The Morning Walkthrough is a set of links to Boston Celtics articles throughout the internet, designed to get your day started the right way.

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Paul Pierce, who had 17 points, suffered what team officials are describing as a bruised right thigh injury. That diagnosis came shortly after coach Doc Rivers had initially believed Pierce suffered a knee injury. ‘Stuff that happens throughout the course of a game, bang knees, turn ankle,’ Pierce said. Knee. Thigh. It doesn’t matter. Pierce’s status is up in the air heading into Friday’s game at Phoenix. ‘Hopefully it doesn’t swell up too much,’ Pierce said. ‘It swelled up a little bit, but not too bad. Hopefully it’ll be all right for [Friday].’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “As he works his way back into the Celtics [team stats] lineup, planning to return tonight in Phoenix against the Suns, Shaq is taking full advantage of modern chemistry — at least the stuff allowed under NBA guidelines. He went heavy with the anti-inflammatory drugs to get through a shin and calf injury from a collision with Amare Stoudemire, though he had to slow down when he had an adverse internal reaction. And he recently took a shot of Synvisc, an arthritis medication, to help him with his troublesome right hip and general maintenance. ‘I got one in training camp, and I figured it was time to get another one,’ said O’Neal before last night’s 88-78 victory against the Trail Blazers. ‘It helps me get some lube in my hip.’”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “Since coming to the Celtics, Garnett has had to do less than his Minnesota days and his numbers have dipped across the board, but he has always been a willing passer. He flashed his skills in a stunning minute-and-a-half stretch in the third quarter when he assisted on four straight baskets. Twice he hit Ray Allen for open 3’s and he also hit Perkins for a dunk and Allen for a layup. Ironically, one of his greatest strengths has always been looked at as a weakness. Garnett was always so willing to make the pass – to make the right play – that some people questioned whether he wanted the responsibility of taking the shot himself. True to his nature, Garnett wouldn’t change for his critics. This, he believed, was the correct way to play the game and this was what he would do. Everyone else, frankly, could go to Hades and leave him alone. As much as Garnett has given Boston in his three and a half seasons here, we shouldn’t forget that we never got to see him truly at his best. For 90 seconds Thursday night, he gave us a glimpse.”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “But in typical KG fashion, his impressive night statistically didn’t mean much. He was reminded that LaMarcus Aldridge, who finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds, had a double-double in the first half. Garnett then reminded a reporter that Aldridge’s big game also came with an ‘L.’  ’I'm more into letters, than numbers,’ Garnett said. ‘All right?’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “The Celtics have the best record in the Eastern Conference, but they were runners-up all the way around in the final fan balloting for the NBA All-Star Game starters. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce finished third and fourth at forward behind LeBron James and Amare Stoudemire; Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen were third and fourth at guard behind Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose; and Shaquille O’Neal came in second at center behind Dwight Howard. ‘To look at our record and to have no starters is surprising,’ Doc Rivers said before last night’s win against the Blazers. ‘But not really, because we’re such a team. We’re not a team where individuals will stand out, but I think because of the record they should stand out. Hopefully all four (Pierce, Garnett, Rondo and Allen) are on (as reserves). I think they should be, and we’ll see.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Rivers never harbored any concerns about minutes, roles, or egos. He left that to the fans. He hopes the second half of the season brings more normalcy regarding injuries, but the depth certainly helped make the first half a successful one. ‘I would prefer to have them all,’ Rivers said. ‘Then we could rest guys and we could do a lot of other things. Right now it’s working out that we have enough bigs. But I’m looking forward to the day where [having too many] becomes a problem. That would be great.’”

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

An ugly win.

According to Bill Walton, Ray Allen’s jumper is as flawless as Yomesite Falls. That would make tonight’s game as flawless as Tony Allen’s outside shot, Ronnie Brewer’s shooting motion, or Shelden Williams’ 2010 NBA Finals. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t as flawed as Shelden Williams’ 2010 NBA Finals — not much could be. It was bad. Really bad. Somehow, after all the turnovers, missed box outs, and Portland points in the paint, the Celtics escaped the Rose Garden with a  88-78 victory.

For all the game wasn’t (i.e. pretty to watch), it was a win. In a hostile environment, while playing their “D” game (or so), the Celtics still managed to start their West-coast road trip the right way. These are the wins that separate the one seeds from the two seeds, and so on. Prevailing on the road, against decent teams, while playing a brand of basketball that can only be described as “raggedy”, is actually a good recipe for gaining homecourt advantage in the playoffs. (Though I’d also take “steamrolling opponents every night” for $800, Alex.)

Paul Pierce continued to show his improvements from last season. I hate to keep harping on last year with Pierce, but the difference is night and day. With the Celtics struggling through a first half that made the sport of basketball look ugly, Pierce took things into his own hands. He drove to the hoop. He drained three-balls. He generally did what he wanted, whenever he wanted to, affording the Celtics a 41-37 lead after a half in which they were severely outplayed. Just the latest evidence: Pierce’s body is again right, and his game has followed suit. Of course, as I wrote this paragraph, Pierce left to the locker room to get his body checked out (the CSNNE telecast said it’s a knee injury of some sort — update: it’s a right thigh bruise). Remind me never to write anything positive about Pierce’s body again.

But I will gush about Kendrick Perkins’ body, which hardly seems affected by a six-month layoff and offseason ACL surgery. What did Perk do tonight? Oh, just 10 points and nine rebounds in 20 minutes. That’s all. Just a near double-double. Just his normal stout defense, quarterbacking of the defense, and garbage pail effort. Just a permanent scowl, even as he makes Celtics nation smile everywhere. On one play, Perk defended Rudy Fernandez on the perimeter. Fernandez put the ball through his legs approximately a million times, attempting crossover after crossover to try losing Perk. But Perk wasn’t going anywhere. He stayed right with Fernandez, hopping left and right to stay in front of the quicker, more agile player. The leg looks, if not 100%, pretty good.

Perk has vastly outperformed my expectations through two games of his comeback, even if he still becomes easily winded, hasn’t quite reached top game shape, and still enjoys the slowest layup release in post-George Mikan NBA history. Those negatives are nothing more than the picking of nits, as we couldn’t possibly have expected more from the beast. At least not this soon.

For the losers, I couldn’t be more impressed by LaMarcus Aldridge. He was frustrated at times, yes, and I imagine most players defended by Kevin Garnett feel the same way. But Aldridge reacted to his frustration as any coach would love — he just worked harder. His shot wasn’t falling? Aldridge found easy tip-ins. He couldn’t breathe against KG’s defense? That’s fine. He worked off the ball to free himself and find easier looks. Tonight was far from Aldridge’s crowning moment. He couldn’t get any rhythm going, and the Garnett-Perkins tag-team tandem can’t be fun to play against in the post. But Aldridge is not the same player we saw last season. He’s not the same player who can be deterred by bad shooting. He’s different; a bad man on a mission to get his, a mission to help his team even on nights when it’s not pretty.

Aldridge’s aggressiveness on the glass helped to highlight a nagging Celtics rebounding deficiency, which resulted in 19 Portland offensive rebounds and a -7 rebounding differential for Boston. Tommy Heinsohn, who was in the studio rather than at the game, said he wished he could play against the Celtics — rebounds would come easy.

Of course, rebounding wasn’t the only thing the Celtics missed tonight. They also missed Rajon Rondo. He played, sure, but this wasn’t the Rondo we’re used to. He accumulated a season-low five assists, while throwing away more turnovers (six) than dimes. I have yet to check the stats, but I’d wager my left big toe that tonight was the first time this season Rondo registered more turnovers than assists. As Walton said, “Rondo’s pretty much taken this game off.”

Indeed, Rondo pretty much sat this one out, and the Celtics struggled as a unit. But a win’s a win, and a 1-0 start to the Western Conference road trip ain’t bad. As somebody once told me when I played golf, there are no pictures on the scorecard. After this win, thank God for that.

Also, Nate Robinson may have finally found Doc Rivers’ dog house for good. When the Celtics’ second unit made a run during the fourth quarter, the Diminutive Dunker’s keister was stapled firmly to the bench.

The Morning Walkthrough is a set of links to Boston Celtics articles throughout the internet, designed to get your day started the right way.

Julian Benbow, Boston Globe – “Plantar fasciitis isn’t contagious, but a pain in Nate Robinson’s foot made him think it was. The guard played just four minutes last night, hampered by foot pain. The Celtics already have their starting point guard, Rajon Rondo, playing through plantar fasciitis. ‘It feels like it, but it ain’t that,’ Robinson said. ‘It’s the bottom of my foot, left side. I’ll be all right. Just icing it, keep getting treatment every day and keep working.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Still, that pain was severe enough on Wednesday to where Robinson couldn’t come in to spell Rajon Rondo, who is battling his share of injuries as well. Coach Doc Rivers had little choice but to play Rondo extended minutes against the Blazers. ‘I left Rondo in because Nate’s foot was hurting,’ said Rivers, who added that Rondo’s hamstring started to get sore. ‘He [Rondo] was worried that if he came out, he couldn’t return. So the injury thing is really starting to creep up on us. It is what it is.’ … By playing with the sore hamstring, Rondo runs the risk of doing further damage that would not only prove potentially disastrous to him, but to the Celtics in their quest to win Banner 18. ‘I don’t look at it as being disastrous,’ Rondo said. ‘If it happens, it happens. If I play [and] I get hurt, it’s part of the game. I just can’t continue to sit out.’ If he’s not too careful with his injuries, the 6-foot-1 guard might not have much of a choice.”

Paul Flannery, WEEI – “‘Like a fine wine,’ Pierce said. He’s 33 years old, which isn’t exactly young in the NBA, but it’s not ancient either. As the years have rolled by, Pierce has gotten better. He’s gotten smarter. He’s become harder to guard even, because Pierce very rarely beats himself anymore. His turnovers, long the only chink in his offensive armor, are way down this year and he’s shooting the ball at an incredible rate. Consider Wednesday night’s game: Pierce took 11 shots, made nine of them, hit four of five from 3-point range and converted all six of his free throw attempts. He scored 28 points on 11 shots. Calling that effort efficient is like saying a Prius gets a few miles per gallon. ‘It has something to do with practice habits, my preparation,’ Pierce said. ‘The things a lot of people don’t see, the hours I spend in the gym. The older I get the more I put into my preparation. I’m becoming a more mature player each and every year.’ Pierce is now shooting 53 percent from the floor and 46 percent from beyond the arc. Add in 84 percent free throw shooting and you can make the argument that there is no more efficient scorer among wing forwards in the league.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Every drop of Paul Pierce’s 28-point performance was needed, but the game wasn’t sealed until Ray Allen buried his only 3-pointer of the night with 10.7 seconds left. Allen, who also launched a rare air ball earlier in the fourth, was simply happy for the second, third and fourth chances last night. ‘There were a couple of last shots that would have been last shots if they had gone down for us,’ said the Celtics guard, who finished 3-of-12 from the field, including 1-of-6 from downtown. ‘It was unfortunate that we were in that predicament,’ Allen said. ‘In the last five or six possessions we didn’t attack. We had the advantage. We had Glen (Davis) in the game and we had a small on him. ‘We just were passive. We had good looks. I was looking at the rim, and the ball just didn’t want to fall for me. But I was always ready to take the next shot.’”

Steve Bulpett, Boston Herald – “‘You do what you do,’ said Doc Rivers. ‘That’s a great example. It’s just trust. It really is. We talk about it all the time, and it works sometimes. But that was a great example. Paul was covered, he saw an open guy, and he gave it to the open guy.’ The fact the open guy had been in this position innumerable times also helped make the decision. ‘You know,’ said Pierce. ‘You guys have seen Ray over the years. He’s one of the great shooters of all time. For me, as a scorer, you always feel that next one’s going to go in. And there’s just something about clutch players. There’s just something that runs through your veins when the game is on the line. You tend to forget about what’s happened in the rest of the game and you focus in on that last play or that last shot. Your concentration and focus goes to another level. That’s what you see from Ray year in and year out. When you need him the most, he’s going to deliver. Ray Allen wide open for the game is a no-brainer. I’m going to give it to him.’”

Michael Vega, Boston Globe – “There was no point, however, “where I felt like I was beside myself and worried about the shot going in,’’ Allen said. “It was all about the early rhythm of getting your legs and getting the ball up in the air. The shot that I made? I didn’t look at it any differently. I was just making sure that I was ready. ‘That was probably the easiest shot I had, based on them rotating out and me having enough room to get it off.’ It sent the Blazers to their fifth consecutive loss, and third in a row on the road. ‘Well, he’s a great shooter and you’ve got to know where he’s at. Whether he missed five in a row, he’s going to take it,’ said Portland coach Nate McMillan. ‘He’s a big-time shooter.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “No stranger to in-game stitches, Kevin Garnett didn’t even attempt to argue when Celtics trainer Ed Lacerte told him a small gash under his chin sustained in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game would need stitches to close up. Instead Garnett sprinted immediately for the tunnel and returned to the locker room for team doctors to patch him up. Garnett would be absent a mere four minutes of game time before returning to the Boston bench, but with a pair of TV timeouts mixed in before he was able to return to the court, it only felt like an eternity, which had Celtics coach Doc Rivers barking at poor Lacerte wondering what was taking so long to administer five stitches. Fortunately, when Garnett did return, he came back with a vengeance. Stepping back on the court with 2:24 to play in the third quarter, he aided Boston’s 17-4 run to close out the period, producing a 19-foot turnaround right before the buzzer that sent the Celtics into the fourth quarter with a seven-point cushion they’d desperately need to hang on to the win. Garnett scored nine of his 17 points while playing the final 14:24 of the game. As Rivers surmised, ‘He was [angry] someone hit him in the mouth.’”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “Kevin Garnett knows this much: The Celtics without Doc Rivers wouldn’t be nearly as desirable as they are now. ‘I told Danny (Ainge, general manager), ‘The day you get rid of Doc is the day I tip my hat to the Boston area and the Boston fans,’’ Garnett said after last night’s 99-95 win against Portland at the Garden. ‘I love Doc. He’s a credit to our success. He’s always motivating you, pushing you. I love him for that.’ … Last night marked the 200th regular-season game that Garnett, Paul Pierce and Allen have played together since they first joined the C’s in 2007. They are 150-50 in those games. ‘I don’t know if that means anything, but the other day I was looking at Kevin shooting on the floor and I was thinking wow, this was our fourth year together,’ Allen said. ‘We’ve been teammates, and we’ve won a lot of games here. This era that we played together with this team is the one we’ll remember the most. I still believe there’s so much more left. Four years, by league standards, qualifies as a long time, because you see a lot. You see players moving around. A lot has happened in the league since ’07.’”

A. Sherrod Blakely, CSNNE – “Allen came up with the big shot down the stretch, but it was a series of big plays by Paul Pierce that put the Celtics in position to win the game. Pierce can score, and at times he can be a surprisingly effective defender. The Celtics got both from the Captain on Wednesday, as he finished with a game-high 28 points on 9-for-11 shooting from the field. ‘That’s why I labeled him ‘The Truth’ 10-12 years ago,’ said Celtics center Shaquille O’Neal, who had 14 points. ‘He has it all: Inside, outside, post. Great player and also a great teammate.’”

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “Rivers said he talked with Jermaine O’Neal via telephone Wednesday and gave a small dose of encouraging news. O’Neal, who is on rehab from left knee soreness, is hoping to resume working out next week. ‘That’s the first time I’ve heard that. That’s a good sign,’ said Rivers. That said, Celtics trainer Ed Lacerte has not given Rivers the one-week alert he asked for when the medical staff believed O’Neal would be ready for action, meaning his return to the playing court is not imminent.”

Joe Freeman, The Oregonian – “The final scoreboard displayed yet another Trail Blazers loss Wednesday night at TD Garden. The NBA standings showed that it was the Blazers’ fifth defeat in a row and that, after 18 games, they sit in second-to-last place in the Northwest Division — ahead of only the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves. But look beyond the gut-wrenching 99-95 defeat to the Boston Celtics and gaze past the sad and surprising state of the team and you’ll find there’s a more positive discovery to be unearthed. ‘If we play with that fight every game, with that emotion, that passion, then we’ll dig out of this rut that we’re in,’ said LaMarcus Aldridge, who played 45 minutes and scored 18 points. ‘This is something we can build off of.’

Chris Forsberg, ESPN Boston – “The Maine Red Claws signed Northeastern product Matt Janning on Wednesday, filling a roster spot opened when recently acquired Jordan Eglseder was waived due to a knee injury. Janning shined for Boston’s summer league squad, actually being implored by Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge to stick with the team, but decided to join Phoenix’s squad for the Las Vegas summer league and it led to an NBA job (he inked a multi-year contract, but couldn’t stick early in his rookie season).”

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

Great shooters aren’t like you and I.

They never think they’re cold. Misses don’t bother them. The next shot, great shooters think, is always going in. And so it was that Ray Allen, 2-11 from the field and 0-5 from three-point range at the time, swished home the biggest make of the night, drilling a three-pointer from the corner to cement the Celtics’ 99-95 win. And thank God he did: the Celtics came *this close* to blowing a 16-point lead in the final five minutes.

As far as near-collapses go, this one was pretty epic. If you’re a Celtics fan, you know the drill. Play hard for a quarter or two, build a big lead, then relax and either a) hold on for a closer-than-necessary win, or b) blow the entire lead and lose a game that easily should have been won. I’m far past thinking the Celtics will provide 48 minutes of all-out effort every night. But is it too much for me to hope they stop being so nonchalant with late-game leads?

The C’s scored only once in the final five minutes, and it was the aforementioned three-pointer. They stopped attacking, preferring to run clock off the board rather than building the lead. I’m fine with using shot clock, but be aggressive, too, damn it. The last seven shots Boston took were jumpers — only Ray’s went in.

Other than the late-game stretch of failure, this game was a tough one to judge. I never felt the Celtics were playing well, but they shot more than 57%. I guess it helped that Glen Davis thought he was Glen Rice, and Paul Pierce thought he was Dave Hopla in an open gym. I never felt the Celtics were rebounding well, but they out-rebounded the Blazers 30-28. I never felt the Celtics really cared much about this game, but they still blitzed the Blazers, at the end of the third and start of the fourth, to open up that 16-point lead. And then they damn near flushed that lead straight down the toilet

Before I continue about the blown lead, let me speak about Paul Pierce. His maturation is nothing short of incredible. Once upon a time, Pierce created every shot by himself. His favorite word in the English language was probably “iso.” Now, he lets his offense come to him. Almost nothing is forced, with this new, mature Paul Pierce. If he doesn’t like a shot, or it isn’t in rhythm? He’ll run the offense until he finds a look he’s comfortable with. You don’t know how much Pierce, and his one-on-one forays to the hoop, used to frustrate me. I would spend half my night cheering for Pierce’s great plays, and the other half cursing at his bad shot selection. Not anymore. Now, he picks and chooses his spots and takes almost all good shots. Maybe it’s just the effect of playing with better teammates, but Pierce has matured like fine wine. Don’t look now, but he’s shooting better than 50% from the floor, 40% from threes, and almost 85% from the line. That’s spelled E-F-F-I-C-I-E-N-C-Y.

Other than Pierce and Davis’s barrage of jumpers (and the meltdown, and Ray’s corner three-ball), nothing too important happened. Shaq had his way inside, but that was to be expected. As Tommy Heinsohn noted, “If you took O’Neal and Camby side by side, he makes two of Camby.” Rondo had another ho-hum double-double, Nate Robinson played only three minutes (but still had a nice drive-and-dish to Semih Erden), Kevin Garnett was Kevin Garnett, and Marquis Daniels seemed to do absolutely nothing but still led the team in +/-.

Now, on to the Blazers. Did anybody else almost tear up seeing the new Brandon Roy? I’ve seen him play a few times this year, but every time it’s sad. This guy used to be one of the league’s best talents. He was the player Kobe Bryant had the most trouble defending. He could do ANYTHING on a court. Now, he’s reduced to playing like a damn power forward. Roy posts up, and backs opponents down, and plays like he’s either 6’10″ or about 45 years old. It’s not even that he played badly tonight; he didn’t, not at all. He was good, even. It’s just that his athleticism is so diminished. I used to be afraid of Brandon Roy. I used to love watching him play. Now, he’s so much less.

Roy almost has Andre Miller-type athleticism now, which is not good. Still, I admire Miller and would take him on my team any day. He plays like the 40-year old at the park, the crafty vet who shouldn’t be able to score buckets, but does. He’s strong, uses his body well, and knows the angles. He’s kind of lumpy, pretty slow, and you can’t really tell if he’s worked out once in the past five years or so; but Miller gets the job done. As long as you keep him away from the arc, that is. Miller entered tonight’s game shooting a tidy 7.7% from three-point range. Yes, you read that right.

Also, Wes Matthews? I was wrong about you this offseason. You’re worth every penny the Blazers offered you. Not only are you tough and gritty, but you’re skilled and young. Matthews is a winner, point blank. He’s a Raja Bell type, someone who probably won’t ever average twenty points but will always help a team win.

Even now, I don’t know what to think about tonight’s win. Oh, well. I guess I’ll just end this post by thanking Ray Allen.

It’s like my uncle used to tell me. If you’re hot, keep shooting. And if you aren’t hot, shoot until you are. So thank you, Ray Allen, for not having a conscience like the rest of us. No matter what, Ray always knows his next shot’s going to splash through the nets. It’s a good thing, too. That collapse wouldn’t have sit well in my stomach.

(When I say “Tall Black freak,” I mean that in the most respectful way possible.)

Since I’m the biggest basketball nerd you’ll ever (never?) meet but somehow don’t have NBA TV, I sat at my computer this afternoon to watch Spain play the New Zealand Tall Blacks. My computer doesn’t have any speakers, so I had some earphones in, my shirt off, some plaid shorts on and my rapidly-growing belly hanging out. I was also eating a bag of peanut M&Ms. It would have made an attractive picture, really. Any girl would have been lucky to have me right then.

But anyway, out of nowhere, some athletic freak named Thomas Abercrombie started balling out for New Zealand. Just dunking everything. He caught an alley-oop in the vicinity of Marc Gasol, then dunked near Fran Vazquez, and later had a nice and-one after bouncing off Rudy Fernandez. And that was all in the first half. He finished the game with 19 points, each one seemingly more exciting than the last.

I don’t think Abercrombie’s terrific play is a normal thing, mostly because of three facts: 1) the announcer (an annoying, over-exaggerating bloke) seemed mighty surprised by Abercrombie’s output,  2) Abercrombie only scored 7 points in New Zealand’s first game, and 3) in 2007-2008 Abercrombie played for Washington State University, averaging only 1.2 points per game. But he DID average 21.0 points per game for the Waikato Pistons of the New Zealand National Basketball League, so maybe he’s gotten infinitely better since bumming it for WSU. Even if Abercrombie still isn’t a great player, he’s got at least one thing going for him in the eyes of NBA scouts: the 23-year old can sky.

Anyway, the above dunk (which is from approximately a year ago) is sick and I’ve now put Abercrombie on my 40,000-person list of players who could have won last season’s dunk contest.

Click the jump to see one of two alley-oops from Ricky Rubio to Rudy Fernandez.

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I’ve always wanted to know the answer to the age-old riddle: How many Croatians does it take to defend Russell Westbrook? Now, I know. More than one. Especially after the first one breaks his ankles.

Click the jump for bonus coverage of Nicolas Batum flying against Spain.
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