Tonight the Celtics (17-2) look to extend their winning streak to 9 games when they host the Pacers (7-10). Boston will be looking for a bit of revenge in this one as the Pacers prevailed 95-79 when the Celts traveled to Indiana on November 3. Boston had played a late game in Chicago the night before, played their flattest game of the year, and was never really in the game. Indiana has been a very tough to figure out this year…they have beaten both the Celtics and the Lakers (teams that have lost only four games combined) and yet are only 5-10 against the rest of the NBA. Danny Granger (24.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.65 blocks) is having an All Star caliber season for the Pacers. Their other starters are: Marquis Daniels (16.0 points, 6.1 rebounds), T.J. Ford (14.9 points, 5.6 assists), Troy Murphy (10.9 points, 11.2 rebounds) and Rasho Nesterovic (9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds). All have played well in spurts, but obviously not often enough to prevent Jim O’Brien’s squad from being just 7-10 this year. What Pacers squad will show up at the Garden tonight? If the Celts play like they have been and not like they did the last time these teams met it might not matter.
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I'll update every now and again. Big game for C's. Got smoked last time vs. the Pacers and they beat the Lakers with a last second, great comeback win last night in Indiana. That said...they played last night and we didn't. We are also super retaliatory this year. I expect no one to get near the paint for the Pacers and a big C's win.
Can Ray stay hot?
Will Pierce's minutes continue to be small?
Do any teams have an answer for guarding Rondo? Maybe TJ Ford can at least run with him. Doubt he can cover him.
Can we stop Granger tonight?
Rondo hurt his tooth right away and the Pacers are out hustling us off the bat. Murphy is everywhere. "Make his go right, please" says Heinson angrily
Rondo back and scores immediately
I cannot express how impressed i am with Rondo. He is doing whatever he wants on the court
Tom Heinson + Instant reply proving him not quite correct (yet not really wrong) = HILARIOUS
Mike Gorman just remains silent
Scal is terrible. Came in and fouled immediately. We need PJ Brown in the rotation over him.
Ray Allen is as open as I have ever seen him and he is hitting EVERYTHING. Such a great trail on a fast break
Rondo has a triple double half way through the 3rd. 10, 10, and 10.
Ainge and Doc Rivers are battling over "proud father" role.
Cleary Heinson is proud Grandpa
Pierce is 1 for 8 with 5 points and Celts are up 15 points. Story of the year for this team
Rondo may be is 2nd best PG in the league in the last 2 weeks.
3 Stars...
1-Rondo (easy)
2-R.Allen (easy)
3-KG (barely over Perk)
By the way, TJ Ford is thought to be the fastest player in the NBA...Derrick Rose is clearly much faster and I think even Rondo may be as fast.
Rondo is becoming arguably one of the elite point guards in the Eastern Conference. Who in the East would you rather have?
GREAT PERK BLOG ON BOSTON.COM
TD BANKNORTH GARDEN -- Same building. Same fans. Same wildly talented, widely adored player.
Much different reception.
The same Celtics fans who two years ago chanted “We want Oden” in the hopes of landing the draft rights to Greg Oden tonight rained mocking “OOO-Den” chants on the Portland big man during a 93-78 Boston demolition of the Trailblazers at TD Banknorth Garden.
In a turn of events that would have been unimaginable two years ago, Oden finished Friday night’s game on the bench, having picked up his sixth foul with 3:46 remaining. And when Oden sat down, the player who deserved most of the credit for sidelining the almost Celtics-savior, Kendrick Perkins, stood on the court and held one finger in the air for a second or two, relishing in a hard night’s work.
“He did a good job,” Oden said of Perkins after the game. “He’s a good rebounder and he does what he’s supposed to do. That’s all you can ask for.”
The battle of the big men began on Portland’s first offensive possession when Oden threw down a hook shot over Perkins. But playing with a chip on his shoulder, Perkins seemed intent on challenging Oden for the rest of the night. The Celtics center drew a foul on Oden less than three minutes into the game, and Perkins forced the Blazers big man to the bench with two fouls just over halfway through the first quarter.
By halftime, Perkins had attempted six free throws and collected eight rebounds, while Oden was a spectator for much of the first due to foul trouble.
“Those two guys are pretty physical,” Celtics guard Ray Allen said after the game. “But Oden’s just young, I think [Perkins] got the best of him in terms of foul trouble, knowing when to go and when not to. Perkins did his work early.”
That early work helped stake the Celtics to a 28-16 first-half advantage on points in the paint, and prompted a Celtics fan next to the media seating area to turn to his buddy and say, 'He's getting more KG in him.’”
A little KG of course means a lot of defense, and that’s exactly what Perkins provided on this night. Oden came into last night’s game averaging 8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 21 minutes per game. Perkins held him below those numbers in each category (5 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 bock), and more importantly drew three of the six fouls that eventually fouled Oden out of the game.
The most aggressive of those plays came at the 11:07 mark in the third quarter, when Perkins took it right to the rim for a dunk attempt on Oden and drew the foul. Two minutes later, Oden caught the ball on the left block against Perkins, but Perkins’ defense was so tight that Oden threw up an air ball.
“[Perkins] understands his role, and he just does it,” Rivers said of Perkins. “He does it to the fullest.”
Perkins (12 points, 12 rebounds) finished with his third double-double of the season.
“I though the matchup was pretty good,” Kevin Garnett said after the game. “[Oden] is powerful, very strong. He does finish at the basket. I thought [Perkins] did a good job of being subtle, knew when to take his fouls. I thought he did a good job of taking it to him on the offensive end.”
Despite the result last night, Celtics fans likely wouldn’t shun an Oden-for-Perkins trade. It’s important to remember that this is the sixth NBA season for Perkins, who came to the NBA directly from high school. When Perkins was 20 years old (Oden’s current age) he was averaging 2.5 points and 2.9 rebounds and playing behind Raef LaFrentz and Mark Blount.
"[Oden’s] going to be terrific,” said Rivers. “He's going to be a dominant player in this league sooner than people think. I believe that. I think it's difficult when you sit out a year, and then you play one game and get injured and now you're starting off behind again. But you can see each game he's catching up quickly.
“They’re the world champions - they can do a lot of that stuff,” said Oden, who finished with as many fouls (six) as rebounds and fewer points (five). “When you try to get aggressive back, you don’t get the same calls as they do. That’s what we’re trying to get - to that point of respect because then you get respect from the refs, too.”
What a dick
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