POST GAME LA

NICE JOB RAY RAY!!!!!!!!!!

I'm glad he got that behind him. Well what can do with only a 9 man bench no back up center, no back up small forward and 2 rookies on the bench!

Something got to give! Basketball Gods are not being kind.

Trust me on this one, even though the Faker won, they know that a full Celtic team wipes them off the court.

Only saving grace for the Celtics is the long All Star weekend, other wise it would be a potential free fall until bodies come back!


112288

This is a no-win game for LA in some ways.

• They're not going to catch San Antonio.
  
  If they needed a confidence boost because they've played so poorly against good teams they can't get it by beating us because we're so depleted.
  
  We embarassed them in their gym recently when we were healthier.
  
  They go into NY tomorrow pretty spent physically and emotionally from this one since we still hung with them to the end.

To his credit Bynum at least put one up on his critics after a tough week on the trade rumor mill.

Not that big a deal for us to lose this one. Miami evens up with us but they were right there 1/2 game behind anyway with lots of games left to swing either way so nothing critical there.

Wow NY ....Sun Shine & Lollipops!

I love your positive thoughts...karma...karma...karma!!!!!!!!

perhaps we need to start thinking positive because this injury thing is getting tiresome.

112288

Was proud of em. They fought. Artest did a great job on PP and their bigs just killed us. We cant beat them without SHaq and our full compliment of bigs.

I feel pretty clean we can beat them (if they get there) with even most of our team intact. But they earned it, they outplayed us and it was their night.

Yet another scoring drought where we just gave away the lead (or they took it) right before the half spelled doom tonight.

Way to go Ray! Perfect that it came against the Lakers.

112288

Well, I don't know about the lollipops. Would sunshine and a nice single malt do?

Considering the overall condition of what was left of our team tonight I was pretty pleased. We hung tough despite some pretty adverse conditions.

True, we may need to try and find at least one healthy small forward or center because we've likely got a couple of guys that aren't going much farther. We've got West coming back to lend depth to the backcourt though and Erden may be able to contribute a few minutes here and there until playoff time. Perkins is looking much better than I think most expected. It's very possible we might even get something more out of Shaq, so maybe it's just the small forward spot that's a problem. Wafer has looked surprisingly adequate, so perhaps we just need to try and see if we can find someone there at SF who can contribute a little time and some defense.

We've been in worse spots the past couple of years.

Now about that single malt...

A little food for thought... Tough game but imagine this. What if the Lakers had lost this game, not outside the realm of possibility. Man what a downer for this team to be beaten by a decimated Celtic team. Nothing was learned here tonight. A healthy Celtic team has as good a shot as anyone in the NBA to win it all, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Next.

It feels like everyone in the league is copying everyone else's business plan, looking for success. MIA "copied" the Celtics this year with a new Big 3, with some major differences. LAL seems to be "copying" the Celtics run of last year by lying in the weeds waiting for the playoffs to spring on the unsuspecting competition, with some major differences. While we've discussed the first one ad nausem, the second I'd like to focus on.

Once you pull a surprise, it ain't a surpirse anymore. The Lakers played a great game and deserved to win. Congratulations. The Celtics did not show up after about half way through the 2nd and LAL did. I believe LAL may have shown their hand way too early thus alerting the league to exactly what is going on. Without Sam's encouraging words toward the end of last season, we all would have bailed on the Celtics with their .500 ball. Our poor performance was because of injuries and never having the same sets and players unable to get into a rhythm or synergize. Once the playoffs got here, no one but us realized we were the lions hiding in the weeds. It took the rest of our playoff opponents until 6 minutes left in Game 7 of the finals to figure out we were about to win the whole thing from 4th position.

The Lakers on the other hand have thrown out that this is their fourth run to the finals. Understandable. But isn't this what these guys live for? Isn't the championship the only thing of meaning to a player or a team in the NBA, even over HOF induction? Who knows, maybe they are tired of winning.

Also, LAL isn't injured. They're pretty much at full strength. And by showing up and playing great defense and letting Kobe rest until 5 left in the fourth was brilliant by Phil and Co. I hate to say it but this game reminded me a lot of Game 7 last year, just on our court. Celtics, big lead, 15 points early on, lose big lead, lose game. We were also a big man down then and considerably more hampered this game.

So Phil, nice Jedi mind trick but we and especially the Western Conference are on high alert for you guys. You've got three WC teams to go through and only one of us and we're all on to you. And maybe Phil wants us to know. But what you're doing is no surprise.

BTW,

Congratulations to Ray!! We were yelling and screaming at the TV last night when he hit it as was most of the NBA world. Kobe had some very nice words on Ray as well after the game. Very cool. Just added another notch of respect for KB. Class act on the court.

Also I didn't know it took RM 18 seasons. RA is only in his 15th. I know his pace will slow down over the next few years, but can you imagine where that record will be when he hangs up his laces?! Truly remarkable and more than likely never beatable.

Quote from my middle son Evan this AM. "Dad, so there's bad news and good news. The bad news is, the Celtics lost to the Lakers. The good news is, Ray Allen is the All-Time NBA 3-Point Leader!" Always looking for the bright side. Thanks, Evan!

The Lakers team you saw last night is basically the Lakers team you will see in the playoffs. That is the best they can hope for – and the Celtics were still in the game with 3 minutes left.

That win means something to the Lakers – it means very little to the Celtics.

You add Shaq, D West, and Nate or Quis (or both – or a replacement for either) and that is a totally different game. You can say the same thing about Sunday. Would be nice for the C’s to get a win – but it really doesn’t mean anything….it means a lot more to the Heat – who have already been handled twice by the Celtics.

They looked exhausted last night….but still showed the heart of a champion. I would not want to play a healthy Celtics team in the playoffs…they will be ready and out for blood.

Yeah, I'm not ready to concede jack to MIA. If there is any importance to the regular season, and there isn't except for position, and the Celtics had to compare which game was more important, LAL or MIA, they would say neither. But if they had to pick, I'm thinking Sunday is the bigger deal. Call it a changing of the guard game in the East potentially. I don't think the Celtics are ready or willing to give anything in any way at any time to MIA yet. Regular season vs. playoffs aside, Celtics need to run them out of the gym Sunday. No close game, no comeback by LeBron...nothing. Don't even open the door a crack.

Celtics match up better, even in there depleted state with the Heat. Heat have very little inside game....so the lack of most of our bigs wont be an issue on Sunday.

Rondo blowing away Chalmers / Arroyo - and KG eating up Joelle Anthony and Bosh is the key.

Hi,
Yes, it was a tough loss.
Poor Doc. When he rolled his eyes after Nate got injured I thought they'll make 360º. Now Celtics're without BU PG. Hopefully nothing serious happened to Nate.
Kudos to VW. Despite being dragged through Kobe clinic he showed up 100% last night. It looks like in the next few games he'll have opportunity to prove his worth.
It seems like KG suffers from RR syndrome: instead of draining 12-15ft jumpers or dunking he prefers to pass. Shoot, Kevin, shoot.
Last but not least - great RA. Looking at the list of NBA long range shooters there's nobody even close to him. What an achievement!
On the LA side, once again, Kobe put the whole team on his shoulders and got a W.
It seems to me that DFish is a case of charity. He has almost nothing left in the tank, tons of experience and occasional 3pt.

Now - Sunday game with Mia. Smelling blood of the wounded beast they'll come swinging with all their lebrowadness.

AK

I'm not surprised at the outcome of last night's game, not really upset considering the circumstances. The Celts are in a bad situation. Since it is largely a veteran team in the Senior Citizen stages of their careers we are living with a house of cards. Yes, if less is expected of each due to sacrifice and diminished roles and minutes. However, these guys have many miles on the tread and are very brittle. I hope in the near future younger more durable players are acquired to build around a nucleus of Perkins, Davis, and Rondo so that we don't hold our collective breath everytime one hits the deck. The concept of veteran players giving max effort for shorter time spans is great in theory. Due to the aging process and the tremendous demands put on the body coupled with years of running, jumping, twisting, turning etc. the proof is not always in the pudding-MD.-PS Von Wafer deserves an "A" for effort!

Congratulations to our Lakers fans. Your team won a hard-fought game, and nothing can change that fact. Just a while guess, but I'm betting you enjoyed this one more than the previous encounter with the Celtics. And I'm also betting you're a bit reassured that the last three quarters represented what the Lakers are capable of.

I suspect the Lakers would now have fallen so far behind in the first quarter if Kobe had been a more selective in trying to set up his teammates. There were several times when he started driving to the hoop for what looked like sure buckets or Celtics fouls and suddenly stopped and passed to a teammate with poor results. While I appreciate the unselfishness of his motives, I doubt he'll be so single-minded if we see him in the playoffs.

I believe Celtics fans also got an excellent read (in the first quarter) of what the Celtics starting five can do to the Lakers. The only chance for the depleted Celtics team in this one was to get out to a fast start, and that's exactly what the starters did. Notwithstanding what I said about Kobe (above), I thought the Celtics easily outplayed L.A. in that quarter.

After that quarter, the "low on gas" light was definitely on, and the Lakers did a good job of taking advantage of that fact. Getting Ray into foul trouble was a biggie. A sub-par Paul Pierce was another. (Apropos of nothing, why isn't sub-par a good thing?)

So a lot of this game involved the Lakers in high gear and the Celtics with very little pickup. And yet the game was in doubt in the fourth quarter. Moreover, I believe there were at least two other Celtics (Shaq and Delonte) who could have played if this had been a playoff game, and they might easily have been worth 7 points simply by resting other Celtics to help keep their legs under them.

I've listened to or viewed most Celtics-Lakers games going back to the days when the Lakers' home was where there were actually Lakes. And, frankly, this Celtics loss to the purple and yellow caused me the least anguish of any of them.

All of this is not to say there's nothing to be concerned about, long-term. The manpower shortage has reached the critical stage. Doc is putting out a very appropriate "It is what it is" message. I believe that's a smoke screen to keep people off Danny's back while he works the phones.

One final point. The Lakers went through a tough stretch largely because they were playing poorly when healthy. I believe the mini-roster of remaining Celtics is playing about as hard and well as is possible under the circumstances. When the obstacle was simply discontinuity, this team persevered and did quite well. The obstacles have now gone well beyond discontinuity and into the M.A.S.H. zone.

Sam

Sam,

Do you think DA will pull the trigger? If so, who?

I say it is not a rental type of deal if MD is too hurt to play this year or ever. probably bring in via multi player deal a young guy 2-3 years experience who can evolve with the team in the next 5-7 years.

If MD can come back, then Posey would be the logical choice or Allen.

112288

Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Soldier boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

Man oh man is this injury thing becoming a drag. We went with basically 7 players last night, since Nate only played 4 minutes and Bradley only 1.

Let's give credit where credit is due. The Lakers came out after halftime and played a championship half, we did not. Depleted and thin at multiple positions, we gave everything we could. We deserve credit for that too.

1. Walter Ray Allen is the greatest shooter in the history of the NBA. I'm a huge Maravich fan (HUGE!) and tend to get a bit stubborn when it comes to including him in any discussion about shooting (to me, excluding The Pistol would be like saying that Bill Russell wasn't a great shot blocker because there are no blocks credited to him), but there's no denying that Ray can prove it. The 3pt shot was added at the start of the '79-'80 season, and a ton of great shooters have come and gone since then and Ray owns them all. He broke the record in fewer games than Miller and with a higher % (.398 vs .395). Last night, he was our offensive star, once again, and he did a very creditable job of guarding Kobe in the first half.

2. It may have been Ray's night (from a Celtic fan's perspective), but I give the game ball to Von Wafer. Is Nate's injury Von Wafer's Wally Pipp moment? That might be a bit much, especially with West returning, but he did everything we would have wanted him to do last night. He scored from inside, outside and played good defense (that was a clean block on Gasol, the refs just couldn't believe it, so they called a foul). My particular favorite moment was when he got the ball and tried to go fullcourt with it, even though Rondo was right next to him, and lost the ball out of bounds instead. Ok, that wasn't my favorite moment, but it did set my favorite moment up. After the ball went out of bounds, he turned and pointed to himself to Rondo to say "my mistake". Not too long after that (the next series?) he got the ball in the exact same place, Rondo was next to him, and he immediately gave the ball up to Rondo and started running his ass off downcourt without the ball. THAT was my favorite moment because it showed his IQ and that his understanding of how our team is supposed to work. Give the ball to Rondo in the center of the court and then run. Von Wafer is NOT a 3. He does not fix that problem, but he's better than Nate now at 2 (and Nate's not a 1).

3. Pierce was ineffective. We know why, he had the flu the day before, and I wouldn't make too much of his game yesterday EXCEPT to say that when he's healthy this game goes the other way.

4. What's going on with Davis? He has been in an extended slump. 3-10 last night. His outside shots aren't dropping and that's hurting his inside game too. We need him to be effective.

5. We shot 40% for the game, they shot 48%. We shot 6-22 (27%) in the 3rd quarter and 8-20 (40%) in the 4th. LA, Shmell-A you can't beat anybody shooting like that. Once again, credit where due, the much-maligned Laker defense got a couple of blocks in the 4th quarter and just played allround solid, but we were missing open J's and layups too.

6. I saw nothing last night that would make me change my opinion that replacing Farmar with Blake was NOT an upgrade.

7. Their length, and our injuries, made them very effective offensive rebounders last night. Odom, in particular, was great on the boards. For us, we had Rondo and KG. We just didn't convert often enough.

8. I was amused when the announcers started calling Kobe "the closer" in the final minutes of the game. They did this just after they put up a stat that showed he completely owned the 4th quarter of the game in LA and stunk it up. So, he's "the closer" when he's hitting, but in all those games where he doesn't? Mr. Potato Head must have issued a memo from the league office that put Bryant on the "protected species" list along with the refs.

9. This game was a good example of why we need a 3. Artest and Walton were able to tag-team a sub-par Pierce and we had nobody we could put in to dilute that. It will be very interesting to see, in 2 weeks or so as we approach the trading deadline, how Marquis is doing health-wise. I don't think Danny wants to go into the playoffs with that much uncertainty in the depth chart behind Pierce.

We are statistically dead-even with Miami, but we have 2 wins over them head-to-head. A win on Sunday would give us the tiebreaker there and force them to beat us outright for the #1 seed. Pierce's flu symptoms will be a thing of the past. Delonte West could play Sunday, albeit for only 5-10 minutes, but is more likely Wednesday. It's a big game, a BIG game, from an emotional perspective. Miami thinks they've "arrived, at last" and we need to let them know the road to the Finals still comes through us and we're ready to defend it.

bob

.

I agree with Sam and Bob, both insightful takes on it IMHO

112288 wrote:I say it is not a rental type of deal if MD is too hurt to play this year or ever. probably bring in via multi player deal a young guy 2-3 years experience who can evolve with the team in the next 5-7 years.

If MD can come back, then Posey would be the logical choice or Allen.

112288

what IS quis' health status ? is it just anyone's guess whether he'll be back this season? could that blow really have the potentioal to be a career ending enjury ? i am befuddled ... anyone know anything ?

all the stuff people have said above about Ray is true, wonderfully so. his foul trouble REALLY hurt us, that baseline "touch" foul was especially tough to see.

good game, we were just too thin, PP seemingly affected by the flu that kept him out of practice the day before - yet we were STILL IN IT until late in the 4th. good ganas, as jeb or bobh might say ... no quit, no conceding. Celtics fight, all the way ...

Michael

Bigpygme

No one knows for sure but this is a re-occurring problem from last years playoff against Orlando when he suffered a concussion.

If the doc says he has to shut it down for the rest of the year they probably buy his contract out for the remaining year thus freeing up a roster spot and if healthy resign Daniels next year.

112288

Dbrown,

I really have no idea, but I'd bet yes more than no.

I'll leave it to others to join Danny in ferreting out a candidate. I'd be happy with Sims from the Celtics' D League team.

Sam

Technically, this isn't "Post LA", but I didn't want to start a new thread just for this.

This is an article about Ray Allen, by Peter May, for Hoopshype. Everybody knew Ray Allen was a great shooter, but now he's finally starting to get all the well-deserved credit he deserves for being the greatest. Not only that, but his discipline in training (which includes watching what he eats and NOT going out clubbing) is being highlighted. We are so lucky to have him in green at any stage in his career. We're a team of veterans, and that's what it takes to win championships, but he's a great influence on Bradley, Wafer and every other young player, regardless of how their NBA career works out.


It was a foregone conclusion for the last few seasons. As long as Ray Allen remained healthy and productive – doing what he has been doing since he came into the NBA in 1996 – he was going to overtake Reggie Miller as the NBA’s most prolific three-point shooter at some point. The only unknown was the time and place.

It happened Thursday night in Boston. The Celtics lost to the Lakers, which in the big scheme of things may be more critical. And Allen knocked down three three-pointers to pass Miller, who was in the building doing commentary for TNT.

The two chatted before the game and then hugged after Allen’s first-quarter three-pointer enabled him to set the new record. Miller then told his television audience what everyone who has been following Allen already knew: the new record holder takes care of himself with the dedication of a Welsh nanny.

“At the age of 35, to still be considered the best shooter in the league, shows how much he has kept in shape over the years,’’ Miller said.

Allen really broke the record a long time ago, when he dedicated almost every aspect of his day-to-day life to being the best basketball player he could be. That meant a lot more than hoisting shot after shot in empty gymnasiums. It meant watching what he ate and drank to the point where, at the age of 35, he is a living, breathing advertisement for self-preservation.

“I’ve always compared my body to a Ferrari,’’ he said. “So I always try to put the best gas in it. Eating the right food has always been important.”

He could not possibly have passed Miller without such dedication and, needless to say, without the benefit of good luck from the Injury God. He sees one as directly related to the other. You take care of yourself with Prussian efficiency and discipline, you’re not going spending time nursing an ailment.

“I know that whatever I chose to do,’’ Allen said, “that I would have been great at it because of my ability to commit to what I do.”

This is Allen’s 15th season in the NBA and, among the Class of 1996, he is one of the few still playing regularly and producing. (Kobe Bryant also falls into that category. Marcus Camby, sort of the anti-Ray Allen, is, once again, hurt.) He didn’t miss a game in his first six seasons. He has missed big chunks of time in only two of the those 15 seasons, his first and last in Seattle, due to ankle/foot surgeries.

He believes he’s still around and productive because of his slavish devotion to a routine, whether it’s shaving his head before every game to making sure he has the same parking spot every day. And, he never hesitates to add, he watches what he eats and drinks and makes sure he gets his proper rest.

“He is dedicated about that part of his life,’’ his father-in-law, John Williams, said of Allen. “He doesn’t smoke. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t even drink coffee.”

The NBA, Allen believes, is a six-month edition of ‘Groundhog Day.’ It doesn’t matter if he’s in Portland or Atlanta, it’s the same. He always has baked chicken thighs, steamed rice and a green vegetable before every game. “Now, it’s broccoli,’’ said his wife, Shannon. “But we also do asparagus.” He will occasionally sample a piece of steak after a game. The next time your read about him clubbing will be the first time.

“You can’t be in two different places at one time, you can’t try to do too much, and be social and live this glamorous life,’’ he said. “If you want to be great, you have to commit and devote yourself to this job, (to) getting the rest at nighttime, and eating right, and avoiding the temptations on the road or whatever. This is a 365-day-a-year job. But when you commit to it, it pays you back.”

Allen’s devotion to his own well-being is paying almost unimaginable dividends for him and the Celtics. He is shooting a career best percentage from the field and from three-point territory. He leads the Celtics in overall minutes played. He has not missed a game. For the first time as a member of the Celtics, he was named to the Eastern Conference team for the All-Star Game by the coaches. His previous two trips to the game were as commissioner selections.

He said after his record-setting performance that he feels as good as he ever has, that he could “go forever.” He is under contract through next season, but his Celtics’ teammate, Paul Pierce, thinks Allen could go for another four or five years.

This doesn’t happen to guards. They tend to go in their mid-30s. But what we’ve seen this year out of Allen is a testament to the hard work he has put in over the years and to his obsessive fidelity to diet, rest and consistency.