Maine Red Claws (20-13) vs. Fort Wayne Mad Ants (12-19)
7:30PM Wednesday, February 24, Portland Expo
7:30PM Thursday, February 25, Portland Expo

The Maine Red Claws return to the Expo after, between the All-Star break and a road trip, two weeks away. They face off against the Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Indianapolis Pacers) in back-to-back games Wednesday and Thursday.
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Ray Allen is still a Celtic.

A new-look New York Knicks squad will come to Boston tonight to take on the Celtics.  The C’s will have a new look, too, but it might be more jarring to see the diminutive backup guard wearing Blue and Orange tonight than it is to see the other diminutive backup guard making his Boston deput.

In the spirit of what should be a memorable night, I’d love to see three standing ovations tonight.  The first should go to Eddie House, for his return to the building where he made his first real NBA home.  The second should go to Nate Robinson for the debut of his Celtics career that might last only a few months, but will hopefully be littered with slam dunks, steals, wins, and championships.

And the third?  No, I don’t think Bill Walker or J.R. Giddens deserve a standing ovation.  Is it T-Mac?  Dream on.  I’d almost rather give an ovation to Pau Gasol.  And I don’t think anybody would know Marcus Landry from the ballboy, so that rules him out.

Before you start guessing who else we should stand and cheer for, let me just tell you.  That last standing ovation should be for Ray Allen.  He wasn’t even supposed to be in Boston tonight, remember?  Rumored to be headed anywhere from Golden St. to Philly, Allen was all but a goner.  He wasn’t supposed to be in the Garden.  He was supposed to be in some foreign uniform, launching his picture-perfect jumper in some enemy arena, epitomizing class for some opposing fanbase.

But instead he’s here, back in the Bean, and starting to get hot as Boston prepares for the stretch run.  Whether Danny Ainge ever seriously considered trading Ray we might never know.  And, really, it probably doesn’t matter that we don’t.  Ray Allen is a Boston Celtic, and that’s all there is to it.

There was a time only a few days ago when I thought he would never play another game in front of a Boston home crowd.  I thought his last home game in Boston would forever be remembered for an abysmal third quarter, as the Magic gave Boston the worst 7-point shellacking ever witnessed and Ray walked off the court, probably wondering if he would ever don the Celtics home whites again.

Now, he has his answer.  The white #20 will once again be in use, and the man wearing it will be the same one who’s used it for the past two and a half years.  The white shooting sleeve will be pulled over his arm, and Allen will go through the same pre-game shooting routine he always does.

Tonight, he’ll come around screens and release a quick trigger three that seems more natural than anyone else’s.  He’ll pull up in transition, letting his shot go with a somewhat low trajectory for such a dead-eye shooter.  He’ll step to the free throw line, practice his form with one hand, then dribble the ball a few times, spin it a couple more, and unleash a devastatingly accurate dart at the rim.  He’ll drive to the hoop, creating swooping layups from either hand that make it look like finishing over and around seven-footers is effortless.  He’ll stop on a dime in the lane, floating in a ten-foot tear-drop jump shot high over a defender’s outstretched arms.

And he’ll do it as a Boston Celtic.

For a few months, at least, the Big Three live on.

*****

Three things to look for in tonight’s game:

1. Will Paul Pierce play? – Pierce’s status is up in the air for now.  I’d prefer if he wouldn’t play tonight, but I understand that he’s a competitor who hates to miss games.  If he plays, let’s hope he shoots better than the 2-10 he put up against Denver.
2. Eddie House’s return – It’ll be tough to see Eddie come back in a visitor’s uniform.  I’ll find it hard not to cheer for him.
3. Nate Robinson’s debut – How much does Nate help?  Does he fit in?  Can he play consistent defense and learn Boston’s defensive rotations?  Not all of that will be answered tonight, but it will be exciting to see Tiny Tim in Celtics colors.

Here are a few neat Celtics stories that came out today. Hope you enjoy.

Nate Robinson sucks up (ESPNBoston)

Rivers talked to Robinson Thursday and shared what would be expected of the fifth-year guard, who is expected to serve as the backup point guard behind Rajon Rondo, but also provide some of the scoring flare he was known for in New York.

“[The call] went well, but it was more one-sided with me talking and him just sucking up for minutes,” joked Rivers. “It went well, he asked a lot of good questions about the defense, his role, all that stuff. I can’t wait to get him here and get to work with him.”

Nate Robinson is trying to get off on a better foot with Rivers than he ended with Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni. Something tells me Nate’s sick of all those DNP’s he was racking up.

Doc Rivers’ attempts to keep the mood light (the Globe)

Said Allen, “We were saying how it’s a lot of guys in grocery carts this past month, because a couple of us have been shopped left and right.’’

That morning at breakfast, just to gauge the tension, Doc Rivers played a small joke. He called a few players up one by one, as if bearing bad news. When they got there, he told them he just wanted to say, ‘Hi.’ ’’

“All the guys who had been mentioned in trades, I thought they would get nervous,’’ Rivers said. “It was a good joke.’

Imagine J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker and Eddie House when they got called into Rivers’ office. They probably just thought they were going to get a simple “hi.” Not exactly.

J.R Giddens’ tattoo still has meaning (WEEI)

You have that shamrock tattooed behind your ear. What’s next?

With the shamrock, it took me 22 years to get drafted to the NBA and the Celtics were the first team that gave me the opportunity to go on and play professional and follow my dreams and my heart. Every one of my tattoos means something so that’s always going to be my first, so the shamrock stays.

I wonder where the tattoo of his first girlfriend is.

Your newest Boston Celtic. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Nate Robinson is finally, officially, a Boston Celtic.  Two sources — Newsday’s Alan Hahn and the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn — have confirmed that the trade has officially gone through.  Hahn thinks the trade is as Real GM reported:

Nate Robinson trade official: Nate and Marcus Landry for Eddie House, JR Giddens and Bill Walker.

More analysis on the trade to come later.

I'm not even sure this IS Marcus Landry. Anyone who's ever heard of him know what he looks like?

Nate Robinson talks are complete or nearing completion, and the rumored trade involves Marcus Landry joining Robinson on his way to Boston. The trade, according to Real GM, is as follows:

Multiple sources say the Knicks have reached a tentative agreement on a deal with Boston sending Nate Robinson and a second player to the Celtics for Eddie House, J.R. Giddens and Bill Walker.

Marcus Landry will be the other player sent to Boston, according to a source that spoke with RealGM’s Christopher Reina.

If this is it — and I haven’t heard any rumblings of any other Boston possibilities — I can assume Danny Ainge is not happy with the trades. The Celtics have been in a tailspin and I don’t think anybody believes Marcus Landry and Nate Robinson will come to the rescue.

Still, adding Walker to the mix adds some interesting possibilities. Specifically, will they make another trade to make use of the two roster spots? (All signs say no.) Or are they planning to fill those spots after some buy-outs have been made?

I can’t be more disappointed. Nate Robinson’s the best the Celtics could do? NATE ROBINSON?? And I even like the trade, on its own. I just think Boston needed to do something more — something bigger  — to change the momentum.

If anything happens between 2:10 and 3:30, I’ll be back right after to fill you in. I have a paper due at the worse possible time.

Eddie House isn't officially a Knick... yet. (Photo by Bill Frakes)

The Eddie House-for-Nate Robinson swap that has been rumored for days still isn’t a done deal, according to the Boston Herald. 

“I wouldn’t say it’s a done deal, but there’s a pretty good chance it’s going through,” said House’s agent, Mark Bartelstein.

A Celtics source said last night that talks would resume today.

For now, it all looks like the wait is for no other reason than to put the finishing touches on the deal.  Nate Robinson missed last night’s game with “flu-like symptoms”, but his locker has already been cleared out and there has been speculation to whether he’s already on a flight to L.A.

But the fact remains that the deal isn’t done and the talks might continue right through today’s deadline.  The Celtics are still considering trading Ray Allen or making at least one other trade besides Nate Robinson.

Via the Herald again:

And as in most businesses, negotiations can take longer than planned.

A Celtics source said yesterday there was a good chance that talks could stretch right up to today’s trade deadline. The Celtics also hadn’t closed the door on trading Ray Allen in a much bigger trade, though the source characterized the Celtics as reluctant to make such a deal.

The possibility also remains that the Celtics could make more than one trade before today’s deadline.

If the C’s ever do finalize this deal, which seems almost 100% likely, they might involve the Kings as a third team in the trade.  The two names almost certain to be involved in the deal are Eddie House and J.R. Giddens.  But don’t expect Kevin Martin to be part of the deal.  He’s already been traded away to Houston in a massive blockbuster including Tracy McGrady.

The Houston Rockets have reached an agreement in principle to acquire Kevin Martin from the Sacramento Kings, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The proposed deal has the Rockets sending Tracy McGrady, Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey to the Kings for Martin, Sergio Rodriguez, Hilton Armstrong and Kenny Thomas.

Two league sources tell Y! Sports the Kings are unsure whether they will keep McGrady or expand the trade to three teams and send him to the New York Knicks.

Despite the possibility that Nate Robinson will provide a spark to his slumping ballclub, Doc Rivers seems shook that the Celtics might be losing a core player from the championship year.

“I told him what was going on,’’ said Rivers. “I was honest with him. I did tell him if he didn’t want to practice, that’s fine.

“It’s easy for me to move guys around the exterior of our core. It’s very difficult for me to ever even think about touching anybody in our core. So if we do this, that in my opinion is what we’d be doing, and for me that’s a tough thing to do. But that’s life in the NBA.’’

“I also told him nothing’s done, and nothing is done. Eddie’s a part of our core, and he’ll always be part of that.”

If Doc feels that way about trading Eddie House, how’s he going to feel if Ray Allen gets traded?  Life in the NBA can be rough.

Keep checking the site throughout the day.  We’ll have plenty of updates coming your way, I’m sure.