February 14, 2008
Sports Redux: They Deserve A Break Today
The All-Star Break couldn't have come at a better time for the Celtics. It's a few extra days of rest for KG, of course, but after last night, almost everyone over 6'8" is in agony this morning and needs some time off. Brian Scalabrine fled the court with a groin pull very early, then Glen Davis went down VERY hard in the second half. He was in so much visible pain that they didn't immediately kick it to the dancing idiots on the Jumbotron. What happened to him is being called a "strained left quadriceps".
What was left of the Celtics - Doc Rivers said, "We were a Leon away from a lot of trouble" - managed to hold on for a 111-103 thumping of the Knicks that wasn't really as close as the score indicated. Pierce had 24, Ray Allen (more on him in a moment) 21, and Powe and Rondo had 18 apiece. Isiah Thomas got the heave-ho from the refs in the second half (leading to an inevitable Knick rally), and it's become clear that it's time for someone to drive Dick Bavetta to a farm somewhere. (Double lane violation = jump ball? Really??)
Amid all this came the word that Ray Allen is in fact going to be on the Eastern All-Star team in New Orleans this weekend. He got the word at halftime, then the crowd got the word at a timeout in the third. We'd like to think that the standing O was for Ray and not because Lucky was spending the timeout flinging halfcourt shots. Doc should remember not to overwork Ray and Paul this weekend; the C's may have clinched a .500 record (!) but there's still a long way to go.
The Bruins are banged up, too. Aaron Ward got clocked in the throat last night and spent the night in a Pittsburgh hospital. Still better than that Panther getting his carotid artery slashed, though. Petteri Nokelainen and Vladimir Sobotka (say that three times fast) stayed healthy enough, though, to score the goals in the B's' 2-1 win over the Penguins. Which puts them back in the top eight in the East. It's going to be a wild couple of months.
If you need one catchphrase to stick from yesterday's three-ring, two-bozo circus on Capitol Hill, please let it be the following from Rep. Tom Davis: "Mr. Clemens, do you recall bleeding through your pants in 2001?" (Mr. Clemens claims he does not.) The whole Clemens/McNamee thing yesterday played out like a Saturday Night Live skit; worse, like one of the skits after the second musical number when they're just killing the clock until 1:00. Dan Shaughnessy writes up the whole thing, in case you're stuck in a dentist's waiting room for three hours today.
Also, everyone's showing up in Fort Myers. We'll check in on them soon enough.
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No one at TD Banknorth Garden had a good game last night:
* Not the Celtics who let a 27 point lead dwindle to 7 with bad passes and passive play.
* Not the Knicks who are horrible and don't hustle, even when chasing a Celtics on his way to a layup (to say "chasing" is kind, it was more like trotting).
* Not Isiah who inexplicably got called for two T's for no good reason while his team was making a comeback (not good timing, Isiah).
* Not the refs, who could not decide on 3 foul shots or 2 and who made the worst jump ball toss I have ever seen, one in which neither player jumping touched the ball and it bounced off the floor to a Knick for a layup and a foul on a gift 3 point play that should have been a re-jump according to the rules as I understand them.
* Not the timekeeper who too often couldn't seem to start the 24 second clock on time.
Maybe they should have someone audit the chain gang to make sure that they didn't leave any loose bolts lying around so that we don't have a Kevin McHale/Cheers like injury occur in the next game!
I'd take all visual record of the game last night and destroy it. The NFL could do it.
It was the last game before the break against an awful team. It's ripe for a stinker. They won and now can get a needed break.
Garnett's return is the big story for the C's. But, I'm looking at Rondo for big things after the break. Rondo's averaging 15.9 ppg, 5.4 assists and 7 rebounds without KG. His season totals are 10.4, 4.5, 5.8.