Final: Celtics 109, Knicks 97. And that's all she wrote. The C's get a little lazy in the final three minutes, letting the Knicks make the score a little respectable by giving up a few easy baskets, but it doesn't matter much. They wrap up the victory with ease, improving to 5-1 at the Garden this month behind 29 points from Paul Pierce and a huge night for the second unit as a whole. An all-around solid win for the Celtics on a happy St. Patrick's Day in Boston.
Fourth quarter, 3:32, Celtics 107-89: I wonder whether the horde of Celtics fans chanting "Scalabrine! Scalabrine!" realize that the Celtics' redheaded forward isn't currently on the active roster. Hasn't been for the past six games, in fact, since Michael Finley came to town. The Boston faithful will have to settle for the active garbage-time unit — it's Shelden, Nate, Finley, Tony Allen and Rasheed Wallace. Doesn't look like the starters are coming back anytime soon. They've earned the rest.
Fourth quarter, 5:50, Celtics 102-79: Now we've seen two signs that the Celtics have this game won — an appearance from Gino on the Jumbotron, and one from Shelden Williams on the floor. For Gino, it's the usual song and dance; for Shelden, it's a huge outburst of six points and two boards in his first two minutes of play. Can't complain about either one. It's a good night for the Celtics.
Fourth quarter, 8:39, Celtics 96-75: All right, then. Where's Gino? The Celtics get a nice transition bucket from Marquis Daniels, with Robinson and Michael Finley sharing the ball beautifully on a 3-on-1 fast break. The C's lead is once again over 20, and it looks like it's only a matter of time before the Knicks wave the white flag and Boston puts another notch in the win column. Another blowout win at home for the Celtics, who look to improve to 5-1 at the TD Garden this month.
End of third quarter, Celtics 92-71: The Celtics get a scare when T-Mac, Lee and Toney Douglas put together a little 8-2 run to cut the Boston lead to 19, but it doesn't last long. Marquis Daniels hits a running jumper at the buzzer to end the third quarter, and the C's lead is back to a comfortable 21 at the end of the third. Doc has his second unit out there to start the fourth, and I'd imagine we'll see a little of Tony Allen and Shelden Williams before you know it. Not to jinx it or anything, but the Celtics have this game comfortably in the bag.
Third quarter, 2:53, Celtics 88-63: What can you say? This is just Paul Pierce's night. The Truth is now 10-for-16 from the field for a game high 27 points, along with seven rebounds. This is the best performance the Celtics have gotten out of their captain in months, and it's not over yet. You have to love the way the man has battled through injuries this season and found his stroke — this is the Paul Pierce the Celtics will be hoping to see come playoff time.
Third quarter, 6:18, Celtics 81-54: What, are we just going to go the whole night without mentioning Tracy McGrady? Actually, yeah, we might as well. The Knicks' $22 million man has been a complete non-factor in this game all night, jacking up bad shots and going 3-for-9 from the field, 0-for-3 on 3's. KG and Pierce now have 22 apiece for Boston, and this one is just turning into an absolute romp. Doc is leaving his starters out there, though — he must be happy with the way they've found a rhythm on the floor together, because he could just as easily rest the whole starting five at this point.
Third quarter, 9:16, Celtics 74-51: You can tell Rajon Rondo is making more of an effort to get Paul Pierce involved here in the third quarter, and it's working. The C's run a couple plays for Pierce early, and twice he gets in there for an easy layup — the Celtics' captain now has 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and the lead just keeps growing. Prediction: This one won't be as close as the first two times these teams squared off.
Halftime, Celtics 68-49: Are you kidding me? The Celtics explode for 18 points in the final three minutes, spurred on by a pair of 3's from Paul Pierce and a third one from Ray Allen. So much for the scoring drought. Now it's looking more like a Knicks game — fast pace, no defense, and a 19-point deficit for the men in orange and blue heading into the locker room at the break. KG leads all scorers with 16 for the Celtics, who have a stranglehold on this one.
Second quarter, 3:18, Celtics 50-37: You don't often see two-minute scoring droughts in Knicks games — possessions get rushed, shots get forced, and eventually they start going in. But nothing's falling for either team at the moment — credit David Lee and Kendrick Perkins with playing stellar defense inside, forcing both teams to stay on the perimeter and settle for some mediocre shots. This one's at a stalemate, with the Celtics still up by 13 as halftime draws closer.
Second quarter, 6:07, Celtics 44-35: Kevin Garnett doesn't care where he is, he just scores. KG has 12 points already on perfect 5-of-5 shooting — he's made one from the left elbow, one from the right elbow, one from the top of the key, a couple inside. With the Celtics wielding a significant size advantage over the Knicks tonight, KG has been able to score at will against this New York team. Especially when Lee takes a breather, the Knicks just don't have an answer.
Second quarter, 9:21, Celtics 36-23: The bad news is that the refs take away one of Nate's threes, ruling the play a shot clock violation after the fact; the good news is the Celtics don't seem to care. They just keep scoring. Paul Pierce finally perks up after a quiet first quarter, getting his first bucket, and Rasheed Wallace gets a layup as well, giving him seven points now off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting. The Celtics have no trouble maintaining the double-digit lead.
End of first quarter, Celtics 35-19: Nate Robinson does what he does best — come off the bench at the end of the first quarter and knock down 3's. Nate hits two in the final minute and a half, and the Celtics finish the quarter on a 10-2 run, their stellar jump shooting interrupted only by a pair of free throws from David Lee. Lee and Kevin Garnett each have eight points, leading their respective teams in scoring after one quarter of play.
First quarter, 3:14, Celtics 25-13: You watch David Lee out there, and honestly, he just looks discouraged at every single play. He's had a rough go of it for the past month — since the Knicks shipped Jordan Hill, Jared Jeffries and Darko Milicic out of town at the trading deadline, they've basically run out of capable big men aside from Lee. If these Knicks had more talent, they'd be a scary inside-outside threat a la Orlando with Dwight Howard. But as it is, it just looks like Lee's doing all the work himself, and things aren't working. Sad to watch, since Lee has so much potential.
First quarter, 6:15, Celtics 17-7: We all know the Mike D'Antoni style — get the ball up the floor ASAP, blaze past everyone, get off a jumper in the first four seconds off the shot clock. So far, the Celtics are beating the Knicks at their own game. KG has eight points already for the Celtics and Perk has five, as the Celtics are getting the ball inside with blazing speed and outplaying the Knicks on every possession. The C's have wasted no time grabbing a double-digit lead — now let's see if they can hold it.
First quarter, 8:42, Celtics 9-2: Welcome back, Bill Walker. Here's a beatdown. The Celtics have gotten off to a roaring start against the Knicks in the opening minutes, driving into the lane at every opportunity and scoring with ease. Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and even Marquis Daniels have all gotten in on the act, with the C's asserting their authority early in this one. So far, it's a good night to be in green.
8:00 a.m.: There's no better way to celebrate St. Patty's Day than by cheering on the men in green.
The Celtics, fresh off a blowout win Monday night over the Detroit Pistons on their home floor, take the court at TD Garden Wednesday in their third meeting this season with the third-place Knicks. The C's will welcome home Eddie House, traded at last month's deadline for Nate Robinson, for this second visit to the Garden in a Knicks uniform.
The win over Detroit was refreshing for a C's team that had lost three of four games last week. The Knicks, meanwhile, are fresh off of back-to-back wins at Dallas and at Philadelphia. This is the final game of a five-game road swing for Tracy McGrady, David Lee and the Knickerbockers.
