Kevin Garnett May Miss The 2008 All Star Game And Counting

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett missed his seventh consecutive game Sunday, and coach Doc Rivers said he might miss the next two games and, "I don't see him playing in the All-Star Game, either."

Garnett

"We don't know that yet," Rivers said, adding that he hadn't talked about it with Garnett but would try to discuss it Sunday night or Monday. "I just don't see that happening."

Garnett has been out for two weeks since straining a stomach muscle against the Timberwolves in Boston. The Celtics went 4-2 in their first six games without him, and they still have the best record in the NBA. However, that's only because their first 30 games were golden.

Garnett was the leading vote-getter for the Feb. 17 All-Star Game in New Orleans. But Rivers said before Garnett did not dress for Sunday's game against the San Antonio Spurs that he would probably not play Tuesday or Wednesday, in Boston's last two games before the break.

I don't mean to be critical of the Celtics, but ever since the Celtics played Charlotte on Jan 9th, they've gone for a record of 10-6. While that's still good, its no where close to the progress they were making at the beginning of the season during their first 30 games. One can notice an obvious difference in the Celtics with Garnett's absence. That is, they aren't as good and quite beatable.

Things Are Great in Boston...Except For The Celtics

I'm quite impressed by the Boston Celtics' 30-6 record. I absolutely can't criticize that. However, when you lost not once, but twice in a row to the Washington Wizards and 3 of the last 4 games overall, you have a slight problem here.

After a successful sweep of the league-leading Boston Celtics, the Washington Wizards are starting to think big even without a healthy Gilbert Arenas. Caron Butler scored 21 and Washington beat Boston 88-83 on Monday night for the Wizards' second victory over the Celtics in three days."Our eyes are on winning a championship," Butler said. "Hopefully we get Gilbert back by March and when he comes back we will be even more dangerous."

Slow down, Butler. All of a sudden they beat the Celtics twice and they think they are going to be the champions? That's the equivalent of saying just because the San Diego Chargers beat the Super Bowl winning Colts, they actually have a shot at the Patriots. Not gonna happen.

Antawn Jamison added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Wizards, who handed Boston its first two-game losing streak of the season. Butler scored nine points during a 25-6 run over the final 6:24 of the fourth quarter to give the Wizards their fifth win in the last six games overall and against Boston."It's tough to lose at home," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "We let our guard down and had a chance to keep them down."Boston also lost consecutive games at home for the first time all season and dropped to 30-6. The Celtics are 2-3 over their last five and have averaged 85 points a game over that span. "As much as we preach defense, offensively I think we've hit a little snag," Celtics guard Ray Allen said.

Has anyone noticed the Boston Celtics and New England Patriots are very much alike in the sense that they beat up on the easy teams, but struggle to win against teams that are above average?

Ray Allen's Return To Seattle Was A Memorable One

The Boston Celtics (24-3) of the 2007-2008 season have tied their previous number of wins (24-58) of the 2006-2007 seasons with their victory over the Seattle SuperSonics 104-96. Paul Pierce carried his team to the victory just as he did when he was the only star player on the team last year.

While most of the attention focused on Ray Allen's return to Seattle, it was Pierce who took over for Boston on Thursday night, much as he had to do in past seasons without the type of All-Star help now surrounding him. Pierce scored 26 of his season-high 37 points in the second half, and the Celtics held off the pesky SuperSonics 104-96.

With Kevin Garnett unable to match his strong first half and Allen never finding an offensive groove, it was Pierce who made shot after shot in the second half to help the league's best team avoid an embarrassing loss.

Allen was given two standing ovations before the game, as Seattle fans sold out KeyArena for one of the few times this season, and recognized Allen's efforts in his 4 1/2 seasons in a Sonics' uniform.Allen missed his first two shots badly, missing long on a 15-foot bank shot 26 seconds in and then overshooting a 3-pointer a few minutes later. Two cutting layups got Allen into the offense, but he made just four of 13 shots."Everything I got was tough," Allen said. "They know what I do and tried to take away everything I did."

Indeed, when a player plays against his old team that he's been on for years, the old team knows his style of play and can easily figure him out. This happens everytime.

This game is just another example of how dominant the Celtics are because they have too many options to go to. When one or two players are having poor nights, just about any one of the other players can pick up the slack.....but I think by now with an incredible 24-3 record everyone knows that.

The Chicago Bulls Are Really That Bad And The Boston Celtics Are Really That Good

Friday evening's Chicago Bulls At Boston Celtics contest really helped clarify for me which direction these teams are going. Bill Walton explained before the game how bad the Bulls were, but I couldn't believe it. They have Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Ben Wallace, and other players who performed well last year. That's just it. Last year they were amazing. This year, these players are just names not living up to their standards. Ben Wallace just stands around the court or sits on the bench half the time. They can't shoot well at all. They take random, forced shots and miss them. They are near to last in all shooting categories, and watching them Friday night helped prove that.

Meanwhile, coming off a 1 game losing streak, the Boston Celtics were fired up. Paul Pierce scored 15 of his 22 points in the third quarter, going 4-for-4 from 3-point range in the period as the Celtics pulled away. Boston recovered quickly from Wednesday's last-second loss to Detroit, taking an early lead against the Bulls, never trailing and never surrendering its double-digit lead after scoring 10 consecutive points to make it 40-22 with 7:50 left in the first half. Boston led by as many as 22 points in the first half and ended up crushing the Bulls 107-82.

Lebron James Beats The Celtics and Shows Why He Is The King

Lebron James led all scorers with 38 points and 13 assists as he and the Cavs handed the seemingly invincible Celtics their 2nd loss of the year in overtime with a score of 109-104. This gives Lebron 8 straight games in which he scored 30 points or more against the Celtics. Drew Gooden also contributed tremendolusly with 24 points and 13 rebounds. The Big Three combined for 64 points, but this time it wasn't enough to gain a win.

With this loss, the Celtics, as good as they have been playing, have just a slim lead for the best record in the NBA. With a 11-2 (.846) record, the Celtics really need to be concerned about the Magic, who assembled an excellent team and has a record of 13-3 (.813). Not much of a difference in percentages is there?

Meanwhile, the Cavs win and the Bucks loss puts the Cavs in a three way tie for best record in the Eastern Central Conference. The Cavs (9-6), the Pistons (8-5), and the Bucks (7-4) all have different records and percentages, but it all adds up to a dead heat for first place.

The Celtics' Streak Magically Ends

The NBA's best-shooting team, the Celtics found themselves uncharacteristically down 20 points and trailing after three quarters. They came back and made it close, but a number of missed attempts for a basket with the time winding down caused the Orlando Magic to hand the Boston Celtics (8-1) its first loss, 104-102. Garnett, Ray Allen, and Pierce were each averaging 20 points. Only Pierce topped the mark Sunday, scoring 28 points and keying several quick runs that brought Boston back.

This game was a chance for Orlando (9-2) to show it deserved the conference's second-best record. It was the first time a team shot better than 50 percent against the Celtics and the first time Boston trailed at the half and entering the fourth quarter. At 9-2, when did the Magic become so good? Orlando and New Orleans are the shocking, surprise teams of the year thus far.

Around the NBA 11.14.2007

• T-Mac just left the game with what looks like a pretty bad elbow injury. He was driving to the rim when he was fouled. He went to the free throw line and shot them left-handed. The report just came in that he has a sprained right elbow (shooting elbow). He will not return to the game, and he is being sent to the hospital for a MRI.

• LeBron James recorded a triple-double. However, the rest of his team decided to take the night off. He carried them down the stretch to force overtime against the Orlando Magic, but the Cavs feel in overtime. The real story, LeBron looks like a really good player. Oh wait, you guys knew that already?
  

• The Boston Celtics are in a class of there own. The Nets put up a great fight for the first 3 quarters, but the Celtics are just to strong. The 'Big Three' had what could be considered an off night, and they still found a way to pull away in the end.
  

• Stephon Marbury and..... who cares? Just sit him on the bench.
  

• The Flash has returned. D-Wade played for the first time this season. Unfortunately, he played in a Miami Heat jersey, therefor his team got embarrassed. However, Wade looked really sharp. I would look for him, in the upcoming weeks, to start to take control of this team and lead them to a couple of W's.
  

Boston Celtics Defeat Nets And Extend Record To 5-0

In what was essentially the Celtics first really big test, they succeeded in defeating the New Jersey Nets 112-101. Division games are always important and despite how well the Celtics have been playing, if the Nets would have won, the Nets would have actually tied the Celtics for first. However, the Nets lost and the Celtics extended their division lead over the Nets. The victory was the fifth straight for Boston, which is off to its best start since winning six in a row to start the 1987-88 season. That was the last time the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish got to the Eastern Conference finals. However, the new "Big Three" of Garnett, Allen, and Pierce are (and this would make a great argument) actually better, or have the potential to be better, than the original Big Three.

Another story in this game was Vince Carter's injury. He had 17 points before leaving late in the third quarter with a sprained right ankle. The X-rays were negative, but he may miss a week in the worst case scenario...which is bad news if you're a Nets fan because the Nets will have the opportunity to take another crack at Boston on Wednesday, November 14th.

It Is Official: Boston Has Dominated Sports

First, the Red Sox win the World Series with insanely good pitching and hitting. In fact, I believe there were many who predicted the Red Sox would win the World Series from the start of the 2007 season and those who did not predict them to win (such as myself) were only fooling themselves. Next, love them or hate (and believe me I HATE them) the Patriots (I consider them a Boston team) just can not be beaten. Even if they are cheating (which I believe they are) look at it from this angle: All teams cheat, but the Patriots cheat the best. Now, after yesterday's Celtics win over Denver, I'm convinced the Celtics are the team to beat in the NBA. They were winning 77-38 at the half! The combination of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen is simply too much offensive firepower. If one player has an off night, the other two can make up. Of the four main sports, the Boston Bruins are not dominating hockey. However, in their defense, they play in the same division as Ottawa, who is on fire this season. I must check the globe though, to see if an Ottawa exists in Massachusetts...

Around the NBA 11.3.2007

• Forget Boston's big three, how about New Jersey's big three, Carter, Kidd, and Jefferson. Richard Jefferson is off to an extremely fast start scoring at will against anybody. Jason Kidd is Jason Kidd. Mr. Triple Double recorded his 88th career triple double last night.
  

• Gilbert Arenas wishes he could have a redo on the beginning of this season. After promising a win against Boston, he goes out and plays horribly while his team gets blown out by the Celtics. Then he comes back with a 5-15 performance scoring 10 points against the Magic.

• Al Harrington had himself a game last night. He scored 38 points on 15-20 shooting. If he can play like this, Golden State is going to have a hard time getting all their players minutes.

• The Chicago Bulls are off to a horrible start this season. They had a promising squad that many thought, including myself, they were going to compete for the Eastern Conference title. I know its only a few games, but still they look terrible. They need to get Ben Gordon going, and they need to find some offense. Their defense hasn't been the problem, they need to put the ball in the hoop.
  

Around the NBA 11.2.2007

• The Toronto Raptors blow away the New Jersey Nets. The Raptors came out on fire and the Nets didn't have an answer. Richard Jefferson was the only player for the Nets scoring.

• The King has returned. After an awful game in the season opener against the Dallas Mavericks, King James scored 45 points against the Knicks to lead his team to a victory.

• What a marvelous opener for the Boston Celtics. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce looked as if they have played together forever. KG had 22 points and 20 rebounds, to solidify himself as a force in the East (not like he needed to solidify anything).

• Boston may have the best 1-2-3 combo in the league, but no 1-2 punch can compete with Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony. They combined for 57 of their teams 99 points in an 8 point victory over the T'Wolves. Watch for them to compete for the top seed all year.