POST GAME ATLANTA

Mike Gorman was right when he said we escaped with a win. Celtics played about 8 minutes of inspired Celtic Basketball...........all of which took place in the 4th quarter. For that period of time we had defense, we had offensive rotational movement, ball movement and taking the smart shot. The first 3 periods we played hero ball. Everyone standing around watch someone try to be a hero. We reverted back to that kind of ball with 2 minutes to go and almost lost. Just do not understand how a team can play great Celtic basketball....get up by 13 points and just about quit with 2 minutes to go.

I guess we have seen the last of JON. Good riddance!

O'Neal to have season-ending wrist surgery
by Gary Washburn Globe Staff

ATLANTA -- Celtics coach Doc Rivers said last Thursday he did not expect Jermaine O'Neal to return to the team and he was right. O'Neal decided today to have season-ending surgery on his left wrist that will mean the end of his time as a Celtic.

O'Neal is finishing the second-year of a two-year, $12 million deal and considered getting a cortisone shot to help with the discomfort. But the team announced that doctors discovered a degenerative condition that was worsened when he landed on his wrist taking a charge from Dallas' Dominique Jones on Feb. 20.

"Jermaine worked hard to get himself in condition to play this season despite his ongoing wrist issues," Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said in a statement. "He played through pain the entire year and gave us all he could, but unfortunately after the fall against Dallas there simply wasn't anything else he could do. We appreciate his contributions to our team over the last two years."

Rivers expressed gratitude for O'Neal, who waited a month to make the decision.

"He tried to see if he could do it the other way besides surgery and he was smart enough to know that usually doesn't work," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "He could have had surgery a month ago and shut it down but he tried to see what he could do to get back."

NEXT GAME THURSDAY 7:30 PM @ MILWAUKEE BUCKS

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GAME RECAP WEE 850

FAST BREAK: C’S HEAT-UP LATE FOR WIN IN HOT-LANTA
By Ryan Hadfield

The Celtics grinded, grinded, and grinded so more en route to a gutsy 79-76 win against the Hawks on Monday night. Ray Allen heated up in the second half and scored 19 points total on 5-of-9 shooting (4-of-6 from 3-point territory), and Rajon Rondo dished out 13 assists. For the Hawks, Joe Johnson scored 25 points points on 9-17 shooting (4-of-5 from 3-point land).

The win improves to Celtics to 24-21 (8-13 on the road) and just two games behind the 76ers for the lead in the Atlantic division.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Against the Odds: Paul Pierce picked up his fourth personal foul midway through the third quarter. Shortly after, in typical Atlanta fashion, Jeff Teague picked up a technical foul following a thunderous fast break jam. The dunk gave the Hawks an eight-point lead, which was the largest of the game for either team.

When Brandon Bass picked up his fourth foul just a few minutes later, the Celtics looked on their way to a third straight loss. But the Celtics were able to slowly build momentum the rest of the quarter and pull within one going into the fourth quarter, after a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Allen.

Venture the Vice: The Hawks have long considered to be an up-and-coming contender. Monday was a perfect example of why the Celtics are savvy veterans, while the Hawks are still very, very green.

There was the aforementioned misplaced Teague celebration. There was Josh Smith’s curious shot-selection: shooting 2-of-17 after starting the game 3-of-3 from the field. Perhaps most discouraging for Atlanta was that there was no one that stepped up to stop the bleeding as the Celtics went on a 23-7 run, to open the fourth quarter while taking a commanding 15-point lead. Johnson did heat up late and led the Hawks on an 11-0 run to pull within four points with just over a minute left, but Smith missed an ill-advised three pointer which would have reduced the margin to just one. After trading free-throws, Teague missed an wide-open 3-pointer with 10 seconds left which would have tied the game.

Back On Board: The Celtics rebounding issues have been well-documented. The injuries to the front-court have created lack of size on their current roster. In the 10 games the Celtics have played in March going into Monday night’s contest, they have been out-rebounded by 120 boards.

Boston temporarily-rendered the issue on Monday, only getting out-rebounded 45-40.

Anemic, Yes. Relatively Speaking, Not Really: The first half of Monday night’s game featured terrible, terrible basketball. Both teams were a combined 28-of-78 shooting (35 percent). And this wasn’t a case of “nothing coming easy” in a match-up of two playoff-bound teams. Neither team was attacking to the basket — as evidenced by the combined eight free throw attempts between each team. Instead, both squads elected to take mid-range jump shots.

The bright side is the Celtics managed to stick around, on the road, despite the putrid performance. The largest lead held by either team was four, and Boston’s 11 first-half turnovers only led to eight points for the Hawks. Doc Rivers and his coaching half certainly won’t be proud of the first 24 minutes, but there is something to be said for hanging tough and staying within reach.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Benched: Greg Stiemsma continued provide Boston with up-and-down play off the bench. He is a liability on offense, but had another productive day defensively — registering four blocks. The rest of the bench no-showed again. Mickael Pietrus, Keyon Dooling, and Avery Bradley combined for 9 points on 3-10 shooting. The Celtics reliance on their starters — which has been an issue for much of the new Big Three era — is concerning, particularly in games where foul trouble is a problem.

The Truth Hurts: Paul Pierce picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter, a third in the second frame, and just a few minutes into the second-half, Pierce was tagged with a fourth foul. Consequently, the Celtics’ captain only played 17 minutes going into the fourth quarter.

In his sporadic playing time, The Truth’s impact was not only minimal, but detrimental. He was 2-of-10 shooting with only two rebounds and four turnovers.


CELTICS’ BIG MAN SEARCH: J.J. HICKSON 03.19.12 at 5:05 pm ET
By Paul Flannery

It’s not often a team reaches a buyout on a 23-year-old forward who is still on his rookie contract, but that’s what Sacramento has done with J.J. Hickson, per the great Adrian Wojnarowksi of Yahoo! Rare as that move is, it’s even rarer when the team buys out a player when it traded a player — Omri Casspi — and a first-round pick to acquire him, but that’s the Kings these days.

Would he make sense for the Celtics? Sure, but he comes with major caveats.

First, the good news: Hickson can score. He averaged 14 points and 8.7 rebounds for the Cavs in 2010-11. He has a career PER of 14.4 and did we mention he’s only 23 years old?

Now, the bad news: The Cavs traded him after giving him an extended look and he played only 36 games for the Kings while not doing do much with the time he had. Hickson is shooting 37 percent this season. His turnovers are up, his rebounding is down and he’s not exactly known as a defensive force.

Still, Hickson has talent and if he’s available for next to nothing, then it’s a chance the Celtics should take. He clearly has the most upside of anyone currently on the market and they aren’t looking for a 36-minute a night power forward.

However, in order to sign Hickson two things must happen. First, he has to clear waivers and with his low salary (about $2.3 million) and upside, some team may claim him for all of the above reasons. Second, if he does clear waivers, the C’s would have to clear a roster spot by cutting ties with one of their own players.

As with all available big men, the Celtics will have competition. Unlike some veterans, however, they can offer an obvious role as a backup forward and a chance to be part of an interesting rebuilding project while playing alongside Rajon Rondo.

CELTICS’ BIG MAN SEARCH: RONNY TURIAF
By Paul Flannery

Ronny Turiaf (21) is a presence inside, and he's available after being released by the Nuggets following a trade with the Wizards. (AP)

The big man dominoes are starting to fall as the Nuggets waived Ronny Turiaf after acquiring him from the Wizards in a trade deadline deal. Turiaf is a 6-foot-10, 245-pound forward/center who has posted solid seasons with the Lakers, Warriors and Knicks in his seven-year career. He’s good rebounder and defender with good touch near the basket, averaging 10.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per 36 minutes.

The big question with Turiaf is his health. He played only four games for the Wizards due to a broken left hand this season. Turiaf suffered the injury against the Celtics back on Jan. 1 and it was the same hand that he injured over the summer playing for the French national team. He has not played since the injury, and he told The Washington Post in early March:

“If was just me, choosing to play, I would’ve been back a long time ago. They are putting the strain on myself, on me, because they know sometimes, I may not be the most rational guy when comes to help teammates and to do stuff.”

The other issue with Turiaf is his heart, and for a team that has lost two players to aortic surgery that is no small consideration. After Turiaf was drafted by the Lakers in 2005, doctors found an enlarged aortic root and he underwent open heat surgery. The Lakers voided his contract but re-signed him six months later and he was able to resume his career.

If healthy, Turiaf would be a perfect for the Celtics, who desperately need another big man behind Kevin Garnett, Brandon Bass and Greg Stiemsma. Turiaf is versatile enough to play both the center and big forward positions and would provide some needed muscle and size on the interior. With several contending teams look to beef up their frontcourts, the Celtics would certainly have competition for his services.

Basketball is a game of runs. I see last night as the Celtics had the better, longer, more sustained run.

The Hawks are a good team - it is fools gold to expect them NOT to make a run. Fortunately that run fell just short, but I dont think last night was anything other than Hawks started executing and the Celtics stopped executing.

I usually disagree with Donny Marshall, but last night he was on point about a number of things - especially the fact that in a slow down, playoff type of game - the Celtics can compete with anyone.

Lets get a few big men in here, get them up to speed and see where the chips fall.

MR Kleen:

I just hope the chips that fall aren't Buffalo Chips! (LOL)!

MD!

If Doc will give JuJuan Johnson some time like he was getting about six weeks or so ago, Boston would only need to sign one Big, probably a Center-type who could play against some 4's in a pinch. Wait, we're in a pinch NOW!

MD

What drives me crazy this is the same team that builds a 13 point lead with 3+ minutes to go and the same team that let's up and allows the lead to shrink to 4.

It's floor leadership that is lacking in my opinion.

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MD, if one were to analyze the minutes played by both Johnson and Moore, one would find a pattern of perhaps one noteworthy contribution every five to seven minutes on the floor (the majority garbage minutes at that). While fans promptly fall in love with that isolated contribution and exclaim, "Just think what he could do with more time," the fact is that, with extended time, he'd probably make one noteworthy contribution every five to seven minutes. A performance that sparse simply isn't competitive in the NBA, and it's decidedly NOT what the Celtics need to improve their chances this season.

Frankly, the same is true of Bradley as well. The difference between Bradley and the Johnson/Moore combination is that Avery has a particular skill (his tight guarding) that can be used as a short term weapon because it represents a serious change of pace. Once the opponent figures out how to deal with Avery's defensive style, he's pretty much a negative at the point guard position. Yes, he usually scores on one baseline drive per game. But that's it. He has virtually no conception of how to run a team, and he physically shies away from engaging the enemy at the perimeter.

Stiemsma also possess an unusual asset—defensive intimidation around the basket. But, despite his bad foot, he's more consistent in applying that skill than his three young teammates. He's not yet consistent enough to obviate the need for one or two veteran centers. But he, more than the other three, has risen quite well to an important challenge.

Putting Stiemsma out there at least offers the Celtics an opportunity to keep abreast of opponents more often than not. Put any of the other three (and particularly Johnson and Dooling) out there during non-garbage-time and you take a massive risk that even three minutes with them in the lineup will produce such an overwhelming advantage for the opponent that any serious momentum over the remainder of the game could be pretty much out of reach and too little too late.

What the Celtics need more than anything else right now are perseverance and consistency. Some day, those may be calling cards of Johnson and Moore. Not now.

Sam

Mr. Kleen is right. Basketball is a game of runs. There were very few runs, by either team, until the 4th quarter. This was one of the ugliest offensive games I've seen in my life. 35% and 11 turnovers in the first half for the Celtics. They shot 25% in the 1st quarter, so this is actually an improvement.

The score was 15-12 Hawks after 1, 33-31 at the half and 51-50 after 3. So, after 3 quarters of play we had a decent halftime score. What's amazing is that, despite the dearth of scoring there were no defensive 3 second violations. Not much defensive "cheating" (at least, not enough to get whistled), just bad execution and bad shooting. Our 39% beat their 38%. Barely. Our 6-16 from 3 beat their 5-15 from 3. Barely. But those are just statistics. For a critical 2:41 seconds in the 4th quarter (from 7:09 until 4:28) the Celtics blitzed the Hawks with a 13-0 run that changed the game and took it from a 2 point Celtic lead to a 15 point lead with most of the 4th gone. Yes, the Hawks rallied and made it way too close, but the dynamics were completely changed after that run and how the Hawks ran their offense. That Celtic run. That vintage championship quality run.

After seeing them seize up in the 4th quarter and lose games they should have won it was nice to see them execute like champions and win. Remember this feeling, boys, you're going to need it again. And again. And again. Everything old is new again.

1. Not a good game by Paul Pierce, to put it nicely. 4-14, 4 TOs and almost fouled out. Again. On defense, he struggled against Gallinari and Faried in Denver and he struggled against Josh Smith last night. Smith faded in the 2nd half, like Gallinari did, and we were able to get past them this time.

2. An up-and-down game by Rondo. 4-14 from the field (yes, the same as Pierce) but he had 13 assists against only 4 TOs and 6 steals, none bigger than his last one, which helped put the game away. His counterpart, Jeff Teague, was 4-13 with 3 assists and 2 TOs. Last night was not a shooting point guard's night. We all want Rondo to play like Rondo every night, but sometimes just beating your opponent has to be good enough, and Rondo was good enough last night. Last night, the assist battle was Rondo, 13, the entire Atlanta Hawks, 15. He drives me crazy when he walks it up, since we are soooo much better when he runs. If he just trotted the ball over mid-court that would still give the halfcourt offense another 2-3 seconds to execute and that's one or maybe even 2 more passes.

3. I like Zaza. Offensively limited, not a brilliant defender, but he is tough and gritty and backs down from nobody. Starting in place of the injured Al Horford (season ending pectoral muscle injury. Pectoral muscle? I'll stop there) he banged his way to 13 boards (4 offensive), 16 points on 4-7, 3 steals and only 2 turnovers. An all-star performance? No, but I'd take him on my team. I like his 'tude. One of the few Euros I can think of who isn't a Nancy boy (The country of Georgia's still Europe, right? There's a certain karmic poetry to him playing in Atlanta). I was sorry when he resigned with the Hawks a few years ago. Sure, he pissed a lot of people off (including me) when he woofed non-stop when we played the Hawks in the playoffs in 2008, but so what? He was fighting hard against a much better team and long odds. Just the type of guy I want. Bibby woofed a lot in that series too, the difference is that Zaza delivered and Bibby turned into Bibby (open dictionary, turn to "whiny little overrated beeyatch"). The loss of Horford for the year probably denied us a shot at a buyout of Jason Collins. Not a game-changer, but a legit big body and we need one (or two).

4. For late game heroics, I have to give it to Ray and Pietrus for their 3s and to Rondo for his steal. But the player I'd give the game ball to, because he played his normal game (or better) for every minute he was in there and not just for a brief spurt, is Greg Stiemsma. 4 blocks for the Steamer in 19 minutes. His limitations are known: he's not offensively versatile and he has trouble holding his ground in the low post but he came in and did what he does do well and that's block shots or intimidate them. He easily had twice as many changed shots as blocks. As the backup center, he's getting scouted more no doubt and that is perhaps why he's intimidating shooters in the paint. Great. Nothing like a rep to carry you a little further. His defensive rotations are becoming more instinctive to him. His hands are questionable, I'm sorry to say. I hope I'm just being harsh, but he seems to have trouble handling passes inside like Perk did. Still, he was a thoroughly corruptive influence on the Hawk offense yesterday and I'm good with that.

5. After that horrendous 1st half I was working up a really spicy hatred of Pietrus. He was still launching 3s, hitting almost none, and irritating me to no end as a result. Towards the end of the game, though, I realized that Joe Johnson wasn't having his name called a lot (he ended up 9-17 for 25 points, but that's misleading. He was 5-6, 4-4 from 3, for 14 points in the 4th quarter. For the first 3 quarters he was pretty silent. Then again, so was everybody else) and that was because Pietrus was playing good D on him. He also tag-teamed Josh Smith with KG (Pierce sitting a lot with fouls) and Smith, who started off scoring many of Atlanta's 1st quarter points. Smith disappeared in the 2nd half. Just trying to give credit where credit is due, Pietrus played D. One game like this is not enough to get him out of my doghouse, but he has to start somewhere.

6. If Pietrus is in my doghouse, Keyon Dooling is buried underneath it right next to Jimmy Hoffa. In one sequence, he had the ball and was going fullcourt with it (Really? Dooling running a break? No!). The only player between him and the basket was 37 year old Jerry Stackhouse and he veered off and pulled up. He was intimidated by Methuselah, who was never known for his defense even when he was young? Would he like us to lower the basket for him too? Put pebbles in opposing players' sneakers? I'm not wishing anything harsh on him but his season, as far as playing time goes, can't end soon enough for me.

7. The Hawks' frontcourt was down Horford and Radmanovic. F them. Nobody feels sorry for us.

This was a big win. We are now only 1 game behind Atlanta and Philly in the loss column. We are in the 7th slot, Atlanta is in 6th and Philly, as the Atlantic Division leader, is in 4th. Indiana, in 5th, has a better record than Philly, but division leaders are guaranteed no worse than 4th. THAT'S how important winning the division is. We edge out Philly and we leapfrog over 2 teams and have home court for at least one series. On the other hand, if we beat Atlanta but don't catch Philly, then we're in 6th and we play Orlando rather than Indiana. Hmmm. Maybe Doc is more sly than I'm giving him credit for...

We actually get 2 days off and then play in Milwaukee (rejuvenated with Ellis and Udoh and minus a non-playing Bogut and a cancerous Jackson) and then come full circle to Philly, in Philly the next day for the last game in this long, grueling road trip.

Atlanta gets Cleveland and New Jersey at home, then a road game in Washington and then back home for Utah this week. So, the hard part of this week is over for them. Philly has NY at home (could be tough, if the now-D'Antoni-less Knicks get their shit together) and then us. Then, after a travel day, they play @ San Antonio. Not as many games as Atlanta but a tougher schedule with 3 teams with winning records on their docket.

This could be our chance. We're passing the 3rd pole and are now heading into the homestretch. Time to air it out and pass the leader at the wire.

bob

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Here's a pic, of what it was like to watch this game. Courtesy of redsarmy.com by way of Stanley Kubrick, Malcolm McDowell and "A Clockwork Orange".



bob

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Courtesy redsarmy, by way of hoopchina or some such...Enjoy

Nice interior pass by Rondo to KG



Finally, Pietrus moving without the ball and going inside!



We are soooo much better when Rondo attacks



Rondo, forcing the defense to retreat, creating an open "J" for KG



Steamer, playing the penetration off the pick. Look at how much ground he had to cover...






Rondo, faking the pass to KG, making Smith bite, then Ray for 3 at the buzzer.



Ray! With the dagger, for 3!



bob


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Rosie

Pierce has been off a bit lately, much like how he started the season. But he played a stretch in January and February which was vintage, old time Pierce.

Seems like he is back in a bit of a funk...and while his scoring average is the lowest since his rookie season - on any given night (particularly in a playoff series) - Pierce is as capable as ever of taking over a game.

Rosalie, Paul has had a number of monster dunks in recent games and even got called for a technical on one of them. (I'm still not certain of the reason.) Two games ago, he turned his ankle and almost missed the Denver game accordingly. I haven't heard anything about his status since then. He may be fine or may possibly be playing through it. It it's still a factor, I believe it may be affecting his defense even more than his offense.

Glad to see you posting on a more regular basis, and I hope you're feeling much better. My best to Bill.

Sam

Sam

Always great to see the Celtics beat the HAWKS. No I was not at the game. At 3-3.the Celts have a chance to play .500 on the road or maybe better.

Would rather see Moore instead of Dooling because who is the better shooter?


Dboss

Dboss, good point about Moore vs. Dooling. It seems as though every game is the same. One or two missed threes, a turnover, and not much else. Do you suppose Doc is noticing some great things on Dooling's part that we're overlooking? Or could Doc be continuing to give him minutes in hopes that Keyon will morph into the player Doc was expecting when he arrived in Boston? Actually, I'd rather see Quis in the game at SG than either of them.

Sam

I have to assume with Doc being a smart man and an astute coach, there is something happening off the court that causes him to play Dooling over Moore - like Moore is still not grasping the plays, not picking up the defensive rotations etc.

I think this is the case with Daniels as well. He was given every opportunity to establish himself as the 7th or 8th man....long before Pietrus was brought in. But clearly, he did not seize the opportunity and so has been passed by Mikael and Sasha in the rotation.

Side question, who do you play as backup PG against a team like Miami where their second PG is not a major threat. I would assume Lebron or Wade will be doing most of the ballhandling so Bradley wont do much good then.

Is it better to insert someone like Daniels for a little bit of extra size, rebounding and scoring or is Bradleys defense still valuable vs teams with "non factor" pgs?

swedeinestonia wrote:Side question, who do you play as backup PG against a team like Miami where their second PG is not a major threat. I would assume Lebron or Wade will be doing most of the ballhandling so Bradley wont do much good then.

Is it better to insert someone like Daniels for a little bit of extra size, rebounding and scoring or is Bradleys defense still valuable vs teams with "non factor" pgs?

snipers in the balcony section is the better option

beat

MRK,

Remember MD is a slasher in terms of scoring. He does not shoot well from outside. He gains his points by driving to the hoop. Doc needed players who could hit from the outside and who possess a decent 3 pt shot in order to spread the defense. That is why I think Doc was using Dooling. They touted his outside shooting when he first came to the Celtics but in fact he has been a bust. MP shows flashes of brilliance from outside but is not consistent night in and night out.

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Mrkleen,

Seems to me that Pietrus and Sasha would get the nod over Quis because of their abilities to guard strong small forwards. Yes, both Sasha and Mickael have the edge over Quis in spreading the floor on offense but, what has been lacking for much of the year is the ability and willingness of the Celtics to take it to the hole. That is a particular strength of Quis, who is also fearless in doing it. I think there's a place for all three on this team.

IF they should happen to get a big man in the next few hours, I hope they buy out O'Neil 4 seconds before the deadline for a signed player to be on the playoff roster. If they get two big men (my favorite scenario), it appears they might let Quis go, although I'd hate to see him leave.

Sam