With 11 games left in the regular season, the Philadelphia 76ers can slice their Atlantic Division deficit in half on Sunday with a win over the division-leading Celtics in Boston. It could come down to a battle of the benches. Saturday, Ray Allen came off the bench for just the sixth time in his career and hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia’s leading scorer, Lou Williams (15.3 ppg), comes off the bench every game; and Saturday the Sixers were paced by
That’s what we should be expecting from Ray Allen as the sixth man. Five 3-pointers, four steals and 19 points in 33 minutes. Avery Bradley (4 PTS in 29 minutes) is starting mostly for defensive purposes, and Paul Pierce (24) is the main scoring option. Kevin Garnett (15 PTS, 7 REB) got a lot of support from Greg Stiemsma (10 PTS, 9 REB, 5 BLK) up front. Many of the Pacers played just as well as they had in upsetting
Dwight Howard played, without much enthusiasm: 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, 5 turnovers and a swirling controversy about his relationship with Stan Van Gundy. Jameer Nelson also played, without much success (10 PTS on 3-14 shooting) and Glen Davis (15 & 7) got another start in place of Ryan Anderson (ankle). Carmelo Anthony led the visitors to a convincing win with 19, Tyson Chandler (12 PTS, 12 REB) was strong and J.R. Smith (15 PTS, 9 AST) continued to
The Cavs scored 75 points, which was tied for season-low. Tayshaun Prince scored 29 points. Tristan Thompson had 11 rebounds. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Knicks outscored the Magic by 35 over the 2nd and 3rd quarters on the way to a 108-86 win. It is the 2nd largest 2nd and 3rd quarter point differential by the Knicks in franchise history. Iman Shumpert led the Knicks in scoring with 25 points. Jose Calderon had 10+ assists for the 4th straight game. Andrew Bargiani and Ty
The Boston Celtics have had little trouble defeating the Utah Jazz in recent years. They have won eight of the last 11 meetings at the TD Garden — including the last three games by an average of 17.3 points — and swept last season’s two-game series. Their last loss came back on March 14, 2008, when Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer were still toiling for Jerry Sloan. But with the way the Jazz have played as of late, the Celtics may be
The other day, I was stuck behind the Boston Celtics on the highway. I was in the left lane and I wanted to go considerably faster than the car in front of me, who was doing about 60. Against my better judgment, I got up on his tail and applied some pressure, but he refused to go any faster or move into the right lane. Somewhat annoyed, I drove right behind him for about a quarter-mile before a gap opened in the
It was Chris Mullin’s jersey retirement night in Oracle Arena. A long time coming for the Warriors legend that wore No. 17, it should have been a joyous time for him, his family, the organization and the fans. And then owner Joe Lacob stepped in and all hell broke loose. After hearing rousing cheers from the fans for Mullin’s speech during halftime of the Warriors game, Lacob grabbed the mic to conclude the night when suddenly, the fans started to boo him. Loudly and
The Philadelphia 76ers have had the Atlantic Division lead for much of the season and looked ready to run away with it by taking advantage of an easy early schedule. Since then, they have taken a tumble, and the Boston Celtics may be ready to reclaim the throne as the best team in the division, which has been the case since the arrival of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in the 2007-2008 season. The streaking Celtics (20-17) visit the reeling 76ers (22-17)