The Celtics came out tonight with defense on their mind and walked off the court with a convincing 110 - 85 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

From the opening tip, Boston's demeanor was completely different than it was in Atlanta.  They were once again focused on defense, playing aggressive, playing smart and maintaining their intensity for four quarters.  Atlanta's first couple possessions, and many many more after that, consisted of being smothered by Celtic defenders, half-heartedly chucking the ball around the court and putting up desperation shots as the shot clock was winding down.  We only came away with 5 steals and only forced 13 turnovers, but the reason for tonight's victory isn't going to show up on any stat sheet.

Immediately following tonight's game, Cheryl Miller interviewed Kevin Garnett.  They talked about getting back to playing "Celtics Basketball", and what that meant.  Mainly, KG said (and I'm paraphrasing), that it meant playing unselfishly, giving yourself on both ends of the court and keeping your intensity level high.   We did all of that tonight, and more.  We reverted back to making that extra pass on offense.  Boxing out around the hoop, preventing the Hawks from getting those cheap second-chance tip-ins and put-backs.  Rotating intelligently on defense, coming out to meet the Hawks' perimeter shooters.  Just executing and doing all the little things that you need to do to win.

The Celtics' defense was the star of the show tonight, but their offense was nearly as impressive.  Ray Allen had 19 points and 4 assists.  Paul Pierce had 22 points and 6 assists.  Kevin Garnett had 20 points and  7 assists, and Rajon Rondo had 12 points and 7 assists.  Not only did everybody get their points, but they shared the ball, made sure everybody was involved and frankly, were way too much for the Hawks to handle.

Mike Bibby was terrible, yet again... 6 points on 2-8 shooting, with 1 assist and 3 turnovers, with a -17 +/- rating.  Joe Johnson had a pretty strong game considering he was in early foul trouble, and the Boston defenders had him absolutely smothered.  He scored 21 points on 6-11 shooting (with only 2 3's).  For those of your keeping track at home, Johnson only took 3 more shots than Bibby.  That's a direct result of Doc's defensive gameplan.  Each time Joe got the ball, we doubled him, no matter where he was on the court.  A few times he was able to break away, a few times Atlanta was able to get him an open look... mostly he was frustrated and had to pass the ball up to someone else.  With Johnson out of the equation, Atlanta's offense was stagnant.

BOXSCORE

MVC:  Leon Powe.   He didn't do much in the second half, but Leon was in full on Beast Mode in the first.  Coming in for Perk who was in early foul trouble, Leon was the answer to the Hawk's interior domination.  Running on nothing but hustle and determination, Leon snagged 5 offensive rebounds (7 total) and notched 7 points in the half.  He wasn't scared to put up a shot around the rim, and he wasn't letting any high-flying Hawk snatch any rebounds.  He was pure old-school tonight, banging down low and letting the Hawks know that we were taking back control of this series.  If we're going to be going all the way this year, we're going to need a few more nights like this from Leon... but I have confidence that we'll be getting those.

Every Celtics fans knew (after we recovered from the Game 4 shell-shock) there was no way Boston was going to lose this game at home.  Atlanta isn't in the same league as us, and it may have just taken that little scare to bring us back to reality.  Regardless of who you're playing, there is no easy victory in the playoffs.  You still have to execute on both ends of the court and stick to your gameplan.  Like I wrote last night, the Hawks aren't going to roll over for us... but I think tonight we may have finally pushed them to the ground for good.

It's time for the boys to get serious tonight.  The C's need to come out and smash Atlanta in front of a wild Garden crowd and then fly back to the ATL to close the show on Friday night.  I have tickets for Game 7 on Sunday and I'll be pissed if I actually have to go.  Let's get it Celts!!

Reebok is sponsoring a “Green Out” in the Garden tonight. Everyone who goes to Game 5 will get a free Celtics T-shirt, courtesy of the Canton sneaker giants. Go Celts!

I feel better today.  I think we're going to be OK.  KG and Perk avoiding suspensions feels like we're getting a second chance.  I trust these Boston Celtics, and I know they're going to do the right thing -- mainly play defense and box out.

One of my buddies Chris, who's a Spurs fan, was giving me a real hard time at the office today about last night's loss.  He was busting my chops pretty hard, and I was getting very upset.  When he asked why, I told him that I was no longer confident that our team was going to win it all, let alone make it to the Finals.  He, definitely still busting my chops, told me that I should be happy with the way the season turned out.  That, after the last few years, I should be thrilled that we won that many games and made it to the playoffs.   I replied that if we didn't win the championship, that this would be one of the most disappointing seasons in sports history.  He told me that I was starting to sound like a Yankee fan with all this, "No Championship means we had a terrible season" talk.  I told him that it was the truth... that you don't bring in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen just to make the post season.  You do it for the banner.

Anyway, the reason I'm telling this story is this:  I once again realize that these guys have come together for one common goal -- becoming NBA Champions.  They're not here to have some minor success and win some moral victories.  They want rings.  And across the court, with their ugly mohawks and highlight-reel dunks, are a group of guys who are standing directly in the way of that goal.   I don't think that we've yet looked at them as real threats.  Even after game 3, I think we all chalked that up to an off night.  Now, we know better.  These Hawks truly think they can win.  They are neither scared nor intimidated by us anymore.

But they're about to be again.   We're going to take back control of this series, get back to shutdown defense, and just get back to executing on the court and playing smart basketball.  The Hawks are not going to roll over for us.  After game 2 we kept waiting for it, but it's not going to happen.  So we're going to have to push them over and keep them pinned.

The Boston team that comes out of that lockerroom tomorrow night is going to be the most focused, determined team we've seen in Beantown for some time.  I don't think we realize what this team's ceiling is, and what they can do once they're backed up against the wall.  We're going to find out real soon, though, and if you're a Hawks fan, it ain't going to be pretty.  The crowd is going to be absolutely insane, KG is going to scare all the small children watching from home, and Doc is going to put Tony Allen on Joe Johnson, offense be-damned.  

Thanks for playing, Atlanta.  You've made it interesting.... now go away. 

The Globe just reported

The Celtics and Hawks will have no fines or suspensions stemming from a skirmish during Game 4 of their playoff series Monday night against the Hawks in Atlanta, according to an NBA official.

Strange that there were no fines after Pierce got fined 25,000 for basically nothing.

So the NFL draft has come and gone and we can now welcome seven new faces to the New England Patriots.  They should all be in town this weekend for Rookie mini-camp where they will be joined by some of the free agents that the Pats have signed during this offseason.

As we've come to expect, Belichick and Pioli did some wheeling and dealing on day two of the draft.  They traded their first of three 3rd round picks this year to the San Diego Chargers for the Chargers 2nd round pick next year. 

I'd like to provide you with a complete analytical breakdown of each draft pick but to be honest with you I don't know too much about any of them.  What I do know is the Pats addressed some concerns with age on the defense by taking 3 linebackers and 2 cornerbacks to add an immediate influx of youth and competition on the defensive side of the ball come training camp in July.  The Patriots didn't end up with any of the sexy names that you heard about leading up to the draft which would probably have created a little more buzz around here about the draft picks.  I have faith however in the braintrust at Gillette that they did what was best for this team.  Somehow they always still seem to remain one step ahead of every other team in the league. 

The Picks

Here is a link to Boston.com where they have a short summary about each of the Patriots picks along with colorful pictures and everything!

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/gallery/04_28_08_pats_draft_picks/

There is talk all over the radio, TV and internet about if the will be any suspensions for game 5 following last night's skirmish. The following players could be suspended for different reasons, some for as little as one foot on the court. Kendrick Perkins, KG, Sam Cassell, Zaza Pachulia, Marvin Williams. Decide for yourself by watching the video.

My friend Jamie said to me, remember times have changed since these brawls.

I'm glad I don't know any Atlanta Hawks fans because, if I did, I'd probably search them out right now and punch them.

This is ridiculous.  This is the freakin' Hawks we're losing to!  The NBA, right now, is considering changing the way the playoffs are seeded specifically because of this team.  They're a sub-.500 team!  We went 66-16!  And we can't close them out!

We have no one who can take over down the stretch.  We can't box out.  Can't get to the free throw line -- not like we're making the shots when we get there anyway.  KG looked tired, sad and defeated on the bench.  I've never seen that, and frankly, it terrifies me.

Yeah, we're still going to win the series, although I wouldn't be surprised to see it go to 7.  But, next round, or the round after that... or, GASP! In the Finals!?!  I just don't know if we have the parts to win a Championship.  I fear we are the Phoenix Suns circa-every year for the past 4 years.  Build for the regular season, not for the trophy.  And yes, I'm just angry and depressed and will regret writing all this in the morning.

We'll check back in tomorrow evening once I've had some time to calm down. 

Greg Dickerson just reported that the "menacing" gesture Pierce made IS NOT A gang symbol, but means blood, sweat & tears. It is a gesture that he does every game during intros. Here's the video.

The NBA just announced that Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce and Washington Wizards guard DeShawn Stevenson have each been fined $25,000 for making menacing gestures during games played this weekend, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.

The incident involving Pierce occurred in the fourth period of the Celtics’ 102-93 Game 3 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on April 26. The incident involving Stevenson occurred in the first period of the Wizards’ 100-97 Game 4 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 27.

It looks like the OK symbol to me. I was going to write a rant on this here, but my friend FLCeltsfan from Loy's place pretty much somes it up here.

So, they fined Pierce for making a menacing gesture. Haven't seen where they fined Horford for taunting that led to the gesture from Pierce. So, now we have Perk getting a tech for looking and Pierce getting fined for gesturing. But, Smith can body slam Pierce and not even get a technical for it. And, Horford can wag his finger in Pierce's face and who knows what he said and nothing is done. Not to mention that the Hawks can disable the shot clocks in a move that clearly favored the home team and that is ok, too. The NBA... where amazing happens.

I'm so fired up for tonight's game 4 that I thought this picture from Redsarmy says it all!

Here is the video of the play that Aaron wrote about last night.

The last thing I want to comment on before I go stew in my anger is Al Horford.  Rookie needs to get slapped up.  If you didn't watch the game, with just around a minute left Pierce was guarding Horford while Atlanta was just running down the clock.  I didn't see how it happened, but Pierce slipped (tripped?) and fell around the 3-point line.  Horford, now wide open, got the ball and knocked down the open jumper.  On his way back down the court, he began pointing and screaming at Pierce, who was rising to his feet.  First off, that should've been a technical, but keeping with their sub-par standards, the Ref's let it go.  However, Pierce got to his feet, a look of absolute anger on his face, and began to follow Horford down the court.  Luckily, our dear friend Brian Scalabrine (decked out in a nice suit tonight) ran down and pulled Pierce back to the Celtics bench.  That was the end of that altercation.

But there are 2 things any Celtics fan knows about Paul Pierce that Horford may not be aware of.  First, the man is crazy.  Second, you don't want to piss him off... but that's exactly what Horford just did.  I absolutely expect Pierce to go off for 40 points on Monday.  Whatever Paul does, we need to take back control of this series, let the Hawks know what Playoff basketball is all about, and get back to playing the brand of basketball that we expect. 

I am Jack's pulsating ball of rage.

All the things Boston did right in the first two games against Atlanta were thrown out the window tonight.  They played terribly as a team, taking quick shots, never making the extra pass, leaving Hawks open for shots.  They only forced 11 turnovers, let Atlanta shoot 47% from the field (56% from downtown), and the biggest issue of all, let the Hawks snag 12 offensive boards.

To be honest, I probably should wait until the morning to write this.  I'm a tad bit too angry to look at tonight's game analytically.  I just want to complain and scream and demand answers to questions like, Why was Leon Powe on the court for only 6 minutes, when Glen Davis (who looked terrible and lost tonight) played for 16?  Why is Sam Cassell hoisting up contested shots immediately after bringing the ball up the court?  If we wanted a gunner, we'd be playing Eddie House.  Why are we letting this young Hawks team run up and down the court, using our defense for their own personal slam dunk contest?  If Larry Bird were still a Celtic, Josh Smith would've landed in the 3rd row during one of those fast breaks.  Why are we playing some half-rate team, in some half-rate arena that doesn't even have functioning shot clocks?  Most importantly, why did the Celtics, aka, "The Best Team In The League" look frazzled and overmatched playing a sub-.500 team that didn't even deserve to be in the post season?

The only stretch of the game that we played well was the end of the second quarter.  Down by 9, we clamped down on defense, pressured Bibby (who, despite what you may hear on SportsCenter was terrible yet again, shooting 4-12 and 2-6 from from the line), forced him to commit a couple of turnovers and got some easy baskets.  For four minutes it appeared that we were done slacking off and were ready to bury the Hawks.  But, in completely uncharacteristic fashion (like every other aspect of the game) we came out of the lockerroom at half, ready to lay down and let the Hawks posterize us over and over and over again. 

BOXSCORE 

We gave them open looks, let them beat us down the court, never got any flow going on offense, looked for the first shot instead of the best shot, let the poor officiating frustrate us and just played a poor game of basketball.   

MVC:  With the exception of Garnett tonight, the rest of the Celtics were ho-hum... except for Cassell.  He was downright awful.  I don't care that he won 2 championships 40 years ago, until he can commit to running our offense, get him off the court.  Anyway, that's why KG is tonight's MVC.  He cared and he wanted to win.  The Hawks had no answer for KG, and Boston should've ensured that he got 5-7 more field goal attempts.  He finished the game with 32 points, 10 rebounds (4 off.), 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block on 11-19 shooting.  He was dominating, he just wasn't enough.  We needed someone else to step up tonight, and it just didn't happen.

The last thing I want to comment on before I go stew in my anger is Al Horford.  Rookie needs to get slapped up.  If you didn't watch the game, with just around a minute left Pierce was guarding Horford while Atlanta was just running down the clock.  I didn't see how it happened, but Pierce slipped (tripped?) and fell around the 3-point line.  Horford, now wide open, got the ball and knocked down the open jumper.  On his way back down the court, he began pointing and screaming at Pierce, who was rising to his feet.  First off, that should've been a technical, but keeping with their sub-par standards, the Ref's let it go.  However, Pierce got to his feet, a look of absolute anger on his face, and began to follow Horford down the court.  Luckily, our dear friend Brian Scalabrine (decked out in a nice suit tonight) ran down and pulled Pierce back to the Celtics bench.  That was the end of that altercation.

But there are 2 things any Celtics fan knows about Paul Pierce that Horford may not be aware of.  First, the man is crazy.  Second, you don't want to piss him off... but that's exactly what Horford just did.  I absolutely expect Pierce to go off for 40 points on Monday.  Whatever Paul does, we need to take back control of this series, let the Hawks know what Playoff basketball is all about, and get back to playing the brand of basketball that we expect. 

I think it's time we switch the team's motto from "Ubuntu" back to "Celtic Pride".  Doc should force these guys to watch a few tapes of the old Lakers-Celtics games, let them know what those banners mean to this city and its fans.  Come on, Celtics, we're better than this.  Now let's go out there and knock Al Horford on his ass a couple times. 

Since Rome, the Celtics have followed the belief of UBUNTU which means:

A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.

It has worked out great with tremendous teamwork and no selfish play or talk all season, until now! The one player who drives me crazy on this team has decided now while we're in the payoffs and should be in full UBUNTU effect, Is a great time to complain. Right Tony Allen? He says this in today's Herald when asked about his playing time in the first two games of the playoffs.

“I ain’t happy with it but what it’s about is doing it for the team,” said Allen, who averaged 18.3 minutes per game during the regular season. “I’m still cheering on the sidelines and being ready. I’m still clapping hands, passing out water, throwing towels, jumping up for my teammates for something good, just basically trying to stay loose for whenever he calls me to go out there.”

He should have said all of that, but left out the “I ain’t happy with it" part.

Maybe if he was more consistent and could dribble, he'd play more.

BostonsportZ has some great new friends, They are Balconygal & her team. Before game #2 on Wednesday night they did a fantastic tutorial on how to make the Bibby head, that we created here for the fans.

Way to go Balconygirl, GREAT STUFF!

Just because the Celts are now on the road, doesn't mean you can't still use your Bibby head on your couch.

Not because of their team, but because their only two fans made the worst music video I've ever seen since William Hung.

Thanks to Celt52034 for the tip. I think?

"I Love That Little Man"

 I shouted that in the first quarter when Rajon Rondo came up with a huge defensive rebound over Pachulia and Josh Smith, ripping the ball away, mid-air from the much larger Hawks.  I shouted it again on the next play as KG found Rondo loitering unnoticed underneath the hoop for an easy dunk.  I shouted it one more time, on the very next play, as Rondo intercepted an attempted pass from Acie Law, sprinted down the court and made a beautiful over-the-shoulder pass to a trailing Leon Powe for a huge dunk.

I think I shouted it so many times and with so much conviction that I made my wife a little uncomfortable.  I don't care.  I just want to go to the rooftops and scream, "I Love Rajon Rondo!"... except I'm scared of heights, so I'll stick to writing about it here. 

The Boston Celtics soundly defeated the Atlanta Hawks for a second straight game, 96-77.  Once again, the key for the Celtics was great team basketball.  The defense was stifling again, forcing 21 turnovers and holding the Hawks to 38% shooting.  The offense was unselfish, racking up 23 assists and we absolutely dominated the offensive glass, snagging 13 offensive boards (to the Hawks lowly 5). 

Unlike the first game, Boston didn't lose their command over the Hawks for a moment.  Even when Pierce left the game early with a strained lower back (when Pierce went for a layup, Josh Smith came over for a "block", slammed into Pierce, knocking him to the ground and managed to land on Pierce's chest and steamrolled over his head), James Posey stepped right in and played masterfully.   No worries, though, as Pierce came back in the second and finished the rest of the game.  Let's just hope that his back doesn't tighten up on him too much.

There were 3 truly great developments during this game.  The first is Doc's ability to keep our guys motivated and playing hard until the final buzzer.  Up by twenty with just minutes to go, James Posey is diving on the ground for loose balls, we're double-teaming in the post, kicking the ball out on offense for the open three.   When we build a lead, we're not giving it up and that's crucial.

Second was the crowd's treatment of Mike Bibby.  I think it's safe to assume he regretted his statements.  From the first time his fingertips touched the ball the crowd was on him.  Booing him every single time he had the ball, for the entire game, cheering at each missed shot (and there were a lot of those), and going wild every time he lost his dribble.  For the second game in a row, Bibby was pathetic -- in fact, the Hawks had their rookie backup point guard play 22 minutes because Bibby was useless.  He tried to laugh it off a few times throughout the game, but it was clear to everybody that we got to him.  At one point I expected him to start crying and shouting, "You guys are so mean!  Why won't you just leave me alone!"

In fact, I just found a video of the crowd chanting "RONDO'S BETTER", just like we had hoped for!  Well played by everybody involved!

Last, and I touched on this a bit in the beginning, was the play of one Rajon Rondo.  Completely outplayed Bibby once again.  Tonight Rondo put up 12 points, grabbed 6 boards, had 8 assists, 4 steals and only one turnover, while shooting 6-11.  As we've seen with him since the All-Star break, he's just been elevating his play every single game... I don't know if Cassell has anything to do with it, or if it's just experience and gaining confidence (or a combination of everything), but he's been amazing.  Unfortunately, once again he's getting bumped from the MVC award that he probably should be receiving.

MVC: Paul Pierce.  This is based on guts alone.   Josh Smith falling on him was not a minor bump.  Pierce was literally steamrolled, like he was one of the McKenzie brothers.

He tried to play immediately after, but it was apparent that he was in pain.  He headed to the bench, got stretched and rubbed and worked on and came back to the game.  He didn't need to play... we were in firm control, but he's a warrior.  He stuck with it, and ended up with 14 points, 2 3's and 4 rebounds.  Not a spectacular night, stats-wise, but a hell of an effort and enough to win MVC.

BOXSCORE 

That's it... we're headed down to Atlanta now.  While we may not beat them by 20 on their home court, I don't see any scenario where the next time we're in Boston, we won't be playing a completely different squad.  Great night for everybody in green (fans included) .  Now let's just keep this train rolling!

Tonight was supposed to be the debut of the new commercial, but my friends at Sox & Dawgs said not so fast! They got it first, and here it is followed by the first big 3 commercial from a few months back in case you missed it.

For all you Celtics fan going to Wednesdays game # 2, Print your Mike Bibby face here and make him eat his words!

 “But a lot of these fans are bandwagon jumpers trying to get on this now. I played here last year, too. And I didn’t see three fourths of them. They’re for the team now and they might get a little rowdy but that’s about it.”

Click on image to open printable version. Print on cardstock or paper, Cut out and add a stick if desired.

Redsarmy says let’s show Bibby how loud fans can be.  When he starts walking the ball up the court, or when he’s at the free throw line… let’s spark up the chant “Ron-Do’s Bet-ter (Clap, Clap, Clap Clap Clap).” you can do it while waving your Bibby face. 

Bibby Face