• Jeff Green continues to be stagnant playing with the Celtics starting unit, I maintain my previously held belief that he would be best suited playing with the second unit.  With the playoff rotation very much in flux it will be interesting to see which player combinations Doc ends up putting on the floor to try to get some offensive flow without
• Paul Pierce did look good in the minutes he did play, shooting 5-7 from the field with 11 points.  You know… for what its worth.
• Jordan Crawford continues to do Jordan Crawford-y things (see: draining a half court shot, flailing limbs in the lane, hacking defense, and some sneaky nice passing.)
• Courtney Lee playing at a relatively high level will be necessary in the playoffs, especially against the Knicks who have more guards than the president.  He played a run-of-the-mill 30 minutes in this game expect Lee to get much less in the playoffs, but be expected to be a defensive stopper off the bench– particularly to defend likely 6th-man of the year J.R. Smith.
• Fab (ulous) Melo sighting tonight in what was a thirty point game for much of the third quarter.  He finished with an inspired two points and two rebounds in 17 m5inutes.
• I cannot wait until Reggie Evans retires and Quincy Acy takes his place as the leagues prototypical “great rebounder, slightly dirty, piss-off-opponents guy with a bald head and a scraggly beard.”

The NBA playoffs are just around the corner and while there is a boring two-day buffer between now and the post-season tip-off, all of Boston’s hard work over the last 81 games will all come to head in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knickerbockers.  Seems like just yesterday we were talking about Bo McCallebb and his pesky Fenerbahce team. This Celtics team has certainly gone through a lot, expect some season reviews and playoff previews in the coming days from the Celtics Town team.

Follow Jesse on Twitter: J_duderanch

In a press release tonight, the Celtics announced that the NBA has canceled Tuesday’s game against the Indiana Pacers:

Out of respect to all those who have been impacted by the tragic events today in Boston, including members of the extended Celtics family, the Boston Celtics and the NBA have decided to cancel the game scheduled for Tuesday, April 16, between the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers.

The game will not be rescheduled. Instructions for any fans holding tickets to the game will be provided on Celtics.com after 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16.

Our sincere sympathies go out to all those affected by this senseless tragedy. The entire Celtics organization would like to acknowledge the heroic efforts of the brave civilian, police, fire and medical personnel responding today in the City of Boston.

The game would not matter in terms of playoff seeding, but that’s not really the point.

The city of Boston took a serious hit this afternoon as the city was subjected to horrible acts against innocent citizens.  As easy as it is for the natural reaction to be disgust that something this atrocious could occur in our society– people’s responses to these acts is a far truer reflection of our society and the City of Boston.  The outpouring of support at blood banks, the long list of people who offered housing, the courage and selflessness of all of those who put their lives on the line to rush people to safety– those are the people who truly reflect Boston and the United States of America.  My thoughts are with everyone in Boston tonight, as there is not a shred of doubt that Boston will show how strong it truly is in the face of such unthinkable tragedy.

The Celtics-Heat rivalry has been strong ever since the self-proclaimed King James decided to famously take his talents to South Beach.  Miami had the talent, but Boston had the experience—up until last year when the new big three, donning Miami red, captured the allusive NBA championship and Boston and Miami’s roles were immediately changed.  Tonight will most definitely have a different feel with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett both sitting for the Celtics (per ESPN) and the Miami Heat will be at full strength—playing James, Wade, and Bosh (per ESPN).

Boston is now the old feisty team who still has the talent to do some damage and is still a team that can come together and look dangerous for stretches, but has been ravished with injuries and has never really played at high levels for any maintained stretch.   Conversely, Miami is the juggernaut in the NBA, cruising easily to home-court through the conference finals and managing to sit their big three (and Mario Chalmers) to rest their late season nagging injuries.  Hard not to imagine how this season would have panned out had Boston won game seven of the conference finals…

This takes us into the latest Celtics-Heat battle tonight down in Miami.  That’s right, Boston is playing Miami tonight and yes—that might have slipped through the cracks when scanning the sports headlines this morning.  Even the little Danny Ainge and Pat Riley exchange couldn’t provide media hype around this game as Heat fans (resisting natural impulses for a cheap shot) are most likely treating the rest of the season as a preseason of sorts for the playoffs.  Miami has had the Eastern Conference looking for answers for the past three months, and has had the number one seed locked down since their historic 27 game win streak.

The Celtics have been trying to work through the kinks in their probable playoff starting unit, reincorporating the Big Ticket has resulted in a tough win in Washington and a tough loss at Brooklyn where it is obvious Garnett needs to regain his confidence, particularly around the rim.  It might be ugly for the Boston side tonight as Bradley and Green are both coming off sub-par performances and the team continues to work through their ball-handling issues, especially with their two vets sitting this one out.

The Heat sat James, Wade, and Bosh (and Haslem!) in their game against Washington on Wednesday, but have chosen to play their full squad tonight.  The Heat have earned the right to fill their injury report with players with long-season bumps and bruises– allowing them some rest before postseason tip-off, which makes Spoelstra’s decision to play everyone tonight a bit more peculiar.

Where the story line gets interesting is in the Celtics looking to secure the seven seed and avoid the very team they play on Friday night in the NBA’s second season.  The Celtics magic number is at two for locking in that coveted seventh spot, so a win tonight would go a long way for the guys in green.  As mediocre as Boston has been playing, the Bucks have matched their efforts losing four of their last five games.

This is de facto play-in game for the Celtics and while it might not have the stars or the implications of the last two Celtics versus Heat games (Rondo injury news and C’s overtime win and Celtics almost break the win streak) Friday night’s game still has some importance in its own B-list kind of way.  No one expects Boston to pull this game out, but maybe just maybe, Boston can prove they still have the championship spirit.

Follow Jesse on Twitter: J_duderanch

Crawford did play for the Wizards! Here is proof!

Jordan Crawford was traded to the Celtics at the trade deadline for an injured Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins.  Crawford has given the Celtics some offense off the bench and has been the gunner Boston’s offense has desperately needed with their injury ravished line-up.  Sure he is reckless, as he makes both Doc and the opposing coach worried whenever he is on the floor, but he is one of the question marks for the Celtics heading into playoff time who could be a role players who ends up being responsible for winning a playoff game.

Either way the Xavier product said some pretty awesome things heading into Sunday’s match-up with his old squad the Washington Wizards (via The Washington Post):

“Who?” Crawford said, before adding, “I don’t recall playing for Washington.”…

“Just the seriousness it takes every day [in Boston]. The players we have are different. It’s a blessing to be here and learn from the best,”…

“It’s just another game,” Crawford said. “I want to come out and try to win the game.”

Here is my personal take on what Crawford said:

First quotation: I am a huge fan of the ‘they did me dirty, so they have moved out of my conscious awareness’ approach.  It’s always amusing and much better than flat out ragging on your old ball club, because that never does anything good to the public image.  That being said– isn’t this prime time bulletin-board material for the Wizards? Won’t this be the chip on their should they were looking for against the Celtics? Am I giving their motivation to win too much credit for a team fighting for draft lottery position? (The answer is most likely ‘yes’ on all fronts.)

Second quotation: I could hear these kinds of quotations from new personnel all day.  Music to my ears– Boston might be fighting off the Bucks, a .500 record, and a plethora of injury problems in April, but if they keep feeding me the ‘we have maintained a winning attitude’ comments I could sleep easy.

Third quotation: Is it ever really ‘just another game’?  Basketball has a long 82 games season, many of the games are against non-playoff teams and are played on weeknights.  In that spirit, players have to look towards little things to keep them motivated.  The good players will usually show up for the big games, but the games against the Wizards in April does not fit into the previously described category of ‘big games’.  Long story short– any way to get self motivated to play at a high level when the situation does not necessitate that type of performance is a smart move from a competitive stand point.  In an entirely unfounded claim, I think Crawford does care about this game but only for the purpose of riling up extra competitive juices during a tough stretch  of the season.

Boston plays the Washington Wizards (who?) at six this afternoon and the game has the potential to be a good one as Washington has been playing good ball since John Wall came back from injury.  It will be interesting to see how Jordan Crawford handles his new NBA team squaring off against his old club.

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Jeff Green has been all smiles since March hit

Doc Rivers spoke in practice about Green’s starting gig once KG gets back, saying that he has wanted to start the Georgetown product for quite some time, but his play has only recently justified that decision (via ESPN Boston):

“I was hoping (to start Green consistently at some point),” Rivers said. “That was my intention. We weren’t going to give it to him, he had to be more consistent to do that. Starters have to be consistent. Bench players are the inconsistent guys that go up and down. Jeff has earned that. And I’m really happy because he makes everyone better.”

Jeff Green has been lighting it up recently, with his 34 points carrying the Celtics to a much needed victory on Wednesday night.  He has been aggressive, shooting at a high clip, and finally silencing the “why are we paying him so much?! Why did we trade him for Perk?!” naysayers.  I’m not going to pretend like I was not in both of those camps before the ides of March hit, because I very much so was– but even those most pessimistic about Jeff Green’s basketball prowess recognized his talent and potential from back in his OKC days.

Its nice that those skills are now being actualized into on-court dominance.  Green seems to have gotten his swagger back, driving with confidence and finishing with finesse.

There is no doubt that he deserves to be a starter, but an important question is should he be.  I am inclined to say no.  As frustrating as Brandon Bass can be,  he fits in with the starting unit– hitting the open jumpers and rebounding at a decent level.  It also seems as though Jason Terry and Green are just starting to hit their groove together and Green has shined when he has been surrounded by less talent– providing him with the confidence to run the offense and attack the rim.  That ability is a dime-a-dozen and could be enormously helpful once the Celtics get Garnett back from injury, letting Pierce be the facilitator with the starting unit with Green running the show with Terry and Crawford of the bench.

Green’s new confidence can only be a good thing.  It is just important Doc and co figure out how to maintain that confidence as Boston gets closer to full strength.

No KG or Pierce at Celtics shootaround this morning. Pierce remains game-time decision vs. DET, according to the team.

April 3, 2013 12:04 pm via EchofonReplyRetweetFavorite

@ESPNForsberg

Chris Forsberg

Strangely enough, I think the Celtics will pull this win out, regardless of Pierce’s playing status.  Boston has lost seven of its last nine games and is 0-2 against the pesky Pistons (not really, just liked the alliteration.)  Perhaps it is former Celtics assistant coach Lawrence Frank who seems to have Boston’s number, but Boston needs to find some wins to lock up a playoff spot (their magic number is 2) and fend off the Bucks to avoid Miami in the first round.  I irrationally think this will sink in tonight and the Celtics will play the kind of basketball we all know they can (if you’re forcing me: Celtics win 94-77.)

The guys in green have been playing uninspired basketball as of late and a blowout win would do wonders for the team psyche and playoff positioning.  It just got tougher with Pierce’s lingering health issues and Garnett yet to return from a swollen foot.

Follow Jesse on Twitter, and yell at him for jynxing the C’s if they lose tonight: J_duderanch