POST GAME TIMBERWOVES

UPDATE - BRADLEY SAYS 'WEEK OR TWO' FROM PRACTICE

WEEI By: Mike Petraglia

One of the biggest missing pieces to the Celtics swarming defense said before Wednesday's game with the Timberwolves that he's close to returning to practice.

"I'm maybe a week or two weeks from returning to practice," Avery Bradley said Wednesday evening.

Bradley has been rehabbing both shoulders since offseason surgery on his left and then right shoudler, injured in the playoffs last season. Bradley had surgery on the right shoulder in the summer after surgery on the left shoulder that forced him to miss the end of the series with Philadelphia and the entire Eastern Conference final with the Heat.

Bradley is considered the best on-ball defender on the Celtics and is seen as an instant impact player when he returns. Bradley said Wednesday that if all goes well in practice, he is hopeful to be back in games by the first of the new year.


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FAST BREAK: WHOLE LOTTA KEVIN LOVE CAN’T STOP CELTICS
By Ben Rohrbach

Maybe Celtics coach Doc Rivers should give his aging stars the day off more often.

Two days after resting the over-36 crowd for a practice, Rivers watched Kevin Garnett (18 points, 10 rebounds), Jason Terry (17 points, 5 rebounds) and Paul Pierce (18 points, 4 rebounds) lead his C’s to a 104-94 win over the visiting Timberwolves. Of course, Rajon Rondo (17 points, 11 assists) returning from suspension didn’t hurt.

A whole lot of Kevin Love (19 points, 13 rebounds) couldn’t even help the T-Wolves (8-9), whose porous defense helped the Celtics improve to 10-8 on the season and 5-4 at the Garden.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Minny driver: Last season, Garnett said he has “nothing positive to say” about his former NBA home, and he clearly played with an added edge against Minnesota. Not that Garnett doesn’t play with an edge every night, but he had a little something extra in the tank for the Timberwolves, starting 6-of-7 from the field and scoring 12 points in his first 11 minutes — his lone miss a failed shot clock buzzer-beater. He finished with his third double-double in his last five games to go along with four assists and an infinite number of dance moves during Gino Time.

Viejos amigos: Off the bench, the T-Wolves matched “6-foot” guard J.J. Barea against former Mavericks teammate Terry, who took advantage of his old friend. The Celtics guard made four of his six shots in the first half (1-2 3P), taking nine points, three rebounds and two assists into the break. He finished with 17 points on 10 shots.

Return of Rondo: Depending on how you look at it, Rondo either extended his streak of double-digit assists to 38 in games that he finishes or he just started a renewed march towards Magic Johnson‘s record of 46 straight games with 10 or more assists. Either way, Rondo returned to form after his two-game suspension for shoving Kris Humphries into the crowd. Apparently, his Mexican vacation served him well.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Bearing gifts: As usual, the Celtics were in a giving mood, turning the ball over five times in their last six possessions before the half, including the final four. As a result, they turned what was once a seven-point lead into a 51-47 deficit at the break — thanks to Minnesota’s 10 fast-break points on a perfect 5-of-5 transition attempts. They cleaned it up a bit in the second half but still finished with 16 turnovers.

No Love lost: Leading up to the game, Pierce said, “Our main objective is to try and slow [Kevin Love] down. He’s shown he can dominate the game with his offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding. That’s definitely an emphasis.” Easier said than done. Midway through the third quarter, Love already had his double-double.

Key unlocked: Not only did Love have his way around the basket, but the Timberwolves combined for 50 points in the paint. Fellow bigs Nikola Pekovic and Dante Cunningham also combined for 21 points and 16 rebounds. Somehow, though, the Celtics out-rebounded Minnesota by a 45-41 margin.
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ESPNBOSTON.COM

Rapid reaction: Celtics 104, Wolves 94

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com


BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 104-94 on Wednesday night at TD Garden:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Kevin Garnett remains undefeated against his former squad, registering a double-double with a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds to pace the well-rested Celtics. Paul Pierce added 18 points as all five Boston starters landed in double figures, including Jason Terry and Rajon Rondo (17 points apiece). Kevin Love finished with a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Nikola Pekoic chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves.

TURNING POINT
The Celtics were down two when Garnett went to the bench with 7:08 to play in the third quarter. Typically, that's when the Celtics' production takes a nosedive, but Boston outscored the Wolves 20-11 to carry a seven-point cushion (79-72) into the final frame. The Celtics were 9-of-13 shooting during that Garnett-less stretch, spearheaded by three buckets from Rondo and two apiece from Brandon Bass, Terry, and Chris Wilcox (the trio was a combined 6-of-6 for 16 points over those final seven minutes). A Garnett-fueled 11-1 run to start the fourth quarter pushed Boston's lead up to 15.

A NEW STREAK BEGINS
After Rondo's 37-game double-digit assist streak was snapped when he was ejected from last Wednesday's joust with Kris Humphries and the Nets, he picked up right where he left off by handing out 11 helpers against the Timberwolves. The scorekeeper initially took away No. 10 midway through the third quarter, but Rondo later fed Wilcox for a layup with 1:52 to go in the frame to officially reach double digits in helpers.

WHAT IT MEANS
The Celtics, rested coming off a three-day break, clearly had more in the tank than the Timberwolves, who were playing the second night of a back-to-back. Even still, the Celtics shot 52.6 percent and went into triple figures despite missing eight free throws (the Timberwolves didn't aid their own cause by going 14-of-30 at the charity stripe). Boston can take it as a quality win and now they get a day off to trek to Philadelphia for the start of a consecutive-day home-and-home with the 76ers on Friday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

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What's up with Bynum?

worcester wrote:What's up with Bynum?

7-10 split??

beat

Seriously Beat. When is he going to start playing again? What's his problem? How could the Sixers agree to a deal for such damaged goods?

W

Lakers get a break again so it appears. Bynum just seems to break down to easily. Bowling appears to be the most recent excuse. Both knees are in bad shape, appears this year is virtually out of the question as far as meaningful playing goes. If so do you cut your losses?

here is the only current thing I could find



Andrew Bynum Rumors Have Injury Finally Healing?
December 05, 2012 11:45 AM EST
Andrew Bynum rumors have his injury finally starting to heal. This is a big deal, especially because he still hasn't played a minute for the Philadelphia 76ers since they traded for him from the LA Lakers.

A report states that the swelling in Bynum's knees has gone down, possibly getting to a point soon where he can actually start playing basketball again. That gives the 76ers a bit of hope when it comes to a strong second half of the season.


Expectations should probably be tempered when any news like this comes out about Bynum. He is likely very out-of-shape at this point and still wouldn't play in the month of December. Hoping for him to play in games by the end of January would probably be a best case scenario for the situation.

The big hurdle for Bynum will come on Dec. 20 when he meets with a doctor about his bruised knees and weakened cartilage. At that point, he might have good news to pass on to the team or the 76ers could even announce that he won't play this year.

It is officially safe to call this Andrew Bynum trade a bust. Bynum's injury problems didn't worry the Philadelphia 76ers for some reason and now fans have to suffer through a team that is much less talented than the one they put on the court last season.

Do you think Bynum's injury is going to be season-ending? Will 76ers fans ever get to see him play in a game for Philadelphia?

beat[b]

Such an incompetent GM.

Hi,
IMO, this game showed signs of progress of the team. With RR's return they're back on that path. I hope there won't be any major disruptions other than incorporation of AB back into the lineup.

AK

The GM I was referring to was Phillie's.

I don't know about the comment about "maybe Doc should rest his aging stars more often". They did that last week and got creamed their first game back. There's a fine balance between rested and rusty.

1. I'm going to be the ant at the garden party and say I was not that pleased with Rondo's return. I'm happy he's back, don't get me wrong, but I'm not oohing and ahhing over his 11 assists like some are. He had 9 assists at halftime, which means he took the 2nd half off and don't even get me started on his defense. His defense was atrocious last night. Horrible. Disgusting. Pathetic. Are you getting the idea I'm having trouble coming up with the right word to do describe just how putrid his defense was? I've been grumbling about the decline in his defense this year, but last night was unbelievably bad. Minny ran the same play 2 or 3 times, a Minny big had the ball up high and Barea came over the top and got the pass after he turned the corner. Rondo wasn't anywhere near Barea. He didn't fight over the nominal pick, nor did he go under it. Barea got 2 or 3 layups in a row. Rondo's 5 TOs aren't anything to be elated about. Rondo's steal was due to a blown call by the officials. He fouled Ridnour, it was obvious on the replay, and they called a foul on Ridnour as they both fell down. Sorry, underwhelmed overall. Stats don't tell the story, in this case, except for one. Rajon Rondo was 5-6 from the line, going 4-4 after splitting his first pair. This brings his season-to-date % up to 65%.

2. KG was magnificent. He played extra hard (if that's humanly possible) against his former team.

3. Pierce had 4 TOs in the first half. Not good. He drove to the hole repeatedly but was getting no love (small "l") from the officials. 1-6 from 3. They're like peanuts to Pierce, he can't walk away from them or take just one. He threw up an unnecessary one with time winding down that brought a few moans from the Game On crowd, but that's part of what being an assassin is. It means wanting to be the one to drive home the dagger. Kobe does it, MJ did it, so did Bird. They want to be the heartbreaker. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Last night it had no effect, since he missed and we still won.

4. Bass started off ice cold, going 0-3 in the first half, all from mid-range and maybe a bit further. In the second half, though, he turned it around, going 6-6. The shots started dropping, he attacked the hole and looked more like, well, Brandon Bass. He also grabbed 8 boards, had 3 blocks, 2 steals and an assist. He's still struggling with his consistency, but not with his effort. His effort is there all the time, night-in-and-night-out. I wish I knew why he keeps back-rimming the baskets so much.

5. Greg Stiemsma had a nice return to the Gahden. 2 blocks in 9 minutes. Yep, that sounds like The Steamer. 0 rebounds. Uh, yep, that sounds a bit like him too. Considering how he's always going for a block one shouldn't be surprised or disappointed if he's out of position for the rebound. At one point he got a push-in-the-back call from the ref on KG. KG was standing there, with his back to Steamer, and you could see Steamer come up behind KG and say something to the back of his head. It didn't look like smack, so much as it looked like a "you shouldn't have taught me that last year" or a "I should have gotten these calls in practice all last year too" type of thing. Steamer seems like a labrador retriever on rBGH (he is from Wisconsin, after all). Not a mean bone in his body. Tommy (I was able to get Mike and Tommy last night. Yes!) teased Mike about how he couldn't stop hugging Steamer pre-game. Steamer is one of those guys you just can't help but root for.

6. JET was flying last night. A great game by Terry. Where Rondo couldn't (wouldn't?) handle Barea, JET did a good job of handling his much quicker, much younger former Maverick teammate. Offensively, JET looked smooth as silk. 17 points on 7-10, 3-5 from 3. He was catch-and-shooting, he was creating his own shot, he looked like a well-oiled machine. It has taken him a month, but he's starting to look like he's getting it. A chemical reaction is taking place!

7. Sully got a Tommy Point for running downcourt on a break and grabbing a missed shot and getting it to a teammate before he fell out of bounds. He's getting very good at taking charges. 7 boards in 18 minutes. He finds a way to contribute every game.

8. Kevin Love is a great player. Durant wows people with his shooting but Love is a very good shooter as well and he boards like a throwback. All under the rim, all position. He had 9 rebounds at halftime. 4 offensive boards total. What does it say that an earthbound player like Love can get 13 rebounds, 4 offensive? It means that rebounding isn't about being big, wide or being able to outjump your man. It's about heart and desire and positioning. I really enjoy watching him play, and I'd love if kids all around America watched him too, because watching him play his game is a remedial lesson for the league in fundamentals.

9. Pekovic is 6'11", 290# but looks even bigger. He did all his damage inside, as he carved out a lot of space. I don't know much about him, but looked strong last night.

10. Alexey Shved is another Minny player who looks like he'll bear watching in the future. 6'6" SG, but a toothpick at 185#. He can, and did last night, shoot from deeeep. He's listed as a PG, but he sure didn't look like one last night, he was definitely shoot-first, pass-second. 23 years old, no college, from Russia. Another "amateur" from the Russian army, like in the old days? He only shot 4-11, but looked very dangerous doing it. Quick and long. I can see how a backcourt of him and Ricky Rubio would be as entertaining offensively as they would be defensively handicapped.

11. We shot 53% for the game, they shot 44%. We outrebounded them 45-41 (yeah!). We out-assisted them 24-19. Lucky for us Minny, as a team, shot a Dwight Howard-like 14-30 from the line. Kevin Love was 6-12 (ok, that's Howard on a good night). A career 82% ft shooter, he is tied with Rondo this season at 65%. How does one explain this? After saying all those nice things about Shved, he was 1-4 from the line too, but he's an 82% shooter too. Well, we've seen this before, haven't we. It's contagious, one guy can't hit'em, suddenly nobody can. If Minny had shot even 21-30 (70%) this would have been a 3 point, 1 possession game. Considering that Louis Amundsen, their end-of-bencher and a horrid ft shooter, was 0-2 in his 3 minute garbage time, this game would have been even closer.

Especially if AK 47 hadn't sat this one out with back spasms...

Minny has some opportunity to make some noise in the WC when Rubio comes back. Love, Rubio, Ridnour, Dante Cunningham, Pekovic, Barea, Josh Howard (he played well last night. I thought he was washed up), Steamer, Kirilenko and Shved make for a decent and entertaining 10. Defense up front with Steamer and AK, rebounding and beef with Love and Pekovic, speed with Rubio, Barea and Shved, versatility with Dante and Josh, veteran steadiness from Ridnour coming off the bench at the point guard slot (or Rubio comes off the bench and Barea and Shved are off to the races).

Overall, a nice effort, some good execution (some not so good). Our transition D still needs work. We out-rebounded them, but we still gave up 13 offensive boards.


A back-to-back home-away series with the struggling Philadelphia 76ers next. They started out like gang busters, and are still 10-8 like we are, but are 6-4 in their last 10. They always seem to get up for playing against us, though, so we need to be on our game.


bob


.

Bob,

We also gave up 50 points in the paint or 53% of points score by them! That is not a good sign.

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Rondo's SportCenter shot. Credit to Bass for running the floor, in case a cleanup in aisle 3 was necessary.







JET, taking a well deserved take off.






Pierce, cutting baseline, looking for the cutting Wilcox. I LOVE how Chris Wilcox runs the floor. His first instinct is to always go to the front of the rim.








This was a move we don't usually see from KG. He did his little back-to-the-basket "which way am I going?" move, and then did a drop step and a long reach to the other side of the rim. We saw it all from KG last night.








Schved, loose underneath. I believe this one went in.







bob


.

bobheckler wrote:Lucky for us Minny, as a team, shot a Dwight Howard-like 14-30 from the line. Kevin Love was 6-12 (ok, that's Howard on a good night). A career 82% ft shooter, he is tied with Rondo this season at 65%. How does one explain this?

He's still recovering from a broken finger on his shooting hand. Both his FG (36.1%) and FT (64.9%) percentages are horrid so far this season, far below his career averages (45.4% and 81.5%). He'll get better as the season goes along.