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The normally phenomenal Kelly Dwyer ranked the NBA’s top shooting guards and suggested that Ray Allen is only the 16th best shooting guard in the NBA. Behind John Salmons and 14 others. My question to you is this: Am I a crazy homer for thinking that this is not only wrong, but ludicrous? Has Ray Allen really slipped that far?

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.

He doesn't look so bad, does he?

Chris Gasper, Boston Globe – “Essentially, what the Celtics have been presented is a do-over of the 2009 playoffs, but with Garnett a go and Cleveland standing in for Orlando. The team is virtually identical because the additions of Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels, and Nate Robinson have had no impact. Last year, the Celtics were ousted in the second round by Orlando in seven games. If that happens at the hands of Cleveland this year, then their run has run its course, and they’re the 1991 Detroit Pistons, who coincidentally went 50-32, to LeBron’s Michael Jordan. We were hard on the Celtics because we expected so much of them, but now they’re in a position to finally fulfill those expectations. Bring on LeBron.”

Bill Livingston, Cleveland Plain Dealer – “Hopes will have to wait that the Big Shillelagh will immediately break out the whuppin’ stick on the Boston Celtics, who begin their second-round series with the Cavs Saturday night at The Q. It was Celtic reserve Glen “Big Baby” Davis whose perfectly legal play on the ball led to Shaq’s torn thumb ligament — and whose tugging on the thumb afterward was both repulsive and typical of the Celtics. After the Bulls had been sent to their rooms, O’Neal fielded questions about Davis’ play with blandness. The two do share a background of playing for LSU, but old college ties mean nothing now. ‘Nothing bothers me,’ said the Big Serenity. ‘I don’t think [that the play was dirty]. I’m just glad I got my thumbs back. You need your thumbs. Your thumbs are very, very important.’”

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Jamison averaged 19.3 points in Cleveland’s five-game first-round series against the Bulls, and he took nearly a third of his shots from 3-point range (7 of 23). He was spelled by Varejao, the sixth-year power forward who plays as if he’s never heard of inertia, making a living off hustle plays and feasting on the Celtics during the regular season by being quicker to get to open spots on the floor. It’s a matchup problem for the Celtics’ big men, who will have to flip the switch from guarding the post to jumping out to the perimeter, chasing Cleveland’s pseudo-bigs. Glen Davis put it this way: ‘Imagine if you had to bump Shaq [coming off a pick-and-roll] and then close out on Antawn Jamison when he just hit two in a row. Or with Rashard Lewis, you’ve got to bump Dwight [Howard] and get out to Rashard and force him left instead of right. You’re closing out to him and he can make you do anything he wants to, really. You’ve just got to have a feel for the game and just got to have a will to do a lot of things out there on guys like that.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “There is the Davis who made all of the hustle plays Tuesday night, from drawing two huge second-half charges on Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem to grabbing most of the big rebounds down the stretch. And then there’s the young player who is still a little too intoxicated by the memory of his game-winning 20-footer in last May’s Game 4 in Orlando. That’s the player who doesn’t always make the extra pass. But he seems to be coming around. ‘He’s just got to stay there,’ coach Doc Rivers said. ‘We tell all of our players this: ‘You don’t need a parade out there every game. You’ve just got to continue to play. And then your body will work when it’s all said and done. Then you can have the festivities.’ And that’s Baby in a nutshell. He is so talented, and his IQ is ridiculous. It really is. But he lets up at times. He starts thinking about what he’s done well, instead of just keep playing. And he’s a young kid still. That’s the maturity part that is growing. And I think it’s getting better and better. He has proven over the long haul, though, that in big games he tends to play well. He did it in college and he’s done it here.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘I’ve maintained that I like this team,’ Rivers said. ‘You know, when we were struggling, no one wanted to hear that. I got that. I understood that, but I knew what I had, and I knew that my goal was to get them healthy. And if that meant . . . you know, I didn’t want to lose games, but you had to take that risk during the regular season. We had to choose health over anything, and I understood that. The first thing Erik (Spoelstra, the Miami coach) said was, ‘Boy, you had a hell of a fight trying to keep these guys healthy.’ And I said, ‘It was brutal.’ But it was the right move. It was. I mean, you had to. That’s our only chance. So now we’re healthy, we’re rested and we’re ready.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “”You definitely had your doubts at times because of the inconsistent play, injuries just seem to be mounting and mounting,” said Pierce, who was sidelined for 11 games this season. But he’s not griping. In fact, he embraces those times as moments that showcased this team’s character and resiliency. ‘The losing teams tend to point the finger, go to the media, says this guy need to do this better or do that better,’ Pierce said. ‘And we never held grudges with one another.’ Kevin Garnett also addressed some of the struggles Boston has endured this season, and it’s impact on the team moving forward. ‘If you want something to happen, you have to gather everybody and it’s a group effort,’ Garnett said. ‘But if you want something to work, you have to actually grab everybody, get everybody on the same page and work towards that goal.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “The Cleveland Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA and the best player in the world on their roster. Of course this was the exact same scenario for the Cavs last season, and they ultimately lost to Orlando conference finals. General manager Danny Ferry bolstered his team with additions big (Shaquille O’Neal and Antawn Jamison) and small (Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon) and found improvement from within in young forward J.J. Hickson. Noted Celtic killer Anderson Varejao had the best season of his career, Mo Williams continued to shoot over 40 percent from 3-point range, effectively ending the necessity for Daniel Gibson to get playing time, and Delonte West re-emerged as a key third guard. Then, there is LeBron James, who has shattered the best player in the league argument and seems poised to truly rule the world if he can deliver a championship to his hometown team before engaging in the most frenzied free-agent courtship the league has ever known. Ah, but the Celtics have other ideas.”

Jessica Camerato, WEEI – “‘My role since I’ve been here really hasn’t changed. I can just be a little bit more vocal now that I’ve been here for a while,’ Finley explained. ‘I just didn’t want to come here right away and be the loud mouth of the locker room. But now the guys feel a little more comfortable with me. I’m able to pull guys to the side, tell them different situations, especially in these playoff series that are important, not only to them, but to our team. And they’re listening and they’re being receptive, and that’s been good.’ The 37-year-old is happy to share the veteran wisdom he has accumulated over the last 15 years, and the C’s are just as happy to receive it. ‘Mike is big,’ said Ray Allen. ‘Most people don’t realize the things that he’s saying, just his advice, just some of the things that he says coming out of timeouts, coming to the bench. You can always tell he wants to win. Even though he came here later on in the season, he’s invested now in what we’re doing. So he’s always making sure, ‘Look for this, this is what’s going to go down,’ or, ‘Ray, you need to do this,’ or ‘Paul you need to make sure …’ So that’s great coming from the bench and you know that he’s fielding us more information so when we go out there, we’re prepared.’”

Charles F. Gardner, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – “Keep counting ‘em out, all you National Basketball Association experts. These Milwaukee Bucks will just keep fighting to the end. The Atlanta Hawks found that out the hard way on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the teams’ Eastern Conference series, as the Bucks got off the mat to grab a stunning 91-87 victory at Philips Arena. The Bucks have won three straight games against the third-seeded Hawks while taking a 3-2 lead in the first-round series, and Milwaukee can eliminate Atlanta in Game 6, scheduled for Friday night at the Bradley Center. Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova showed his trademark hustle while grabbing offensive rebounds, and Milwaukee went on a dazzling 14-0 run in the final 4 minutes to erase an 82-73 deficit and end the Hawks’ 14-game home winning streak. ‘This is by far the biggest win of the season,’ said Bucks guard John Salmons. ‘We’ve still got business to take care of, so we’ve got to stay with it.’”

Mark Bradley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution – “This was the Falcons blowing the lead against Danny White and Dallas in January 1981. This was Mark Wohlers hanging the slider to Jim Leyritz in October 1996. Only it wasn’t. It was worse. Those opponents were top-class. The Hawks just blew a 13-point lead and probably a playoff series to Milwaukee, which is a No. 6 seed missing its All-Star center. They trail 3-2 in a series they led 2-0. They face elimination on the road, a place they’ve won once in 11 tries over the past three postseasons. Yeah, theoretically they could still pull this out, but how can you win in the Bradley Center when you can’t hold a nine-point lead inside the final four minutes with the series lead on the line? How can you put this colossal choke — I hate that word, but it applies here — behind you? Up nine, and here’s what happened: Josh Smith missed a dunk by hitting the ball on the underside of the backboard; Jamal Crawford short-armed a layup, the first of his five misses down the stretch; the Hawks watched as Ersan Ilyasova grabbed every loose ball and Joe Johnson fouled out on a charge. Nine points up with 3:55 left, the Hawks saw the lead disappear in 116 seconds. I say again: One hundred sixteen seconds. There are no excuses for this game, this series. The team with the better players is the one with one foot out the exit door. The Bucks have two chances to win once. The Hawks are down to their final shot.”

Benjamin Hochman, Denver Post – “Help? Melo got it. Selfish? Not the Nuggets, at least not this night. Game 6? A reality. For one night, all was right with the Nuggets, who played poised and possessed Wednesday during a 116-102 victory over Utah at the Pepsi Center. Overcoming the loss of Nene because of a knee injury, Denver forced Game 6 to be played Friday in Salt Lake City, with the Jazz leading the first-round playoff series 3-2. A source familiar with the situation said the Nuggets are fearful Nene tore the ACL in his left knee. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Thursday.”

J.A. Adande, ESPN – “Not only did Anthony receive the assistance from his teammates he all but Bat-signaled for from the dais last Sunday, he delivered 25 points and 11 rebounds. He managed to involve his teammates without too much dropoff of his own from his 39-point, 11-rebound Game 4. Sure the point total declined, but the number of turnovers also went from nine to one. A team official told Anthony he was as proud of him as he’d ever been after this game. If the Nuggets are going to exit the playoffs, apparently their disappearance won’t be traced back to Anthony. He already double his double-double total from all of last playoffs (anyone else craving In-N-Out Burger after that sentence?). And he’s put up a better resistance to elimination. In Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers last season, in what turned out to be the finale of his breakthrough playoffs, Anthony scored 25 points but shot only 35 percent and grabbed two rebounds.”

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

I hope Bango the Buck is the highest-paid mascot in the NBA. The man literally put his life on the line just to entertain a home crowd.

Now, I’m afraid of heights — and I mean petrified to the point of being afraid on a little step-ladder — so I might think this is more impressive than the average folk. But no matter what, when a mascot goes all Superfly Jimmy Snuka off a 20-foot ladder with a backflip added in for difficulty and then dunks a basketball in the same motion, it’s one of the best dunks ever completed… whether it be man, myth, Lebron, or Bango the Buck.

(h/t J.E. Skeets)

UPDATE: Bango has also dunked himself.

Put the ball up, bring it back down, lift it back up, and slam it home.  The easy four-step plan to completing Josh Smith’s double-pump dunk against the Milwaukee Bucks.  Of course, in order to execute it you have to be 6’9″ tall, bouncier than a kangaroo, and possess the wingspan of a Boeing 747 airplane.  Not an easy task, I can assure you.

But for Smith, it’s NBD. No big deal, that is.  My roommate, while we watched this, said he didn’t think it was clean.  Clean or not, it’s almost impossible for a mere mortal to do.

"What do you think about the Celtics?" "They'll beat us."

It’s official: The Celtics will play the Miami Heat in the first round of the NBA playoffs.  It took the Heat 58 minutes of tanking to somehow still defeat the New Jersey Nets, and thus earn the right to play Boston in the first round.

As for tonight’s Celtics game, ehhh.

Rajon Rondo was determined to bounce back from the brass-knuckles beatdown he took from Derrick Rose last night, and from the outset was a different player than the one we saw in Chicago yesterday.  He scored on the break, in the post and from the line, driving and dime-ing his way to 21 points and 15 assists.

Unfortunately, he was playing one-on-five.  While Marquis Daniels (13 points), Shelden Williams (12 points) and Nate Robinson (12 points) joined Rondo in double figures, Rondo was the lone starter to play as Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins sat this one out.  Short four starters (and Tony Allen), the C’s were relegated to a bench mob for the entire game.  It was nice to see Daniels score in double figures for the first time since March 17, and Williams and Robinson took advantage of their opportunities too. 

But the story of the night, in a night mostly devoid of storylines, was Oliver Lafayette.  Playing in his first NBA game, the D-League call-up notched 7 points, 4 boards, and 2 assists, looking like he belonged in the NBA.  His first move was a driving spin in traffic, which he completed with a smooth underhanded dish to a wide open Shelden Williams for an easy bucket.  Really, Lafayette should have had at least a few more assists if his teammates hadn’t been dime-slayers, missing open jumpers on a few nice kickouts.  He seems to possess a solid outside shot, nice handle, and decent quickness.  Could be a keeper for the future as a backup to Rondo.

*****

Game Notes:

• Brian Scalabrine made his first action since March 28, finishing with 5 points and 2 rebounds.  Clearly, he also drew a nice ovation from the crowd.  Still, I’m not sure watching Scal and Oliver Lafayette was what fans had in mind on Fan Appreciation Night.
• Tony Gaffney was inactive, because he is still awaiting league clearanceafter playing in Israel.  Gaffney is also rehabbing from a broken foot he suffered while in Israel.

None of these men will play tonight.

The Celtics will be far from full strength when they meet the Milwaukee Bucks tonight in the regular season finale. (Celtics Twitter)

Doc says Big Three, TA and Perk will not play. TA is still sick; Perk’s sitting out to avoid picking up tech and possible game suspension.

So, uh, can I get a round of applause for Fan Appreciation Night?

In case you forgot, tonight’s game could potentially, possibly, have meaning.  If Miami tanks loses to the Nets (Wade, O’Neal, and Haslem are all sitting), a Celtic loss tonight would mean the C’s will play Milwaukee again in the playoffs.  Otherwise Boston, locked into the East’s fourth seed, will play Miami in the first round.

P.S. Brian Scalabrine will play.  Hip, hip, hooray! On a slightly sadder note, he’ll also likely need offseason surgery on his shoulder.

P.P.S. Tony Gaffney and Oliver Lafayette are awaiting final clearance, and may not even sit on the bench tonight.  Gaffney, at least, seems highly unlikely to play even if he does get clearance:  His father told the Fall River Herald News, “Obviously, he’s not going to play at all immediately. They wanted to secure him and rehab him.”  Gaffney is attempting to return from a broken foot suffered while playing professionally in Israel and was not cleared to run until this past Monday.