An impossible pair of free throw misses by Ray Allen left tonight’s Celtics-Spurs chess match in the hands of a balding, left-handed, Argentinian wizard. A late, nine-point Celtics lead had dwindled to two, and it was Ginobili’s opportunity to flip a certain defeat upside down.

But the Celtics, even if their 61.3% shooting percentage for the night could easily fool you, still pride themselves on defensive execution. Marquis Daniels shadowed Ginobili over two Antonio McDyess screens, and Paul Pierce joined Daniels in swarming the Spurs’ magician. Rather than swing a pass to his less-contested teammates, Ginobili let fly with an ill-advised jump shot, his toe on the three-point arc. Pierce’s arm reached up and knocked the shot away, Rajon Rondo picked up the loose ball, and the Celtics escaped with a 105-103 win against the team with the NBA’s best record.

Really, the win shouldn’t have been so difficult. The Celtics’ defense (wait, what defense?) was porous in the first half, and the Spurs got whatever shots they wanted. Yet Boston began getting stops in the second, utilizing a small unit that can best be described as “Paul Pierce played power forward.” Against certain teams, that lineup wouldn’t work. Against San Antonio, with DeJuan Blair firmly secure on Gregg Popovich’s shit list for below-average defense, the Celtics could get away with a smaller five. Matt Bonner, though a few inches taller than Paul Pierce, doesn’t exactly cause a mismatch.

Forgive me for looking ahead, but the small lineup was a good example why the Celtics will be so tough to beat come playoff time. They possess the depth and personnel to force other teams to match up with them. Oh, you guys are going to play Matt Bonner? Then we’ll go small and abuse him. Oh, nobody on your team can chase Ray Allen around screens? We’ll run your players ragged all day, and feed the beast. Oh, you don’t have anyone to slow down Rajon Rondo? Don’t worry, no other teams do either.

The late near-collapse almost overshadowed what had been spectacular late-game execution. There was the one play when Glen Davis switched onto Tony Parker, and somehow — by the grace of God, or at least the grace of Red Auerbach (RIP) — stayed in front of Parker. Davis forced Parker to pass to the corner, where Richard Jefferson caught the ball looking to make a move. He swept through to the baseline, where he expected daylight. What Jefferson failed to realize was that Glen Davis, Mr. Charge himself, was in the vicinity. Two seconds after miraculously hounding Parker into a harmless pass, Davis shuffled his feet to the baseline and took a charge. I half expected Tommy Heinsohn to offer Davis the season’s Tommy Award on the spot.

That play wasn’t the only example of solid late-game execution. There was the pretty Rondo floater, the beautiful Rondo-to-Davis-to-Daniels passing sequence, and (corny joke alert) Ray’s learning Oliver Twist’s “Got to pick a pocket or two.” The Celtics buckled down in the fourth quarter, and should have won handily had it not been for a near-choke job at the end.

Paul Pierce dribbled into a double team and got ripped. Nate Robinson threw a lazy, left-handed pass in traffic, and it was (obviously) picked off. Within the next few days, I hope Nate will have his head surgically removed from his ass. Somewhere in that span of nonsense, the C’s nine-point lead was cut to two and Ray ended at the line ready to seal it — err, I mean to brick two shots and give Ginobili one last chance.

The Celtics still badly miss Kevin Garnett, the only Boston big man dedicated to grabbing rebounds. While the Celtics only lost the rebounding battle by one, their three centers (Davis and the O’Neal brothers) played a combined 76 minutes. They grabbed a combined eight rebounds. And no, that’s not good.

The Spurs tried to isolate Shaq’s pick-and-roll defense early and often, but, barring a short span in the second quarter where Tony Parker made moves, Shaq wasn’t half bad. Glen Davis shot the basketball 18 times, which seems like a lot, but he made ten of them and very few were forced. Actually, I don’t remember a single force. I could be wrong.

The Harangody-Bonner matchup was one I live for, I liked Von Wafer’s contributions despite a line that showed mostly zeros (his defense on Ginobili was actually quite rugged), and at one point I actually thought Ray forgot how to miss. Then he stepped to the line and showed me he still remembered. Paul Pierce shot 7-10, including two free throw line isolations that were vintage Pierce. The methodical killer. Also, when I described the Haranody-Bonner matchup in my notes, I wrote, “The Harangody-Scal matchup is one to die for.” I suppose I just don’t want to let go.

At one point, according to the Comcast broadcast, Doc Rivers asked his team, “What are we running on offense? What are we running on offense?” Raise your hand if you’re surprised Nate Robinson was point guard at that time. (*Nobody raises hand.*) There was also a three-second violation called on Nate, which made me wonder A) what, exactly, Nate was doing in the lane for so long, and B) how Doc Rivers felt about the play of his backup “point guard.”

And no, I have not done Rajon Rondo his justice. Nor will I do Rondo his justice, mostly because it’s impossible for a write of my average-at-best caliber to do a “12 points, 22 assists, 10 rebounds, six steals” line justice. The point guard Rondo played tonight wasn’t minced liver, either. It was Tony freaking Parker. But Rondo just does his thing, holds such control over every game he plays, and continues to amaze me even on nights I expect to be amazed. Rondo even showed confidence in his jumper, a confidence that seemingly grows by the day.

Watching Rondo is like the first time I watched Good Will Hunting. I was late to watching the movie, so I knew Good Will Hunting would be incredible. Everybody and their mothers told me it was incredible, and so I expected nothing short of the best movie I’d ever seen. My expectations were that high, and STILL that movie blew me away. I bowed down to Gus Van Sant, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck that night, just as I now bow down to Rajon Rondo. When expectations are THAT high and you still find ways to raise the bar, that’s when you know you’re special.

And I’ll be damned if I finished this recap without mentioning how Rondo blocked George Hill. George, you’ve been served.

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.

Good luck, Q. The way Pierce has been playing, you'll need it. (Issac Baldizon/NBAE/Getty Images)

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics will have to somehow contain the Heat’s Dwyane Wade, who was a 30-point night waiting to happen at the close of the season. They’ve had their trouble bottling up premier scorers recently, be it James, Kevin Durant or Manu Ginobili. In Wade, the Heat have a player who cannot only change a game, but a series. ‘It’s more than Dwyane Wade,’ Rondo said. ‘[Michael] Beasley, [Mario] Chalmers, Jermaine O’Neal. I think he has a good supporting cast, but the bulk of it is stopping Dwyane Wade. I think if we don’t stop him, we can stop other players.’ The Celtics played the ‘wait until the playoffs’ card for much of the regular season. They are now at a point where they have to show what’s in their hand. ‘Every team that is in the playoffs is here for a reason,’ Allen said. ‘Whatever happens, adversity hits, we pick it up and become a resilient bunch of guys that whatever happens we want to get better and improve. We did that in ’08. As the playoffs went on we weren’t great, we put a lot of expectations on ourselves, but we figured it out on the way.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Clearly, Miami has figured a few things out. ‘Obviously they’ve been playing well,’ Rondo said. ‘They’ve won 12 of their last (13) games. So it’s not going to be easy, but luckily we have the first two games at home.’ The Heat will try to slow the pace, but the Celtics [team stats] still figure to get their opportunities in transition. ‘I think either way we should be able to push the ball,” Rondo said. “If they miss shots, we’ll get in transition and go. But in the playoffs, each possession is pretty much slowed down. It’s not an up-tempo game. You have to value the ball and take care of it.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “Responding to a Boston Herald report that suggested Rivers was leaning towards retirement following the 2009-10 season, Boston’s sixth-year coach noted that he goes through the same process each offseason and that this year would be no different. ‘It’s what I’ve said for the last three years, that is what I told [the Herald],’ said Rivers. ‘It’s old news, it really is. I don’t think about it, to be honest. Every summer I do the same thing: I go home, get away from it for a while, and make a decision. It’s no different than last summer or the summer before that. I was a little amused at the question, because I thought it was old news. No, I haven’t thought about it. I don’t think about it. If you thought about it after every game, you’d go a different way each time. If you win, you think you can do this forever; when you lose it’s, ‘Man, I think I’m leaving.’ It’s human nature. Other than that, as a family, we haven’t talked about it. It’s what I said [Tuesday], it’s a non-issue for me now. Obviously a lot of people outside have made a lot of conclusions on what I’m thinking. I always thought I was the best source.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Rivers has gone to different methods to motivate his team of veterans, acknowledging that it’s worn on him. ‘I think this year has worn on everyone,’ he said. ‘This has been a difficult year, but as a coach you’re going to have some of those. It’s been a challenging year, there’s no doubt about that, but that won’t play into it. I love the guys I’m coaching. It’s just been a challenging year when you start out the way you start out and then you become an inconsistent team and every night you’re trying to find the button to push. It’s exhausting, but it’s exhilarating in some ways. In some sadistic way, it’s probably good.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “Paul Pierce has said he’d rather not play for another coach, and that sentiment is fairly strong among the Celtics veterans. As long as Doc Rivers will be re-evaluating his status as Celtic coach this offseason – with the possibility he could leave the position – the players will be keeping a close eye on his whereabouts.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Now that rest is the order of the day, Rivers can look into increasing the minutes of his starters. ‘It didn’t look good three months ago, or two months ago,’ he said. ‘We started out in good health, and then it went away. We’ve struggled getting it back, but this is the healthiest we’ve been. I think this is the best Kevin (Garnett) has been since early in the season. I think Paul (Pierce) is feeling fantastic right now. . . . That’s the good part.’”

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe – “Just as Lenny Zakim dedicated his life to helping others, so, too, did Satch Sanders play 13 years with the Celtics in the shadow of more celebrated players, 11 of whom are enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. If you were to ask every one of the Hall of Famers which teammate regularly, and uncomplainingly, did the most dirty work on the team, the unanimous answer would be ‘Satch.’ That’s because his primary job was to play defense against some of the great scoring machines of the day. The most notable, of course, was the incomparable Elgin Baylor, the man who most created modern basketball when he took a game that had been horizontal and only occasionally vertical and made it diagonal with his superb body control, variety of shot-release points, and amazing combination of strength and speed. Guarding Baylor in his prime was a thankless and, for most people, impossible task. No one made life more difficult for Baylor than the 6-foot-6-inch Sanders. I still can hear Red Auerbach praising Satch to his summer campers because “he never lets Elgin get the second shot.’’ Both Auerbach and Bob Cousy swore that on the night Baylor scored 61 points against the Celtics in a playoff game, the only reason he didn’t get 75 or 80 was Satch, who made him work for every last point.”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “He admitted he battled nerves before Wednesday’s game, but his natural ability took over on the court. ‘I was just trying to play basketball,’ said Lafayette, a native of Baton Rouge, La., which endeared him to fellow Louisiana native Glen Davis. ‘I was nervous on the bench, watching the guys play. But once I was in the game, that’s just basketball.’ It didn’t hurt that Oliver instantly opened eyes. A minute into the second quarter, he spun through the lane and dished to Shelden Williams for a baseline dunk. A few minutes later he splashed his first shot, a 21-foot jumper, and added a 6-foot runner soon after. ‘It took a lot of the nerves away,’ Lafayette said of his quick start. ‘You don’t have to worry, you can let the game come to you. There’s a lot of great guys out there, all you have to do is get open.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Gaffney was waiting for his FIBA paperwork to be finalized yesterday, and he couldn’t have landed in a more pleasing place, judging from what is still hanging on the walls of his bedroom back in Berkley, including a poster of the original Big Three. ‘Half of my room is still filled with Celtics stuff,’ he said. ‘My parents told me from Day 1 when I was in LA that they weren’t getting rid of any Celtics stuff.’ Gaffney’s allegiance, though, didn’t lessen the surprise when he heard this week that the Celtics were interested. ‘I didn’t see this coming,’ said Gaffney, who added that, in terms of his foot, ‘I’m 100 percent. The injury is still healing, but I’m 100 percent. Hopefully adrenaline will take over from here.’”

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

Manu Ginobili had a monster block of Kevin Garnett last night. It was truly vicious. Check it out.

From that angle, it looks cleaner than an OCD-diagnosed person’s room. But it wasn’t. Ginobili got it clean, but George Hill hacked Garnett before Ginobili could even get there.

This doesn’t take away from Ginobili’s block. He made a magnificent play. But, as everyone lauds Manu’s block, I had to stick up for my boy Garnett: He definitely got fouled.

Sheed sure does have a way with nicknames.

Rasheed Wallace is a multi-talented person. He’s terrific at missing three-pointers, even better at letting opponents drive baseline, and is the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time, for those of you who didn’t follow) when it comes to picking up technical fouls.

Another talent that has emerged this season? Rasheed is quickly becoming top-notch when it comes to doling out insulting nicknames. He announced his presence as a nickname-giving force with the invention of “Turko-doo-doo,” mocking Hedo Turkoglu after Turk was especially flop-happy during an early-season game.

Yesterday, Rasheed returned atop the nickname-giving world, giving Manu Ginobili — who had just assaulted the Celtics with a barrage of buckets and dimes — the best name Rasheed could think of. (CSNNE)

“You know, Manure did his thing,” Wallace said. “He opened up the floor for them. We tried to trap him. He made the basketball play to the open man. We tried to do a good job on him, but he got a little loose in that first half.”

“Manure did his thing.” For those of you who didn’t pick up on it, Manure is actually Manu Ginobili. Wasn’t that a clever play on words by Rasheed? I told you he was becoming a nickname-giving force.

Of course, the nickname would have been more powerful had Manure not just singlehandedly owned the entire city of Boston with 28 points and 7 assists. Perhaps Rasheed will have to work on the timing of his nicknames.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are up next for the C’s, meaning they’ll be playing Kevin Don’t-rant and Thabo Sefo-no-balls. James Hard-on will also play meaningful minutes.

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.

Manu did a lot. Ray did not.

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “‘I think the start of the third quarter kind of tore the game away,’ said Shelden Williams. ‘We kind of got robotic in the second half and couldn’t come back.’ The Celtics used to be robotic in the third quarter, in a good way. That’s no longer the case. And of all the trademarks this team needs in order to maintain a championship level, third-quarter competitiveness could be the most important.”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “The Celtics are in the middle of a six-game homestand, with Oklahoma City, Houston, and Cleveland on tap. Having gained a sense of consistency in the past month, they didn’t view last night’s loss as a momentum-killer, but more as a throwaway. ‘You trip up a little bit here, but what we’re doing, the mission that we’re on doesn’t change,’ said Allen. Or as Rondo succinctly put it, ‘Scratch this one.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Paul Pierce initially collapsed, much to the horror of the crowd, after taking a Manu Ginobili elbow to his right shoulder with 5:59 left in the third quarter. The captain stayed in the game and made 1-of-2 during that trip to the free throw line. He’s not concerned. ‘It’s a little sore,’ Pierce said. ‘It’s a stinger. I got some numbness down the right side of my arm, but hopefully it doesn’t get any worse.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “But then the Celtics were awful last night. They were outscored by five in the second quarter and by 16 in the third as Manu Ginobili took them apart. The Spurs began getting to virtually every loose ball. The Celts seemed sound asleep while their guests were kicking sand in their faces on the way to a 94-73 loss. It is the kind of stuff that will send them home early from the postseason. With nine games and a little more than two weeks left in this fall turned winter turned spring training, it is impossible to predict with any certainty what this team will do once push comes to playoffs.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘When you’re down by 20 with two minutes to go against San Antonio, you pretty much know,’ said Paul Pierce. ‘The way they played is the way we usually play, and we just got an old-fashioned butt whupping. They came out with more of a sense of urgency in the second quarter – just the extra effort plays. They had us on our heels most of the second half.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston – “The Celtics did a decent job on Tim Duncan (8 points, 9 rebounds over 26:31), but Rivers said the team had no answer for Ginobili. ‘Oh, I could look at the box score before the game and say, ‘I would take that on their end.’ Except for Ginobili, he said. “When Ginobili has points and assists they usually win. And 28.7 assists is a great indicator for them. That means his hand print [is there and] Ginobili dominated this game. All the loose balls that he kept alive, that he didn’t get credit for, defensive plays — I thought he single-handedly was the will of the game. And then Blair just followed in. But once you get a chance to beat a team on the road, and a team like us, your energy does go up. And you can see that with them in the fourth quarter. It was going to be tough to turn it around.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Popovich has the same issues as Celtics coach Doc Rivers. He has to preserve his veterans for the postseason, season his youngsters, and fight for playoff seeding simultaneously. Popovich accomplished all three last night. George Hill (15 points) is turning into quite a player with Tony Parker out with a broken right hand. Ginobili wore out the Celtics with 28 points, and he was two steps into the paint before any Celtic reacted. ‘Playing against the Spurs, you know, it’s the extra pass,’ Rivers said. ‘You’re not going to beat them off the bounce. And it seemed like we were hellbent in trying to do that. And it’s like [Popovich] said before the game to me, ‘You’re not going to beat the Celtics off the bounce.’ And they didn’t. They moved the ball. They kept swinging it, kept passing it. They did what we were supposed to do.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Playing against Finley for the first time since letting him go, Popovich made two things clear: the matchup was not with Finley alone, and that there are no hard feelings. ‘I don’t blame him a lick,’ Popovich said. ‘He’s one of the greatest guys I’ve ever coached, but he wanted to keep playing. He didn’t want to sit on the bench for the rest of the season. There’s nothing wrong with that. He wanted to play.’”

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

If Manu was as old as someone with his immense bald spot should be, the Celtics might have won tonight. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Trailing by 17 points early in the fourth quarter, the Boston Celtics needed every stop they could get. Just as the doctor ordered, the San Antonio Spurs went cold, tallying five successive missed field goals. The only problem? They snatched their own rebound on every single miss.

The parade of San Antonio offensive rebounds was one of the many warning signs that flashed like a neon light in a midnight sky: the Celtics weren’t playing their hardest.

To be fair to San Antonio, the Celtics started the game with great purpose and energy. Manu Ginobili and the rest of the Spurs simply beat it out of them, one well-executed possession at a time. Ginobili was nothing short of magical. He seems to have regained the bravado, creativity, and explosiveness that make him one of the league’s most-feared crunch-time killers, and nobody the Celtics put in his way could stop him, or even slow him down. He finished with 28 points and 7 assists, but not even those gaudy stats could describe his impact on the game. Were it not for a few rare misses of wide open three-pointers, Ginobili might have gone for 35 or 36. He did what he pleased, when he pleased, and banked home a 27-foot, running, one-handed floater to beat the third quarter buzzer and firmly secure the final nail in the Celtics’ coffin.

Ginobili’s exploits helped to slow down a Celtics attack that, for the game’s opening minutes, looked poised for another respectable win. Paul Pierce was attacking the rim, Kevin Garnett was active, and the ball was hopping from one Celtic to another like a hot potato. But a troublesome second quarter left Boston down one point heading into the halftime breather, and the third quarter would get no better. Actually, it would get far worse. By the time Ginobili pumped his fist in celebration of his banked runner, the Spurs led by 17 and the Celtics might as well have headed home.

Even from the shoddy defeat, the Celtics could take a few positives. Captain Paul Pierce led the way with 18 points, and a quick scare — by what ESPN announcers deemed a stinger to a nerve somewhere between his neck and right shoulder — did not stop Pierce from being aggressive in getting to the rim, early and often. He seems to have fully regained his confidence and explosion, and looks ready to be the C’s go-to guy for the remainder of the season. Kevin Garnett had his third straight double-double, notching 12 points and 10 rebounds. Shelden Williams played his best minutes in months, finishing with 11 points and an unofficial count of 137 compliments from ESPN announcer Hubie Brown.

But, for the Celtics, there was a lot more to frown upon than there was to be proud of. Not to name names, but Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Glen Davis, Michael Finley, and Nate Robinson a few Celtics might as well have stayed home. The game served as a reminder that, while the C’s have come a long way from the team that struggled to a 18-19 record during a 37-game midseason stretch, they still have a ways to go until they are capable of raising another banner.

*****

Game Notes:

• George Hill has quickly become far better than I ever thought he’d be.  He possesses an impressive blend of length, athleticism, and skill, and is certainly a player to watch in the coming years.  He still needs to learn not to send nude pics to any girlfriends.
• Can the Celtics travel back in time and sign Antonio McDyess instead of Rasheed Wallace?
• Tim Duncan didn’t do much, but he’s such a team-oriented player that he hardly cared.  As much as he and Garnett are polar opposites, they’re very similar in the way they would sacrifice every single statistic for a win.
• Finley didn’t do much to prove Gregg Popovich wrong.
• Can someone amputate my ACL’s so I can become an unbelievable offensive rebounder?
• Kendrick Perkins, nursing a sore left knee due to tendinitis, did not play.  Doc Rivers said he is likely for Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.