Once down by as many as 16 points, the Boston Celtics staged a fourth quarter comeback to beat the Toronto Raptors 94-87 on Monday night at the TD BankNorth Garden. Paul Pierce scored 22 points in the final 12 minutes alone and finished the night with 36 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Kevin Garnett added 21 points and 10 boards. Jermaine O’Neal posted 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors.

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Ok so that wasn’t pretty. The Celtics are down 48-36 at the end of the first half and are basically getting beat by one player … Jermaine O’Neal. JO has 19 points and eight rebounds in just 17 minutes. Next in line is Joey Graham with eight points and Chris Bosh has six. The Celtics have not had an answer for JO on either end of the court. Kevin Garnett has 11 points and 4 defensive rebounds while Perk is scoreless with one board. If the Celtics are going to get back into this game, they are going to have to step up their low post game to counter JO’s assault. Adding insult to injury, the Celtics are shooting 32%.

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We are live at the Garden for tonight’s game between the Celtics and Raptors. This is an intriguing matchup for a number of reasons. The Celtics, as we know, play great defense. The Raptors are a very efficient offensive team. Something shall give tonight. Also to watch, the point guard duel between Rajon Rondo and Jose Calderon and the big man matchup between Kevin Garnett and Chris Bosh.

Jess and I will be bringing you all the action, so click through for all the off-the-cuff observations, intentional and unintentional comedy and a few insightful points, as well. Read the rest of this entry »

As the Celtics sit in Indianapolis standing 2-0 on the infantile season, let’s take a look back a defensive shutdown performance that had every fan of the Green seeing visions of last year’s title run dancing in their heads more than Gino on Halloween. (Great call, Jessica!)

Paul Pierce said the Celtics just took the heart out of the young Bulls early on.

Kevin Garnett told his teammates that this one was on him after going 5-for-15 in the opener.

Doc Rivers loved his team’s energy from the get-go.

Doc Rivers on playing with momentum going on the road.

Kendrick Perkins said it’s important to get the roadtrip off to a good start.

The banner is up, the rings have been delivered and Paul Pierce won’t be thanking his extended family before the game. (We kid, Paul. We kid). It’s Game 2 of the NBA season for the Celtics who welcome the Chicago Bulls to town for their second-straight nationally televised game. You can catch it all on Comcast, of course, with plenty of Mike and Tommy goodness.

It’s Halloween night, or as friend of ‘eei Ian Browne called it: Grown-ups without kids night at the Garden. After the jump, five things to watch for while trying not be scared of Drew Gooden’s new look. Read the rest of this entry »

The Celtics opened their eight-game preseason slate with a road game in, of all places, UMass on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Cs lost the game, 98-92, despite leading by as manny as 14, 65-51, midway through the third. The team was without head coach Doc Rivers, who was tending to a personal family matter and backup point guard Sam Cassell, who was tending to a family emergency. Here’s a sampling of what they players and coaches had to say about the contest and Bill Walker’s highlight film dunks in the second quarter.

Acting head coach Tom Thibodeau summed up his team’s performance in the preseason opener.

Thibodeau on the young cast of characters, led by airwalking Bill Walker, with two spectacular dunks in the second quarter.

Bill Walker on the electrifying dunks.

Eddie House said it was good to get out on the court for a game.

Kevin Garnett said it was fun to see everyone out there on the court.

Garnett said Bill Walker is special.

Garnett said there was lots of energy in the Mullins Center building for this game.

Paul Pierce said there were lots of positives to draw from Wednesday night.