As expected, Rajon Rondo was on a mission against Jeremy Lin, with a triple double (18 PTS, 20 AST and an amazing 17 REB) and Paul Pierce was superb with 34, as the Celtics needed overtime to beat the Knicks. Lin had 14 & 5, Carmelo Anthony (25) and Amare Stoudemire (16 & 13) were solid and the New York bench outscored Boston’s 45-15, only to fall short. It was a great tipoff to a Sunday of hoops on TV. Elsewhere NJN
It wasn’t only Jeremy Lin (17 PTS, 9 AST) who made the difference as the Knicks trounced the Hawks. Carmelo Anthony added 15, Landry Fields 16 and J.R. Smith chipped in 5 REB and 5 STL to go with a dozen points. Atlanta, minus Joe Johnson, trailed 60-35 at halftime. Jeff Teague played well in 29 minutes and Willie Green got another start, but Marvin Williams was held scoreless. Around the Association The Warriors won in Phoenix for the first time in
The Celtics allowed 72 points to the Thunder in the first half, the most since allowing 75 to the Bucks in 2005. Kendrick Perkins picked up his 11th technical foul of the season, leaving him two away from suspension. Restricted free agent Wilson Chandler was in Toronto with his agent to “explore opportunities” with team management. The Pacers have won their past four games against the Bobcats by a combined 74 points. The Nets had their 17th different starting lineup this season, as Kris
Teams usually struggle when starters and franchise players are constantly in and out of the lineup. But try telling that to the Chicago Bulls, who hold a record of 25-7, the best in the league. Derrick Rose missed his fourth straight game due to back issues Thursday night, but it did not matter as the Bulls improved to 7-2 without their franchise point guard and continued their dominance at home by defeating the Celtics 89-80. Granted, most of those wins without Rose
Highlight Performances: Danny Granger, IND– Granger was outstanding Wednesday Night, scoring 36 points with 7 boards and 2 assists. George Hill, the sharpshooting 6th man, suffered an ankle injury last night, and is out indefinitely. Granger and Paul George figure the main beneficiaries of this injury, however production-wise, Granger seems destined for the biggest uptick. He will be leaned on more heavily for scoring production, so consider his value on the rise. Serge Ibaka, OKC– This is not to say that there
Injuries may have finally caught up with the Chicago Bulls. But no one has caught up with them in the Eastern Conference. Late in Wednesday’s loss to Indiana – Chicago’s first at home this season – Derrick Rose turned on the afterburners, sped to the basket and whipped a bullet pass to the weakside corner for a potential go-ahead 3-pointer by his small forward. However, standing in the corner was not Luol Deng, who is out with a wrist injury. In his
Come fourth quarter of Friday’s game against the Celtics, Bulls fans witnessed somewhat of a rarity, at least by this early season’s standards. About 90 seconds into the final quarter at the TD Garden, when the Celtics had slashed a 20-point deficit down to four, coach Tom Thibodeau looked to his bench and summoned two players we haven’t seen much of in fourth quarters this season, starters Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer. Welcome back to crunch time, fellas. Noah and Boozer played as
It’s time for the Boston Celtics to snap out of it. When the Celtics host the Chicago Bulls in the first game of ESPN’s Friday doubleheader, they will be trying to avoid a third straight home loss, something they have not done since the tail end of the 2009-10 season, when they were beaten by San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Houston. Optimists in Celtics Nation will point out that Gang Green managed to regroup that season and ended up within a stop