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“Well, we’d rather not, honestly,’’ Rivers said of opening on the road. “It would have been easier to open up at home but we’re just not.
“We had to make tough choices. You know, looking at Kevin, the way he ran [Thursday night], I was happy with the choice. He looked like his legs were back. And, so for me, that answered the question. Then, I looked up at the scoreboard and I was hoping Dallas was winning the game, so we could get everything.’’
But Rivers noted the Celtics had also squandered other winnable games, including an 84-79 defeat at Toronto April 13.
“Listen, we’ve earned the road, because of our record,’’ Rivers said. “You can look at games – we lost two in Toronto, we lost a lot of games early in the year. That is the reason we are on the road. So, we earned that. And, we’ll have to be ready for it.’’
Globe – Celtics win, head to Atlanta
Everyone will look to last Friday's game in Atlanta, when Doc Rivers rested a relatively healthy Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce (Rajon Rondo, Mickael Pietrus and Ray Allen were injured), as the game that lost the Celtics home court advantage.
Wrong.
Scroll through the schedule and you'll find at least 5 games the Celtics should have won. Games against New Orleans, Cleveland, Detroit (2), Sacramento and Toronto (2).
I'm a big proponent in fighting for home court, but I'm not going to fault Doc Rivers for conceding last Friday's game. Rest was the right decision.
Here's the schedule for the series. Be aware that the schedule tweeted last night by the Celtics (and posted by us) had an incorrect location for Game 7.
Game 1: Sunday, April 29 Boston at Atlanta 7:00PM (TNT)
Game 2: Tuesday, May 1 Boston at Atlanta 7:30PM (NBA TV)
Game 3: Friday, May 4 Atlanta at Boston 7:30PM (ESPN2)
Game 4: Sunday, May 6 Atlanta at Boston 7:00PM (TNT)
Game 5: Tuesday, May 8 Boston at Atlanta TBD (TBD)
Game 6: Thursday, May 10 Atlanta at Boston TBD (TBD)
Game 7: Saturday, May 12 Boston at Atlanta TBD (TBD)
All games will be televised on Comcast.
Related links: CSNNE – Celtics to begin playoffs in Atlanta | Herald – Celtics win, but start series in Atlanta | WEEI – Celtics/Hawks playoff preview |
On Page 2, Rajon Rondo is the league leader in assists.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeYMNTjZWUo]
Following Boston's 87-74 win over the Bucks, Rondo left no doubt about who the best passer in the NBA is this season as he tallied 15 assists with one turnover in just 25 minutes.
By finishing the season as the NBA's assists leader, he becomes the first Celtic to do so since Bob Cousy in 1960.
"It's a great accomplishment, very humbling," Rondo said. "I gotta thank my teammates personally, they are the ones that made the shots."
"It means a lot," Rondo said. "Cousy has always had great things to say about me. I would be honored if he could present me with a ball if I got one (for the assists title)."
CSNNE – It's official: Rondo is 2011-12 assist king
Rajon Rondo's 11.7 assist per game average is the league's highest since 1994-95 when John Stockton averaged 12.3.
Kudos to Rajon.
The rest of the links:
Globe – Allen 'probable' for playoffs | Herald – Chris Wilcox wants to return next season | Draining every bit of 'product' | CSNNE – Celtics best Bucks, 87-74 | History of memorable moments: Celtics vs Hawks | Allen probable for playoffs | WEEI – KG: Together, Celtics play hard as sh*t |
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