Victory by Depth: Celtics 98 – Jazz 93
The Celtic’s bench is shaping up to be the best insurance policy possible for their ever-aging team. This is evidenced by the fact that bench players such as Jeff Green and Leandro Barbosa picked up the slack and made up for subpar offensive performances by Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, and Brandon Bass. Three things from the game tonight stood out in my mind, the first being an early exit by Rajon Rondo late in the third quarter. His face really says it all in the picture above and not much is known about his return. Coach Doc Rivers was reticent when asked about the injury saying “I have no idea. Look, with a sprained ankle –tomorrow, you’ll know more.” The Celtics have been plagued by worse injuries before and had not had the depth that they do now so I am not worried about a few games sans Rondo. The second thing that caught my attention this game was how dominant Jeff Green looked after coming back from major heart surgery. His thunderous dunk in the fourth quarter was a loud reminder that he is back and ready to play a key role on the Celtics bench this season. The third and final thing I took away from this game was the number of shots Paul Pierce took. His 17 shots this game are above his season average of 15.3 and the last time he was averaging more than 15 shots a game was the 2006-2007 season before the first “Big Three” was assembled. I am bitter about this stat because it shows the hole that Ray Allen’s departure has left in the offense, especially beyond the arch where Pierce was 3 for 7 tonight, well above his averages this season (4.6 shots per game) and last season (4.5 shots per game). There were mostly positives from the game tonight with the only negative being the potential loss of Rondo. The Celtics are headed to Brooklyn tomorrow to face the Nets for their first regular season match-up in the all new Barclay’s Center. The C’s fared well against Deron Williams & Co. during preseason, destroying the Nets 115-85, but the Nets have started to develop more chemistry as of late so they should prove to be worthy opponents of a slightly hobbled but confident Boston Celtics.-Nick O'Mara
The Celtic’s bench is shaping up to be the best insurance policy possible for their ever-aging team. This is evidenced by the fact that bench players such as Jeff Green and Leandro Barbosa picked up the slack and made up for subpar offensive performances by Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, and Brandon Bass. Three things from the game tonight stood out in my mind, the first being an early exit by Rajon Rondo late in the third quarter. His face really says it all in the picture above and not much is known about his return. Coach Doc Rivers was reticent when asked about the injury saying “I have no idea. Look, with a sprained ankle –tomorrow, you’ll know more.” The Celtics have been plagued by worse injuries before and had not had the depth that they do now so I am not worried about a few games sans Rondo. The second thing that caught my attention this game was how dominant Jeff Green looked after coming back from major heart surgery. His thunderous dunk in the fourth quarter was a loud reminder that he is back and ready to play a key role on the Celtics bench this season. The third and final thing I took away from this game was the number of shots Paul Pierce took. His 17 shots this game are above his season average of 15.3 and the last time he was averaging more than 15 shots a game was the 2006-2007 season before the first “Big Three” was assembled. I am bitter about this stat because it shows the hole that Ray Allen’s departure has left in the offense, especially beyond the arch where Pierce was 3 for 7 tonight, well above his averages this season (4.6 shots per game) and last season (4.5 shots per game). There were mostly positives from the game tonight with the only negative being the potential loss of Rondo. The Celtics are headed to Brooklyn tomorrow to face the Nets for their first regular season match-up in the all new Barclay’s Center. The C’s fared well against Deron Williams & Co. during preseason, destroying the Nets 115-85, but the Nets have started to develop more chemistry as of late so they should prove to be worthy opponents of a slightly hobbled but confident Boston Celtics.-Nick O'Mara
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