POST GAME PHX SUNS

FOUR IN A ROW AND COUNTING!

MELO SUSPENDED A GAME FOR KG CONFRONTATION
By: Mike Petraglia

Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony has been suspended for one game without pay by the NBA for confronting Celtics superstar Kevin Garnett in the arena tunnel, near the players' locker rooms, and in the parking garage following the Celtics at Knicks game on Jan. 7. The announcement was made Wednesday by Stu Jackson, the NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

"There are no circumstances in which it is acceptable for a player to confront an opponent after a game," Jackson said in a statement. "Carmelo Anthony attempted to engage with Kevin Garnett multiple times after Monday's game and therefore a suspension was warranted."

The Celtics had different reactions to the suspension.

"I get suspended for a phone hang-up and people just get away with anything in his league," said Rajon Rondo, who was suspended one-game for allegedly bumping official Rodney Mott on Saturday in Atlanta and being "unresponsive" to a league inquiry on Monday. "Oh, my goodness, so that's the same thing huh? The rep I've earned, I'll have to deal with it."

Coach Doc Rivers had a different take on the Anthony suspension.

"I don't believe guys should ever be suspended," Rivers said. "It's not a surprise. [Teams] get in trouble for sitting players and then you suspend players; it's the same thing. If you're a fan, you're not happy with that."

Anthony will serve his suspension on Thursday when the Knicks play the Indiana Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

GAME STATS

Rebounds - Celtics 42/ Houston 47 ........ Offensive - Celtics 12/Houston 19 ........Defensive - Celtics 30/ Houston 28
Points In The Paint - Celtics 46/ Houston 50
Fast Break Points - Celtics 18/ Houston 17
FG - Celtics 37/81(45.7) - Houston - 33/84 (39.3%)
3PM - Celtics 3/14 (21.4%) Houston 2/12 (16.7%)
TO - Celtics 13/ Houston 16
Assists - Celtics 23/ Houston 21

NEXT GAME - FRIDAY - HOME - 7:30PM - HOUSTON ROCKETS - CSNE/NBA LEAGUE PASS[b]


[b]POST GAME RECAP

ESPNBOSTON.COM

Rapid Reaction: Celtics 87, Suns 79

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Phoenix Suns 87-79 on Wednesday night at TD Garden:

THE NITTY GRITTY
On the one-year anniversary of his heart surgery, Jeff Green scored a team-high 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, sparking both a second-quarter outburst with a pair of loud dunks and a dazzling bench effort for Boston's reserves. Rookie Jared Sullinger registered his second career double-double with 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds (also an individual season high for the Celtics). Sullinger was a game-best plus-24 in plus/minus and remains the team leader in that category for the season. Kevin Garnett (10 points) was the only starter in double figures as the second unit carried the Celtics. The Celtics limited the Suns to 39.3 percent shooting (33-of-84 overall), including a mere 16.7 percent (2-of-12) beyond the 3-point arc. Luis Scola (16 points, 8 rebounds), Marcin Gortat (12 points, 14 rebounds) and Jared Dudley (14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists) paced the Suns.

TURNING POINT
The Celtics should have had the game in hand after Green's second-quarter dunkfest triggered a 14-2 run. Up a point, Green blew past Michael Beasley before dunking hard over old friend Jermaine O'Neal. After a Garnett steal, Avery Bradley delivered an alley-oop lob that Green slammed down in transition. Green added an 18-foot jumper and a layup as Boston's lead ballooned to 47-35 with 4:25 to play in the first half. The Celtics' starters fumbled the lead away to start the second half, but the bench picked them up again.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Doc Rivers and Rajon Rondo each picked up technical fouls. Rivers got his second of the year for barking at referee Josh Tiven about a non-call during Phoenix's third-quarter run. Rondo (from the bench) and P.J. Tucker (from the court) were assessed double technicals at the start of the fourth quarter. That's Rondo's fourth technical of the season.

WHAT IT MEANS
The Celtics now own a season-high four-game winning streak. Boston came out sluggish in both halves, but the bench picked them up. Jason Terry joined Sullinger and Green in double figures (13 points on 6-of-8 shooting), while Courtney Lee might have gotten Boston out of its third-quarter funk with a strong drive to the rim after the Suns actually rallied ahead in the frame. The Celtics host the Houston Rockets on Friday night (with three more home games looming next week against Charlotte, New Orleans and Chicago as part of this five-game homestand).
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CSNE

Green, Sullinger lead Celtics to 87-79 win over Suns

A. SHERROD BLAKLEY

BOSTON — With the goal being to extend their winning streak to a season-long four in a row, there are few teams in the NBA that would have made for more obliging guests than the Phoenix Suns.

In addition to losing nine of their last 10 games overall, Phoenix had lost 10 in a row coming into Wednesday's matchup.

The Celtics controlled the action for most of the night, but a weak third quarter showing made it a closer game than it should have been.

Still, the C's are in no position to be picky when it comes to winning, which they did by the count of 87-79.

Wednesday's win extended the Celtics (18-17) winning streak to a season-long four in a row.

For the second straight game, Boston got a huge lift from its bench with contributions coming from just about every player who stepped on the floor.

Jason Terry (13 points) and Jeff Green (14 points) did a lot of the scoring. Jared Sullinger (12 points, career-high 16 rebounds) continued to do a lot of the dirty work around the glass.

And Courtney Lee continues to come into his own as a defensive spark off the bench, tallying six points, two assists and a slew of strong plays defensively.

It appeared that the Celtics were well on their way to an easy victory, fueled by a 20-8 run to close out the second quarter that gave the C's a 53-41 lead at the half.

But the C's went through one of their usual offensive lulls.

However, their defense couldn't bail them out this time.

The Celtics' offensive woes opened the door for the Suns to go on a 17-2 run that put them ahead, 58-55.

Boston didn't spend much time playing from behind -- one minute, 46 seconds to be exact -- as Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce scored back-to-back baskets, respectively, to put the C's back on top.

Phoenix had made a game that wasn't all that close, a relatively tight affair (67-64) going into the fourth quarter.

But the C's went with a hybrid second unit that worked well for them in the second quarter -- Terry, Lee, Green, Sullinger and Kevin Garnett who is a starter.

That group, just like they had did earlier in the game, provided a much-needed lift at both ends of the floor as the Celtics blitzed the Suns with a 13-4 run to start the fourth and never looked back.
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WEEI 93.7 FM

FAST BREAK: CELTICS EXTEND WIN STREAK TO FOUR GAMES

By Ben Rohrbach | No Comments

Riding the best game of Jared Sullinger‘s young NBA career, the Celtics won a season-best fourth straight game, 87-79 against the Suns, and improved to 4-1 since Avery Bradley’s return on Jan. 2.

Sullinger (12 points) grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to record the second double-double of his rookie season, as the C’s (18-17) climbed above .500 for the first time since Christmas Day.

In a balanced effort, Sullinger, Jeff Green (14 points), Jason Terry (13 points), Kevin Garnett (10 points), Bradley (9 points), Rajon Rondo (8 points, 8 assists), Paul Pierce (7 points, 7 rebounds), Brandon Bass (6 points, 5 rebounds) and Courtney Lee (6 points) all scored between 6-14 points.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Green machine: On back-to-back second-quarter possessions, Green threw down ferocious dunks on separate Suns to hand the Celtics a 38-33 lead and force a Phoenix timeout. The first came on a dribble drive over old friend Jermaine O’Neal, and he slammed the second on a fast break oop from Bradley over Michael Beasley.

Rotating schedule: Actually, the entire Celtics bench once again performed admirably. Green, Terry and Sullinger were the C’s three highest scorers as the reserves outscored their Suns counterparts 47-16. Bradley’s return has helped coach Doc Rivers find some consistency in his rotations, and the Celtics appear to be responding to their more clearly defined roles.

On the defense: The Celtics are slowly climbing the NBA’s defensive ranks. After allowing 98.1 points per game through December, the C’s have gave up an average of just 86.3 points in Bradley’s first four games back. In his fifth, the Suns didn’t reach 70 points until 4:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Even lineups that contain Green and Terry, who aren’t exactly known for their defensive prowess, appear to be grasping the C’s defensive schemes.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Dudley do right: Quietly, Boston College product Jared Dudley has carved out a nice NBA career for himself. He’s averaging double-digit points for the third straight season, shooting 40.5 percent from 3-point range in his five-year career and dishing out a career-high 2.7 assists per game. Against the Celtics, he amassed 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, doing all the little things to keep the Suns in the game.

Bigs problem: It wasn’t a matter of whether the length of the Suns frontcourt would hurt the Celtics; it was a question of how much. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound Marcin Gortat and 6-foot-9, 245-pound Luis Scola entered the game averaging 24.5 points and 15.1 rebounds between them, and they combined to surpass both those numbers against the Celtics (28 points, 22 rebounds). In all, the Suns totaled 50 points in the paint.

Aunt Chippy: Whether the Celtics instigate it or not, there’s been some serious chippiness in their recent stretch of games. Two games after Rondo’s suspension for bumping a ref and two nights after Carmelo Anthony grew infuriated with Garnett, Rondo and Suns forward P.J. Tucker logged technicals and both Green and Courtney Lee took hard falls to the parquet floor. While some of their success can be attributed to the intensity, there’s a line between aggressiveness and overaggressiveness, and the Celtics have been riding it.

112288

Celts starters roll a perfect straight:

Bass - 6
Pierce - 7
Rondo - 8
Terry - 9
KG - 10

That's probably a first.

My first game ball goes to Sully. The most minutes of any Celtics and arguably the most consistent impact on the game

My second game ball goes to Green, whose great game featured the pivotal "dunkfest" mentioned above.

Not bad to have two balls on the bench.

Sam

Last night there was a change that up until this point we have never seen. Jeff Green played more minutes than Paul Pierce.

Paul was not having one of his better games. One game does not make a career for Jeff but seeing him step up while Paul sat was revealing.

I may have underestimated how good Sully can be for this team. He is an absolute beast on the boards. I think if he works hard and drops 15-20 LBS
he will get even better. As I posted under 25+ games in, he is one of my no trade guys.

If Boston does make a move to trade for a player the stock of our bench guys is on the ups.

dboss

Hi,
I wonder if those few plays with KG as center-point were by design or a spur of the moment improvisations?

I don't think Sully needs to loose much weight - he needs all the weight he can handle to push bigger players away. What a performance last night!

I still can't understand what's happening with BB: being totally open at 12-15ft he hesitates and then tries to drive to the hoop? Last year he'd shoot jumper (at excellent rate), now if he does shoot the rate is very low. I don't get it.

Now, speaking about trades. Lee and Bass for Gortat - mmmm, yeah.... and don't you dare to wake me up

AK

I agree, Sinus. What's the big deal with Sully allegedly having to lose weight? Do people seriously think his game is going to change from being a power guy to a leaper? That's never been his game, and he seems to be doing increasingly well. I haven't seen him lagging when they break. Although he's probably never going to be someone who fills a lane, he's already very good at being an effective trailer down the middle.

Why rob him of any bulk that doesn't seem to slow him down and does seem to help him fight for rebounding position? I suppose it might be argued that it could place less stress on his back, although I'm not aware that the back has been even a tiny issue so far. Let's see what he does now that he's around the same number of games he played in a college season.

Bass is deliberately trying to add more penetration to his game this season. The problem is that, when he tries to maneuver in the halfcourt, he's not a particularly good ballhandler.

I think Lee can be a very good Celtics. He plays a Celtics-type game. Yet, as I'm always preaching, you have to give something of value to get something of value.

Sam

Some of you might have seen this stat, but I don't think it's a coincidence that Boston started playing better a couple of games after Bradley's return:


With their 4th straight win, the Celtics are now 38-16 since 2011 when Avery Bradley plays 10 minutes or more. (19-28 when he doesn’t.)

TJ

That is a good stat you came up with!

112288

I'm just copy and pasting others research.
Here's a stat about Sullinger's effectiveness:


Jared Sullinger (+74 in the last 12 while the Celtics are -13) now leads the C's (including Kevin Garnett) in +/-.

Both Bradley and Sully are off limits in my trade scenario for anything other than a real star. Not gambling those guys on someone like Cousins. Both of those guys have a good head on their shoulders.

There was another stat, don't remember where I saw it but Bradley defense on pt per 100 were staggering even compared to the Pacers league leading stat. Don't remember the exact numbers but they were very telling when AB was on the floor.

Here it is, I found it.

Over the past two seasons, that disruptive ball pressure has been the calling card of the Celtics' defense when Bradley has been healthy. In three games this season coming into the game against the Knicks, Boston has starved opposing offenses when Bradley is on the court, allowing just 86.5 points per 100 possessions. How good is that? Indiana has the best defensive rating in the NBA this season at 98.9 points per 100 possessions

Overrated? I think not.

Sam and Sinus,

I would speculate the Sully weight thing is really a holdover from his college days. He was overweight and slimmed down; that's when he had his big year. Prior to the weight loss he was slow and without any lift (not that there's much now); not nearly the player that went into his final college season as a potential top draft pick.

A big reason his draft stock plummeted was fear that he would bulk up again, although the back issue got more attention. I'm sure it remains a concern. Maybe we just have a trainer assigned to keep him away from the post-game buffet!

Regards

sam wrote:Not bad to have two balls on the bench.

Sam, you're either the most generous setup man in comedy history, or it was really, really late when you wrote that post.

The gloom and doom surrounding the Celtics prior to AB's return reminds me of Mark Twain's quote: "The report of my death was an exaggeration."

Sully can do pretty much everything Kevin Love does.....

Just want to echo the words of Tardust and others that Bradley and Sully should not be moved. They're both worker bees, sort of the anti-Carmelos, doing the dirty work, and great team players. It would tough to watch them mature as our rivals.
I like Sully at his current weight, hope he doesn't gain any.
Sam, I agree you have to give up something to get something. With the recent resurgence, our stock has risen and along with it my reluctance to part with too much.
Then again, we probably need another big man to go deep. And if something happened to KG, we'd be hurting, even short term. Darko might have helped, but Collins seems at best a third option. I think Sully make Bass expendable, and even though the Jet has looked pretty good lately, I'd trade him in a heartbeat if we got to keep Lee. Still, I have no idea what a package of BB and JT would net us.
Longer term, I think our Melo may be quite good, so IMHO we don't need to give up the farm to get a franchise center. Hawk

Sam and Sinus

I definitely think that he needs to lose weight and it has little to do with adding a 1/4 inch to his hops.

It would make him quicker and perhaps more importantly it may lengthen his career. He is carrying a lot of poundage on those knees. He came in with a medical alert because of the so-called back issue. We are no drs so we do not know how this translate into his stability.

This kid has not evn grown up yet. He will not have that 'man strength until around 25. So if he losses 15-20 pounds and continues to strengthen his muscles he will be even better.

As a mater of factt I bet his weighs more than 260. looks more like 270-275.

He's a hulk and a very good player. A few less pounds will not hurt.

dboss

dboss

Outside,

You decide which I am. I almost wrote "ganas" instead of "balls." I actually prefer to set people up than to deliver the punch line. Must come from having been a huge Jack Benny devotee.

It's like the old advertising adage that it's more effective to let the customer or prospect infer the point you're making without your having to hand-feed it to him or her. I could spend all day telling you my product has great quality. But, if I can craft a message (perhaps a description of product features) that leads the customer to draw a quality inference, it's much more powerful.

Sam

Worcester,

I hope Tommy didn't have a lit cigar or cigarette in his mouth when he fell asleep in Cousy's car. The Cooz would have dribbled Tommy right out the door.

Sam