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Celtics beat LA: What does it mean?

Posted 2011/01/31 By Benti

Paul Pierce was a huge key to the Celtics victory Sunday

When the season schedule was announced, the Boston Celtics and their fans circled two big dates on the calender. One was opening night against the new look Miami Heat as the Celtics wanted to make a statement that they were still the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. The second one was probably Sunday, January 30th 2011. On that day, the Celtics would be traveling to Los Angeles to battle the Lakers in a rematch of the 2010 NBA Finals. It was their chance to walk into LA, give the Lakers the “remember us?” spiel and get some much needed revenge after the disappointing end to the NBA Finals. With Paul Pierce taking over the game in the second half (32 points) and doing more to help his team win then Lakers star rapist Kobe Bryant, the Boston Celtics mostly cruised to 109-96 win at the Staples Center. Ray Allen poured in 21 points , Kevin Garnett had an 18/13 double-double and even Nate Robinson and Glen Davis had great performances off the bench with 11 points and 13 points respectively. In addition, the Celtics defense held Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol to 11 and 12 points respectively, thanks in no small part to the recent return of Celtics center Kendrick Perkins.

So because of this win, this is the biggest thing to happen for the Celtics season, right? The Boston Celtics got their much talked about revenge, they beat Los Angeles on their own turf and Chris Bentivegna gets to laugh in the face of his friend Chris Carr about how the Celtics still dominate the Los Angeles Lakers in the regular season. Everything is perfect in Boston, or so we think.

I hate to break it to everyone, but beating LA on Sunday isn’t as big as a deal as everyone thinks it is.

Let’s get this out of the way first. It’s effing awesome to beat LA. They are our rivals both on the court and off the court. On the court because they are the two winningest franchises in the NBA with more than half of all NBA championships between the teams. Both teams also have had some of the greatest players to ever play the game on their teams such as Bill Russel, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. Because of the overall talent of the two franchises, they have met in the NBA Finals twelve times with the Celtics winning nine of them. The current crop also seem to have a general dislike of each other. Think about it. Do you think you could ever see Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant being buddies off the court? I didn’t think so.

Off the court, mostly with the fans, the rivalry exists because of the polarizing regions the teams come from. The Boston fan-base is a mostly blue collar, white, group who have been hardened by the extreme conditions of the New England weather. The Laker fans are a multi-ethnic group of people who are generally more laid back then New Englander’s. They are not two groups of people that normally get along very well.

But here is the thing. This game did not mean a whole heck of a lot. Sure the Boston Celtics wanted to win this game in order to get their revenge from last year’s NBA Finals. That’s all fine and dandy, but do you really think this game meant a whole heck of a lot to the Lakers? It’s just like during the 2009 season. Do you really think the Celtics really cared that they lost to the Lakers the first time on Christmas Day? Hell no. They knew they were the champions and if everything held together (which it didn’t) then the Celtics would see the Lakers in May and June. For teams both making the playoffs, they really couldn’t care about a end of January game, especially the Lakers who have been more nonchalant than usual this year. Coming off back to back titles, did anyone really expect them to play to their maximum level until the playoffs?

Besides, the Boston Celtics have more pressing matters then the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics sit three  games up on the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls and five and a half  games up on the Orlando Magic. Don’t you think the Celtics will care a little bit more about winning the games against the Eastern Conference foes they are likely to see in the playoffs? Personally, I think next Sunday’s game is more important then the Laker’s game from a basketball standpoint. Sure, emotionally I would rather beat the Lakers then the Magic, but I would rather establish some confidence against the Orlando Magic and beat them, especially if they are a likely opponent in the second round or conference finals.

So beating LA is always nice, but there is still plenty of more basketball to play. The Celtics can enjoy the victory today, but at the end of the day it’s only January. They have to continue towards perfecting their game in time for the playoffs in April.

Staying healthy wouldn’t hurt either.

~Benti

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  • Ethan posted on 2011/01/31
    Celtics have beaten the Lakers nine times in thE Finals. Lakers have only beaten the Celtics three times in the ...
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Return of the Perk

Posted 2011/01/26 By Benti

Kendrick Perkins returned last night for the Celtics

On Monday, the big news concerning the Boston Celtics upcoming game with the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers was not very big news at all. The news was that Celtics center Shaquille O’ Neal would miss another game and that the Turkish rookie Semih Erden would likely get the start. This was nothing new to Celtics fans as this is something that has happened a couple times this year.

Then the rumors started. Around mid-day Tuesday, news began filtering down from the Celtics concerning injured Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins. Perkins has been missing in action since tearing his ACL in the first quarter of Game 6 of last years NBA Finals. Since then, Perkins has been rehabbing his knee and working his way back into the Boston Celtics line-up. His return date was originally set for the February 4th national TV game at home against the Dallas Mavericks. Talk on Tuesday, however, was indicating that Perkins was making a push to Celtics coach Doc Rivers to let him on the floor Tuesday against the Cavaliers. Perkins was convinced he was ahead of schedule and ready to go.

Boston Celtics fans were holding their breath, which statistically is odd. It’s not very often that a player who has a career 6/6 average is hyped as a potential big return for a basketball team sitting in first place in the conference. Kendrick Perkins, however, is not your average 6/6 center. Kendrick Perkins biggest strength is on the defensive side of the court. His big, powerful body allows him to play great defense on nearly every center in the league and he has great awareness on help defense and the pick and roll game. In fact, Kendrick Perkins is one of the reasons that the Boston Celtics are so great against the Orlando Magic. He is one of the few centers that can defend Magic center Dwight Howard 1 on 1 which keeps the Boston Celtics from having to double up Howard and keeping their great shooters under control. Kendrick Perkins is one of those players that transcends statistics.

His return also couldn’t come at a better time for the team. With Jermaine O’ Neal contemplating surgery and Shaquille O’ Neal missing time with various injuries, rookie Semih Erden has been the starter for the team at the center position. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like Erden. When he gets minutes, he has given the Celtics some quality time, especially considering he’s a rookie and Celtics rarely put trust in their rookies. Still, he’s not a defensive force like Kendrick Perkins is. Perkins can step in, and give the Celtics 20 solid minutes a game. The timing of his return is also perfect. The Celtics have the Lakers on Sunday and would love to have Kendrick Perkins back in the line-up to defend Andrew Bynum. God knows Perkins also wants to show the Lakers and the city of Los Angeles that he is back and as good as ever.

But Kendrick Perkins return also has its drawback, mainly the doomsday scenario that I envisioned during the summer. Back in July when the Celtics signed Shaquille O’ Neal, I worried mainly about Shaq’s ego. When healthy, Shaq has never started a game on the bench. He always starts. Here’s the issue. Kendrick Perkins when fully healthy will be the better starter for this basketball team mainly based on his defense. So the issue arises with Shaq’s ego, which over the years has also not been a well kept secret. His ego has essentially forced his way out of Orlando, Los Angeles, Miami, and Phoenix. What is going to happen when Kendrick Perkins takes back his role as the starter?

What helps the Celtics is that already Shaq isn’t playing starter minutes. He’s only averaging 21 minutes a game and usually is off the floor during crunch time. Perhaps the Celtics to keep Shaq happy will continue to start him but eventually give the major minutes to Kendrick Perkins. This, however, would be very un-Celtic like in my opinion and Shaq is going to have to accept his new role off the bench or else.

Still, seeing Kendrick Perkins back on the floor is a good thing. Slowly but surely he will work his way back into major minutes and his return is exactly what the Celtics needed for a frontcourt decimated by injuries.

~Benti

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The Clippers bandwagon is all right

Posted 2011/01/20 By Benti

The Clippers are a fun team to watch

There are times when I will talk about other things in the NBA besides the Boston Celtics. The Celtics continue to play great basketball and have had two great wins this week including a playoff-esque win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night and a hard-fought win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday on “Shaq turns back the clock” night during the fourth quarter. Despite all this, it’s seemingly nothing new for the Boston Celtics and their fans. While last year we got to bitch and moan about the lack of energy on a seemingly nightly basis, the Boston Celtics have been relatively boring this year. Their major stories are that Kevin Garnett is (for the most part) finally healthy, Paul Pierce is turning in one of his most efficient season’s, Ray Allen is shooting the shit out of the ball, and Rajon Rondo has taken “The Leap” into the top-5 point guards in the NBA with his sick passing. Where’s the fun in that night in and night out?

So today, I will mix it up for some NBA talk. I’ve spent Winter Break in Southern California which has two basketball teams. Everyone knows about the Los Angeles Lakers and my overall hatred of their players and their franchise. I’m a Celtics fan. It is in my blood. The other basketball team is the long-time whipping boy of the NBA the Los Angeles Clippers. When I turn on a basketball game after the Celtics finish up whichever opponent they are playing on the night, I don’t turn to the team with the second best record in the Western Conference in the hope that they lose the game. I have actually been turning on the Clippers and enjoying a basketball game. Crazy I know. Read the remainder of this entry »

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NFL Championship Weekend Podcast

Posted 2011/01/19 By Benti

Podcast – Right Click to Download

Benti and Eric take one last look at the NFL Divsional Playoffs and move onto the Championship rounds. Find out why Benti is still on the right track with his pre-season Super Bowl predictions.

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