 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game in 26.4 minutes per game his rookie season in Cleveland. Things got worse last season as he only started nine of 70 games and his numbers dropped to 5.7 points per game and 4.0 rebounds per game.

Keep in mind that the Cavaliers will remain a joke if LeBron James doesn't end up returning there. If you're a Celtics fan, we have to be rooting for him to stay away from his hometown and former team since that would undoubtedly make Cleveland much worse and therefore give Boston's protected first-round pick way more value.

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Reports Of Paul Pierce's Demise Were Quite Premature As He Drops 40 On Cleveland

If it wasn't for one of the greatest games of Paul Pierce's soon-to-be NBA Hall of Fame career (statistically speaking at least), the Celtics very well could have lost to the Cavaliers. Instead after 40 points, eight rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block from The Truth, the C's (13-12, 9-4 home) snapped a three-game losing streak with a 103-91 win over Cleveland (5-22, 2-14 away) tonight at TD Garden.

Boston led from start to finish and seemed to be cruising to a rare blowout when somehow they let up on Cleveland since the C's were up 20 (80-60). The Cavaliers hit them with a 20-2 run to make it pretty scary. This was coming from a team that might be the worst in the NBA (the Raptors are riding a four-game win streak) and didn't have Anderson Varejao. There is no excuse for Boston playing a back-to-back since Cleveland was in the same miserable boat.

He has obviously played in a million bigger games in terms of stakes but it's hard to figure out how Pierce could have cobbled together better numbers: 13 of 16 from the field, six of seven on 3-pointers and eight of eight on free throws. Rajon Rondo added 20 points and eight assists, Jason Terry scored 15 and Kevin Garnett notched 12 points, six rebounds and three blocks.

Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 22 points, rookie Tyler Zeller scored a career-high 20 points, another rookie Dion Waiters had 13 points while Tristan Thompson (11 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks) and Alonzo Gee both put up 11 points.

Along with Pierce's special output, you should frame some of these other amazing numbers by the Celts: they shot 59.7% to 40.9% for the Cavaliers; they made four more 3-pointers (9-5), six more free throws (20-14), handed out seven more assists (23-16), had two more steals (9-7), five more blocks (7-2) and 12 more points in the paint (18-6).

For the fourth time in a month and a half, Boston will meet Milwaukee (13-11, 2nd in Central Division) on Friday (7:30 p.m., CSN) at the Garden. The Bucks are 2-1 so far against the Celtics with two more contests remaining (including Friday). Most recently they beat Boston 91-88 on December 1 in Milwaukee.

UPDATE 12/21: Kris Joseph was recalled from Maine since Chris Wilcox (thumb) and Leandro Barbosa (personal matter) are both out tonight vs. Milwaukee.

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