1st Place Celtics Sneak By Sixers 113-110 To Move To 11-4
“Rondo And Pierce Lead The Celtics To Their 6th Straight Win Over Philadelphia”
The Leader Of The Pack- Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is clearly in a league of his own when comparing him to his counterparts in the Eastern Conference. Rondo scored 6 of his 10 points in the fourth quarter as the Celtics hung on to win their 11th game of the season. Rondo was being checked by Sixers guard Willie Green when he drove to the hoop faking a behind the back pass to KG on the wing then using his jump stop to lay the ball up and in giving the Celtics a 2 point lead. This was a highlight reel play as Rondo seems to have mastered the no look fake pass when driving the lane. Rondo also hit a a huge shot clock beater jumper from 15 feet out to maintain the Celtics 5 point lead late in the game.
Philly Can’t Handle The Truth- Paul Pierce once again had a game high 27 points on a solid 10 of 15 shooting from the field. In addition to his game high 27 Pierce also played 43 minutes adding 6 rebounds and 6 assists to his quality night. Pierce is currently averaging 19.6 points per game as he is the Celtics leader in scoring. Pierce was one of six Celtics in double figures tonight as he also was 3 of 7 from behind the arc. Pierce and the Celtics head into Thanksgiving with an 11-4 record which is tied for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with Atlanta, Cleveland, and Orlando.
Its A Celebration- The Celtics beat the 76ers for the 6th straight time tonight 113-110. Over the last 6 games the Celtics have struggled by shooting under 50 percent from the field in all of them. Tonight the Celtics pulled out a squeaker as the 76ers were in this game right down to the last possession. Six Celtics scored in double figures as the team shot 48 percent from the field. The reason this game was a lot closer than it seemed was because Philadelphia shot 65 percent from three point land to the Celtics miserable 25 percent. The Celtics continue to live and die by the long bomb and that recipe could be set up for failure against a quality opponent.
“Celtics Sneak past 76ers 113-110 For Their 11th Win Of Season”
It may not have been pretty but once again the Celtics won for the 11th time this season. Up to this point in the young NBA season the Celtics will most likely quote Bill Parcells’ in saying “You are what you are”. Those 5 words sum up the ‘09 campaign for the Celtics as they continue to win despite playing down to weaker competition on a nightly basis. What Parcells mean’t in saying those famous words is that no win is ugly and your season is defined by your record, so no matter how bad the Celtics look in battling teams like Philly, New York, and Indiana at the end of the day they are what their record states and right now they are 11-4.
Tonight was more of the same as the Celtics won for just thei 3rd time in their last 6 games 113-110 over the Philadelphia 76ers. It was the Celtics 6thstraight win against Philadelphia as they continue to extend their lead in the Atlantic Division standings. Paul Pierce was one of six Celtics in double figures as he lead the game with 27 points on 10-15 shooting. Pierce was 3 of 7 from downtown while also chipping in 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Pierce hit a big 3 pointer late in the game to help seal the victory foor Boston. RajonRondo also had a big night as he lead the Celtics with 7 assists. Rondo is currently averaging 8.9 APG. Tonight Rondo played 37 minutes scoring 10 points with 7 assists and 4 rebounds. Rondo scored 6 points in the 4th quarter which turned out to be the biggest points of the game because it helped the Celtics hold the lead when clearly the momentumjad shifted to the Sixers side. Kevin Garnett scored 19 points in his 31 minutws of play. Garnett was 5 of 9 from the field while grabbing 4 rebounds and dishign out 4 assists. The 4 assists were a season high for KG.
Ray Allen scored 18 points on another rough night of shooting. Allen once again missed the most shots of any Celtic shooting 6 of 14 from the field. Allen also was just 1 of 6 from behind the arc. Allen did add 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal to offset his rough shooting performence. Once again, RasheedWallace struggled withhis long range shooting as he was 2 of 6 from three finishing the night just 2 of 7 from the field. Wallace scored just 8 points in his 21 minutes of play to go along with his 4 rebounds. Wallace is taking too many three pointers as it seems the only looks he takes are 3’s and this is a problem for a guy who stands at 6 feet 10 inches. Wallace needs to play inside the paint and he needs to find that rouhg and tough Charles Oakley swagger that he used to carry on the court. If he can find that spark then the Celtics will end up having one of the best bench players in the league. Eddie House was the 6th Celtic in double figures as he scored 13 points on an off night shooting just 4 of 9 from the field while going 1 of 5 from three point range. House is having a good season as his minutes seem to increase on aq nightly basis due to his productivity. House played 22 minutes tonight as he has averaged at least 20 minutes in each of the last 3 games.
The Celtics will head into Turkey Day with a 4 1/2 game lead over the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division Standings. The Celtics will host the Raptors Friday night at the TD Garden before hitting the road for a 4 game 6 night road trip that includes stops in Miami and San Antonio. Even though the Celtics have been able to live and die by the 3 up to this point in the season you can;t expect it to last much longer as they must find additional ways to score against good teams. I think that starting next week we will find out alot about this team with their upcming road trip that includes 2 tough games against both Miami and the Spurs. San Antonio is a good team and although they are banged up right now they should still be a good barometer for the Celtics.
Matthew Giacoppo-The Brain
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