Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
What’s slightly discouraging for Celtics fans is the way Boston has struggled recently against top-tier competition. A team that routinely kept things close earlier in the season, the Celtics have endured double-digit losses to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors and Clippers over the past 12 days.
But if Boston’s confidence hit its pinnacle in early February with a buzzer-beating win in Cleveland and an overtime triumph over the Clippers before the All-Star break, then that faith has eroded a bit recently, particularly while waiting for Crowder to bring some stability back to the lineup.
With Monday’s loss to the Clippers, the Celtics fell to 21-22 against teams with .500 records or better this season, according to the NBA. None of the four teams currently ahead of Boston in the East have losing records in playing .500 or better squads. Miami is a mere 21-21, but the four teams ahead of Boston are 97-63 overall in those games — with Atlanta (26-16), Toronto (24-14) and Cleveland (26-12) all at least 10 games over .500.
If you’re like me and physically unable to watch these late West coast games (officially logged Did Not Watch – Old Age in the box score), then you are waking up to news the Celtics were smoked by the Clippers last night and currently sit in the 5th spot in the East playoff race.
While I had zero expectations of a Celtics victory last night, Chris Forsberg offers a sobering reminder that the Cs haven’t had a legitimate big win since before the All-Star break. We are due. But I wouldn’t bet on it happening this week, even if Jae Crowder’s ankle is healed:
Crowder is close to returning from a high right ankle sprain, but he’s not there quite yet. He missed last night’s game against the Clippers, and when the Celts regroup at practice tomorrow in Portland, he will hit the floor hard.
“There’s a chance,” said Celts coach Brad Stevens. “We’ll have (today) off and then we’ll practice (tomorrow), and he’ll go through more of practice than he’s gone through since his injury. So we’ll see how he reacts to practice (tomorrow) and we’ll see how much he can do after two more days of treatment.
“But the plan of attack is that he will be pretty available for practice, for most of what we will do on (tomorrow’s) practice.”
I’m less concerned about the Celtics’ record against .500 teams and more concerned about securing the 4th seed which carries home court advantage in the 1st round. But as I look at Miami’s cupcake schedule, I’m not optimistic.
On Page 2, Paul Pierce survives a scary fall.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcWykY8v1WI]The team announced Pierce had sustained only a sprained right ankle and a bruised right knee, sparing him the cruel fate of having his last game end this way against the team he had long starred for and led to an NBA title.
“Of course, the Laker fans thought they were going to bring out a wheelchair at one point,” Doc Rivers joked, referring to Pierce’s infamous in-game return during the 2008 Finals.
“For a second, when he grabbed his knee, I definitely thought, ‘Oh boy,’” Doc Rivers said. “And, then, I’m thinking, ‘Against the Celtics . . . ‘ I was thinking, ‘No.’”
Paul and Clippers trainer Jasen Powell helped Pierce off the court before he walked to the locker room under his own power. He was universally cheered, the Boston fans mindful a Celtics career in which he logged 1,102 regular-season games and 24,021 points.
Damn, that looks painful. Get well, Truth.
The last line of the last paragraph bugs me. Insinuating that if Pierce wasn’t one of the greatest players in Celtics history, Cs fans would have booed him?
The rest of the links
Herald – Better for Doc Rivers exit | Globe – Clippers pull rank on Cs | Mass Live – IT more worried about loss than matching Legend’s record | Georgia Tech interested in Jay Larranaga |
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