<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">41-10</span> <span style="font-size:14pt;line-height:100%">@</span> <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%">32-21</span> Wednesday, February 20, 2008 - 10:30 pm ET Oracle Arena (Oakland, CA) Game aired on CSN</div> The Celtics didn’t kick their five-game Western Conference road trip on the right foot, losing 124-118 (no, it didn’t go into overtime) at the Pepsi Center to the hungry Denver Nuggets. Denver was embarrassed by the Celtics back on November 7, and the Celtics didn’t let up on their pressure defense even when they were up by 40 points or more. Understandably, that ticked them off. George Karl wrote down seven keys to the game prior to tip-off in the locker room, and the seventh one was “(expletive) Boston.” They got their revenge. With a dynamite shooting display, unbelievable activity from Marcus Camby (13 rebounds, nine blocks), loud finishes from Kenyon Martin, and a little help from the officials (49 free throws attempted to Boston’s 28), they came out with the six-point victory to spoil Kevin Garnett’s return. Garnett wasn’t himself, however. Physically, he looked alright, but stamina surely played a role as Garnett hasn’t played in a game since January 25. The biggest thing, however, was his activity. He is normally “balls to the wall” for every second he is on the floor, but for the first time in his career, he just looked like a regular player out there. The intensity wasn’t there, the activity wasn’t there, and most importantly, the aggressiveness wasn’t there. It feels very weird, and somewhat wrong, to be talking about him this way, but he’s not himself yet. Monta Ellis has been playing out of his mind, however. Over the course of his last 10 games, he has held averages of roughly 25 points, six rebounds, and four assists per contest on a mind-boggling 63.1% shooting. You rarely find a combo guard with shooting percentages like that, but Ellis’ exceptional talent is really coming out of its shell and unleashing itself upon the league. His play has the Warriors rolling, as they’ve won 12 of their last 17 games and eight of their last 10 home games. This is a big game for Celtics forward Leon Powe, as well. Leon “The Show” Powe is returning home to Oakland, and will undoubtedly get a warm reception from the crowd. The last time the Celtics visited Oracle Arena, fans chanted “We want Powe!” continuously until Doc Rivers inserted him into the game. They won’t need to chant in order for Rivers to play the second-year bruiser this time. Powe has been exceptional as of late, averaging 12.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game over the last 10 contests, and nearly 14 points and eight rebounds over the last five. For all he has been through growing up in the Oakland area, playing college ball at Cal, and his recent efforts for the Celtics, let’s hope Leon can get a lot of minutes tonight and show his biggest fans what he can do in person. Both squads are coming off tough losses last night, and will be very hungry for a win. If you thought last night was entertaining, you’ve got another thing coming tonight. Projected Starters C Kendrick Perkins / Chris Webber PF Kevin Garnett / Al Harrington SF Paul Pierce / Stephen Jackson SG Ray Allen / Monta Ellis PG Rajon Rondo / Baron Davis Key Matchup: Rajon Rondo vs. Baron Davis This is as interesting a matchup as you can get. A “bodyguard” type of point guard in Baron Davis vs. a lean, aggressive guard in Rondo. Rajon did a very solid job against Davis back on November 21 by cutting him off and not allowing him to beat him to spots. Rondo did a good job with Allen Iverson in the same respect in the first half of last night’s loss to the Nuggets, but he was beaten to spots time after time in the second half of the game. Rondo can’t let that happen with Baron Davis, because he’ll eat him alive if he lets him beat him off of his jaw-dropping first step. If he let’s Davis get the advantage, the C’s are in for a long night. Celtics X-Factor: Kevin Garnett KG made his return last night in Denver, and he was clearly out of whack. Obviously, that’s expected after missing over three weeks of game action, but he was simply not as aggressive as he usually is. He scored two points and grabbed eight rebounds in a little over 21 minutes on the floor, as Doc is sticking to his guns about limiting his minutes. Hopefully, Garnett can play a little better tonight and give the Celtics a lift on the defensive end, which clearly did not happen last night. Injury Report BOS – Brian Scalabrine (strained groin – out) Celtics Keys to the Game • Close Out on Shooters, Unlike Last Night • Control the Tempo • Own the Boards • Attack the Rim • Protect the Paint
I can't believe that the Warriors are 11 games over .500 and out of the playoffs! The NBA needs to do something about this, there's no reason to have good teams not make the playoffs because we need to have an equal amount of teams come out of both conferences. That sucks.
That was one hell of a basketball game. The C's got very lucky on the second-to-last possession - that was a charge. But Baron Davis... wow. Hell of a shot. TA defended him very well, got a hand up, but it didn't bother him enough. It's too bad we lost, but it was good to see KG come out and put together a solid game. I don't think he's 100% yet, but he certainly looked 10x better than he did last night. Both Allen's played great ball as well. Ray was lights out through the first 3 quarters and Tony Allen's energy in the second half was outstanding. I can't say enough about how well TA has played for us over the past month and a half or so. Great game, unfortunate ending. PS - That crowd was absolutely crazy. EDIT: Here are my quick game notes.
