POST GAME GAME BROOKLN

LOOK WHAT PRESENT SANTA BROUGHT THE CELTICS......A WIN! ......THEY MUST HAVE BEEN GOOD!

Bradley won't join Celtics on road trip

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — For those hoping the Boston Celtics would offer up Avery Bradley's return for Christmas, the C's continue to be Scrooge-like in putting him back on the floor.

In fact, Bradley will not travel with the team during their upcoming West coast trip which means his return date in all likelihood will be Jan. 2 at home against Memphis.

"Physically, he's ready," said C's coach Doc Rivers. "The shoulder looks like it's strong enough. I just think, honestly we need him and could use him - I just didn't feel comfortable."

Rivers added, "he's been out for six months. He's had 2 1/2 practices. I just didn't feel comfortable. I just thought, leave him at home, let him work out."

Bryan Doo, the Celtics strength and conditioning coach, will return to Boston to continue working with Bradley as well as Chris Wilcox who will be out for at least three weeks with a thumb injury.

"Usually B-Doo is with us," said River who added that the C's might have one practice during their entire West coast trip. "So we sent our strength coach back ... (Bradley) and Chris Wilcox will do two-a-days. So by the time we come back, he should be ready for that game."

Bradley isn't the only Celtics guard not playing tonight.

Leandro Barbosa, who has been away from the team attending to personal issues, might re-join the Celtics in time for Thursday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
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Varnado happy to be in Brooklyn with Celtics for holidays


BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Christmas came a little early this year for Jarvis Varnado, the newest member of the Boston Celtics.

The 6-foot-9 rookie was signed by the C's this week after a strong showing with the NBA Development League's Sioux Falls Skyforce.

"Playing in the NBA someday is what you always dream of," Varnado told CSNNE.com moments before stepping on to the floor for the first time as a member of the Boston Celtics. "I'm really happy right now."

Varnado described his arrival in Boston as being a whirlwind of a courtship that came together in a matter of hours.

"I came in for a workout on Sunday, and I thought it went pretty good," he said. "I talked to a couple of people and they said they (Celtics) were thinking about signing me and I later got the phone call from my agent to confirm it."

The addition of Varnado took on an even greater importance after the C's learned that a thumb injury to Chris Wilcox would sideline him for about a month. Couple that with Darko Milicic being waived to be with his ailing mother, and the need for another big was obvious.

Varnado's goal is to do whatever he can to not just play well, but play well enough that the C's will want to keep him around for the rest of the season.

"I know my role; just do what I do best; rebound and block shots and bring that energy to the floor," Varnado said.

In 10 games with the Skyforce, Varnado averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds and a league-best 3.9 blocked shots per game.

A three-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year at Mississippi State, he finished his collegiate career as the NCAA's all-time leader in blocked shots.

However, Varnado has had trouble sticking with teams in part because he has yet to show that he can bring more to the game than blocking shots and defending.

But considering what the C's need, Varnado's strengths fit in well with what the Celtics need more of out of their current roster.

"I just feel blessed for this opportunity," said Varnado who was drafted by Miami in the second round of the 2010 draft but whose rights were released prior to the start of this season. "It's been a long journey to get here. The only thing I have to do is all I can do, to stick."



NEXT GAME - THURSDAY - 10:30PM - AWAY - LA CLIPPERS - CSNE/TNT

POST GAME RECAP

CSNE

Green Christmas: Celtics rip Nets in Brooklyn, 93-76

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The Boston Celtics got the win, and NBA charities got a little Christmas Bonus.

All left the Barclays Center feeling pretty good except for the Brooklyn Nets who suffered a 93-76 loss to the Celtics.

Rajon Rondo led all scorers with 19 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Jared Sullinger and Jeff Green had solid games off the bench for Boston with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Brooklyn was led by Brook Lopez and Gerald Wallace who each had 15 points.

With the victory, the Celtics (14-13) are now tied for second in the Atlantic Division with the Nets (14-13), losers in four of their last five games.

Not surprisingly, the game got a bit chippy and the result was a handful of players were a bit more giving this holiday season than they probably would like to be.

Four players - Boston's Kevin Garnett and Courtney Lee, along with Brooklyn's Wallace and Andray Blatche - were called for technical fouls which drop $2,000 a pop into the coffers of the NBA's various charities.

If you're Boston, putting together a win like they did on Christmas Day was priceless.

Boston made their share of mistakes all night, but the effort level and focus defensively was relatively consistent most of the game.

It was the kind of performance that the Celtics have not been able to deliver with any level of consistency this year which is why they remain a team that's hovering around .500 this season.

After a strong first half, the Celtics pushed their lead to as many as 21 points only to see it chopped down to single digits.

To the Celtics credit, they showed the kind of resiliency in the third quarter that hasn't been on display much of this season.

Boston clamped down defensively and pushed its lead back to double digits, taking a 73-58 advantage into the fourth quarter.

The Celtics spent most of the first quarter playing catch-up before a 3-pointer by Rondo - seriously - cut the Nets lead going into the second quarter to 24-22.

After a brief exchange early in the second, the Celtics took control by doing three things: Rebounding, defending and getting out in transition.

Once Boston went with that Big Three, it was all Green raining down on the Nets.

And while the Celtics have a number of proven, battle-tested veterans who can lead the charge, it was Sullinger carrying the C's in the first half.

Sullinger, who saw his first benching of sorts in a game earlier this season against the Nets (he played just 8 minutes against Brooklyn on Nov. 15), refused to allow a repeat on Tuesday.

In the first half alone, Sullinger had 10 points and six rebounds along with two assists and a blocked shot as the Celtics led by as many as 15 points before settling on a 56-42 halftime lead.

Contributions on the Celtics roster were coming from unfamiliar places, indeed.

Rajon Rondo, the league's leader in assists, had three at the half while Paul Pierce led all players with six.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn had the look of a team that was dazed and confused, trying their best to shift the Celtics momentum but only making matters worst with a slew of forced and unforced turnovers - 10 to be exact - in the first half that led to 15 points for the C's.
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ESPNBOSTON.COM

Rapid Reaction: Celtics 93, Nets 76

Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets 93-76 on Tuesday at the Barclays Center.

IT’S ABOUT TIME, GUYS
This was the kind of game we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from the Celtics over the past few years -- and have seen so few of this season. Their trademark suffocating defense was spectacular; the Nets' 76 points represented a season low for a Boston opponent this season. The Celtics held the Nets to 40.6 percent shooting and 35 percent from 3-point territory. Those are all numbers we’ve seen over the years when Boston was among the more dominating defenses -- but rarely in 2012-13. And -- spoiler alert! -- the Celtics actually outrebounded an opponent. We are not making this up. They had a 41-36 edge on the glass and a 16-14 advantage in second-chance points. The Celtics also kept their poise when the Nets cut a 21-point deficit to eight late in the third quarter. Boston then scored the final seven points of the period to get the lead back to a comfortable 15.

TURNING POINT
The Celtics took control of this game with an overpowering second quarter, piling up 34 points, their most in any quarter this season. They shot 59 percent in the period to the Nets’ 37 percent. They had a big advantage on the glass. The Celtics trailed 24-22 after one quarter and were down 29-26 when the game turned irrevocably in their favor. Boston went on runs of 17-2 and 22-4 to build a 15-point lead. It was a 14-point lead at the break. Consider this: When Jared Sullinger converted a layup to give the Celtics a 41-31 lead, there was still 5:30 left in the first half. Over the final 29 minutes, 30 seconds, the Celtics led by double digits for all but one minute late in the third quarter.

KG AND GERALD WALLACE, 2.0
Once again, a Celtics-Nets game featured a confrontation (of sorts) between Kevin Garnett and Gerald Wallace. The two tangled in the last meeting between the teams in late November, resulting in fines for both players. That was the same game Rajon Rondo went at Kris Humphries and was hit with a two-game suspension. All was quiet on Christmas Day until the fourth quarter, when Jeff Green fouled Wallace. KG then (legitimately) objected to Wallace holding on to his shorts, which Wallace did for a number of seconds. There was some gathering and yakking, but all that came out of it was two free throws by Wallace (on the Green foul) and double technicals for Wallace and Garnett. "I don't know where in America you can jack somebody's pants up or shorts up," KG told reporters after the game. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know what the hell was going on." Wallace also was the victim of a Sullinger flagrant foul with 6:03 left in the game, but it was an otherwise tension-free game. Humphries did not play because of an abdominal strain.

PAUL PIERCE, ASSIST MAN
The Celtics captain channeled his inner Rondo and produced a season-high 10 assists, five more than league assist leader Rondo. Pierce’s previous high was a nine-dime submission on Dec. 8 against the 76ers. Pierce had a couple of dandy feeds, one to Sullinger on a bounce pass of more than 20 feet. He also assisted on a big 3-pointer by Green that pushed the lead from 12 to 15 points and pretty much ended competition for the evening. Pierce made only 3 of 10 shots after having big games against the Cavaliers and Bucks. The Nets took him out as a scorer, but he more than made up for that with his passing.

SULLINGER, GREEN SHINE OFF THE BENCH
The rookie from Ohio State matched his season high of 16 points, knocking down 6 of 7 shots. He also had seven rebounds while playing nearly 33 minutes, second on the team to Rondo’s 36-plus. Green also came through with a big game, scoring 15 points. Overall, the Celtics’ bench outscored New Jersey’s 43-21, including 21-8 in the second half. The bench also received a late basket from Maine Red Claws import Kris Joseph. It was the first hoop of the season (and his career) for the rookie from Syracuse. He had made two free throws in the win over Portland on Nov. 30. Newcomer Jarvis Varnado also made his Boston debut, playing the final 62 seconds.

WHAT IT MEANS
This arguably was the Celtics’ second-most impressive win of the season, coming as it did against a decent opponent on the road. (The home win over Oklahoma City still is the gold standard.) But it means little if they can’t carry the momentum and instead slip back on the roller coaster, which is quite possible given the upcoming road foes (Clippers and Warriors). Still, the way the Celtics won bodes hope going forward. They were the overwhelming defensive team they say they need to be; they actually rebounded the basketball; and they took a double-digit lead in the second quarter and protected it the way a kid would take care of his new toy.

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Loved all aspects of game, especially that KG and Pierce played well, but didn't have to carry us, Green and Sully stepped up, Sully was in a zone hitting everything from all over floor. He was able to score inside in traffic on some great movement and finding the seams, had his outside/midrange shot clicking and grabbed alot of boards. Was easily his most impactful and complete game, whether KG is on or off we have to go to him more.

Jeff Green was beautiful to watch, he ran the floor for a few dunks, attacked in the post, hit a 3, he so outplayed Joe Johnson, even shutting him down defensively. If we can get 16 and 15 every game from these 2 we'll be going to ECF again, as getting Avery Bradley back with a deep talented bench playing like this going forward was/is definitely Dannys master plan. Seeing his scar in the middle of his chest.....oh god, who would want to go through that? and hes here and if we can get this type of game going forward from these 2, we'll be back to winning.

Like very much starting big with Collins and KG, were a few times the Nets had to swing the ball back outside for a contested shot/brick after they couldn't get good position inside, little things like this don't show up in the boxscore, but were huge in us limiting their offense. Our defense was stellar throughout game and love when Rondo just plays, not trying to pad his assists stats, his defense was good this game. Pierce played a classic Pierce game, giving the game whatever it needed, passing Bird-like at times. When Nets had the comeback stretch in 3rd, guess who came off bench to provide stability to squash it with 7-0 run?

Like where team is going, Pierce has alot of life in his game, Jet hit some daggers too, loved the defense and ball movement on offense without Rondo overdominating the ball. Hopefully light went on for Sully and Jeff Green and will stay on....if we can bring in a young energetic 7 foot shotblocker in a few more weeks from the D-League.... WOW we could be in really good shape.

As limited as his skills are,Collins has done a great job starting at center. It is really great to see KG back at the four spot where he most loves to play. It is funny though, he is scoring much less at that position! More defenders on him.
Yes, Pierce is putting to rest any talk that he has lost his lift and is getting old fast. He is playing fantastic ball, 10 assists today, showing how important he is on this team.,

All in all, it was a terrific showing by the Celts, made my Christmas Day much better!!

Rosalie

Hi Rosalie,
Yes it was terrific. IMO this was the best game of the year, with maybe the exception of the Thunder game. Defensively I think it was the best hands down. Yes the Nets have been struggling lately, but we KEPT them struggling on their home floor.
I agree on Pierce. When we get games where Rondo is scoring, (which I think we need more of) we need someone else to be able to get assists. Paul supplied that and didn't force but a couple shots. Team had 25 assists on 38 baskets. Great stat considering Rondo usually dominates the assist total and today he didn't. One other great stat was turnovers. We had two lazy to's in the 4th quarter in a row that let the Nets have life. Then PP had one where he was forcing the action. Great win.

If we can get one against the Clippers with another great defensive effort it would do wonders for our confidence.

Collins has used most of his fouls around the rim which is great. He is giving us a little toughness there. Still hope we upgrade that position.

Sully was a stud. I still want 30 minutes a game from this guy. He will still make mistakes but he will improve as well. Need to fast forward his progress because he also is a very physical player. I love him putting his body on players during a rebound. Wish some of our other players would watch him. Bass are you listening?

To anyone:

I alternately saw and heard only a little more than half the game (basically from the middle of the second quarter until the end). The seven things that made me happiest were (1) a couple of bench players coming up big to take some of the load off starters, (2) distribution of the ball by someone other than Rondo, which had been a weak spot on this team because other teams were playing him for the predictable pass, (3) an extension of the new-found toughness displayed by the Celtics. (4) a continuation of the improved effectiveness of their swarming defense, (5) their ability to absorb some Nets runs and come right back with runs of their own, (6) their success in closing out the game, and (7) JET's dagger-like contributions.

Some of these factors were extensions of recently developing trends. Others were new developments. All of them were extremely positive.

Go Celtics!

Sam

I'm with Rosalie; I like seeing Collins in there.

He can defend. Perhaps he's not capable of being a scoring option but I think Rondo certainly is. This brings up the recurring debate of Rondo as mandatory third scoring option for this team to reach it's potential, floated by Magic again yesterday. I do subscribe to that one; hard to argue with Magic Johnson anyway.

Although I've advocated keeping KG at center, due to the strength of other power forwards in the league, it's not like we're going to find another 4 at this time. KG is still very capable so let's use him there.

I like the defense provided by KG and Collins, with Pierce, Terry and Rondo getting starter minutes on that unit. I do wish Rondo would re-discover his past defensive ability on a permanent basis, however. Bass and Sullinger may not be able to handle some of the league's dominant 4s, but they provide very good depth with the ability to score (Bass) and rebound (Sully). Green is stepping it up some and can score, Lee has looked better and if Bradley can return to provide a few minutes of that great on-the-ball D every game our bench may start fulfilling that big potential.

Nothing like a little extra under the Christmas tree to put a smile on the face of Celtics Planet today. Red-and-white my ass, Santa wears Green-and-white.

I like Providence College alum Doris Burke's commentary. I thought she offered some good insights beyond the ass-kissing you usually hear from the national talking heads. I love Hubie Brown, he has forgotten more about basketball than most of them know total, and I liked Burke. The rest of them can pretty much take a flying F at a rolling donut. They are so in bed with the players it's disgusting.

I don't think Hump would have made a difference. He might have put some steel into the Nets' spine, but not enough. This game was ours, on both ends, all game.

1. Rondo outplayed Williams, both ends, all game. He has rediscovered his man-to-man positional defense and is moving his muffins to stay between his man and the basket instead of being on one side of him and going for the reach around. Sure he still does that a few times, but it's not everytime, like it was earlier this season. Disrupt the opposing team's playmaker and their offense breaks down. So simple, right? He was a very respectable 4-9 from outside, including 2-2 from 3, and 5-7 inside. He's changing "the book" on him by becoming a legitimate threat from outside. A Rondo jumper is still better than a Rondo penetration, though, unless you foul him and put him on the line. I've been beating on Rondo like a drum the first 20 games or so because of his defense. I'm MUCH happier now.

2. Game Ball to Sully. He did a good job defending the taller Blatche, who loves to play KG and has been a nightmare for us in the first two games this season, and showed us a complete offensive game. His offense is largely an oversight. Some pick-and-rolls from Rondo and a lot of offense off of his offensive rebounds, but not many plays called for him. Yesterday he was hitting from everywhere. A career-high 33 minutes for him. I guess that when Doc sees something's working he keeps working it and yesterday it was working for the rook. Confidence breeds more confidence and that's good for Sully, good for the Celtics and good for Celtics Planet.

3. Green had another one of his better games. He's so up-and-down it drives me crazy, but you cannot deny his potential. He only had 3 pts in both the Cleveland and Chicago games but turned in solid, even stellar, performances in this game and against Milwaukee. In this one he used his height and youthful athleticism to play very good defense on Nets go-to guy Joe Johnson, better than Pierce. Much is made about his operation and the scar down his chest, but that was then and this is now. If he couldn't play, he wouldn't be playing. I am not aware of any medical reason for why he can't do this regularly. I mean for Pete's Sake, he used to be a starter and do this every night, why not now? I need more like this, Jeff, more like this. This was a James Posey-like performance, playing tough D on the other team's best wing and opportunistically scoring. He could be better than Posey, a lot better, but I'll take a predictable Posey-like performance.

4. Lopez started out on fire and then KG throttled him. He had help from Sully and Collins on the help defense, but KG finally just said "enough!". Not a lot of scoring from KG but he took one of the Net's important player, Brook Lopez, out of the game. Lopez had 0 fga in the 4th quarter. None. Zero. Bupkiss. Ever watch Wild Kingdom? Ever see a cheetah trip a Thompson gazelle's legs out from under him after he's had a nice running head start and then just clamp down on his throat until he's dead? Lopez had a nice running head start in the 1st quarter, didn't he?

5. People were oohing and ahhing about Gerald Wallace's little run yesterday. He had 15 points and most of them were after it was too late. I've never like Wallace. He looks like The Predator, but he doesn't play like one. He's feisty, I'll give him that. Too bad this isn't cage fighting, him and Hump would make a formidable tag team. What a wussy call by the refs, calling a double technical on KG and Wallace when replay, which they viewed, clearly showed Wallace giving KG a wedgie. I understand the initial grab, Wallace was off-balance and held onto whatever he could to stay up, but after that you're supposed to let go! Playing against medium-talent players who think they're better makes us respond and I like that. I'll take Pierce and/or Green over Wallace any day.

6. Speaking of swagger, Jason Collins is helping to bring ours back. He is Perk-like, in that his contributions don't really show up in the boxscore. He's our muscle and he's not afraid to use it. Unfortunately, he and Sully are our only muscle and Sully's not a center. So far I'm very pleasantly surprised with what we're getting out of the player we signed as a 3rd option. We need another, we're too thin there, but so far I'm impressed with Collins' professionalism. Varnado might be a superior shotblocker, but he's a 6'10", 210# toothpick and can't handle a Lopez or a Noah, much less Howard or Bynum (if/when).

7. I don't know why we didn't sign Reggie Evans. There was some scuttlebutt about doing that last year, but he went to the Clips instead. He's a perfect Paul Silas rebounding machine. If Doc likes role players who don't demand the ball much, that's Reggie Evans. And talk about being willing to lay the lumber onto someone, he's not mean like Hump but he will make his presence known to you under the boards.

8. Stackhouse, who hurt us bad last game, started off good but also shut down. 3-5 in the first half, 0-2 in the 2nd half with 0 fga in the 4th quarter. Sound familiar?

9. Didn't like Lee's game yesterday. Lazy passing, lazy dribbling.

10. We had 24fga in the 1st quarter. Shot a poor %, but we were playing volume basketball and that saved us. We were down 24-22 after one, it would have been A LOT worse if we had been playing our usual deliberate offense. At the half, we had a very nice 46fga and upped our fg% to 50% due to a blistering 34 point 2nd quarter. We had 30 points in the paint at halftime and 46 for the game. Gotta LOVE that. Gotta LOVE when half our points are in the paint! Our volume dropped way off, in part to offensively weak 18 and 20 point 3rd and 4th quarters respectively, but at that point we were focused on trading baskets. We only had 11 TOs all game. Hmm, a little less of Rondo trying to be Cousy and we're looking good there. 10 steals, 3 by Rondo. He kept dropping down after Net entry passes and swiping the ball.

11. After an icy shooting start for both teams, we picked up and they didn't. They scored over 20 points in a quarter only once, in the first. They shot 41% for the game. Lopez started hot, KG shut him down like he was an overheated nuclear reactor. Williams never got started due to good D by Rondo. Blatche never got started due to good D by Sully. Wallace had a spurt but he's not going to beat us. They had 20 TOs, a lot of them on deflections, a stat Doc watches closely. Our defense is BACK!

12. The announcers were saying that Avery Johnson scrapped 40% of his offense and is replacing it. Now? 1/3 of the way through the season and without a major injury? I sure hope The Little General knows what he's doing, otherwise this could be his retreat from Moscow. Russians are not known as forgiving people and Mikhail Prokhorov isn't just Russian, he's Russian Mafia (or so the rumors go). The predictable chaos should work well for us.

Other than the disappointing result of the OKC-Miami game Celtic fans got just about everything we could have asked for on Christmas. A victory over the slumping Nets for a statistical tie (they have a 2-1 head-to-head edge in the tie breaker), the Lakers did their job and nicked the Knicks and Houston rocketed past Da Bulls. Technically, we're still in 8th place, but we're only 1 game in the loss column away from Indiana in 4th.

At this time, last year, we were 0-1. I'm liking 14-13 a lot better.


bob


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Here's Legler's post-Brooklyn assessment of the Celtics. I'd say he's pretty spot-on, except for the part about how they have nobody who can run with Rondo. They do, they just don't and that's fixable by Doc.


http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:8779629


bob


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BobH,

I don't know why it's assumed that Varnado will be played at center by the Celts. Perhaps against lightweight centers. But, given his physique, I think he'd be better equipped to play PF, which I believe has been his position in the DL. I know he's light even at PF, but it's all about matchups. For every time he's at a disadvantage weight-wise, there's every possibility he'd have a quickness/athleticism advantage.

Despite his preference for the PF position, I believe that—at this point in his career—KG is more effective at center. If Varnado can show something at PF, that could enable KG to play more center and, at the same time, potentially include an outgoing PF (Bass?) in a trade for a center if they wish.

In other words, I don't believe Varnado's intended to be a definitive answer at center. (They still need that.) In essence, rather than getting a center from the DL, I think the Celts went for the big whom they considered most likely to be able to contribute sooner rather than later. I believe, in Varnado's case, that would be at PF.

I would love to have seen Varnado guarding your buddy, Gerald Wallace down the stretch, when all Bass could do was to foul Wallace on virtually every Nets possession, each time giving the Nets an opportunity to score points with the clock stopped. If Varnado should prove he can deal with the tougher centers, so much the better (although, like you, I doubt it).

Sam

sam wrote:BobH,

I don't know why it's assumed that Varnado will be played at center by the Celts. Perhaps against lightweight centers. But, given his physique, I think he'd be better equipped to play PF, which I believe has been his position in the DL. I know he's light even at PF, but it's all about matchups. For every time he's at a disadvantage weight-wise, there's every possibility he'd have a quickness/athleticism advantage.

Despite his preference for the PF position, I believe that—at this point in his career—KG is more effective at center. If Varnado can show something at PF, that could enable KG to play more center and, at the same time, potentially include an outgoing PF (Bass?) in a trade for a center if they wish.

In other words, I don't believe Varnado's intended to be a definitive answer at center. (They still need that.) In essence, rather than getting a center from the DL, I think the Celts went for the big whom they considered most likely to be able to contribute sooner rather than later. I believe, in Varnado's case, that would be at PF.

I would love to have seen Varnado guarding your buddy, Gerald Wallace down the stretch, when all Bass could do was to foul Wallace on virtually every Nets possession, each time giving the Nets an opportunity to score points with the clock stopped. If Varnado should prove he can deal with the tougher centers, so much the better (although, like you, I doubt it).

Sam

sam,

I don't know who you are referring to, but I certainly never thought Varnado was going to play center, just the opposite. I bemoaned the signing of a player that could not play center when that (and a legit backup point guard and not some sorta kinda mostly combo guard) is our biggest glaring need.

Varnado could play a nice goal-line defense, especially with weak-side blocks, but at 210# he's lighter than most 2 guards.

Bass should not have been guarding Predator, he's not a 3 like Wallace.


bob


.

Let go of him, stupid.






Santa Pierce








Evans!























Collins, making Lopez earn it.







What with the rubber band on the wrist, Jeff?

















I think this was after that beautiful bounce pass assist from Pierce. Way to run the floor and beat the defense, Sully.


















Sully, sucking in one of his Big Boy rebounds. It's amazing how many of his rebounds are while he's getting swallowed up.






























bob



.

General follow-up:

With the Nets loss last night the Celtics are now in 7th place.

Luol Deng sprained his ankle last night against Houston. He'll miss at least one game. He also has a torn ligament in his wrist which he chose not to have off-season surgery on and a sore shoulder. If Thibs doesn't make him sit out for a few games he's going to break down by April. He's been playing almost 41mpg this season. Fortunately for the Bulls they play the Wizards next.

The schedule doesn't work for us until Saturday, when Indiana plays Atlanta and Miami plays Milwaukee. I don't care who wins the Indy game (an Indy win brings us more short-term benefits, but taking a little steam out of the Hawks is good too) and I am definitely rooting for Miami in the other game. The chances of us catching Miami is not good (although having a safe fall on DWade would be much appreciated) and a Milwaukee loss would tie us in the loss column. A Celtic win against the Clips would tie us up (I don't know about the tie breaker).



bob


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