Celtics 103 - Cavs 86 :C's Win Big at Home

Boston - The home crowd at the TD Garden got an early holiday present last night, as the familiar sounds of the Bee Gees blasted through the sound system and the sights of a shaggy man in a bread wearing a tight tan shirt that read “Gino” began to play on the jumbo-tron. It’s been a long time coming, as the Celtics blew out the visiting Cavaliers 103-86 and Gino Time was in full affect from the fans in the stands to the players on the bench shaking their hips in a celebration of the huge win.

“Nobody told me about that,” first year coach Brad Stevens said after the win. “Maybe they thought we wouldn’t have a game out of reach.”

Rajon Rondo who enjoyed the game in street clothes has seen a lot of Gino over the years;

“They don’t know about Gino,” said the injured point guard. “We’ve got to get a couple of more wins.”

Boston jump out to 18-2 lead to start the game and never looked back. Jeff Green scored a season high 31 points, the most by any Celtic this season. While Jordan Crawford scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out 10 assists for his third career triple-double and his first as a member of the Celtics. Avery Bradley continued his hot shooting going 9-for-11 for 21 points giving the home team its third win in four games.

They never trailed in this game as they maintained a double-digit edge the entire 48 minutes.

“We got great defensive stops to begin the game with. That’s how we got that lead,” said Green. “We are finally putting everything together. We’ve had our ups and downs throughout the season…but it was good to put an all-around good game together.”

Stevens said he was surprised to hear that Crawford had reached the milestone and called his performance “shockingly effective.”

“He had 11 rebounds?” Green asked reporters. “Jordan Crawford had 11 rebounds?  It’s good that our guards rebound. Our guards need to rebound to win.”

Dion Waiters scored 21 points while Kyrie Irving struggled with only 17 points (15 of them came in the first half) for the Cavs, who have lost their fifth straight game and fell to 1-9 on the road this season. Cleveland scored just 10 points in the first quarter, and the lost marks their eighth in nine games.

The only run the Cavs made was in the middle of the second quarter as they went on a 16-6 run to cut a 20-point deficit to 10. But the Celtics scored the next eight points, including a 3-pointer and a layup by Green.

All five Celtics starters scored in double figures, and the team shot 50-percent for the game while going 11-for-23 from behind the arc, as the team is 7-11 on the season and a half game out of first in the Atlantic Division. Next game is tonight as the team travels to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks as this 19 game schedule for the month of November (5 games in the last seven days) comes to an end.

Game Notes:

The Celtics as a team had 26 assists and grabbed 47 rebounds, as they stayed aggressive moving the ball and going to the basket the entire game. Friday night’s 23-point win marks the largest win of the season so far. Courtney Lee missed last night’s game due to a sore left knee. Kelly Olynyk missed his fourth straight game with a sprained right ankle. Boston will be the first team in the NBA to play 19 games after tonight.

Joel Pavón

Grizzles 100 Celtics 93: Despite late game surge C's lose at home

Boston- Memphis came in to the TD Garden 7-7 and playing without the NBA's reigning defensive player of the year Marc Gasol, who is out three to four weeks with a sprained left MCL. They already owned a win from a little over three weeks ago over the Celtics and after blowing a 19-point lead late in the fourth, the Grizzles were able to hold on 100-93 for a much needed W on the eve of Thanksgiving.

One would think that Memphis' inside scoring would suffer without their big man, but it was quite the opposite. Zach Randolph scored 13 points while Tony Allen and Ed Davis each had 12 and 11 points. Kosta Koufos who started in Gasol's place grabbed 13 boards while Randolph grabbed seven.

Jerryd Bayless, who has always played well against the Celtics scored 22 points off the bench and believes the team is playing well even without Marc;

"We're playing well. Everyone's contributing. We've got to continue to do that," Bayless said of the team's effort without Gasol. "We still have Zach and Zach's a premier big man in the league. We've got to continure to get him the ball and he's capable of doing great things."

Jeff Green lead the Celtics with 26 points, while Jared Sullinger started off slow but finished with 23 points(13 of which were in the fourth quarter) and grabbed 12 rebounds. Avery Bradley added 16 points, and not much offensivly was going Boston's way.

The Grizzles garbbed the lead in the opening minutes and never trailed the rest of the way, though the C's made a late charge in the last two minutes of the game.

The Celtics trailed 90-77 with under two minutes before Sully went off and Boston figured out how to guard the paint better.

"That's why it's a game of adjusting, changing," Celtics Coach Stevens said. "If you look at the game, you give yourself a chance to win. We were never quite back in the game."

After a 49-36 halftime deficit at the halftime, Boston cut it to nine three different times in the third quarter. But Memphis's interior scoring was too much as seven of their nine baskets in the quarter came from inside the lane. Mike Miller and Bayless each hit 3-pointers in the fourth before a pair of three pointers from Sully in the closing two minutes in a 16-7 Celtics' run and eight straight points from Sullinger.

Bradley's 3 with 14.4 seconds left cut Memphis lead 96-93. But Bayless made two free throws to seal the win, and snap Boston's two game winning streak.

"They just came out aggressively and our intensity wasn't there," said Jeff Green. "We allowed them to put us on our heels and that's how they got their early lead."

Despite a great late fourth quarter comeback, the Celtics needed more offense especially from Jordan Crawford (five points and seven assists) and Brandon Bass who shot a combined 4-for-14 from the field. Next game is on Friday at home vs the Cavs and then back on the road on Saturday vs the Bucks before the worst month schedule wise comes to an end.

Game Notes:

Courtney Lee sprained his left knee in the second quarter and did not return, while Kelly Olynyk missed his third straight game with a sprained right ankle. Jeff Green addressed the home crowd at center court before tip-off, wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Joel Pavón

Report: Celtics Would Consider Deal for Amar'e

According to Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report the Knicks are interested in sending Amar'e Stoudemire to Boston in exchange for a big man and others.

The report states that Celtics are looking to move Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries to shave salary cap space for the future. 

Wallace is guaranteed his $10 million a year until 2016 and while Humphries is guaranteed his $12 million for only this season, he's a serviceable big man who could help the Knicks with rebounding. 

Center Tyson Chandler will be out for a significant amount of time and coach Woodson has restricted Stoudemire's minutes on the floor.

Knicks are desperate to move Stoudemire's contract for players who can come in and contribute this season. Carmelo Anthony can opt-out of his deal and become a free agent next summer. 

There has also been talks that the Celtics could also look to move Courtney Lee's contract. Lee's contract keeps him in Boston until 2016.

Celtics should pass on this offer and wait for a better deal down the road. But tank-wise it makes things better for the Celtics. Wallace has emerged as a leader on the team who is Boston's best defender. Knicks will have to take Wallace's contract in order for the deal to go through. 

If Danny Ainge pulls the trigger on this trade consider it a clear cut sign that he's aiming for a lottery pick in June.

Josue Pavon

Spurs 104 Celtics 94: San Antonio cruise to eight in a row, Celtics drop its fifth straight

San Antonio – The Celtics were coming off a four game skid going into the AT&T Center last night and were handed another to add to the loss column. 

The Spurs handed Boston its fifth straight loss and won its eighth straight, remaining undefeated at home and 10-1 overall.  

Jeff Green, in his previous three games was shooting a combined 6-for-25 from the field but scored 19 points against San Antonio. Meanwhile Tony Parker scored his 19 points and dished out five assists; leading the way to a 104-93 win. 

San Antonio had 27 assists and six players in double figures, rallying from a slow start to lead by as many 19 in the second half. Manu Ginobili who finished with five points and six assists, knows the importance of moving the ball, leads to better shots;

“Those moments when we start to play better ‘D,’ push the ball and be more aggressive, then it’s fun to watch, it’s exciting and it’s what we need,” the Spurs guard said. “We pass the ball really well. We penetrate and pitch, and everybody gets involved and that’s fun.”

There were 10 different lead changes and 14 ties in the first half, as neither team was able to maintain any momentum. But the Spurs shot 48% from the field and were 8-for-21 from behind the arc as Boston struggled to close on San Antonio’s shooters.

Jared Sullinger, who got his first start of the season, had a great night going 8-for-17 from the field putting up 19 points and grabbing a career high 17 rebounds. Sullinger said it was exhausting trying to keep up with the Spurs ball movement;

“Phew;” Said the Celtics forward “They’re a tough team to play. On any given night, anybody can go off. Honestly, they move the ball. They care less about scoring…They have go-to players but they hardly ever use them because they move the ball so well and play as a team, so they are hard to guard.”

Besides Sully’s double-double, Avery Bradley continued his great shooting going for 19 points, and Jeff Green finally broke out of his slump. 

Brad Stevens was pleased with the first half production of his team as they were all tied 48-48 after the first 24 minutes, considering how poorly they played in Houston the night before.

“The team that played tonight could be a really fun group to work with,” said Stevens. “I think that’s what you take from here. We talked about this early in the year. There’s going to be nights where we measure progress a little bit differently.”

Boston couldn't slow San Antonio down when they began to pull away midway through the third quarter behind the great shooting of Kawhi Leonard (16 points) and Tony Parker. Leonard scored 10 of the Spurs first 12 points to start the second half and put his team up ahead 61-52 with eight minutes left in the quarter. The Celtics ended the period outscored 32-22.

Despite the Celtics’ defense slowing down, Tim Duncan, who went 3-for-13 from the field, and Parker sitting out the entire fourth quarter wasn't enough for Boston to make a comeback in the final 12 minutes. Danny Green (11 points) who had not made a single shot in the first half, woke up in the second half and so did the rest of San Antonio’s role players.

Boston will make a return to the Garden on Friday to face against the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference, the red hot Indiana Pacers. Tip off is at 7:30.

Game Note:

The Celtics continue to turn the ball over as they committed 17 last night (averaging 16.9 for the season), which lead to 20 Spurs’ points. San Antonio and Indiana have the league’s best record as they are the only teams to have lost only once at 10-1

Joel Pavón

Doc, KG and Pierce say a break up was 'inevitable'

Los Angeles - What was suppose to be the first meeting between Doc Rivers and his former players, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, ended up not happening at all.

Pierce out with a groin injury while Garnett missing in action due to an ankle issue, and were among four Brooklyn starters who sat out Saturday night’s Nets-Clippers game because of injuries. In fact the two future hall of famers were not even in the Staples Center to watch Rivers and L.A. beat Brooklyn. 110-103.

Doc remembers when the three were together during their Celtics days; Pierce or KG wouldn’t come to games they weren’t playing in. That habit continues now with the Nets.

Prior to the game when it was thought they would play on Saturday all three caught up with Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, to speak about Danny Ainge breaking up the band and a rebuilding situation without Doc.

“It wasn’t the first choice. Said Garnett. “It wasn’t likely… But I’m a chameleon. If I had to be in Boston for my last years without Doc, that probably would have been my last year of playing. More importantly, I hate to lose or be in that position.” [Yahoo! Sports]

Pierce shares that same sentiment, since he has been through that before;

“It probably would have been really difficult,” Paul added.

KG believes management was looking to go in another direction, especially after his name was brought up in serious talks last season with the Clippers, and of course after losing in the first round to the New York Knicks:

“The writing was on the wall,” said Garnett. “We all knew what the story was. I think Ray said it best, ‘None of us wanted to leave.’ I wanted to leave out in Green.”

After spending 15-years in Boston, for Pierce it was easier to depart with Rivers gone;

“Eventually it was going to happen,” Pierce said. “We knew eventually guys would go their separate ways, whether it was retirement or to another city.”

With the Celtics making headlines in the offseason, especially before the blockbuster trade with Brooklyn, Garnett thought that the three would land in Los Angeles;

“I actually thought I was going to L.A. to be honest. I thought [Rivers], I and Paul were going.”

Even “The Truth” thought he was going back to Cali to play in his hometown;

“At one point we thought we would all be in L.A.”

Regardless of how things played out before the start of the season and where they ended up, it is still clear that there is no love lost between the coach and his former players. They won a championship together in 2008, and returned to the finals two years later. There will always be an admiration for Doc and in vice-versa.

“I learned how to be a man, how to speak and how to communicate better than when I came in,” said KG. “He gave us confidence, we can do anything. Although he is well spoken and comes across really intellectual, Doc’s a beast, Doc’s an animal. There is nothing soft about him. He pushed us everyday.”

Paul played under Rivers from 2004 to 2013, raised a banner and won finals MVP during that span.

“I really grew to the player I’ve become and really matured under him through good and bad,” said Pierce.“Because of him, I’m the player I am.”

For Doc enough can’t be said when it comes to those guys, the feelings is mutual in more ways than one.

“When you win a NBA championship and when you go through the struggles you must go through together, you’re bonded for life,” Rivers told Yahoo! Sports. “It’s like having a blood transfusion. I’m not sure what they got from me, but I gained so much because I was lucky enough to coach them.”

Garnet and Pierce will have to wait until December 12th to reunite with their former coach, as they will host the Clippers at the Barclay Center. Either way they still keep in contact with Rivers since their departure from Boston.

“We still stay in touch,” said Pierce. “We still text back and fourth. We can hang out next summer because I usually train at the Clippers’ facility during the summertime. Maybe when I’m retired he can give me a job.”

Joel Pavón