Well this is getting old

Nothing seems to be going right for the Boston Celtics as they lost again, 89-85 to the Houston Rockets at the TD Banknorth Garden last night.

It was the Celtics' (29-8) sixth loss in their last eight games and it was particularly costly as they lost the top spot in the Eastern Conference to the Cavs (who won). The Orlando Magic are also only a game back now from the suddenly vulnerable C's.

Playing without Tracy McGrady (captain of the NBA's all-overrated team), the Rockets (22-15) were just a little bit better than Boston.

Yao Ming led the way with a game-high 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Aaron Brooks had 19 points off the bench to spark Houston and Ron Artest managed 17 before fouling out. Journeyman Von Wafer had 12 points, including a huge 3-pointer in the fourth.

Paul Pierce had 26 points, five boards and four assists in the loss. Kevin Garnett added 18 points and eight boards while Ray Allen (13 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds) and Glen Davis (12 points off the bench) were the other bright spots.

Kendrick Perkins (0 points, 5 fouls) and Rajon Rondo (5 points, 5 assists) were beyond useless and not surprisingly, they're the barometers to the Celtics' success.

Houston shot better from the floor (48.6%-42.9%) which made up for nine more Celtics free throws (19-10).

The next game is going to be as hard as they come in the regular season as Boston travels to Cleveland to take on the Cavs, who are the NBA's only remaining unbeaten team at home.

How the hell did the Rockets win 22 in a row?

Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster and aliens (not including Sam Cassell), just a few examples of life's great mysteries. To that distinguished list you can add the now completed 22-game winning streak by your Houston Rockets.

The thing is while the first three parts of that list are hard to prove to anyone except rubes, hippies and shit for brains scientists, somehow the Rockets really did win all those games.

I guess I'm missing something because after watching the Celtics (on the second night of a back-to-back) dominate the host Rockets, 94-74, I'm wondering if Houston (46-21) will even make the playoffs.

Before you start suspecting that I'm smoking crack, check out the Western Conference standings. Houston is the top seed but they're only 4.5 games in front of No. 8 Golden State. And how could a team that just had the second longest win-streak in NBA history fall apart? Well, after last night's whipping, they go to New Orleans tonight, then Golden State and Phoenix. Sure, Yao Ming went out during game 13 of the streak but there is no way this team makes any noise for the rest of the season. Let's not forget what fraud is leading them-Tracy McGrady (8 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds)-who has won as many NBA playoff series' as me (none).

Oh yeah, the game. It was pretty entertaining from start to finish as Rafer Alston (12 points, 2 steals, 1 assist, 4 turnovers) had a cat fight with Rajon Rondo (8 points, 2 assists) before the game had even started. Uh OK. I guess Skip thought he was back on the And-1 tour or something. Charles Barkley not surprisingly had a great line about it after the game. "Two guys fighting that don't know how to fight."

It was clear from that auspicious start that the Rockets came out tight, most likely since they knew Boston (54-13) was a far superior team and therefore their win-streak was cooked.

The two halves were completely different. And from the way the Celts have come out after halftime the last two nights, Doc Rivers must be giving some real inspiring speeches.

The C's doubled up the Rockets, 32-16 in the third before taking the fourth, 22-18. Ray Allen missed his third straight game with the ankle injury and his namesake Tony Allen (6 points, 3 rebounds) didn't fare much better as he left in the third after being suplexed by Luis Scola (15 points, 8 rebounds) onto his back.

Kevin Garnett (22 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks) didn't have his shooting touch (9 of 21) but he was still the best player on the court. The surprise of the game was how much Leon Powe (21 points, 4 rebounds) dominated on the inside. Without Yao, Houston starts Mutombo (2 points, 6 rebounds), who was around when the pyramids were built.

Paul Pierce (20 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals) had another nice game while James Posey was scoreless but grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Rockets rely way too much on 3-pointers but in the first half they made a few so they were right in it. Houston was up 22-21 after one and it was tied at 40 at the half.

Some guy named Mike Harris that I'd never heard of had 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks while Aaron Brooks had 10 points in garbage time. Smoke and mirrors people, this team is a complete joke, particularly in the West.

The Celts get tonight off before going into Dallas tomorrow night for another TNT primetime game. The Mavs are 0-6 against teams that are above .500 since they traded for Jason Kidd. If Boston can defeat the Mavs, they'd be the first team since the Kings in 2001 to win all three games in the Texas Triangle.

Furthermore, in these two games (and hopefully the next two), Boston has proven without a doubt that they're the best team in the league. The Lakers were right there but Pau Gasol just got hurt and Andrew Bynum isn't coming back until the playoffs. The Spurs look old and not deep, the Suns still can't play defense, the Hornets have no experience and the Mavs choke in the fourth quarter of close games.

Everything can change in the blink of Big Baby's eye but if all goes well, the Celtics should be in the NBA Finals come June.

Garnett for MVP, Celtics open 2008 with a bang

Since the first game this season, that I went to, I have been saying that Kevin Garnett will have a really good shot at getting the MVP. So often, that award comes down to numbers and the biggest fault you can find with the Big Ticket is that he's not selfish enough when he should be down the stretch of a tight game.

A performance like last night will go a long way in swaying voters. KG scored 11 of his game-high 26 points (to go with 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals) in the last seven minutes as the Celtics held off the Houston Rockets, 97-93.

With the win, Boston (27-3) joins some elite company. Through 30 games five other teams have finished 27-3 in NBA history and amazingly, four of them including the '95-'96 Bulls (who went 72-10) won the championship that season.

Playing without star Tracy McGrady, Houston (15-17) looked like they were going to be blown out at the Garden as Boston jumped out to a 30-16 lead after one. They hung around though and would outscore the C's in each of the last three quarters.

Bonzi Wells (25 points), Yao Ming (19 points, 13 boards) and Rafer Alston (18 points) all played well for the Rockets.

Paul Pierce (19 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds) was solid and Rajon Rondo was impressive (13 points, 9 assists, 5 boards) after missing the last game with a hamstring injury. Ray Allen added 13 points and Scot Pollard (playing his most important minutes of the season) notched 10 points and five boards before fouling out. Eddie House scored nine as well. Pollard and Kendrick Perkins both fouled out covering Yao, forcing KG to guard him late in the fourth quarter.

Boston shot 53.2% for the game to Houston's 42.2%. Boston was just 11 of 19 from the line, part of the reason why the Rockets (18 of 23) made it so close. The Rockets also did something most teams haven't been able to do, beating Boston 41-34 on the glass. The Celtics nullified that by recording 27 assists, nine more than Houston.

All in all it was a great win as the Celtics season keeps rolling along, gaining more and more momentum and bandwagon fans by the day. The Memphis Grizzlies come to Boston on Friday night. Boston shouldn't have too much trouble with one of the NBA's worst teams but these days you can't underestimate any opponent since the Celtics are now getting everybody's best shot because they're the undisputed top dog.