E.House Trails Off after Big Debut

Game By Game Stats

Date	Opponent	Result	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OFF	DEF	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Regular
Mar 06	vs. NJN	L 93 - 113	23	3 - 8	0 - 4	0 - 0	0	3	3	3	0	0	1	1	6
Mar 05	@ TOR	L 96 - 102	18	0 - 4	0 - 3	1 - 1	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	1
Mar 03	vs. DET	W 128 - 104	30	5 - 7	2 - 3	5 - 5	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	2	17
Mar 01	@ CLE	L 93 - 124	20	1 - 8	0 - 4	0 - 0	0	2	2	3	0	0	1	0	2
Date	Opponent	Result	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OFF	DEF	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Feb 27	vs. MEM	L 109 - 120	22	5 - 12	3 - 7	2 - 2	0	2	2	4	1	0	3	2	15
Feb 26	@ WAS	W 118 - 116	23	2 - 10	0 - 5	0 - 0	1	6	7	4	2	0	0	2	4
Feb 23	@ BOS	L 106 - 110	27	2 - 7	0 - 5	0 - 0	1	4	5	5	1	0	4	1	4
Feb 22	vs. MIL	L 67 - 83	31	4 - 16	2 - 6	0 - 0	0	1	1	3	1	0	0	2	10
Feb 20	vs. OKC	L 118 - 121	36	8 - 14	4 - 8	4 - 4	1	4	5	2	1	0	2	3	24

Bill Walker: New York Knick

Nate Robinson for Eddie House?

Should we be excited about this? After game 4 of the 2008 Finals, Eddie House became a Boston Celtic for life. EH is my guy. There's nothing I like better than writing a post entitled HOUSE AFIRE!!! Still, Eddie is six years older than Nate. Eddie's shooting better from three, but only slightly better (.383 to .375), while Nate is shooting better overall (.452 to .401). Playing eight more minutes per game than House, Nate averages more points, more assists, more steals, more rebounds, and more turnovers than EH. House shoots .900 from the stripe to Nate's .778.

Three big questions are whether Nate can run the point, defend the point the point, and add some snarl to a Celtics team in desperate need of a testosterone injection. I'm not talking smack. I'm talking about a gritty, grimey, James Posey kinda roll-around, get down and stomp you around kind of thing.

Nate, you got any a dat?

BTW, I said last month that Eddie House was starting to remind me of Jerry Sichting just before Jerry Sichting got dealt for Jim Paxson. Let's see if my prediction comes true.

NATE ROBINSON

Season Averages

Season	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3p%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
09-10	NYK	30	2	24.4	0.452	0.375	0.778	0.8	1.6	2.4	3.7	0.9	0.2	1.8	2.2	13.2
Career		312	61	24.8	0.429	0.353	0.795	0.9	2.0	2.9	2.8	0.9	0.1	1.5	2.6	12.5

EDDIE HOUSE

Season Averages

Season	Team	G	GS	MPG	FG%	3p%	FT%	OFF	DEF	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
09-10	BOS	50	0	16.9	0.401	0.383	0.900	0.1	1.2	1.4	1.0	0.6	0.1	0.5	1.2	7.2
Career		643	30	17.2	0.412	0.394	0.837	0.2	1.5	1.7	1.6	0.7	0.1	0.8	1.3	7.6

1986 Cs win 14th in a Row, Improve to 64-13

A flick of assorted Celtic wrists and another X appears on the calendar: 12 days (five games) until the play-offs and, perhaps, history.

Last night's 119-98 decision over the hapless Knicks was Boston's 38th at home, breaking the NBA record set by two recent versions each of the Lakers and the 76ers. Of course, the Celtics retained hope of tying the 1971-72 Lakers for the best season ever (69-13). And they clinched the best overall record in the NBA this season, which guarantees them the home-court advantage for as long as they last in the play-offs.

Boston left little room for doubt. Danny Ainge began it all with consecutive three-pointers and eight of the Green's first 10 points. The Knicks kept pace for four minutes, fell behind by 10, twice cut the deficit to six, then were blown out of the Garden.

This was a night when Larry Bird didn't seem too disappointed to be missing most of his jumpers. In a sequence typical of the unnecessary second half -- the Celtics leading by 26 early in the third quarter -- Bird ignored the crowd's vocalized hopes for a three-pointer, instead playing pattycake-pass until the Celts finally turned it over. No problem. Robert Parish somehow took the ball from Trent Tucker and jammed it through twine and, it seemed, deep into Hubie Brown's already swollen larynx.

But what's a New York coach to do? If Brown can make it there, he can make it anywhere. Injuries to key players too numerous to mention have carried the Knicks into this seven-game losing streak (they've lost 26 of their last 30). The Celtics, meanwhile, have won 14 straight, best in the league this year. Was it only two years ago that the play-off Knicks took Boston to a seventh game?

Back to the present. Powerful center Ken Bannister kept the Knicks barely alive early in the second quarter as they outrebounded the Celtics for a short stretch and made it a 48-39 game midway into the period. But the Celtics ran off eight straight with a lineup of Parish, Jerry Sichting, Greg Kite, Scott Wedman and Rick Carlisle, and any further Brown timeouts (he had used three already) were whistled in vain. The Celtics carried a 68-44 advantage into the halftime locker room and opened the fourth quarter ahead, 96-68, with Sam Vincent, David Thirdkill and Kite on the floor.

The opening minutes helped prove the importance of arriving at a game on time. Boston played with the ease of a scrimmage; in reality, the Green Team may have given the Celtics starters a tougher time than New York offered last night.

The Celtics obviously wanted to make an easy night of it, scoring their first 11 times down the floor and converting nine of their first 10 field goals. These were not of the big guys vs. little guys variety.

Ainge knocked in consecutive three-pointers in the first 1:33, the second on a dropoff from Bird as Larry headed into the corner. Dennis Johnson over with a pair of keytoppers, and Kevin McHale rebounded Ainge's misfired (horrors) jumper. The Celtics were in the middle of an eight-point run when a Bird touchdown pass became an Ainge 6-footer.

Which was a coincidence, since the Knicks were close to being 6 feet under. The Celtics were on a 192-point pace when they called time with six minutes left in the quarter.

The Knicks made their first-half run, if you could call it that, by trimming a 24-14 Celtics edge to six points. But Bird accepted DJ's offering from the top for an easy lay-in, then threw in a lazy 20-footer, and Boston -- having sunk 12 of 16 now -- was in firm control with a 10-point advantage, and when Bird hit the breaking DJ with a Frisbee one-bounce pass, the remaining 38 minutes reeked of garbage time.

Bird seemed unconcerned with his 4-for-10 shooting half, preferring to backhand passes down low to DJ. The Celtics also missed eight of their 14 free throw attempts in the opening 24.

Pistons Lose to Knicks by 24

Link

Zeke Says Title in Knicks Future

Although Isiah Thomas has not won a single playoff game since coming to New York, the Knicks' embattled president and coach predicted on Wednesday night that the franchise will win an NBA championship.

1986 Cs Win Ugly over Knicks, Go to 14-2

Bird Goes for 31 & 15, Despite Missing First Eight Shots

When time dims the memory of two teams playing underwater for 48 minutes, maybe this holidayfest will be footnoted only as Patrick Ewing's hometown pro debut. Meanwhile, list last night's 94-88 Celtics victory over the Knicks as Boston's gift to the 1983 "Winning Ugly" White Sox.

What else can you say about a toxic waste game in which the messageboard's big note of the night is "That was Rick Carlisle's 100th career point"?

Ewing shot 3 for 10 in the first half but wound up with 29 points and nine rebounds. Larry Bird missed his first eight shots but took charge, hitting eight of nine in the third period en route to a 31-point, 15-rebound performance.

Everything else was sludgeball. The winners shot a season-low 41 percent and had a season-low 34 field goals. The Celts hit five of 18 shots (27 percent) while protecting a lead throughout the fourth quarter. The losers shot 40 percent and had 13 shots blocked. It was a night of missed shots, errant passes and botched assignments. Even the officials (Jake O'Donnell and Terry Durham) were brutal.

"It wasn't the prettiest of games," admitted Bill Walton (nine rebounds in 21 minutes), "but we were able to win."

"They have a tendency to take you out of what you want to do," said Danny Ainge.

"We had all the open shots in the world, and they didn't drop," said Celtics coach K.C. Jones. "We had layups and missed 'em . . . Then I get a tech from an (-------) (referee Terry Durham). Other than that, we won, and I'm happy."

The victory was Boston's sixth straight, and the Celts' 10th consecutive regular-season win over the Knicks. New York dropped to 4-13 and has lost 16 of its last 17 road games since March 22.

The Celts shot 36 percent in the first half but still led by two at intermission. After missing eight in a row, Bird ended his woeful first half with a tap-in and a rainbow. There was more to come.

Mr. Hungry Heart torched the Knicks from every spot on the floor in the third period. He opened the quarter with a pair of three-point plays, then switched to baseline turnarounds, fallaways, follow-ups and fast breaks. The Celtics had a 31-point quarter and an eight-point lead at the end of three.

"Bird took over the game in the third quarter," moaned Hubie Brown. "That gave them the ability to hold us off. For them, nobody else was doing anything (we noticed)."

An eight-point cushion at the three-quarter pole should be insurmmountable against Hubie's tractor-pull offense, but the Celtics went cold (credit New York's dogged defense). Rory Sparrow shot New York to within three points (87-84) with less than three minutes left before Bird and Kevin McHale iced it with six free throws. Fans started filing out when two free throws by McHale made it 93-84 with 1:31 left.

Ewing scored New York's final two baskets to reach a career scoring high. He ended up hitting nine of 21 floor shots, 11 of 14 from the line and had only one turnover in 39 minutes.

"He got off to a tough start, but he came back strong," said Hubie.

"He's Ewing the magnificent," proclaimed Jones.

St. Patrick got a nice ovation when he was introduced with the Knick starters. He's still suffering from a sore left ankle and elbow but wasn't about to skip his pro Garden debut.

"I always play well in the Garden," said the rookie big man.

The Pride of Cambridge missed his first five floor shots and was outrun by Robert Parish (13 rebounds) as the Celtics bolted to a 10-4 lead. "I was letting my man beat me," admitted Ewing.

Pat Cummings (20 points, 13 rebounds) led the visitors back with a series of jumpers, but both teams staggered throughout the rest of the quarter. Ewing's first basket came from the left baseline after he faked Walton into the 1976 championship banner.

Boston led, 22-19, after one, but a jumper by Fred Cofield (presumably no relation to Holden Caulfield) put the Knicks ahead by three early in the second.

The Celts regained the lead on a couple of baskets by McHale (18) and staggered to a 45-43 halftime lead.

New York kept firing shots into the palms of Celtic defenders while Bird went berserk in the third. A fast-break basket by Bird gave the Celts their biggest lead, 67-55.

Ewing and Cummings kept battling, but the Knicks don't have enough to beat Boston in the Garden (New York was outrebounded, 53-41). They can only disrupt a usually fluid attack.

"I don't think you can call it an artistic game," said Dennis Johnson (6 for 16). "It definitely was not a beautiful game."

1986 Cs Move to 11-2 with Win Over Knicks

Big Three Tally 70 Points, 29 Rebounds, 14 Assists, Three Blocks

Kevin McHale says the Boston Celtics have been together so long that they take their skills for granted. It took Bill Walton, one of the newest members of the team, to make him understand just how difficult it was to play against the towering Celtic front line.

"He told me that just when you get by one guy, there's another one there to block your shot," McHale said. "And when you think you've got position for a rebound, someone else reaches over you. It's tough. But it takes someone from the outside to come in and tell you before you realize it."

Patrick Ewing, who grew up across the Charles River from Boston in Cambridge, Mass., certainly realizes it now. He and the Knicks faced the Celtics for the first time this season last night at Madison Square Garden and lost, 113-104. Although the presence of the Celtics seemed to inspire the Knicks to some of their best basketball so far in this lackluster season, Ewing and his teammates eventually succumbed to the taller, stronger, and more talented Celtics.

Ewing, the Knicks' rookie, who was returning from a sprained left ankle that had forced him to miss two games, struggled against a front line that not only included the 6-foot-11-inch McHale, the 7-foot center Robert Parish and the 6-9 Larry Bird, but also was fortified by the addition of Walton, the 6-11 veteran of 11 pro seasons.

Ewing missed six of his first seven shots, grabbed only four rebounds in the first half and was not the intimidating player who had run roughshod over opponents such as Atlanta, Phoenix and Seattle. Indeed for much of the game, he appeared dejected -an emotion that he had not shown before.

Wasn't Playing Well

"It wasn't just because my shots weren't falling," Ewing said after the game. "I wasn't playing as well as I would have liked to have been."

Ewing finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. The forward Pat Cummings, coming off his best performance of the season Friday night in Washington against the Bullets, added 20 points.

But their efforts paled in comparison to Parish, McHale and Bird, who is struggling with his shooting this season. The three combined for 70 points and 29 rebounds - 14 offensive - as well as 10 assists by Bird and four by McHale, who also blocked three shots.

"They just beat you to death," said Hubie Brown, the Knick coach.

The Knicks' primary strength in this game came from the backcourt, where Rory Sparrow exceled as a playmaker. He hit 12 of 14 field goals to score a season-high 27 points, which, when combined with his 13 assists and only one turnover in 39 minutes, proved to be his best performance of the season.

A fastbreak lay-in by Sparrow and a fadeaway 18-footer by Ewing tied that game at 76-76 midway though the third period. But over the next 2 minutes 38 seconds, the Celtics pulled away with a 12-2 surge - fueled by three turnovers and three missed shots in four attempts by the Knicks.Later Brown said those missed shots and turnovers "killed" his team.

The Knicks rallied once again in the final period, slicing a 12-point deficit to 102-96 on an offensive rebound dunk by Ewing with 5:18 left. But Ewing missed on his next two attempts and baskets by McHale and the guard Danny Ainge helped Boston increase its margin to 10, which proved insurmountable.