The Boston Celtics should wake up tomorrow morning with a few regrets. Kevin Garnett missed a wide open layup during crunch time. So did Paul Pierce. Courtney Lee airballed a wide open three. Rajon Rondo missed a shot to end regulation and couldn’t get his footing when he had a chance to steal a win on the final play of overtime.

The Celtics also did a few really good things down the stretch — the pick-and-roll that allowed Garnett to tie the game in regulation was delicious, as was the defense to snuff out Philadelphia’s final possession of regulation; also, I’m not sure you noticed, but Jeff Green was pretty damn good — but just not consistently enough to earn a win. Evan Turner, who, without checking stats, seems to average 497 points per game against the Celtics, drilled the game-winner. The Celtics would have gotten a good look when Garnett found Rondo cutting to the hoop on the ensuing play, but Rondo’s feet wouldn’t stay properly planted beneath him.

Since I currently have pink eye, coughed enough today to infect seven cities full of people and downed several more Advil pills than the doctor would recommend, I’ll keep this short and sweet. A few notes:

• It’s weird to see Jason Terry miss jump shots, and open ones, so frequently. JET finished 1-12 from the floor and 1-7 from the 3-point arc. Every time he shot, I was still convinced it would fall.
• Green was really good. Active on defense and strong on the glass, he had 19 points and 8 rebounds with 6-12 shooting. If I’m counting correctly, that’s four straight good games for Green, which, I’m guessing, is his longest such streak since becoming a Celtic.
• I didn’t have a problem with Garnett passing on the final play or Rondo pulling up rather than continuing to the rim for a layup. Rondo was open, and I’m not sure he had enough time to get all the way to the rim. It stunk that he couldn’t keep his balance long enough to get off a good shot, but the play was actually a really good one. (UPDATE: Garnett said the play was called for him, and he ad-libbed upon seeing Rondo streak toward the hoop. I still liked it. Would have gotten a really good look if Rondo had remained fully upright.)
• Jared Sullinger had five rebounds in 14 minutes. He’s pretty heroic in that sense.
• Pierce was obscenely aggressive throughout, which is why he finished with 27 points despite missing almost two-thirds of his field goal attempts and going just 1-8 from the arc. I don’t know whether to be encouraged by his aggression or insulted by his shooting accuracy. Either way, I loved the one dunk he had after going baseline on Evan Turner.
• I meant to call him “goddamn Evan Turner.” Goddamn Turner was kind of Pierce’s mirror image. He scored a lot (25 points), shot poorly (10-26 shooting) and made a lot of nice plays along the way (including the winner, which finished off his 25-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist stat line).
• At halftime, I never thought it would take me this long to mention Rondo’s first two quarters, which were so good (14 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists) that he had Dwight Howard and the Los Angeles Lakers watching on television with awe. But Rondo really slowed down after halftime to finish with a ho-hum, 16/14/13 triple-double. Jrue Holiday, before fouling out, really seemed to do a good job defensively. Full disclosure: I may or may not have a man crush on Holiday’s game.

Okay, I need to go get healthy now. This pink eye stuff is horrible. I need to tell Tom, Jordan and Jesse to stop farting on my pillow.

Via ESPN Boston:

“I can guarantee that the people in Minnesota, they miss what he does in the locker room,” Rivers said. “They miss what he does on the floor in practice everyday, his work ethic. He has this ability to give himself to a team. It’s rare that you see a superstar do that, and he does that. I mean, he gives himself completely to his team, and just tells them to use him whatever way, whatever you want. It’s nice to have. That’s what I think he brings to a franchise, is a star who is over himself and that’s really good.” Later Rivers added, “I don’t know if everyone understands, even on our team, or publicly, who Kevin Garnett really is. Just as far as what he’s done, his body of work. There’s the Hall of Fame, and then there’s the table at the Hall of Fame. And Kevin Garnett is at the table. Very few people get to sit at the table.”

With KG meeting his old team yesterday, I wrote a bit for MassLive mostly about what he’s meant to the Celtics. Go read it if you want.

Avery Bradley says "I'm maybe a week or two weeks away from returning to full practice." #Celtics

December 5, 2012 7:28 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@Trags

Mike Petraglia

Via the Boston Globe:

“I feel a lot better,” Bradley said. “I’m just so excited that I’m getting more closer medically. I can’t wait to see my teammates. Every single day I come in, I tell the trainers to have them test me out to see how strong I am.”

“Doc kind of stays out of [when I would return],” Bradley said. “It’s really up to the trainers and the strength and conditioning coaches and me, to see how I feel. It’s hard for him to determine because I’m such a tough guy and I want to get out there. They put me through a lot of tests because I lie to them sometimes because I want to be back. They’re just protecting me and I want to protect myself because when I come back I want to have no setbacks.

Via the Boston Globe:

Agent Andy Miller, who also represents Celtics center Kevin Garnett, said he has not had a conversation about Martin with Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge since July.

Martin is one of many veterans — including Mike Bibby, Gilbert Arenas, Erick Dampier, and Troy Murphy — waiting for another NBA chance. According to an NBA source, the Celtics have considered bringing in Dampier for a look.

Erick (-a) Dampier played 15 games last season, averaging 0.1 points per contest. He appeared in four games against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference first round, putting up 4.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 13.8 minutes. I didn’t remember at all how he played, so I looked back into the internets to find my reaction. Once, I wrote that “multiple ‘Erick Dampier still has hands made of brick’ reminders” were among the gifts Game 3 provided. Another time, during Game 6, I tweeted, “If the Hawks were to stop passing to Erick Dampier, I assume it would help their chances of forcing a Game 7.” And if you don’t want to take my word for it, listen to the Hawks owner: “Our center is Erick Dampier. God bless his heart, but he looks like a granddad.”

So no, I don’t think Dampier would help much, even if he once incited a Lakers crowd by shoving Kobe in the open court.

911: what's the problem?Me: like to report a missing 3pt shot.911: where was it last seen?Me: Houston, TX911: gym flow YA BISH!Swerve!

December 1, 2012 12:47 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@CourtneyLee2211

Courtney Lee

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Courtney Lee’s cold outside shooting seems to have gotten to his head. It’s sad, too. Because though he’s currently shooting 21.7 percent from the arc, a million-ish miles from his career 38.1 percent mark, he played his best all-around game of the season last night.

Via the Boston Globe:

“Rondo initiated everything that proceeded after the foul. And when he and Humphries go into the stands, they are involved in a fight. Fighting is an automatic ejection.”

I can’t argue that Rondo initiated everything after the foul. That’s pretty obvious. But in a league where Kevin Love got two games for viciously stepping on Luis Scola’s face, Rondo shouldn’t get more than one or two games for a few shoves (assuming that’s all he did — some reporters suggested Rondo threw punches, but nothing in the video provides evidence he did). I probably wouldn’t even suspend him, as long as there really were no punches thrown. Then again, I am currently wearing a Celtics t-shirt and will be putting on my Celtics hat before I leave for work. I might not me the most unbiased person to ask for suspension advice here.