The struggling Boston Celtics just got Kevin Garnett back from injury. They’ll hope he doesn’t trade places with Paul Pierce.

Pierce injured his left foot in the first quarter of Boston’s 99-88 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday. He sat out part of that quarter and all of the fourth even though the win was not certain. The Celtics outscored the Wizards 25-10 without their captain to beat the Wizards.

“I’ll get some X-rays tomorrow, but I think it’s not going to be too bad,” Pierce told reporters after the game, adding that he thought it was a sprain. “I would have known by now [if it was broken]. I think I’ll be all right.”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers said the injury was nothing serious, but he didn’t want to risk aggravating it by pushing Pierce.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett returned to practice Tuesday, engaging in full activity for the first time since hyperextending his surgically repaired right knee late last month.


By all accounts, Garnett looked fluid and he even expressed a desire to return to game action as soon as possible, though Celtics coach Doc Rivers indicated it will come no sooner than Friday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. Boston is waiting to see how the knee responds in the next few days before making a decision on that contest.

“Felt good to be back with the guys today, [my] first real practice, it felt good,” Garnett said.

Asked if he would push Rivers to put him in the lineup Wednesday night on the road against the Detroit Pistons, Garnett joked, “It wouldn’t be me if I didn’t … [But I'm] being smart about injuries, so they don’t get worse. I think I learned that last year the hard way. I’m trying to be patient and actually listen.”

Click here to read the full article – By Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com

Rajon Rondo’s brilliance for 47 minutes and 58 seconds Sunday night was overshadowed by his inability to even come close on two free throws that would have given the Celtics the lead against the Los Angeles Clippers.


Rondo’s 20-point, 6-assist, 2-steal performance is forgotten because he was unable to convert the last-second freebies, which, along with perimeter shooting, is his biggest weakness.

Rondo appeared unfazed after the Celtics’ 92-90 loss, but not only did he miss the free throws with the score 90-90, his counterpart, Baron Davis, drained a 22-foot, buzzer-beating shot with Rondo looking on helplessly.

Rondo’s success at the line has been an issue most of the season, but, entering last night’s game at Golden State, he improved to 60 percent in December after shooting 38 percent in November. Yet, even after a 7-of-9 showing in a 103-99 loss to the Warriors last night, he’s last on the team at 55.4 percent.

Click here to read the full article – By Gary Washburn of Boston Globe

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The NBA fined Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace $30,000 for publicly criticizing officials following Boston’s 116-103 victory over Toronto on Friday night.

Wallace told reporters after Sunday’s win over Miami that he plans to appeal the fine, but stopped himself from getting into more trouble, biting his tongue before elaborating on the subject.

“I’m definitely going to appeal that. I mean, what did I say wrong? You know, if they don’t want … No, I ain’t going to do that,” Wallace said to reporters before stopping in mid-sentence and smiling before departing.

After being whistled for a second-quarter technical foul against the Raptors, Wallace vented postgame about the call — dubbing Toronto’s Hedo Turkoglu a “flopper” — and saying the NBA product had been watered down by such calls.


Click here to read the full article – By Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com

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This was a blowout that did not seem like a blowout. The score – the Celtics defeated the Golden State Warriors last night, 109-95 – indicates a comfortable margin of victory. But the Celtics never appeared to be completely certain of themselves, only briefly able to assert their dominance over a team that was concluding a five-game road trip with eight available players, including Raja Bell, who is scheduled for surgery on his left wrist.

“That team scares the hell out of you,’’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “You want to sub your guys out with five minutes left and you’re worried about them making a 20-0 run in two seconds.’’

Rivers was only secure enough to remove his starters with 2:12 remaining in the game and, even then, he left in center Kendrick Perkins.

But the Celtics (9-3) put on enough of a defensive display to restore some self-confidence as they prepare for tomorrow’s game against Orlando.

Click here to read the full article – By Frank Dell’Apa of The Boston Globe

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Rajon Rondo already had his ring and now he has his money. Would it be asking too much for him to just settle down now and play some basketball?

He should forget about Chris Paul. He should forget about Deron Williams. He should forget about Tony Parker. He should forget about Derrick Rose. He’s never going to be them and they’re never going to be him. One-upmanship is not the issue. Winning games is all that matters.

Barring some wild, unforeseen turn of events on Causeway Street, Rajon Rondo will be here for at least the next five years, which will encompass much of his athletic prime. He’ll be 28 when the contract expires. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rasheed Wallace all will be gone. Paul Pierce? Maybe, maybe not. By that time Rondo will be the face of the franchise, the marquee player, the (presumably) perennial All-Star. He will, we must assume, no longer be getting caught up in extracurricular foolishness like he did Sunday night against the Hornets.

Click here to read the full article – By Bob Ryan of Boston Globe

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Through two games — a win over a really good team and a win over a really bad team — the Boston Celtics are set on nothing less than a championship.

And they are not afraid to say it.

“Why not us?” said Celtics forward Rasheed Wallace following Boston’s win over Charlotte. “I think that we can handle it. We set that bar really high. I think it would say less of us as players, coaches and a team if we sat up there and said, ‘We just want to make the playoffs.’ No, that’s not our main goal. Not our agenda. With great teams. You have to set great marks like that.”

Refreshing, right?

There is very little boring false modesty — like that repetitive droning blandness that has become the mantra over the years from the football team in Foxboro.


Click here to read the full article – By David Willis of The Eagle-Tribune

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Paul Pierce scored 25 points and Kevin Garnett backed up claims that his knee is just fine, adding 12 points and six rebounds in the Boston Celtics’ 100-93 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Sunday

Garnett, who missed much of last season with a strained right knee, looked comfortable as he chased loose balls and drove to the basket early. He matched his preseason average of eight points with 3:18 to spare in the first quarter, and wound up playing 21 minutes.

Brook Lopez led the Nets with 21 points, and Yi Jianlin added 20 points and eight rebounds.

The teams traded the lead 10 times and combined for 26 fouls, but Boston opened a 13-point lead in the second half on strong shooting by Pierce and clutch 3-pointers by Eddie House.


Click here to read the full article – By of nashuatelegraph.com

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Below are links to memorabilia available for Paul Pierce.

Paul Pierce is about to start his 12th NBA season, and the Celtics [team stats] captain expects it to be one of the oddest in memory.

Paul Pierce is about to start his 12th NBA season, and the Celtics [team stats] captain expects it to be one of the oddest in memory.

Given the initial stances between the league and players on the eve of negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement (with the current one set to expire after next season), and preparation by teams for the ballyhooed 2010 free agent class, the 2009-10 season can’t help but suffer.

Toss in major free agent signings and trades by upper tier teams like the Celtics, Lakers and Cavaliers — with the rich getting richer — and Pierce sees the dynamic changing.

“I think it’s going to be a very different kind of year, man,” Pierce said. “You obviously have your teams at the top, your teams in the middle. But the difference this year is that the teams at the top got better, and the teams at the bottom didn’t get any better.

“I think that will be a concern — that things get lopsided for teams at the top — especially going into a new collective bargaining agreement. They’re going to have to try to see how they can balance out this league, especially with the small-(market) teams that can’t get the big time players in free agency.”


Click here to read the full article – By Mark Murphy of BotonHerald.com

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Below are links to memorabilia available for Paul Pierce.

These are the hot, broiling days of summer where things are sizzling everywhere from the beach to the barbecue grill to the steamy gyms with no air conditioning. It’s the time of the year when most teams have a warm feeling about their off-season moves. Three weeks into the annual free agent roundup, everybody who’s opened their wallet likes to think they got the deal of the century. Or at least their money was well spent.

Two years ago, GM Danny Ainge set the Celtics on the path to winning championship No. 17 with his wheeling and dealing for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. This time he might have put them back on track for No. 18 by convincing the 14-year veteran Wallace to climb aboard for the mid-level exception. While the core of the Celtics’ hopes, of course, rest on Garnett’s recovery from knee surgery. Wallace gives Boston much-needed depth in the form of a versatile power forward who can still fill it up in bursts at the offensive end and be a defensive stopper when motivated. With Leon Powe’s physical status up in the air and Glen Davis still hanging out in the free agent ether, this was exactly the addition the Celtics needed.

Click here to read the full article – By Fran Blinebury of NBA.com

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Below are links to memorabilia available for Rasheed Wallace.