From a game watchability standpoint, this sucks. From a game winnability standpoint, this is good.

I know I’m a Celtics fan, so I should probably want Durant to miss the game. But I love seeing good basketball. So no, I don’t want Durant to be hurt. I want him in uniform, balling out, getting calls like he’s “Michael [Bleeping] Jordan.” And then I want the Celtics to beat him. Badly.

The box score kept some secrets from us last night. It tried to hide Marquis Daniels’s impact.

Daniels registered seven points, one rebound, one assist, and one steal. Not exactly a masterpiece, by the numbers. Not exactly a game-changing 19 minutes, if you didn’t see the game. But Daniels entered last night’s game for the first time with 4:09 left in the first quarter. After immediately watching Nenad Krstic make a free throw to give Oklahoma City a 17-14 lead, Daniels showed why box scores can’t reveal everything.

His first play was the easiest of the night. Kevin Garnett lost the ball, picked it back up and then found Daniels wide open underneath the basket. Two points. Coming back on defense, Daniels saw himself matched up with Kevin Durant. Always who you want to defend when you first come off the bench and your legs are still a little tight, right? In most cases, hell no. In Daniels’s case, at least last night, he seemed to relish the opportunity. Durant’s first touch resulted in a turnover. With Daniels’s chest stuck directly in Durant’s path, the NBA’s leading scorer dribbled it off his leg out of bounds. Score one for Daniels’s pressure defense.

The next time Durant touched the ball turned into a dunk, but Daniels can’t be faulted for that. A lazy Rajon Rondo pass led to a fast break slam. Daniels had no chance. Durant’s third touch wasn’t such an easy look, and this one ended in advantage, Daniels. Durant caught the ball on the wing. He tried to sweep the basketball through, but Daniels wasn’t having it. No, no, no, no, no! He poked the ball away and it flew to Rondo. The steal was Rondo’s, but the play was made by Daniels. Six seconds later Daniels pump-faked Sir Goofy, Cole Aldrich, and finished a layup. If you’re scoring at home, that was four possessions out of six that ended in Daniels glory. But he wasn’t done.

The very next time down the court, Russell Westbrook tried to feed Durant. Didn’t Westbrook know yet that Durant had no chance against Daniels? Okay, that’s quite a damn bit of hyperbole. But this time, Daniels wouldn’t even let Durant receive the pass. He intercepted it and outletted the ball ahead to Rondo. Rondo shoveled it back to Daniels at the other end, and Daniels had himself another hoop. It was an and-one, too. That made eight possessions that Daniels had played. It also made six possessions that ended in either a Daniels bucket or a Daniels forced turnover. Cue my buddy Jimmy’s favorite reaction to good play: “That’s what the f*ck I’m talking about!”

These are the dangers of looking at the box score. A player like Daniels isn’t supposed to light up the scoreboard every night. He’s not supposed to drop 20 points, or snag 10 rebounds, or dish 10 assists. Hell, he’s not even supposed to get 10, five or five. His role is simply to affect a game in a positive manner every time he steps on the floor, to provide what my high school coach used to call “good minutes.” Good minutes don’t have to consist of eye-popping stats. They can be achieved by boxing out, diving on the floor, taking charges, forcing turnovers or simply being opportunistic. If a player does his job on every play, positive things tend to happen. Even if the player doesn’t accumulate the stats all on his own.

And yes, I understand that I chose the span where Daniels DID accumulate stats to try to prove that stats don’t always matter. I’m clearly insane. But Marquis Daniels has been giving the Celtics good minutes all season. He’s not a star, and he never will be in a Boston uniform, but he’s impacting games. He’s doing what we complained he never did last year.

Stats don’t lie. But they don’t tell the whole story, either.

General Manager O'Neal?

1. Shaq wants the New Jersey Nets to stay in Newark, and — who knows? — maybe they’ll even name him the GM.
2. Rajon Rondo was named to NBA.com’s All-Hustle team. Notably left off the roster? Kevin Garnett. I defy you to find someone who works harder than Garnett.
3. Semih Erden’s translator, Ilker Belgutay, who is to unintentional comedy what Hank Aaron was to home runs, set up Tony Gaffney with Erden’s former Turkish team, Turktelekom. Belgutay received a phone call from Faruk Akagum, Turktelekom’s coach, shortly after Gaffney was released from the Celtics. “He called me and asked who was around,” Belgutay told the Boston Herald. “I mentioned that he would like Tony.” Soon after the call, Gaffney was offered a contract that he couldn’t refuse.
4. Kevin Garnett didn’t look great yesterday (actually, he didn’t do much of anything), but one thing I read today encouraged me: he wanted to pressure the ball full court. “He looks good,’’ Rondo said of Garnett. “He’s running the floor. He wanted to pick up with me a couple times defensively, but I wouldn’t let him.’’ Before his injury, KG used to pick up the opposing point guard full court and harass them. Since the injury, he hasn’t. If he wants to pressure PG’s again, he’s feeling better. At least, that’s how my theory goes.
5. Anybody else see Perk’s watch yesterday? That damn thing almost blinded me.
6. Ron Artest, on stopping Kevin Durant: “You gotta be Ron Artest. If you’re not Ron Artest, you don’t have a chance!” Me, on stopping anyone else: “You gotta be Semih Erden. If you’re not Semih Erden, you don’t have a chance!”
7. A fan who went to the C’s game yesterday: “We came to see how the big boys play,” Craig said. “It’s amazing how big these guys are when you see them in person — and it’s amazing how small Nate Robinson (5 feet, 9 inches) really is.”
8. Shaq’s got Semih fever. When Erden failed to take advantage of a matchup against Mareese Speights, Shaq screamed out, “Semih, kill him.” I hope Erden’s translator didn’t take that literally. Shaq also said, “Going up against three great big men each day in myself, [Jermaine O'Neal] and [Kevin Garnett], [Erden's] going to be a force for us.”
9. Adam Morrison, on whether there’s still enough time to resurrect his career: “I guess so. We’ll see.” Me, on whether there’s still enough time to go back to college and get a 6.0 GPA, then be the first man to walk on the moon, then be the first person from Longmeadow, MA to get drafted into the NBA: “I guess so. We’ll see.”

Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.

Every once in a while, I link to a few articles from other writers around the internet. You know, I throw some dimes.

1. Avery Bradley, who sprained his ankle in a pre-draft workout for the Oklahoma City Thunder and underwent surgery on July 2, won’t be ready for the start of training camp. “”I don’t think Avery will be ready for training camp,” Ainge told ESPN Boston. “He’s a couple weeks away, at least.” That’s one hell of a sprained ankle, huh?
2. Paul Flannery chimed in from the C’s charity golf tournament with a bunch of interesting tidbits. Danny Ainge said that… 1) Kevin Garnett is “in much better shape than he was last year starting training camp.” 2) “I think this is the most talented team we’ve had in quite a while. Now it’s just a matter of it all coming together.” 3) “We feel like in our defensive schemes we’ve really improved our defense.” 4) Perk is “ahead of schedule according to him and the doctors.” And 5) “Marquis outplayed all of our bench players throughout October, November and December until he had the [thumb] injury. We know what Marquis is capable of doing.”
3. Flannery also sang Doc Rivers’ praises. “Talent wins in pro sports, but within the coaching profession there are a handful of certified experts at getting their players to band together for the cause: Phil Jackson, Gregg Poppovich, Larry Brown (on his best days). And after last spring, Doc Rivers has joined their company. Ask yourself this question: How many coaches could have shepherded a team like the Celtics through the season they had, and then get them to play at such a high level in the playoffs? … There are a lot of people in the NBA that would like the opportunity to coach this team, but there are few, if any, who can do it as well as Rivers.”
4. Shaq “strongly considered doing his swan song on Broadway before signing with Boston,” according to the New York Daily news. He reportedly wanted another chance to play with Amare Stoudemire. I’m sure Shaq will be okay playing alongside Garnett, Pierce, Allen and Rondo instead.
5. Chinese people love the Celtics more than they love Yao.
6. Nate Robinson needs to work on his putting stroke… and his golf wardrobe.
7. Kelly Dwyer calls the Lakers “basketball at its best.” Hold on, do you hear that? Yup, that’s the sound of me puking.
8. Dwight Howard says Kevin Durant is better than Lebron James. Slow down, Dwight. Relax. Take a few deep breaths.

Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.

Every once in a while, I link to a few articles from other writers around the internet. You know, I throw some dimes.

1. I thought Scal would win the dunk contest before I’d be afraid of Erick Dampier signing with a rival. But Dampier helps the Heat. They needed his size.
2. Chris Forsberg discusses the Jermaine O’Neal signing: “Regardless of whether he begins the season as a starter or not, O’Neal is likely to end it as a reserve. In many ways, he’s this year’s Rasheed Wallace, the aging veteran brought in at the reduced cost of the mid-level exception with hopes he can still play like someone who deserved $23 million last season.” O’Neal was paid $23 million last season, but I wouldn’t exactly say he deserved it. Let’s just hope he plays like someone who deserves the mid-level exception.
3. Kelly Dwyer compares Kevin Durant in today’s NBA to Kevin Garnett back in 1999. Dwyer says Durant is “not all that’s right with the NBA. He’s not a shining beacon to follow to shore. But he is something special. And he’s worth being giddy about. Don’t ever lose those sorts of good shudders, the ones that get you doing the pogo just thinking about next fall. And, possibly, next summer. Just keep an eye on the sky, with this guy, and prepare for anything. It might take a while, but it’ll be worth it.”
4. Scal is officially someone else’s whipping boy. Bulls By The Horns jokes, “The Bulls have inked Brian Scalabrine to a non-guaranteed deal, making any potential trade for [Carmelo] Anthony redundant. I mean, there’s only so much shooting and scoring a team needs, right?”
5. Paul Flannery argues that Pierce’s legacy as a Celtic was ensured by his contract extension. I would argue that it was already ensured before that, even though he’d look terrible in any other uniform.
6. Rajon Rondo’s Alcatraz adventure keeps looking cooler. If playing basketball at every jail is as fun, I might go ahead and get myself arrested.

Got a tip? An article you think should be included? Send an email to jayking@celticstown.com or hit me up on Twitter @CelticsTown.