The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “The 13-17 Clippers outscored the visitors 6-0 in the last two minutes, but C’s coach Doc Rivers reached back further than the free throw line for the reasons behind the defeat. ‘The free throws didn’t bother me,’ Rivers said after his team’s nine-game road winning streak was snapped. ‘Obviously I’d have loved (Rondo) to make them, but that’s not why we lost this game. The free throws had nothing to do with that game. It was our composure and our execution and our focus. The (Eddie House) technical, leaving a guy behind the 3(-point line). I mean, we have a whole potpourri of mistakes that we made down the stretch, mental mistakes. Nothing that anyone did except for us. Like we talk about every night, the only opponent we have is ourselves, and tonight we beat ourselves. Even if we had won, we’d have felt bad about the game, honestly.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Ainge said he is pleased with the team’s 23-6 start, especially since it has yet to play with a fully healthy roster. ‘I like our team,’ he said. ‘I like the attitude of our team and the work ethic of our team. I like the chemistry of our team and so I’m very pleased where we are. I think there’s a level our team hasn’t reached yet that we’re capable of reaching and I’ve seen signs of that along the way that are very encouraging and we haven’t had our team full strength. I still anticipate that we will be at full strength very shortly, meaning where everybody is playing their best, not just having people on the court – it’s having people back on the court playing their best basketball. I think that that is a real possibility for us. I see that possibility in the near future and I am hopeful for it.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – A lot of teams missed the boat on Rajon Rondo in the 2006 draft, but the Clippers weren’t one of them. Unfortunately, they had traded their choice. The Suns took Rondo and dealt him to the Celtics that night. ‘On draft day, we tried like heck to get a first-round pick to get up and get him,’ said coach Mike Dunleavy, now also the general manager for Los Angeles. “We thought actually that Phoenix would take him because of the fit that he would make for their team. So we felt like we had to get up in front of 21. We tried like heck after 16 and down to try to get a pick to take him. Our guy really had him pegged right as far as how good he was. Obviously you knew he wasn’t a great outside shooter, but everything else he does is pretty terrific.’”

Lisa Dillman, LA Times – “‘Coach, run this play for me. I’m gonna shoot and we’re gonna win,’ Davis said he told Coach Mike Dunleavy. And what a wildly improbable story and finish. The Clippers scored five points in the final 8.5 seconds to defeat the Celtics, 92-90, the winning shot being a fadeaway jumper by Davis at the buzzer. It stopped Boston’s nine-game road winning streak, marking only the second Celtics loss on the road this season. This had echoes of the Clippers’ upset of the Celtics last season at Staples Center, a two-point victory in February. ‘You’ve got to prepare your mind for it when you’re getting ready to take a shot,’ Davis said. ‘I didn’t know what Coach was gonna draw. I made it known that I wanted to get the ball and if I got it with a second left, if I can get to my fadeway over [Rajon] Rondo, at least we’d be able to get a good look.’”

Associated Press – “Rondo scored 20 points in another impressive offensive game for the Celtics, but his free throw woes — he’s hovering near 53 percent for the season — cost the Celtics dearly. After drawing a foul from Davis, his two misses were actually three, including another shot that was waved off in between the two that counted. ‘I made it tough,’ Rondo said. ‘We just didn’t execute down the stretch. I felt confidence shooting them. I wasn’t antsy or nervous. I took my time and I kept my follow-through up. But the first one was just long, and the second one was long.’ Davis then had a Jimmy Chitwood moment, although his “Hoosiers”-style declaration didn’t surprise anybody in the Clippers’ huddle. ‘Baron said, ‘Coach, draw it up and I will make this,” coach Mike Dunleavy said. ‘He told us to give him the ball, so we draw up a play and it paid off.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “But the Celtics made enough mistakes against the Clippers to where they should not have even had a chance to steal a victory, which is exactly what they would have done if Rondo would have made one or both of those free throws. ‘We beat ourselves,’ said Celtics forward Glen Davis. ‘We gave the Clippers opportunities to make plays. We can look back at the game and pinpoint a lot of things we could have done. We look back at the game and look at the mistakes we did, it wasn’t Celtics basketball. When we play Celtics basketball, it’s hard to beat us. We didn’t, and the Clippers closed the game.’ Unlike some players who shy away from the media when they have a night like this, Rondo was the first Celtic to speak following the loss. ‘We just didn’t execute down the stretch,’ he said.”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “The reality is, these missed shots don’t say too much about whether or not Rondo is a clutch player because he is not a great free throw shooter to begin with. Rondo had only made 37 free throws heading into the game and was shooting 53.6% on the season. That’s just three more free throws made than Rasheed Wallace, who had taken 27 fewer attempts than Rondo. Even so, his inability to make free throws represents a vulnerability in his game that opponents will continue to attack until Rondo makes them pay for doing so. If Rondo can show the same ability to address his weakness from the stripe that he did with his jumper, then he will be able to give other teams pause before fouling him in pivotal moments. For now, however, as the rest of his game blossoms, Rondo’s poor shooting from the foul line represents a potentially significant development that will be monitored by the Celtics and other teams.”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Baron Davis is one of the most frustrating NBA players in the game today.  He has all the talent in the world — strength, athleticism, great court vision, soft touch — but for whatever reason hasn’t been able to be a consistent performer over his career.

On any night, though, he can put all those skills on display, and when he does he can be very special.  Unfortunately for the Boston Celtics, he decided to put those skills together against Boston, doing it all for the Clippers in their 92-90 win.

With one second left in the game, after two Rajon Rondo misses from the free throw line left the game tied at 90, Davis came up to the top of the key and drilled a jumper with Rondo draped all over him.

Poor Rondo; he went from being the Celtics best player for 47 minutes and 59 seconds to the goat by the end of the game.  First the missed free throws, then Davis’ jumper in his mug.  (Even though you couldn’t play much better defense than Rondo played, short of completely denying him the pass.)

For my thoughts while the game was going on, read on. It’s my running diary…

First Quarter

• It took Tony Allen a little less than two minutes to get his first turnover.  I don’t want to be too harsh on Tony, he’s played well lately, but the only reason he got that turnover was that he decided to look off Rondo, who was looking for an outlet pass.  Tony, just a bit of advice: Don’t. Look. Off. Rondo.
• Baron Davis is far too strong for Rondo.  Three minutes into the game, and Davis has been super aggressive going to the hoop.  When he plays like this, it’s hard to realize why he’s not one of the NBA’s elite point guards… until you remember he has hardly ever been in shape, continually decides to settle for bad jumpers, and gets injured more often than Evil Knievel.
• Eric Gordon just blew by Ray Allen for an easy two-handed flush.  I hate to say it when he’s playing the Celtics, but I really like the way he plays.
• Celtics look a step slow to begin the game.  It could be a letdown from winning such an emotional Orlando game, it could be having to travel from Orlando to L.A., or it could be that they saw they were playing a team starting DeAndre Jordan.  Whatever it is, they don’t have the same sense of urgency they had against Orlando.
• Early on, Rondo’s the only one with any energy.  Thankfully for the Celtics, he’s dominating the game, with 6 points and 2 assists in the first seven minutes.  Celtics up 13-12.
• Since I got on TA for his dumb play earlier, I’ve got to give him credit now: He just stole an entry pass, then ran his lane down the left wing.  What happened?  Rondo hit him with a bounce pass and Allen ended up on the free throw line shooting two free throws.  Moral of the story?  Let Rondo make the decisions.  (As I’m writing this, Allen just broke up an alley-oop with a great defensive play.  He’s done some really good things these last few weeks.)
• TA is taking over the running diary.  This time, a nice cut from the wing to the bucket, where Rondo hit him for an easy lay-in.  One of the big changes Allen has made to help his game is working off the ball.  When he is just a finisher, he can be a weapon.  When he tries to initiate plays and over-dribbles, that’s when he makes bad mistakes.  (By the way, I can’t believe what I just wrote.  Tony Allen “can be a weapon.” Before the season, I would have bet my life I would never say that.)
• Brian Skinner’s little goatee thing is disgusting.  I don’t want to be too graphic, but he looks like he has Brian Scalabrine’s pubic hairs pasted to his chin.

Second Quarter

• A minute into the second quarter, Ray Allen gets subbed in for Rondo and the Celtics now have a lineup of Ray, Scal, Eddie House, Big Baby, and Rasheed.  Not exactly their best unit.
• Remember when I said it wasn’t their best unit? I wasn’t lying.  But it doesn’t really matter, because ‘Sheed is getting defended by Brian Skinner and Brian Skinner’s pubic goatee… And he is torching them both.  On one possession, he put the ball right over Skinner’s head, as if contemplating about what move to make, then just decided, “Hey, I can just shoot it right over him.  I don’t even have to make any moves.  It’s that easy.” And so he shot it.  And it went in. 
• Even without Rondo on the floor, Eddie House is playing almost entirely off the ball;  Ray and Tony Allen are doing most of the ball-handling.
• DeAndre Jordan is an athletic freak.  He had a huge alley-oop earlier, and a nice block on a Rondo drive in this quarter.  He’s a physical specimen but, still, he’s not very good.  Why not?  He’s less skilled offensively than my grandmother.

• KG just went up to catch an alley-oop, completely botched the dunk, then came down limping.  I get the feeling his injury is worse than the Celtics are letting on and, if it is, he should be sitting out some more games.  Plus, have you seen that knee brace of his?  He’s out there looking like a young Forrest Gump.
• The starters came back into the game with the score 38-34, Celtics.  Now, it’s 42-38 Clippers.  Bring back Scal!
• You can say what you want about Tommy Heinsohn being a complete and total homer; it’s all true.  But I miss him during road games.  Especially when the Celtics get called for a blatantly obvious foul and I just want to hear Tommy’s inevitable, “What a bogus call!” Nobody complains about good calls quite like Tommy does.  Actually, I’m forgetting about somebody who does…  Did you see Kobe Bryant the other day?
• I can’t believe some of the entry passes L.A. has thrown into their big men.  They’ve already thrown away three our four.  I’ve seen second-grade teams who can throw better passes into the post.
• Baron Davis just settled for “the Baron Davis” to end the second quarter.  What exactly is “The Baron Davis”?  A stepback, fadeaway three-pointer, of course.  Surprisingly, it’s only his first “Baron Davis” of the night.  (Side note: “The Baron Davis” also has an alternate name… “The Vince Carter”.
• The half ends with the Celtics ahead, 48-46.  Rondo leads the Celtics with 10 points and 4 assists.  Garnett a paltry 2-7 from the field.  The Clippers shot 50%, but 10 turnovers hurt their cause.

Third Quarter

• The Celtics have picked it up to begin the second half.  Rondo’s getting out in transition, Tony Allen’s making nice plays, and Kevin Garnett is affecting things on both ends of the floor.  A quick 12-4 run to start the half has put the Celtics up 60-50.  
• If Tony Allen keeps playing like he is, the C’s bench will be dangerous when Marquis Daniels returns.  Both Allen and Daniels are versatile defenders who can really apply pressure on the other team.  
• Mike Gorman on Al Thornton: “Thornton’s been out there for 25 minutes, and we haven’t called his name much.”  Couldn’t have said it better myself, Mike.  Still, despite having done literally nothing productive tonight, he leads the Clippers in minutes.  Huh?
• What’s more attractive… Chris Kaman or Brian Skinner’s goatee? I vote Kaman, by a hair.
• Baron Davis comes off a screen and launches his second “Baron Davis” of the night.  In related news, it missed.
• The C’s are really playing great defense in this third quarter.  Every shot is contested, and Garnett and Perk are really doing a great job of owning the paint and not allowing easy shots.  (Note: As I was writing this,  Eric Gordon sliced to the hoop for a wide open lay-up.  The lesson, as always: Don’t jinx your team.)
• Mike Gorman: “I haven’t figured out yet what the Clippers are trying to do.”  A perfect quote to describe the Mike Dunleavy effect.
• I’ll say this about DeAndre Jordan: He’s good at catching alley-oops.  To me, it’s his one discernible skill.
• I really like Rasual Butler.  He’s not great by any stretch of the imagination, but he seems to be a pro’s pro.  He sprints both ways in transition, gives it all he’s got on defense, and can really shoot the basketball.  He’s one of the few Clippers who actually seems to give a damn.
• A missed Rasheed dunk turns into a Chris Kaman and-one at the other end… Kaman seems to be really happy, after being named more attractive than Scal’s pubes Brian Skinner’s goatee.
• 73-69 Celtics to end the third.  A good start to the quarter was ruined by a lackadaisical last few minutes.

Fourth Quarter

• Big Baby has played a nice game tonight.  He’s gotten a few offensive rebounds, taken a few charges, and scored a few buckets.  Plus, unlike Shelden Williams, he doesn’t have a wife with more skills.
• When I watch the Clips play, I wonder why Craig Smith doesn’t get more playing time.  He can score, he’s active on the glass, and he’s not Brian Skinner.  What more could the Clips want?  (Answer: Maybe a power forward taller than 6’7″?)
• Another note about Smith: Watching him go against Big Baby is like watching two 6’7″ bowling balls play basketball.
• I was just about to ask why Eddie House was still in the game with a little over five minutes to go, then Eddie hit an and-one jumper from the corner.  I guess that’s why.  Still, no matter how hot Eddie’s been this fourth quarter, Rondo should not be on the bench to finish the game.  He just shouldn’t be.
• With four minutes to go, Doc finally puts Rondo back into the game.  Doc, he’s been your best player all night long.  He should have been in a long time ago.
• I don’t have any stats to back this up, but Perk seems like he’s been far more active on the offensive glass lately.  He just had a huge board after a Ray Allen miss, keeping alive a possession that ended with a made Rondo jumper.  
• Eric Gordon takes three very long steps, then gets called for a travel, and somehow Donny Marshall takes Gordon’s side and said he didn’t walk.  He’s like Bizarro Tommy Heinsohn right now.
• TA with a huge steal and coast-to-coast lay-in to give the C’s a four-point lead.  I keep waiting for his inevitable self-destruction at the worst possible time, but he hasn’t had one in awhile. (Crossing my fingers that I didn’t just jinx the first reliable stretch of play Allen’s had in a long, long time.)
• .346 — No, I didn’t just randomly write down Albert Pujols’ batting average.  .346 is actually DeAndre Jordan’s free throw percentage on the season.  To look on the bright side, though, if he were three times as good from the line he’d be a little better than Ray Allen.
• Doc Rivers is subbing offense-defense with ‘Sheed and Perk.  I like that, but I don’t like ‘Sheed deciding to shoot a three on his first possession, despite being oh fer five on his first five trifectas.
• Rondo drives by Baron Davis with time running down, drawing the foul and getting himself to the line.  Mark Price, please tell me you helped Rajon enough to let him make at least one of two.
• They show this stat before Rondo takes his first free throw: 54% from the line.  He then clanks the first one.  So much for the reverse jinx.
• And Rondo misses them both.  Damn you, Mark Price, damn you.
• Baron Davis drills a fadeaway with no time left on the clock.  Wow, what a stomach-punch.
• That last play ended up well for the Clips, but did anyone else notice these two things about it?… 1) Dunleavy had Rasual Butler, arguably the Clips best shooter, pass the ball in, and 2) Steve Novak, ice-cold after sitting for the first 47 minutes and 59 seconds, was inserted into the game.  If you want a shooter, doesn’t it make more sense to have somebody else pass the ball in and have Butler  — not ice-cold Novak –  on the court?
• For the Celtics, this was an uneven effort.  They didn’t execute well, either offensively or defensively, and clearly didn’t show the same focus and determination they showed in beating the Magic the other night.  Really, they didn’t deserve to win this game.

The Maine Red Claws, as expected, destroyed the league’s worst team tonight in front of another sellout crowd in the Portland Expo. Despite Bill Walker being sent back up to the Celtics, Alexis Ajinca not at his best, and Lester Hudson only arriving for the second half, it was no contest. At various times the Jam tried to turn it into a contest. While it looked like they might get it going and make it a game, their rally never quite materialized. After the first quarter it was never closer than nine points.

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Via the Red Claws’ Facebook page:

The Red Claws face the Bakersfield Jam today at 1:00 in front of another sell out crowd. Did we mention that Celtics have sent Lester Hudson to us again?!

The move makes sense; with Paul Pierce out with an injury, it’s more pressing for the Celtics to have Bill Walker and J.R. Giddens with the big club than it is to have Hudson.

Yesterday’s win wasn’t pretty. The Celtics had 20 turnovers. They shot only 42.5%. They hit only four out of 15 threes. No, the game wasn’t pretty at all.

But it sure was a win Doc Rivers could be proud of.

Via the Boston Globe:

“A lot of good things happened for us. Our defense won the game. We talked about it for two days – the only way we’re going to win this game is in a defensive game. We’re not going to come in without Paul Pierce and shoot them out of the game, that wasn’t going to happen. We were going to have a great defensive team and we were. It was not the prettiest ball – I can tell you both teams played tremendous defense, by the way. We didn’t lose points in that stretch – no one was scoring. It was ugly ball. But I don’t necessarily think that’s bad basketball, I think that’s two teams playing extremely hard and playing great defense.’’

I’m not like a lot of people. I’d rather see a low-scoring, grind-it-out game, as long as both teams are giving it their all. I want to see players hitting the floor after loose balls, hard box-outs on missed shots, and contested jumpers rather than open ones.

And by those parameters, yesterday was certainly satisfying.

Every Christmas Eve, my family and I sit down and watch “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the timeless Christmas movie released in 1947.  Every Christmas Eve — without fail – I claim it’s an overrated movie, then get suckered into its heart-warming story.  By the end of the movie, I’m without a doubt holding back tears, or attempting to secretly wipe them away from my eyes.  I can’t let my family detect me tearing up… it’s an overrated movie, remember?

Anyways, I will now admit it’s one of the best movies ever made, and then hope beyond hope my family doesn’t read this post.  After all, next year I’ll have to make my claim that it’s an overrated movie; it’s become a Christmas tradition, like opening presents, singing carols, or drinking egg nog.  (Of course, an hour or so later I’ll be weeping like Adam Morrison in the NCAA tournament; yet another King family Christmas tradition.)

If you don’t know the premise of “It’s a Wonderful Life”, it’s this: (Note: I promise there is a point to this.  Bear with me.)  A businessman named George Bailey runs an exceedingly moral Building and Loan and successfully battles the local tyrant (Mr. Potter) who wants to take over the town and run it down, in the process almost single-handedly saving his town from the clutches of despair.  But then he runs into enormous bad luck; his uncle Billy accidentally gives $8,000 to Mr. Potter, and the bank is suddenly short money and in trouble with the police.  As George thinks suicidal thoughts, he prays for some help, and it comes… in the form of his guardian angel Clarence.

Long story short, Clarence takes George into an alternate reality and shows him what his life would have been like if he were never born, essentially proving how many lives George has touched.

So why the hell am I talking about It’s a “Wonderful Life”?  I’m supposed to be discussing the Celtics, aren’t I?

And I will, by putting Paul Pierce into the shoes of George Bailey and showing him what the Celtics would have been like had he never been born….

Cue the smoke, bring on Clarence, and let’s take Pierce back to the 1998 NBA Draft…

As the future Pierce watches and thinks to himself, “I’m about to get drafted,” David Stern comes to the podium to announce the 10th pick of the NBA Draft:

“And with the 10th pick of the 1998 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics select… Bonzi Wells.”

The crowd murmurs for awhile, wondering 1) who the hell Bonzi Wells is [after all, he went to Ball State, and wasn't exactly a known commodity], and 2) how the Celtics didn’t use that pick to scoop up Michael Doleac.  Future Pierce, meanwhile, is puzzled. 

“But I was drafted with that pick.  Not Bonzi Wells.”

“Keep watching,” said Clarence. “It gets worse.”
 
Future Pierce is whisked away to the following year, to a casino in Las Vegas, where  Antoine Walker and Bonzi Wells are playing craps.
 
Pierce walks up to Antoine, and yells, “‘Toine, my man! What’s going on?”
 
Walker looks at him questioningly, before deciding he doesn’t know who the hell Pierce is. 
 
“It’s me, ‘Toine!  Paul.  The Truth.  We went to the conference finals together, ‘Toine!  We beat the Nets in one of the most memorable comebacks ever.  We were the second-best team in the East, ‘Toine, and it was almost all because of you and me!”
 
Walker shakes his head, looks at Wells and starts to laugh.  “The Celtics, in the conference finals?  This guy must be wild.  I’ve never seen him before in my life, and he’s telling me we beat the Nets in one of the most memorable comebacks ever. Ha! Shit, we just went through a 5-45 season. (Editor’s note: the lockout.)  We started Eric Riley at center half the time.  (Editor’s note: Eric Riley is a real person, and he started 11 games for the ’98-’99 Celtics.)  Our backcourt was Kenny Anderson and Ron Mercer, and we had Vitaly Potapenko in the starting lineup too, damnit.  Without a real scoring threat, we couldn’t even stay in games, never mind win them.  And this guy’s trying to talk about the Conference Finals?  Shit.”
 
Pierce takes another look at Walker and realizes, Wow, he’s pretty damn fat.  He wasn’t that fat back then, was he?  How’d he get so big?
 
Then he takes one more look back at Walker and Wells, who are double-fisting cheeseburgers and losing money at a steady rate.  Oh….
 
Fast forward to the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals…
 
Future Pierce has seen enough to realize he won’t be playing in the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals.  But what he doesn’t realize is that the Detroit Pistons, starting Chucky Atkins, Ben Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, Clifford Robinson and Michael Curry, would be in the Finals.
 
“Michael Curry?” Pierce asks.  “Starting in the Eastern Conference Finals?”
 
“I know,” responds Clarence. “It surprised me, too.  He averaged a whopping four points per game, and it’s not like he was surrounded by a ton of scorers to carry the load.  I would have you keep watching, but I can’t handle watching basketball this bad.  You see, this series would have set basketball back a decade… if anyone in the country had actually been interested in watching Michael Curry battle Keith Van Horn. Without your comeback, your heart, and your passion, this was probably the worst Conference Finals series in NBA history.”
 
A flabbergasted Future Pierce is transported through time back into 2009, Christmas Day.  Pierce opens his eyes to see a room full of people wearing Celtics gear and watching the Crhistmas Day games on t.v., only the Celtics aren’t who he thought they would be…
 
Pierce looks to Clarence in shock: “Gerald Green?  Sebastian Telfair?  Brian Scalabrine?  Where are KG and Ray Allen?”
 
“Without you, neither of those guys wanted to play for Boston.  And, besides, the GM wouldn’t have wanted them… what’s the point of one star player around a roster full of scrubs?  The Celtics are committed to rebuilding.”
 
“But with Gerald Green and Sebastian Telfiar?” Pierce wondered.  “And who’s that 50-year old seven-footer walking around on crutches?”
 
“Why, that’s no 50-year old,” explained Clarence. “That’s Greg Oden.  The Celtics traded away their first-round draft picks for the next five years to get him, and he’s been hurt pretty much ever since.”
 
Wow, thought Pierce. I never thought I was this valuable to the Celtics.  Just look at what would have happened to their organization if I’d never been born.
 
“See Paul,” injected Clarence. ”You’re the richest man in town.  Remember, no man is a failure who has a ring.”
 
“But Clarence,” Pierce said.  “One last question… What in the world is Vinny Del Negro doing in here?”
 
“When Doc Rivers was fired, the Celtics hired him as their coach.”