The Boston Celtics have played 5 games already this young NBA season but they've been pretty impressive so far. The Celtics have held their opponents to staggeringly low 79.8 points a game while scoring 101.4 per contest. Their 21.6 deficit of victory is awe inspiring as well. The Celtics' big issue last year was that they had a thin squad and when they suffered key injuries they had no one to step up in the places of their missing stars. Now that Kevin Garnett is healthy and the Celtics signed Glen "Big Baby" Davis, free agent Rasheed Wallace, traded for Marquis Daniels and brought in Shelden Williams this team has become all the more formidable. Defense is the order of the day. Now that Rajon Rondo has been extended 5 years @ $55 million it's time to focus on winning banner number 18.
The NBA season opened with a comeback win/close game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road. The Cavs went 39-2 in that arena last season but they suffered a defeat to open the season at the hands of their biggest rivals 95-89. Paul Pierce took over the game down the stretch and the Celtics defense tightened up in crunch time. The next game saw the Boston Celtics home debut as they completely dominated the Charlotte Bobcats 92-59. They were held to the lowest output in the history of the franchise and the hometown faithful saw Gino dance on the Jumbotron in the 4th quarter.
The next game in The Jungle involved the young upstart Chicago Bulls. They were really looking forward to this game following the epic playoff series last Spring. Just one problem, neither of these teams are the same ones that faced each other in the playoffs. The Bulls were blown off the court and ended up losing 118-90. The second straight opponents to invoke Gino dancing on the Jumbotron in the 4th quarter. The next contest would be a battle of two of the premier young point guards in the NBA, Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo. While Chris Paul put up impressive numbers he came up on the losing end of the stick 97-87. The Celtics got big buckets and stops in crunch time.
Last night, the Boston Celtics had a dismal start to their game against the Philadelphia 76ers. They couldn't buy a bucket and Kendrick "The Hulk" Perkins, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce all got into early foul trouble. Not only that, but Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were ice cold from the floor. That all changed when hometown boy Rasheed Wallace came off the bench. His defense, rebounding and three point shot completely changed the game around. The Celtics bench led by Wallace, Marquis Daniels, Eddie House & Shelden Williams completely decimated the young 76ers by scoring an astounding 62 points (20 scored by Rasheed Wallace on 6-8 from deep). The Celtics won 105-74.
The Celtics starters haven't had to play many minutes due to the blowouts which is good because the Celtics are facing a tough stretch right now where they're playing 8 games in 14 days. If they can manage to make it through this stretch unscathed then that will show the entire league what they're really made of. Sure the defense is clicking on all cylinders but believe it or not the Celtics haven't yet become consistent on offense yet. Once they really begin to gel on the offensive side of the ball it's going to be a long season for everyone not wearing kelly green. If you keep in mind that the Celtics still don't have Tony Allen, Big Baby or Bill Walker back yet it just becomes all the more impressive.
Tonight the Boston Celtics face the Minnesota Timberwolves in what will be an emotional game for Kevin Garnett and Kendrick "The Hulk" Perkins as he faces his close friend Al Jefferson. These Celtics aren't concerned with just being the class of the NBA, they aspire to become one of the all time great teams in NBA history. They have a blank banner hanging up in The Jungle to remind them that they've done NOTHING to date. A 30 point win means nothing if you can't win the big game when it counts on the biggest stage there is. There's always room for improvement and the ultimate goal is to hoist the Larry O' Brien trophy in the air in June. Anything less will be a failure. Ubuntu!One.
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