Celtics Prepare for Two Tough Road Tests

(A two game suspension sees Rajon Rondo miss games against
the Mavericks and Thunder. Image Courtesy of MassLive.com)

On the back of three straight losses to the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons, the Boston Celtics now head out West to take on the Dallas Mavericks this Monday night – in a game that could spell further disaster for Doc Rivers’ reeling starting five.

Earlier in the year, the Celtics allowed a potential win to pass them by against the Mavericks back home in Boston. A last second offensive foul sent Dirk Nowitzki to the line for a three point play, more or less putting the game out of reach.

This time around though, the Celtics are perhaps more in danger of suffering their third blowout defeat in the space of a week – especially following a 14-point loss to Detroit on Sunday night.

Other reasons limiting the Celtics in this week’s Western road trip are endless. Point guard Rajon Rondo will be missing for two games after he was served a suspension by the league for throwing a ball at an official during Sunday’s loss in Detroit.

And more to the point, the Celtics will also be lucky to escape Dallas with only a handful of turnovers. Against the Pistons, the Celtics turned it over 22 times – leaving Boston’s young players with a lot of responsibility heading into the thick of this week. With Rondo gone, don’t be surprised to see young guns like Avery Bradley and Juan Johnson step into the lineup for some solid minutes.

More than likely however, the bigger test is coming on Wednesday night against the NBA’s third best team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Already this season the Celtics suffered a nine point loss to the Thunder back in January, a game that saw Kevin Durant drop 28-points on a weak Celtics defense.

If the Celtics coaching staff is smart, maybe double teaming Russell Westbrook isn’t the best idea after all.

In hindsight, it’s hard to see Boston flying home next Wednesday with a 3-0 record on the back of this road trip. If Paul Pierce can average his usual 27.2 points against the Mavericks though, (he usually does), the Celtics could steal a close victory.

Rondo Rebounds Hard During Celtics Big Win Over Bulls

Following Friday night’s fourth quarter disappointment in Toronto, the Boston Celtics entered Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bulls with more than just retribution and revenge on their tired minds.

For once, Sunday night’s game was a chance for the Celtics to take advantage of an understrength Bulls side – and with Derrick Rose on the bench nurturing a back injury; the Celtics snatched a 95-91 win convincingly at the TD Garden.

After earning himself a triple double of 32-points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists (throw in a cool dunk pass to Chris Wilcox while you’re at it), point guard Rajon Rondo also looks to be back in his 2011 form.

Chalk it up to being snubbed from this years All Star Game, or the constant talk surrounding newly emerged superstar Jeremy Lin in New York, but something seemed to tick for Rondo against an unsteady Bulls defense this weekend.

“Today was a needed win, nothing else” Kevin Garnett told reporters after the game. “I think we came out with a lot of energy, we hit first, and we were aggressive”.

The most promising part of Sunday night’s win however, wasn’t the aggressiveness that the Celtics have lacked just about all season. Instead, it was the emergence of two fresh face superstars – Chris     Wilcox and JaJuan Johnson.                                                

While both players may be beside the point right now when it comes to popularity and minutes on the court, it appears that the Celtics have fully committed to developing each of them early ahead of the postseason.

Similar to college hoops, given Boston’s incredibly short roster depth and weak bench strength, the Celtics look like they are ready to place Wilcox and Johnson in a much broader role. Meanwhile as the days go by, assuring them a little added experience when playoff basketball kicks off can’t hurt either player – especially Johnson who is still experiencing the highs and lows of being a rookie in such a structured team.

The Celtics now take three days off to recuperate and prepare for the Detroit Pistons on the 19^th. Originally it appeared that Paul Pierce would be in need of the three day break after carrying much of the workload the past two weeks, but after Rondo’s show-steal on Sunday, Doc Rivers can rest assured that no one has any excuse for a poor performance come Wednesday night back in Boston.

(Celtics vs. Bulls highlights, courtesy of NBA.com)

Celtics Drop Two Straight to Resurgent Raptors

(Top performer Kevin Garnett scored 17-points during the Celtics
loss to the Raptors. Image courtesy of Celtics.com)

No less than 24 hours after Paul Pierce’s buzzer beater bounced off the rim to hand the Celtics a loss in overtime last night, Boston once again slipped up on the road to a struggling Toronto Raptors side by a score of 74-86.

Call it tired legs or a simple lack of effort, but something was missing in the Celtics starting five in Toronto. The same chemistry and enthusiasm that we have come to expect from Pierce was non-existent through all four quarters, and a season low six points from Ray Allen only made matters worse.

At the moment, it looks as if the Celtics are simply              out of sync on the score sheet. Celtics.com writer Marc D’Amico wrote in his pre-game piece that “The Celtics will need to look deep for someone to score, too, because after last night’s big minutes the odds are that Pierce won’t be lighting it up in this game”.  

That was the unfortunate case on Friday night, and unless point guard Rajon Rondo can somehow return to All Star form (even though he won’t be making an appearance in Orlando this year), the Celtics are going to look ugly against ‘top dogs’ Chicago in two days’ time.

If the Celtics do have something to hang their spirits on though, it’s that a well-deserved rest is on the cards. The Celtics have tomorrow off ahead of their Eastern Conference clash with the Bulls back in Boston on Sunday, followed by a three day break ahead of February 19^th’s showdown with the Detroit Pistons.

That, plus the upcoming All Star Game break should relieve head coach Doc Rivers’ blood pressure which boiled over in Toronto.