The Boston Celtics have some serious issues.
Friday’s 88-79 home loss to Chicago was the third straight for the Celtics, who fell to 4-6. It is the first time in the “Big Three” era that they have been two games under .500. They are 19-18 since trading Kendrick Perkins.
The Celtics simply cannot score, averaging 79.3 points during the slide. Paul Pierce is still looking for his rhythm after getting a late start to the season and is averaging 13.6 points on 38 percent shooting, both career lows.
The offense is getting little help from the bench, which has no game-changers. Coach Doc Rivers truly trusts only Jermaine O’Neal and Mickael Pietrus and plays Avery Bradley only to give Rajon Rondo a rest. The remainder of the reserves barely play now and will be of no help in the postseason – if the Celtics make the postseason. Right now, they are ninth in the Eastern Conference.
Boston is on its third starting big alongside Kevin Garnett, having begun with Jermaine O’Neal, slotting rookie Greg Stiemsma when O’Neal was hurt and now using Brandon Bass, which makes them undersized. The Celtics entered Friday’s game 29th in the NBA in rebounds and were pounded, 46-34, on the glass by Chicago.
Rajon Rondo is averaging a double-double, but he also is one of three players committing four turnovers per game. On Friday, Rondo was hit with a momentum-killing technical midway through the second quarter. At the next timeout, he immaturely threw the ball with force at referee Brian Forte.
The only “highlight” came during garbage time, when Bulls coach and former Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau inserted Brian Scalabrine, a former fan favorite in Boston who had his name chanted by those who remained to the end.
From Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: “Chicago knows where it stands on the NBA food chain, and it knows the Celtics are at least several paces behind. “It’s frustrating,” Rivers said. “It’s been frustrating. But, listen, I’d rather have it now. (If) you’re going to go through adversity or stuff, I’d rather have it now. “Like I told our guys, I said, ‘If you get through this, it’ll make you a hell of a basketball team.’ And I always use the word ‘if’ because you have to. You have to fight through it.” For the Celtics, success has become an “if,” not “when” proposition. There is no guarantee what you’re seeing now won’t continue or even get worse.”
Rivers knows what he’s talking about. Tonight, the Celtics visit the Pacers, who won at Boston last Friday. On Monday, Boston hosts Oklahoma City, which is only the best team in the Western Conference and has won the last three meetings.
Meanwhile, the Bulls are breezing. They are a league-best 11-2 despite playing just four home games and having offseason acquisition Richard Hamilton available for just five contests. On New Year’s Day, Chicago began a brutal stretch of 10 games in 14 days and has gone 8-1 entering Saturday’s finale at Toronto.
MVP Derrick Rose, who was a game-time decision with a toe injury, made the shot of the season thus far, an impossible driving, twisting layup on which he got bumped twice, turned his back toward the basket and reversed the spin on the ball to totally deflate the Celtics.
The Bulls (11-2) are widening the gap on the Heat (8-4), who have some issues of their own with three straight losses out West, all a result of fourth-quarter breakdowns. In a game they never really had a grip on, the Heat were totally outplayed in the final period by the Nuggets, who seemed faster and much more confident.
From Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald: “Wade airballed a 20-foot jumper with 10:55 left in the fourth quarter and was then called for a charge on the Heat’s next possession. Moments later, he was hit with a technical foul for arguing. Mere seconds after that, Wade picked up his fourth personal foul and Nene made both foul shots to give the Nuggets a 10-point lead with 10 minutes left in the game. The inglorious sequence was followed by a timeout but the break in action did little to stop the slide. Wade missed a layup following the timeout and the Nuggets extended their lead to 14 points with a fast-break dunk by Danilo Gallinari and put-back by unguarded Andre Miller. Meanwhile, the Heat went the first four minutes and 10 seconds of the fourth quarter without scoring. James made 1 of 2 free throws to break the fourth-quarter drought, but by that time the Heat was done.”
Wade was done – literally – minutes later when he sprained his right ankle, a third ailment to go along with his bruised foot and strained calf. “It never hurt like that before,” he told reporters. “It’s not broken, so that’s a positive.”
In losses at Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver, Miami was collectively outscored 95-65 in the fourth quarter and overtime. Not exactly championship-caliber basketball.
On Tuesday, they begin a three-game homestand with no breathers except for days off as gritty San Antonio, red-hot Kobe Bryant and the Lakers and deep and determined Philadelphia come to town. And they may have to play without Wade, whose history of injuries may not be cut out for this type of season.
Speaking of Bryant, he keeps downing 40’s with a regularity normally reserved for skid row denizen. Friday’s victims were the star-struck Cavaliers, who hung in as long as they could before giving in to the will of Bryant, who finished with 42 and has three straight 40-point games, his longest streak since rattling off five in a row in March 2007.
Bryant may have to keep this up for a while. On a night where the Lakers found out Steve Blake will miss at least three week with a rib injury, the reserves managed just four points.
Friday’s game was the first for Lakers coach Mike Brown against the team that fired him in 2010 following consecutive 60-win seasons that ended with premature playoff exits. Brown said he did not know of the email from Cavs owner Dan Gilbert – the man who fired him – to Commissioner David Stern that may have had a hand in blocking the trade of Chris Paul to the Lakers.
From Mark Medina of the LA Times: “There is nothing, apparently, that would prompt Brown to publicly criticize Gilbert. Not his firing by the Cavaliers in 2010 after guiding them to two Eastern Conference finals, one NBA FInals and a 272-138 record through five seasons. Not Gilbert’s attempts to appease LeBron James whenever possible. And certainly not the Cavaliers owner’s playing a part in blocking a trade that would’ve immediately addressed the Lakers’ point-guard needs. But don’t think it’s exactly warm and fuzzy between the two, either. Even though he has repeatedly expressed gratitude for Gilbert’s hiring him, Brown didn’t leave him extra tickets for Friday’s game. Said Brown: “He’s got enough money to buy 2,000 [tickets] or even 20,000, let alone two.”
It’s Lakers-Clippers tonight, their first meeting of the season. Can’t wait.
Elsewhere …
Ricky Rubio had 12 points, nine assists and three steals in his first career start. But Minnesota would not have won at New Orleans without Kevin Love, who ended a slump with 34 points and 15 rebounds. The Hornets have yet to reach triple digits this season.
The Sixers continue to pound people, beating the woeful Wizards by 31. Their victory margin is a staggering 15.4. The ESPN studio crew said the Bulls and Heat are head and shoulders above everyone else in the East. A week from today, Philly visits Miami. We’ll see.
The Pacers rallied to win at Toronto, erasing a 16-point first-half deficit without Danny Granger, who got tossed in the second quarter when he taunted Ed Davis after a block.
The Mavericks are starting to figure things out, routing the Bucks for their fourth straight win. Dirk Nowitzki eclipsed 23,000 career points, and there was a Vince Carter sighting as he scored a season-high 16 points. More good news: Jason Kidd, who sat out his fourth straight game with a back injury, is targeting a return tonight vs. Sacramento.
Still winless on the road, the Spurs improved to a league-best 8-0 at home, beating the Blazers with a huge fourth quarter. Rookie Kawhi Leonard made his second straight start at shooting guard and has scored 11 points in each game, both wins.
The Nets won at Phoenix as Deron Williams had a monster game. He was responsible for 69 of New Jersey’s 110 points with 35 points and 14 assists, six of them on 3-pointers. Suns guard Steve Nash sat out with the Williams flu a quad injury.
The Rockets beat the Kings as Samuel Dalembert victimized his former team with 21 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. He also helped lock up DeMarcus Cousins, who came in with four straight double-doubles.
The Bobcats continued their early season lottery push, losing by 17 at home to the Pistons to catch the Wizards in the draft standings loss column with 10. Detroit came in riding a six-game losing streak and had a chance to improve to 10 losses. But Charlotte would not be denied, pushing its own slide to six games with its customary invisible offense.
Is that the best write up that could be done about the Cavs…that they were “star struck”? I saw a young team on a back end of a back-to-back, claw their way back into a game, led by a rookie point guard not name Rubio, giving them a chance to win on the Lakers’ home court. That hardly seems starstruck. Kobe definitely put on a show, but what about that LA bench? Could their lack of scoring be attributed to being star struck by the Cavs bench? How about the need for all of the Lakers’ starters to play more minutes than the Cavs’ starters to pull out a 5 point win? It seems to me there’s more to this story than Cavs being “star struck” by the greatness of Kobe Bryant.