Smacked Down By The Spurs

Tonight the Celtics lost miserably 94-73 to the San Antonio Spurs.  As we usually are, the Celtics were close at halftime and only down by one point, but were demolished in the 3^rd quarter and outscored 33-17.  Pierce had 18 points, Garnett scored 12 points and Shelden Williams came off the bench with 11 points.  Ray Allen decided not to play tonight and went only 2 for 9 from the field.  The Spurs’ Manu Ginobili knocked down 28 points, with help from Richard Jefferson with 16 points and George Hill with 15 points.   All I can say is that the Celtics really need to start stepping it up in the big games like these if they want to be a big contender in the playoffs that are just around the corner. 

Gloating Central

A rematch on Wednesday against my boyfriend’s team, the Denver Nuggets, ended beautifully this time with a 113-99 victory for the Celtics.  We were actually supposed to go to this game in Boston, but somebody couldn’t take work off (lame).  It’s actually probably better this way though because as much of a bad loser I am, I’m an even worse gloater when I win.  Oh well, text message gloating will have to suffice this time.  Luckily I was able to watch this game because it was on ESPN.  The Celtics had a small lead early on, were up by ten at half, and just held onto the win through the 4^th quarter.  Carmelo Anthony (my boyfriends favorite player) did his best to thwart the Celtics by scoring 32 points, but his only other help came from JR Smith with 21 points and it just wasn’t enough.  Once again the Big Three came out strong to create a trifecta of scoring that’s tough to match up with.  Pierce led the team with 27 points, followed by KG with 20 points, and finally Ray Allen with 16 points.  Tony Allen also played well off the bench and contributed with 13 points of his own.  The Celtics were also able to capitalize off of the Nuggets’ 17 turnovers.  Let the gloating commence =).

Last night the Celtics made it two in a row by facing and defeating the Sacramento Kings 94-86.  The Celtics were up by a solid 20 points at halftime, but just barely held on as the Kings rallied and outscored them in the second half to cut the final lead to just 8.  The good news is that we won though, and the Big Three were all highly effective once again.  Pierce contributed 22 points, with Ray Allen and KG following with 20 and 18 points respectively.  Carl Landry played Carmelo Anthony’s role from the last game by scoring a huge 30 points to lead the King’s attempt at a rally but couldn’t do it all by himself.  Unfortunately for the Kings, not every team can have a Big Three, and it’s pretty hard to win with just a Big One.     

Everythings Bigger In Texas

Over the weekend and the last few days of freedom/Spring Break, the Celtics went 2 for 3 on the road.  On Friday March 19^th, the Celtics faced the Houston Rockets (sans Yao Ming) and pulled off a 94-87 victory.  The Big Three had a big game with Paul Pierce racking up 26 points, Ray Allen knocking down 19 points, and Kevin Garnett adding 15 of his own.  Some worthy competition came from the Rockets’ Luis Scola and Kevin Martin who each had 17 points each.  I have a feeling that the Rockets are missing Yao Ming a lot during his absence from his foot injury and surgery.  The Celtics rounded off this solid win with 11 team rebounds and a 62.5 shooting percentage. 

On Saturday the 20^th, the Celtics moved to another part of Texas where they had a 102-93 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.  Both the 2^nd and 3^rd quarters ended with the Celtics being a mere 1 point ahead of the Mavericks.  However, the Celtics came out strong in the final quarter and outscored Dallas 29-21 to ensure the victory.  Impressive scoring came from Pierce with 29 points, Ray Allen with 21 points, and Rajon Rondo with 20 points.  Rondo also had 10 rebounds and 5 assists to really be a team player.  Dallas had a good showing by Dirk Nowitzki (28 points), Jason Terry (18 points), and Shawn Marion (16 points), but came up short in the 4^th quarter. 

Then on Monday the 22^nd, we suffered a hard 110-97 loss to the tough Utah Jazz.  The Celtics were up by 5 at halftime, but apparently decided not to show up for the rest of the game.  The 3^rd quarter especially killed us as the Jazz outscored the C’s 33-19 to take the lead and hold onto it until the final buzzer.  Sadly Ray Allen was our higher scorer with only 15 points, followed by Big Baby Davis with 13 points and Pierce with 11 points.  Utah’s CJ Miles and Deron Williams were huge parts of their victory with 23 and 22 points each.  To make matters worse, the Celtics had 18 turnovers which could have only added to their second half demise.   

Can’t Figure Out Lebron

On Sunday the 14^th while I was basking in the sun in beautiful Mexico, the Celtics were once again stumped by Lebron James.  There’s something super human about this guy that the Celtics have not been able to get around this season.  This time losing 104-93 to the Cleveland Cavaliers, I’m almost starting to wonder if it’s even possible to get by this team once the playoffs get here.  Lebron racked up 30 points throughout the game, with team mate Anderson Varejao behind him with 17 points.  Ray Allen scored 20 points, Pierce and KG each had 18, and Rajon Rondo ended up with 16.  Even with well-rounded scoring like this, it will never be enough when Lebron continuously scores 30+ points against us.  I’m dreading playing James and the Cav’s again on Easter Sunday, but maybe Doc will have thought something genius up by then.

The next night our heads were back in the game and the Celtics bounced back with a decisive 119-93 victory over the Detroit Pistons.  The Pistons weren’t much competition, with their high scorers Will Bynum and Richard Hamilton only getting 16 and 14 points.  The Celtics had an even lower high score of 15 points, but three different players reached that, which one coming from the bench.  Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Michael Finley all scored 15 points, with KG and Big Baby Davis close behind with 14 and 13 points.  Every single player contributed to the win, including the 2 points from Tony Allen in 7 minutes of play.  Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson both had separate technical fouls, but neither affected the game.

 

On Wednesday the 17th (most appropriately St. Patty’s Day), the Celtics added another win to their record by defeating the New York Knicks 109-97.  It was a battle between Knicks’ David Lee and Celtics’ Paul Pierce who each scored an impressive 29 points.  The only problem for Lee: he doesn’t have the team to back him up like Pierce does.  The next highest scorer for the Knicks was Al Harrington with 16 points, whereas the Celtics had Kevin Garnett working extra hard to rack up 22 points to support Pierce.  Like I’ve said before, it takes a team to win, which is why the Celtics usually come out on top.

Red Sox Rockin’ Spring Training

During the second of week of Spring Training in Florida, the Sox are proving that they will be a serious contender for the World Series this season.  During six games from March 8^th-14^th, the Sox won 5 out of the 6 games and are looking great for our die hard Red Sox Nation. 

On Monday, they faced the St. Louis Cardinals and pulled off a walk-off 7-6 win in the bottom of the 9^th inning.  Beckett was the star on the mound while young Josh Reddick was the clutch batter during this victory.  Beckett started for the second time this Spring Training and struck out 3 batters throughout 3 perfect innings.  Papelbon, Okajima, and Ramirez also threw hitless innings (the Cardinals didn’t score until the 7^th when Manny Delcarmen was on the mound).  J.D. Drew started things off with a triple and later scored off a single.  Josh Reddick tripled in a run in the 5^th, doubled in a tying run in the 9^th, and eventually scored the winning walk-off run to finish the game.  Jose Iglesias also hit a 3 run homer on 2 outs in the bottom of the 8^th to put the Sox on top.

On Tuesday, Tim Wakefield used his famous knuckle ball to shutout the Florida Marlins as the Red Sox demolished them 9-0.  Wakefield threw for three scoreless innings, only giving up 2 hits and striking out one.  He had complete control over his knuckleball, allowing him to throw 22 strikes in only 30 pitches.  The Red Sox scoring was very well rounded, with almost the whole lineup contributing to the win.  Hermida had an RBI single and a double, Reddick had two doubles, and Kalish, Brown, and Ellsbury all had singles.       

Can’t win ‘em all.  The Sox lost 8-6 to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Wednesday.  At the plate, Jacoby Ellsbury started strong for the Sox with two homeruns and 3 RBIs.  Youkilis helped out with two hits and an RBI double, along with Pedroia’s 2 hits and a run in.  On the mound, Jon Lester didn’t perform quite so well.  In just 2 and 2/3 innings, Lester gave up two hits and a run, and walked one batter.  However, he also somehow managed to strike out four Rays batters during his outing, so it sort of balanced out.  His hard work was destroyed when rookie Adam Mills took the mound and gave up seven hits and six runs in just one inning!!  Papelbon succeeded in cleanly closing out, but the damage had already been done.

Thursday turned out much better and the Red Sox beat the New York Mets 8-2.  John Lackey started on the mound and for the second time this Spring Training threw three shutout innings.  He allowed three hits but never walked anyone.  It wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Mets scored their only points with back to back homers by Mike Jacobs and Jason Pridie.  Former Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay played against us for the first time since leaving as a free agent, and to the fans delight was 0 for 2.  Alex Cora, who also played for us, but way back when, hit a single for his new team.  Its interesting how different the fans will treat ex players depending on how/why they left the Red Sox.  The classic examples that come to mind are obviously someone like Nomar Garciapara (who was traded by the Red Sox) vs someone like Johnny Damon (who despicably signed with the Yankees as a free agent).  Now whenever Nomar plays against the Sox, our fans still cheer for him and show our appreciation, but Johnny Damon will forever be booed and despised for his complete lack of loyalty to Boston.  I still wear a shirt all the time that says ‘No Hair. No Beard. No Soul.’ In reference to Damon leaving the Sox for the Yankees who forced him to cut his hair and shave his beard to fit their required appearance.  Boston has the greatest fans in the world, but if you double cross us, don’t expect to still be loved. 

On Saturday the Red Sox had a 3-2 win over the Pittsburg Pirates.  Clay Buchholz was the starting pitcher and had an impressive outing allowing only one hit and one walk in 3 innings of work.  Papelbon once again showed off his closer abilities by pitching a single perfect inning.  At the plate, the Red Sox were quiet until the 7^th inning when Mike Cameron doubled and his pinch runner Darnell McDonald scored with Ryan Kalish off a single by Tug Hulett. 

Finally, on Sunday the Sox finished off the weekend with a 6-4 win against the Minnesota Twins.  Due to an unfortunate illness on game day, Josh Beckett was unable to start and was filled in for by Ryne Miller.  Big mistake.  Miller walked two and allowed 3 runs on 2 hits in just one inning of play.  Scott Atchinson, who has been in the Minor leagues for 3 years, stepped up and threw a scoreless inning for the Sox.  Dustin Pedroia hit a single in the 4^th and had an RBI double in the 5^th.  Jeremy Hermida double in the 4^th to knock in two runs, and Kevin Youkilis helped out with an RBI single in the 5^th.      

End Of The Four Game Winning Streak

Unfortunately the Celtics brought an end to their winning streak on the Tuesday night leading into Fordham’s Spring Break with a heart wrenching last minute 86-84 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.  Rajon Rondo led the C’s scoring with 20 points, but his sole efforts weren’t enough to hold onto the lead through all four quarters.  For the first time in a while, Ray Allen was basically useless as he played 34 min and only managed to score 3 total points.  KG and Pierce helped out a little with 12 and 14 points respectively, but Rondo needed much more help than that to defeat Andrew Bogut and Carlos Delfino of the Bucks, who scored 25 and 19 points each.  The Celtics held onto the lead until the fourth quarter, when it became a battle the finish with the Bucks ending up on top by 2 mere points.  There was also some drama 4 minutes into the fourth quarter, when Big Baby Davis got into an argument with Buck’s player Brandon Jennings, and both received technicals.

The next night on Wednesday March 10^th, the Celtics added to the misery by losing horribly at home in a 111-91 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.  I understand losing to the big dog teams like the Lakers and Cavaliers, but it just hurts seeing the C’s get crushed by a team like the Grizzlies who have a record of 34-31.  We were never even close in this game, only scoring 12 points in the entire first quarter.  The Grizzlies Rudy Gay easily scored 28 points, while the Celtics leading scorers were Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo with 17 each.  Pierce also had 14, but when you fall that far behind early on it’s nearly impossible to catch up.  I can’t imagine the fans at the Garden were very pleased with this performance, especially when we’re vying for a playoff spot.

I’m not sure what Doc Rivers had to say to his team after the previous two games, but whatever it was it worked because the Celtics came back strong on Friday March 12^th to defeat the Indiana Pacers 122-103 in the Garden.  With the Pacers sad record of 21-44, its no wonder we won, but at the same time we needed this victory to boost morale again.  The Celtics had a HUGE 2^nd quarter with 38 points and then never looked back.  Not surprisingly, Pierce led the scoring with 20 points and Rondo trailed behind him with 16 points.  However, the key to this game was the enormous help from the bench which scored a combined total of 54 points!!  Big Baby Davis and Nate Robinson each racked up an impressive 15 points during their time on the court. 

I will continue to post more of the updates tomorrow, so check back here and pray that this game gave them the momentum they need to roll on through to the playoffs. 

Celtics Working Hard While I Play Hard

Dear loyal readers (aka those of you in my class forced to sometimes read this blog),

I have been away for Spring Break in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and therefore have not been able to post about our favorite Boston teams.  Please keep checking back here, for I will post many much needed updates ASAP!! But just to give you a little sneak peek, my sources tell me that the Celtics have been doing PHENOMENAL while we were all partying in the sun around the world!! So, if you're still on break, raise your glass and cheer 'sweeeeet carolinnnee (bum bum bum)'!!! What do you think, Banner 18 this year??


Check back here soon for all the updates!! 

Sox Looking Strong During First Week Of Spring Training

The Red Sox are coming out strong in Florida this Spring Training, and so far are 5-2 after almost a full week of games.  They beat Northeastern on Wednesday 15-0, with a two-run homerun by Ortiz in the six-run fourth inning.  Later that day, they went on to defeat Boston College 6-1 with Youkilis, Julio Iglesias, and Ryan Kalish all contributing to the score.  

Thursdays game against the Minnesota Twins was a little closer, but the Sox pulled off a 2-1 win with the help of Dustin Pedroia and Mark Wagner at bat.  They suffered a couple losses on Friday and Saturday: a 0-5 loss against the Twins, followed by a 4-6 loss against Tampa Bay.  

However, they looked better again later Saturday with a 9-3 victory over the Twins, in which Tug Hulett pinch hit for David Ortiz to score a three run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning.  John Lackey looked great on the mound, retiring all six Twin batters he faced.  

Finally, on Sunday the Sox finished out the weekend with a 5-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles.  Lowrie had two hits, but Mark Wagner was the key factor with his go ahead home run in the top of the ninth inning.  Clay Buchholz seemed a little rusty on the mound, but was supported by Boof Bonser later on with 2 scoreless innings.      

Four Game Winning Streak

The Celtics victory tonight has extended their winning streak to four games!!!  On Friday night, they played the Philadelphia 76ers and beat them 96-86.  KG, Ray Allen, and Rondo were the big players tonight with 22, 16, and 16 points respectively.  Rondo also helped out as usual with 6 rebounds and 11 assists.  This made it a 3 game winning streak.

Tonight the C’s battled the Washington Wizards to pull off a close 86-83 win.  Down by 13 points halfway through the fourth quarter, it seemed impossible for the Celtics to come back.  Try telling that to Ray Allen, who can’t help but be the hero this season.  Pierce started off the come back with a 16 ft jump shot, followed by Rondos free throws, and finally Ray Allen’s breakaway slam dunk to erupt the crowd at the Garden.  Then still down with under 2 minutes left, Allen hits two 3 pointers right in a row to seal the deal and win the game.  

With a game high 25 points, Ray Allen proved to be the hero of the game during Boston’s 40^th win of the season.   

Celtics Cruise Through Pistons and Bobcats

The bench was a big help in Tuesday nights 105-100 win over the Detroit Pistons.  The game high scorer was once again Ray Allen, but this time with only 18 points.  Pierce finally came back, but seemed to be taking it easy and only scored 9 points.  Luckily, Nate Robinson and Big Baby Davis were huge off the bench with a combined total of 26 points.  The Pistons also had 18 turnovers, which didn’t hurt either.

Then last night, the Celtics hosted the Charlotte Bobcats and rolled over them with a 104-80 victory.  Its not too surprising that we won, seeing as how the Bobcats were terrible and only two of their starters reached double digits with a mere 10 points each.  But nonetheless, a win is a win is a win.  Paul Pierce was 100 percent back in action, scoring a game high 27 points.  The next two highest scorers were Robinson with 16 and Garnett with 12 points.  Besides Pierce outshining everyone, it was an extremely well rounded game with almost all members of the team contributing (poor Brian Scalabrine was 0-3 in his eight minutes of play).  Haha, go figure. 

A Sprained Thumb And The Flu

If the three home games over the last week have told us anything, it’s that we desperately need Paul Pierce to return.  I’m starting to think that even with a sprained thumb and the flu, he could have been an asset in those tough games.  We started off pretty well without him on Tuesday night, with a 110-106 win against the New York Knicks.  We showcased very well-rounded scoring with Ray Allen racking up 24 points and every other starter with 12 or more points. 

Then, on Thursday night, I might as well have only watched the Olympics because Lebron James kicked our ass, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to dominate us 108-88.   Although Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo put up a good fight with 21 and 19 points respectively, Lebron showed no mercy as he easily scored 36 points on the Celtics.  

And finally the most heartbreaking of all, the Celtics suffered an embarrassing 104-96 loss on Saturday to the New Jersey Nets.  Snooki from the Jersey Shore led the Nets with 27 points, followed closely by Brook Lopez with 25, Devin Harris with 23, and Courtney Lee with 21.  Snooki stated in an interview after the game that she was so good because her poof adds and extra 3 feet to her height.  Besides Kevin Garnett who had 26 points, the Celtics just didn’t seem to be all there. 

It’s obvious we can’t win it with a one man team, i.e. Ray Allen or Kevin Garnett.  It’s about time Pierce gets over his hurt thumb and flu symptoms, so that he can return and complete THE BIG THREE!!