“I want to say out of nowhere, but he came from somewhere.” – Donny Marshall

After the jump, what Jason Kidd would have done once upon a time. Read more »

Jason Kidd's next target? The infamous Joey Crawford.

Is it just me, or did Jason Kidd give the referee a little extra shove at the end? 

I came across this video on Youtube and knew it had to be the highlight reel of the day. How often does a player get to hit a ref, or a fan get to witness a ref hit the deck like a fat seventh-grader in a Cold War air raid drill. My only regret was that it wasn’t Joey Crawford or Joe DeRosa taking the hit.

In honor of Jason Kidd receiving more votes for the NBA All-Defensive Team than Ron Artest, I set out to find Kidd’s best alley oop ever.  This one, to Kenyon Martin, takes the cake.

And about all those All-Defensive votes: Doesn’t everyone know by now that Jason Kidd is swiss cheese?

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.

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “The Celtics are about to experience something completely different – a six-games-in-12-days homestand. ‘I don’t think any of us knows what that feels like,’ Ray Allen said of a stretch that begins tonight against Denver at the Garden. ‘We haven’t been home that long all year. Hopefully I can get my bags unpacked.’ Perhaps they can unpack some of what worked on their 2-1 road swing through Texas and Utah. The second half of Monday night’s frustrating loss to the Jazz aside, the Celtics showed some of the most promising signs yet that they are ready for a stretch run.”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “So there is much at stake in this six-game stretch, with four opponents heading to the playoffs (Denver, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Cleveland) in addition to a difficult game against Houston and a tricky matchup with the young Kings. ‘It’s tough, but it’s at home,’ said coach Doc Rivers. ‘It would be a nice chance to reestablish us at home. We haven’t done that this year yet. We haven’t had a lot of rhythm at home, so we have a chance right now.’ The numbers at home are quite similar to the road numbers, hence the nearly identical records. The Celtics score almost 3 more points per game at TD Garden and allow opponents just 1.6 more points.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “The Celtics’ play of late has squashed a number of the questions and concerns about them being too old to compete with the top teams. ‘Maybe for 82 games, people can say that … the Celtics are too old,’ Dallas guard Jason Kidd told CSNNE.com recently. ‘But when it comes down to it, they keep on winning. Come playoff time, you don’t look at age. You look at experience and understanding the situation.’ The Celtics’ situation is pretty clear – keep on winning. ‘We want to be greedy, especially this time of year,’ Pierce said. ‘Our goal is to win every game.’”

Peter May, ESPNBoston – “The Celtics looked tired against the Jazz. It was their third game in four days, and they had no response to the Jazz in the second half. The season-long bugaboos — turnovers, rebounding — surfaced again. The C’s lost to a very good team on the road. It happens. Only one Eastern Conference team — Atlanta — has won in Salt Lake City. So what does it all mean going forward? The mission statement continues to be ‘We just want to get better.’ Doc Rivers admits it sounds corny and that most people probably don’t believe him. Rivers still hopes that the team he had in November and December, the one before the injuries hit, can re-emerge.”

Greg Payne, CelticsBlog – “And now, as the C’s continue to gear up for the postseason, they are about to welcome in the Denver Nuggets, the Sacramento Kings, the San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Houston Rockets, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Hopefully the Celtics will welcome these clubs in with nothing short of a sincere sense of utter hostility. For, with the playoffs looming, it would be nice to see this club continue to fine tune its game, re-establish the roles of its essential players, and play with the same sense of bravado that they’ve displayed several times on the road this season. We applauded their efforts against the Rockets and Mavericks. That aggression, that intensity (particularly on the defensive end), and that sense of calm amidst their opponents’ respective runs – we all want to see more of it, for its what we expected to see all along.”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – [Nate Robinson said,] “I remember one time I was like 15 or 16 and I was in Oakland, California. There was this park where I grew up called Bushrod, it’s in north Oakland, me and my family took a little trip up to another park called Mosswood. It’s like rival parks and my family went up there and we played against another family. I remember we put the money in a hat, everybody put in five dollars. … We played for hat, played for the money. I remember this one big dude, my cousin threw me an alley-oop and I caught it and I dunked on him. I was screaming and yelling. He was like, ‘If you do that again, I’m doing to kick your butt.’ I was like, ‘Oh man.’ So I’m going through the game, I was scoring, and it was game point. My cousin who was on fast break, she threw another lob and dude goes up and I was like, ‘A. Do I catch it and dunk on him? B. Do I let the ball go out of bounds and I lose and my family beats me up?’ (laughs) I didn’t know what to do. So I just went with my first instinct, caught it, and I dunked on him again. We got the money and we ran home. They were chasing us (laughs), they were mad.’”

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

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.

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “So . . . this is the team we have longed to see. The Celtics who are the aggressors, who don’t blame fatigue and injury, and who relish the tougher parts of their schedule. Consecutive games at Houston and Dallas are a difficult stretch for any NBA team but the Celtics spent the past two nights sending a clear message to the rest of the league. They have a lot of basketball left and there are 13 games before the playoffs to tighten up the weaknesses.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Not only did the Celtics top a Mavericks team that had won nine of its last 10 overall while surging toward the top of the West standings, but they did it on the second night of a back-to-back, mustering the energy and swagger that’s been missing for much of this calendar year. ‘It’s a good win,’ admitted Celtics coach Doc Rivers. ‘Number one, [Dallas is] playing so well. They’ve had [two] days off, had prep time for us, [while] we played last night, and, to come in and come back at the end and take the game away from them was huge for us. Our starters were the key today. They played terrific. Our execution down the stretch the last three or four games has been unbelievable. So, yeah, this was a good win for us. Big win? Yeah, I guess. But it’s just a good win for us.’”

Tim McMahon, ESPNDallas – “The Mavs, who led by seven points early in the fourth quarter, failed to get a field goal in the final 3:04. The Celtics completely shut down Dallas’ go-to plays with the game on the line. The Mavs’ most important possession of the game was a miserable display, with Boston throwing it out of whack by fronting Dirk Nowitzki at the 3-point line, causing a poor pass from Jason Terry that led to a Nowitzki turnover … and a door-slamming layup at the other end by Rajon Rondo. That layup with 1:18 remaining, which stretched the Celtics’ lead to six, was Boston’s eighth bucket in nine possessions. ‘At the end there, we couldn’t hit a shot, nor could we get a stop,’ Jason Kidd said.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘We’re on the road and it was tough atmosphere and yes it was probably one of our better games,’ Rondo said. ‘We’re getting closer, but we’re nowhere near there. We’re OK, but I wouldn’t be too excited yet. We just have to keep playing like this.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Celtics coach Doc Rivers has wanted to re-establish Paul Pierce as the team’s go-to scoring option late in recent games. With 10 games scoring in double figures out of 12 appearances this month, Pierce seems to be heating up, particularly after topping 26 points or more over the past three games. Even still, Rivers wants to see him more selfish at times. ‘[Pierce is] starting to get his confidence,’ said Rivers. ‘Right now he’s still searching a little bit. You can see it during the middle of games more. I got on him in a time-out because I thought he was looking to pass too much, which I don’t think I’ve ever had to say that to Paul, and told him to just be aggressive. ‘Just be who you are,’ and he was that. I thought Rondo was sensational as well in the pick-and-roll package down stretch.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Rivers put his second unit on the floor to start the fourth quarter, even though the Mavericks had all the momentum after Jason Kidd hit a 3-pointer to give Dallas a 70-69 lead with 1:13 left in the third. Nowitzki then hit a turnaround fadeaway from 15 feet that put the Mavericks up, 72-71, to end the quarter. ‘I said, OK, if we get down by 6 then I have to sub,’ Rivers said. When his starting five was on the floor, Dallas had no answer. But he didn’t want to burn them out. ‘I told our staff we have to buy minutes for these guys,’ Rivers said. ‘I was literally subbing on the clock. I just kept looking at the clock and even though they [the second unit] were not scoring at all, they weren’t running away from us.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Although he only had eight points on Saturday, he grabbed nine rebounds and tallied five steals. ‘Perk and I were playing defense,’ Garnett said. ‘If we had a chance to score, then score. But other than that, our focus was playing defense and I thought we did a good job collectively.’ Indeed, Boston’s win on Saturday was nothing close to a one-man operation. It serves as an example of what can happen when the C’s play at a high level, which they will surely have to do if they are to have any shot at being one of the last teams standing. ‘One day you have a great game, the next day it changes based on who you play,’ said Celtic guard Ray Allen. ‘We’re always encouraged, even when we lost a couple here and there. Yeah, we were disappointed and trying to figure out what to do, but confidence-wise, we just have to keep looking forward.’”

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

Dirk played well, but the Celtics got retribution. (Photo by Matthew Emmons/US Presswire)

I used to call balls Sam Cassells. You know, like, “Damn, that shot was clutch. He really showed some Sam Cassells on that one.” But after Ali Farokhmanesh drained a pullup three with almost a full shot clock and only 35 seconds standing between his Northern Iowa team and an upset of the number one-ranked Kansas Jayhawks, I will now call balls Farokhmaneshes.

Tonight, the Celtics showed a huge pair of Farokhmaneshes that they’ve been lacking all season long, overcoming a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit to run their winning streak to four games. For the Celtics, the winning formula was very familiar: Timely defense spearheaded by Kevin Garnett, scoring from Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, and an elite floor game from Rajon Rondo.

It was the starting five that won this game for Boston. Pierce had the lowest +/- of any Celtic starter, and he ended up with 29 points, 5 assists, 3 boards, and 2 steals. Oh, and that “lowest +/-” he registered? It was +16. Pierce was phenomenal on both ends of the court, showcasing his improved health with an array of drives to the hoop, creating easy buckets and earning 10 trips to the charity stripe.

But Pierce wasn’t the only starter inflicting damage on the Mavericks. Ray Allen scored 21 points, hitting a number of momentum-turning shots. Rondo was aggressive early and often, scoring 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kendrick Perkins got the better of Brendan Haywood, finishing with 11 points and 6 rebounds. Even Garnett, limited to a paltry 8 points and 9 rebounds, was as active defensively as Tiger Woods is when he’s off the golf course. Garnett seemed to get his hands on every loose ball, deflecting passes and snuffing fast break opportunities. The starters played as good a game as they have all season long, and — against a very good Dallas team — it was a damn good thing.

Don’t get it twisted, either. The Dallas team Boston beat tonight is a title contender. When you combine the way Jason Kidd instinctively passes the ball upcourt, pushing the tempo and allowing his teammates to create plays, with the amount of weapons the Mavericks have, you wind up with a dangerous concoction. Top it off with Dirk Nowitzki playing perhaps the best basketball of his career, and these Mavericks are a damn good team capable of beating any opponent in a 7-game series.

They just couldn’t get it done against Boston tonight. Not with Paul Pierce attacking the hoop and doing the things that have made him so successful. Not with the Celtics playing like, well, the Celtics. Wins like this were the calling card of the Celtics of old. They kept the game close, manufactured stops when they needed them, and called on Pierce and Allen whenever a bucket was necessary. Tonight was a return to that, and it was oh so satisfying.

After the game, Pierce said, “We’re trying to gather momentum for the playoffs. I’m healthy, Kevin’s healthy, and we’re ready to roll.”

It’s sure starting to seem like he’s right.