POST GAME LA LAKERS

Rondo may return sooner than expected

CSNE

BOSTON — The agent for Rajon Rondo tells CSNNE.com that the torn ACL injury suffered by Rondo is a partial tear, opening the door for him to possibly return to the floor sooner than anticipated.

Following the injury, Rondo's timetable to return to action was expected to be sometime before the start of next season.

"It's still too early to tell for sure," his agent Bill Duffy told CSNNE.com. "But we are very optimistic about his return now that we know his injury is only a partial tear and not a full tear."

Since he suffered the injury, Duffy said Rondo has been educating himself on all his options from which type of surgery to have performed to who will be the doctor performing it.

CSNNE.com reported earlier that the famed orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews was among the physicians Rondo planned to speak with before making a decision on the best course of action to take.

Rondo was at the TD Garden during Boston's blowout win over the Los Angeles Lakers, wearing workout clothes.

It is unclear what, if any, conditioning work he did while in the building.

While the Celtics have managed to win games in his absence -- six in a row -- there's no mistaking that the C's are collectively a better team with the four-time All-Star.

Rondo suffered the injury in Boston's 123-111 double overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks in regulation but still managed to play in the overtime sessions with the partially torn ACL injury.
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Sullinger: 'I'm feeling good'

CSNE

BOSTON -- Less than one week after undergoing season-ending back surgery, Jared Sullinger was back at the TD Garden.

The rookie was in attendance for the Celtics -- Lakers game, his first as an NBA player.

"I'm feeling good," Sullinger told CSNNE.com.

Sullinger, 20, was recently given a cane to use during his rehab from lumbar disk surgery.

In high spirits as usual, he sent a message to Celtics fans.

"I love them," Sullinger said.


GAME STATS

Rebounds - Celtics 48 /LAL 43........ Offensive - Celtics 12 /LAL 13 ........Defensive - Celtics 36 /LAL 30
Points In The Paint - Celtics 58 /LAL 36
Fast Break Points - Celtics 22 / LAL 4
FG - Celtics - 46/87 (52.9 %) LAL 36/87 (41.4 %)
3PM - Celtics 5/11 (45.5 %) LAL 5/23 (21.7 %)
FTM - Celtics 19/25 (76 %) LAL 18/30( 60 %)
TO - Celtics 9 / LAL 12
Assists - Celtics 25 / LAL 16
STL - Celtics 10 / LAL 2
BLK - Celtics 5 / LAL 3
PF - Celtics 28 / LAL 19
Bench Points - Celtics 46 / LAL 40
Total Team Turnovers (Points off turnovers) – Boston 9 (10) /LAL 13 (12)

NEXT GAME SUNDAY - HOME - 6:00PM - DENVER - CSNE/NBA LEAGUE PASS


POST GAME RECAP


ESPNBOSTON.COM

Rapid Reaction: Celtics 116, Lakers 95

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

THE NITTY GRITTY
Paul Pierce scored a team-high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, six assists, and a block before resting for much of the final frame. Jeff Green matched his season high with 19 points off the bench, while Jason Terry kicked in 15 more. Kevin Garnett, the newest member of the league's elite 25,000-point club, overcame early foul trouble to score 15 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists over a mere 23 minutes. Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting (this despite solid defense by Courtney Lee), while Dwight Howard had nine points and nine rebounds for the Lakers.

MILESTONE MOMENT: KG'S 25,000TH POINT
Garnett became only the 16th player in NBA history to reach 25,000 points with a vintage turnaround fadeaway over Earl Clark early in the second quarter. When the moment was acknowledged during the next stoppage in play, Garnett received a standing ovation and waved to the crowd. For more on the milestone, hop HERE.

TURNING POINT
The Celtics were up 15 with three minutes to go in the third quarter, but just in case Los Angeles had any thoughts of a rally, Boston slammed the door -- and slammed it hard. Terry hit a 3-pointer before a dizzying sequence in which Green delivered a thunderous one-handed jam and hustled back for a chasedown swat on an Antawn Jamison layup before Pierce drilled a 3-pointer of his own to put Boston on top 95-69 and sent the Garden into an absolute frenzy.

WHISTLES WHILE YOU WORK
Two fouls over the first 2:08 forced Garnett to the bench and it took Jason Collins a mere three seconds to get his first foul after subbing in his place. The Lakers were in the bonus in 2½ minutes into the game as the Celtics were whistled early and often. Collins picked up three fouls over a 5½-minute stint and Boston was forced to lean heavy on Chris Wilcox (who rewarded the team with six points and a plus-9 in plus/minus in 10:47 of first-half action).

VALUE THE BALL
The Celtics built a 14-point halftime lead in large part by taking care of the basketball. The Celtics had only two first-half turnovers (and the Lakers didn't cash them in for points). Boston also played a solid second quarter, limiting the Lakers to 37.5 shooting (9 of 24), while they shot a blistering 58.8 percent (10 of 17) to outscore Los Angeles, 31-21. For the game, Boston committed a mere nine turnovers (leading to just six points).

MELO'S FAB FIRST BUCKET
Celtics rookie center Fab Melo got five minutes of trash time and registered his first NBA bucket with a layup off a feed from Avery Bradley late in the game. Melo is incredibly raw, but the arena goes nuts when he hits the floor. He was also credited with a block, but finished minus-6 in plus/minus.

WHAT IT MEANS
The Celtics matched a season high by winning their sixth straight (and have now won 12 of their last 18 overall, sandwiching both of their six-game winning streaks around a six-game losing streak). Even after playing on Wednesday night in Toronto, Boston didn't lack for energy and absolutely dominated the middle quarters. The Celtics surely don't mind adding to the drama in La-La Land. Boston gets two days off before hosting the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.
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WEEI 93.7 FM

FAST BREAK: PAUL PIERCE, CELTICS SLAY KOBE BRYANT, LAKERS TO WIN 6TH STRAIGHT SANS RAJON RONDO
By Ben Rohrbach

Kevin Garnett scored his 25,000th career point, Paul Pierce outshined Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard showed up (but not really), Fab Melo scored his first NBA points and the Celtics won their sixth straight game without Rajon Rondo, 116-95 against the Lakers. All in all, not a bad night for the C's.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Exclusive membership: With a fadeaway jumper 3:52 into the second quarter, Kevin Garnett became the 16th player in NBA history to score 25,000 points. He joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Moses Malone, Elvin Hayes, Hakeem Olajuwon, Oscar Robertson, Dominique Wilkins, John Havlicek, Alex English, Reggie Miller and Jerry West. Garnett became the first player to amass 25,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 5,000 assists, 1,500 blocks and 1,500 steals in his career. During the following timeout, after Doc Rivers drew up a play, the crowd saluted Garnett, who returned the favor.

Winter Green: For the sixth time in seven games, Jeff Green scored double-digit points. He entered the game averaging 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 26.3 minutes a night this month. That's 17.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.3 blocks per 36 minutes. That's good. He's also played better defensively, assuming some of the load on Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant over the past eight games.

The sequence: The Celtics closed the third quarter on a 12-3 run that seemed more like an 83-1 run. The remarkable stretch featured the best of what these C's have to offer: the Brandon Bass mid-range game (18-footer), Avery Bradley's defense (picked Bryant's pocket), Jason Terry on the runway (a transition triple), Jeff Green's athleticism (a fast-break dunk followed by a block of Antawn Jamison) and both Paul Pierce's step-back jumper (from 19 feet) and his sense for the moment (a dagger of a 3). All that gave the Celtics a 95-69 lead after three, sent the Garden crowd into a frenzy and reminded just about everyone of Game 6 of the 2008 NBA finals.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Foul mood: In a span of 39 seconds — just two minutes into the game — the Celtics committed five fouls, including two by Kevin Garnett. Enter Jason Collins, who didn't fare much better despite his reputation as the so-called Dwight stopper. Collins quickly racked up three personal fouls, giving way to Chris Wilcox. On the bright side, the Lakers missed 10-of-18 first-half free throws (Howard: 1-6 FT) and Garnett survived the first half with the two fouls.

Kobe being Kobe: It's probably hard for Celtics fans to stop and appreciate Bryant's offensive bag of tricks, but there's something special about the fact that two natural born scorers like he and Pierce have played in L.A. and Boston for the entirety of their careers. Bryant's best shot of the night — a ridiculous up-and-under — got waved off by a foul, but his jump shot along the baseline to close out the first half was classic Kobe. Keeping the Lakers within striking distance for most of the night, Bryant finished with 27 points on 9-of-15 shooting.

No Leandro: The Celtics scored 100 points, and somehow Leandro Barbosa wasn't involved. He finished 0-for-4 from the floor in 16 minutes, but still managed to contribute four rebounds and three assists. This is nitpicking, for sure, but the Celtics ran the Lakers out of the Garden and won their sixth straight game without Rondo. There wasn't much that went wrong.

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GINO TIME TONIGHT AT THE GARDEN! CONGRADS TO KG AND 25,000 POINTS AND COUNTING!

THAT'S 6 IN A ROW!

GREAT GAME BY JEFF GREEN....HE'S GETTING STRONGER......

ALL FORUM MEMBERS PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND BE SAFE.....LOOKS LIKE A VICIOUS STORM. ON LONG ISLAND THEY HAVE BEEN UPPING THE TOTALS TO 15" - 20"....BOSTON 24" +

HEY GYSO WHERE'S THAT BRANDY!

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GYSO......YOUR THE BEST! GOTTA LOVE THE DRAWING!


HEY SAM.....NO SURFING THIS WEEKEND!

MRKLEEN...HUNKER DOWN!

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Wow Gyso...you are all the way up there......must be beautiful country...send some snap shots after the snow....I'll do the same as well.

On St Pattys Day weekend ....On Friday my wife and are are going for a drive up to Kennebunkport for the day........was there on Columbus Day weekend.......Never had Maine Lobster before........Never will eat anything else...it was the best tasting I ever had.......sweet tasting....not stringy the worlds best!

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Gyso, Yes I remember passing them coming and going....good idea, I will and thanks for the drink instructions!

Great pictures.....she has an eye for photography!

Thanks for posting the articles!


112288

Great win for Boston. At least one team showed up with playoff intensity.

Boston got on a roll and was clicking on all cylinders. Their defense, athleticism, and passing were impressive. They've really got something going, and a win like this can do wonders for their confidence in their post-Rondo style of play.

I figured Pierce would be on after a sub-par game last night, and he was. During the second and third periods, I thought he went too much into hero-ball mode, but he made his shots, and that just amped the team up even more.

I was most impressed by the Celtic bench. It seemed like they all made contributions. That was really good team ball. They're not always going to hit their shots like tonight, and they'll have stretches when they turn the ball over and lose leads, but they looked like one of the top teams in the East. It will be interesting to see if they can keep this going and build on this. For me, the question has changed from, "Will they make the playoffs?" to "How far up the standings can they go?"

What concerns me most is their vulnerability to injury. They've lost two key players for the season, so they've already had more than their fair share of bad luck in that department, but with half the season to go, someone's bound to have something happen somewhere along the way. If all goes well, it will be a temporary thing and they can go into the playoffs healthy with this group.

LA had the misfortune of missing some makeable shots early and not getting a significant contribution from Dwight, Earl Clark, or Metta World War. Jamison did okay off the bench, but he missed some shots and free throws that he should've made. But mostly, they looked like a team still in disarray. Things have gone better recently, but they still aren't playing like a unit that has bought into a system, and the contrast between them and Boston in that regard was striking. The difference in athleticism was also apparent, and when the pace picked up in the second quarter, I thought LA made a huge mistake trying to keep up with the Celtics.

Dwight should just have surgery and use the time between now and training camp to rehab his shoulder and back and whatever else. In his current state, he's a detriment to LA. They have numerous possessions when he gets the ball down low, and those should be resulting in points at a high rate, but he looks awkward with the ball, takes poor shots, or gets fouled and misses free throws. So what should be a strength -- scoring by Dwight in the low post -- turns into a negative -- wasted opportunities with little scoring.

Dwight has the occasional good game, but when he's off like this, they're really going to miss Gasol.

It will be interesting to see how Boston follows up this effort in their game Sunday against Denver. The Nuggets are sneaky good, have been playing very well, and thumped Chicago tonight.

Good luck to everyone back there with the snowstorm. Stay safe, stay warm, and let us know how it goes.

outside

I've noticed this year Howard seems to get stripped of the ball more than ever, I don't know if its the system or it takes more time for him to gather himself, probably both. Lakers lack of depth really showed and poor Steve Nash, he just can't hide on defense. Whether hes defending a point or SG, either position can just go right after him so easily, its almost not fair to do that to him as hes a HoFer and been a great ambassador for the game.

Boy do I love Paul Pierce!!! love the way he carried us early and took big shots, initiated offense and shared the ball. He seems to be playing such great team ball, scoring, passing and not dominating the ball or jacking up bad shots.

Jeff Green came to play and was easily most athletic player on floor, this kid has all star talent and is really playing hard and morphed himself into a very good defender. All of the sudden we've got alot of very good defensive players on the team playing together as a unit in synch.....great to see. KG, AB, Lee, Pierce, Green can all get after it defensively.

This movement, running, up tempo is so much fun to watch, the secondary break is so devastating, was so easy to swing the ball to a different open lane or spot for a wide open look. AB and Lee may be the best defensive backcourt in the league.

Good luck to everyone dealing with the storm.

cow

Sam wrote:Outside, I have to disagree about Pierce playing "hero ball." I associate hero ball with trying to win the game oneself to the exclusion of teammates. If anything, Kobe played hero ball far more than Paul did, tacitly acknowledging that his (Kobe's) teammates couldn't do much of anything.

Just to clarify, you've got no argument from me about Kobe resorting to more isolation that Pierce.

What I was referring to regarding Pierce was a certain stretch in the third quarter. Here's the Celtic scoring for the period:

KG basket - Pierce assist
Lee basket - Bradley assist
Bradley basket - Lee assist
Bradley two free throws
KG basket - Bradley assist
Lee basket - Pierce assist
Pierce basket plus free throw
Pierce basket
Pierce basket
Bass basket - Terry assist
Bass basket - Pierce assist
Bradley basket (off a steal)
Pierce basket
Terry 3-pt basket - Bass assist
Green basket - Pierce assist
Pierce 3-pt basket - Terry assist

http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/playbyplay?gameId=400278453&period=3

Notice that Pierce had four unassisted baskets in the period, but other than Pierce, every other Celtic basket in the period is assisted except for Bradley's layup off a steal when the Lakers inbounded the ball. All those other non-Pierce baskets came off of beautiful, unselfish ball movement (including multiple assists from Pierce).

The part I have in bold is the stretch I was referring to. It starts with five minutes left in the period and the Celtics up by 11. For the next couple of minutes, Pierce switched into "hero mode" and dominated the offense by himself. It's part of his nature to want to go for the jugular at key points, and when he's making shots and has that killer instinct, he can put a game away, and that's what he did here. When he was done, there were two minutes left and the Celtics were up 21.

Some people may consider his play at that juncture to be a good thing, and it certainly was effective in this game. It may have been easy to overlook considering that it was a relatively short time during a quarter when the team otherwise played nearly flawless team basketball, making 15 of 19 shots and turning the game into a rout.

All I'm pointing out is that Pierce's play during that time struck me as a departure from the ball and player movement that had been working so well up to that point, and that if his shots hadn't fallen, it could've been a momentum killer instead of booster. I didn't understand the reason for it, except to give Pierce a chance to flex his killer instinct, which he often (not always, but often) exercises through individual play. In short, it was a brief burst of hero-ball that worked exceptionally well this time.

If you happen to have the game on tape or can watch a replay, look at that section of the third quarter and let me know if you still disagree about what I'm saying.

Wow in that same stretch he also had 4 assists. Looks to me like someone playing in the flow of the game, sharing the ball, scoring when the opportunity is there. JMO.

I thought Pierce took a couple of questionable heat Check shots but overall he played very well as did the entire team.

I thought Bradley played great defense. The Lakers were reduced to Kobe going one on one. Lee and Green also played strong defense.

Dboss

We'll never see a repeat of 1978

By Peter Gelzinis / Boston Herald

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/peter_gelzinis/2013/02/well_never_see_repeat_1978

We’ve been too lucky for too long.

There was no winter last winter, certainly not in the city. No snow emergencies. No reason to christen the shovel you bought to pick up the snow that never came. No need to wear the new boots you bought to replace the ones that got their baptism of fire 35 years ago in the Blizzard of ’78.

For the past four days we’ve been told that winter’s about to come back with a vengeance, estimates of anywhere between a foot and 3 feet of snow.


The fact it’s returning at about the same time of year as the last truly biblical snowstorm to shut this city down for a week has generated a kind of goofy nostalgia for our favorite blizzard.

A couple of nights ago, I watched an ancient clip of WCVB’s weatherman (I’m sorry, meteorologist) Harvey Leonard, decked out in ’70s polyester, a fat tie and lots of blow-dried hair, actually drawing storm lines on a primitive map as he warned of something ferocious headed this way.

The station was celebrating the fact that young Harvey was the only prognosticator to call the ’78 blizzard correctly, even though he was working at another station back in the day.

Kevin White was mayor in ’78 and he did not call for the residents up and down East Broadway to get their cars off the street. No, I left my used Pontiac in front of my house, where it remained entombed for 10 days (it took me another 10 to dig it out) and was almost scooped up by a giant front-end loader.

As I walked 2 miles home from the Herald late that Monday night in the thick of the storm, all I could think off was that scene in “Dr. Zhivago,” where Omar Sharif wanders, frozen and half-crazed, through a screaming blizzard in the Siberian wilderness. Sure, I may have been stumbling up West Broadway in the face of a 70 mph wind gust, but it sure felt like Siberia.

Yes, I am old enough to have lived through the Blizzard of ’78, old enough to have witnessed that same front-end loader lift up a neighbor’s Volkswagen and dump it upside down into a huge mountain of snow.

What I don’t remember is being warned three days in advance that a hurricane wrapped in a blizzard was about to paralyze the area and slow all life down to a crawl.

Anthony Athanas lost the riverboat lounge docked next to his Pier 4 restaurant when it sunk in the ’78 storm. No need to worry about this storm incurring such wrath, because the restaurant is eventually going to be torn down.

If we’re all able to go back to work on Monday, rather than spending a week walking to the stores and saying “Hi” to each other, then I doubt the Blizzard of ’13 will be remembered in the same way 35 years from now.

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tardust wrote:Wow in that same stretch he also had 4 assists. Looks to me like someone playing in the flow of the game, sharing the ball, scoring when the opportunity is there. JMO.

It's not a huge deal, but just to clarify, all I was commenting about when I referred to Pierce going into hero-ball mode was that one brief stretch in the third quarter. For the vast majority of the game, he played excellent team ball, and I did point out that he had several assists during that same third quarter . In no way was I implying that Pierce had a hero-ball game overall or that he had anywhere near as many isolation opportunities as Kobe.

My original comment was just a brief mention -- one sentence -- in a post that was consistently effuse in its praise for the Celtics. All I was doing was commenting about that one brief stretch and that it was noticeable in its contrast to the otherwise consistent team offense. Sam took exception to my characterization, so I broke down the third quarter to explain what I was talking about.

Pierce didn't play a hero-ball game. He just played that way for a brief time -- three minutes in the third quarter -- and was exceptionally effective at it, crushing any hope for a Laker comeback. He was otherwise the paragon of unselfish play with crisp passing leading to excellent shots. Put it on a DVD and give it to coaches everywhere as the model of how to play the game.

I just noticed that one stretch and how it differed from how they played on offense the other 45 minutes. The fact that he had assists before and after that three-minute stretch doesn't alter my perception of how he played in those three minutes.

I'm sorry that this wound up putting too much emphasis on a few trips up the court during the course of such a remarkable game. Overall, I'd give Pierce an A grade for the game, and I'm sorry that my mention of that brief part of the game is now somehow detracting from what was one of the most stellar exhibitions of team play I've seen in a while. I hope we can leave it at that.

Pierce is a 10 time all star, former Finals MVP, we've all seen him get into a zone and carry this team, seen this for years. When Pierce is in that zone he can score on anybody, just like Larry Bird could. When Pierce is on like he was I want him to take over and apply the dagger and as tardust pointed out he also had 4 assists during that stretch. I'll gladly take this performance anytime, vintage Pierce is great to watch.

Outside, I guess we just differ about the definition of "hero ball." I first heard the term mentioned by Doc, and he has used it multiple times. Virtually every time he's used it, he has been alluding to (1) something negative (2) something that disrupts rhythm, and (3) something prolonged and (4) something rather exclusionary. I don't believe Paul's brief outburst fit any of these definitions. I would define what Paul did as (1) positive, (2) totally in harmony with the team's rhythm and growing momentum, and (3) relatively brief, and (4) not at all exclusionary (as witness his four assists during that short span of time).

The team was gaining momentum and they rode a hot hand for a brief period of time. To varying degrees, something similar could be said of Green, KG and even JET in this game. And it's important to note that it's not as if Pierce suddenly decided to intrude on the game. Since the very beginning of the game—and particularly after KG had to exit early—Paul had been very hot.

Believe me, I guarantee that I'm normally the world's biggest hater of any basketball that deviates from the team game. Moreover, Paul Pierce could never be one of my favorite Celtics.

But I've come to realize that the Celtics, as currently constituted, cannot always be conventional. In fact, one of the team's hallmarks is a lack of predictability that clearly makes things very difficult for opponents to sustain an effective defense. They never know where the Celtics offense is coming from. Paul's brief was totally within that dimension without being out of control.

It's pretty simple. Paul felt it. Paul dealt it.

But having said all of that, I'm very happy that you raised this issue. Because, frankly, we're all learning, on the fly, what to make of this somewhat ad hoc team. In some way, up is down and down is up, and your perspective on this issue was perfectly appropriate and very thought-provoking. Thanks for the contribution.

Sam

there are in basketball are only two things sweeter than beating the lakers- winning a title, and winning a title by beating the lakers.. (sorry laker fans)

i had some things to attend to and had priorly (is that a word) made arrangments to insure the game was on t.v. at Hooters when i got there.

I walked in, sat down looking up on the screan and saw just by the body language something good was going on before i even knew what the score was... had Rondo made a meraculous recovery and joined in the game? Had clones of Bird, Parish and Mchale been made of them in their primes and they'd just walked through the doors wearing their jerseys and were ready to play? had Jesus made his return and was wearing his Kelly Greens?

No, Gino was practically jumping out of the jumbo tron ready to dance for us- against the lakers and in the middle of the third..

i dont care much about seeds at this point, at east in terms of who it will mean we must face first, although home court makes life a tad simplier. "To be the man ya gotta beat the man" The Man once said.

Woooo! right now, we're actauly playing at a leval where we can beat anyone, lets hope we are playing at this same leval mid april- mid june.

Melo has a looooooooong way to go, any way we can hire Bill Russel and Hakeem to mentor him? if he's willing to listen, i'm sure KG is already in his ear.

Bob, i agree, 5 belongs right next to 6. just seems natural.