Even Without KG, Celtics Win

No matter how many defenders the Wolves threw at Pierce, he took over and the Green prevailed.

Ahh, 'tis the best of times. Remember a couple of years ago when we went through an 18-game losing streak? Remember when Pierce sat out injured most of the season and we were forced to watch Gerald Green and Sebastian Telfair? Well, my friends, those days are clearly behind us. This afternoon (morning for me, really), the Celtics took on basically their 06-07 team (a.k.a. the Timberwolves) at the Garden. The Wolves have been notoriously awful since the KG trade, however, they had the best record in January under G.M. turned head coach Kevin McHale (who should be given another ring for helping us win it all last year). The Big Man has turned Al Jefferson into a veritable All-Star (it's a travesty that he didn't get voted in by either the fans or the coaches). With KG sidelined with the flu (probably for the next game too...rest up for Thursday against the Lakers!!), Jefferson had his way with us. But key contributions from Ray Ray and Pierce led us to our 11th straight win. They're also the first 40-win team in the league.

Pierce's post up game is among the best at his position in the league.

Pierce did two better than Big Al scoring-wise, netting 36 points. In fact, the Captain did it all, grabbing 8 rebounds, dishing out 6 assists and even sneaking in a block. The key thing was that Pierce showed his vintage self, pushing the gas pedal on the offensive end that ultimately equaled a Celtics W in what would have otherwise been a so-called trap game. Allen also contributed after having an off night a few days ago. He got 22 on 7-15 shooting in this one, running laps around journeyman Mike Miller (get a freakin' haircut already). 

Big Baby didn't try to do too much in KG's absence, but did juuuuust enough.

Big Baby filled in admirably for KG, getting the start (Scal's still out with a concussion), getting 12 points, 6 rebounds, and an uncanny 3 steals. TA provided a nice spark off the bench with 14 points. Overall, our bench outscored theirs 26-17. 

The big thing for the C's today was getting out to a hot start. They opened up to a 5 point lead after one (the Wolves had shot about 80% for 5-6 minutes to start the game) and ended up closing the half ahead by 18. Minnesota outscored the Celtics in both the 3rd and 4th quarters (Big Al doing much of the damage), but it was our big lead after 2 that allowed us to hang on for the win. 

Hey, Perk! Maybe if you put a hand up, Big Al wouldn't have gone off for 34, huh?

I actually don't have much else to say about this game. Sure, it was exciting when the Wolves clawed (hehe) their way back into it, but for the most part, it was a very ordinary game. No real "chippiness," as in the Detroit game, no great back-and-forth duels between two players. The only bright spot was Pierce's vintage performance spanning the 3rd and 4th quarters. It just goes to show you that when he wants to/when the team needs him to, the Capt. can still produce MVP-like numbers at age 31. The guy's an all-around player and a tough matchup for any team really. He can bruise you inside, he shoots at about a 40% clip over the past 2 seasons from deep, and he's deceptively quick. When he's on, there's just no stopping him (the guy scored 46 points in the second half of a game versus the Nets back in 2001 after getting just 2 in the first half. End of discussion. I'm still waiting for a YouTube video of that to show up sometime...I personally don't remember it, unfortunately.). 

Enjoy Superbowl Sunday. I really don't care for the teams playing, but I like me an underdog, so I'll pick Les Cardinales. The Boss's halftime show should be killer (please play Born to Run....please?), although of course nowhere near as good as U2's post-9/11 set in 2002. Being a diehard fan aside, is there really any more powerful image than the end of "Where the Streets Have No Name" and Bono pulling aside his leather jacket to reveal an American flag sewn inside? I think not.

In case you haven't seen that halftime performance, here she blows (sans the first number, "Beautiful Day"). Oh, and p.s., Bono's voice isn't in the best of conditions, but it really doesn't detract from the performance (he's just coming off a year-long tour and still recovering from throat surgery...):

Chills.