<div align="center"> <span style="font-size:24pt;line-height:100%">@</span> March 4, 2007 - 12:30 pm ET</div> <span style="color:#000080">Minnesota Timberwolves</span> <span style="color:#000000">(26-32)</span> <span style="color:#000000">PG</span> <span style="color:#000080">Randy Foye</span> <span style="color:#000000">SG</span> <span style="color:#000080">Ricky Davis</span> <span style="color:#000000">SF</span> <span style="color:#000080">Trenton Hassell</span> <span style="color:#000000">PF</span> <span style="color:#000080">Kevin Garnett</span> <span style="color:#000000">C</span> <span style="color:#000080">Mark Blount</span> <span style="color:#000000">Key Bench Players:</span> <span style="color:#000080">Mike James, Marko Jaric, Craig Smith, Mark Madsen, Rashad McCants</span> <span style="color:#009900">Boston Celtics</span> <span style="color:#000000">(16-42)</span> <span style="color:#000000">PG</span> <span style="color:#009900">Delonte West</span> <span style="color:#000000">SG</span> <span style="color:#009900">Paul Pierce</span> <span style="color:#000000">SF</span> <span style="color:#009900">Ryan Gomes</span> <span style="color:#000000">PF</span> <span style="color:#009900">Brian Scalabrine</span> <span style="color:#000000">C</span> <span style="color:#009900">Al Jefferson</span> <span style="color:#000000">Key Bench Players:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Leon Powe</span> Injury Report <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Wally Szczerbiak is out for season (ankle surgery)</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Tony Allen is out for season (torn ACL/MCL)</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Theo Ratliff is out for season (back surgery).</span> Who To Watch Out For <span style="color:#000080">Kevin Garnett</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 22.5 ppg, 12.6 rpg, 4.2 apg, 1.3 spg, 1.7 bpg</span> <span style="color:#000080">Ricky Davis</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 16.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.5 apg</span> <span style="color:#000080">Mark Blount</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 13.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg</span> <span style="color:#009900">Paul Pierce</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 25.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.0 apg</span> <span style="color:#009900">Al Jefferson</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 14.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 1.5 bpg</span> <span style="color:#000000">As A Starter: 16.0 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 1.6 bpg</span> <span style="color:#009900">Delonte West</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 11.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.5 apg</span> <span style="color:#000000">As A Starter: 13.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 5.4 apg</span> Rookie Watch <span style="color:#000000">MIN:</span> <span style="color:#000080">Randy Foye</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 7</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#000080">9.1 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.6 apg</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#000080">11.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.2 apg</span> <span style="color:#000000">MIN:</span> <span style="color:#000080">Craig Smith</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 36</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#000080">6.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Rajon Rondo</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 21</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#009900">5.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.2 apg, 1.4 spg</span> <span style="color:#000000">BOS:</span> <span style="color:#009900">Leon Powe</span> <span style="color:#000000">Overall Selection: 49</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats:</span> <span style="color:#009900">2.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg</span> <span style="color:#000080">Minnesota's X-Factor</span> <span style="color:#000080">Trenton Hassell</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 7.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.0 apg</span> <span style="color:#000080">It's pretty obvious why he's my X-Factor: his defensive assignment on the one and only Paul "The Truth" Pierce.</span> <span style="color:#009900">Boston's X-Factor</span> <span style="color:#009900">Brian Scalabrine</span> <span style="color:#000000">Season Stats: 4.2 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.0 apg</span> <span style="color:#000000">As A Starter: 6.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.9 apg</span> <span style="color:#009900">Scal needs to bring that defense again tonight. Same deal as before, he needs to play his best defense on KG today.</span> <div align="center">Key Matchup vs. <span style="color:#000080">Ricky Davis</span> <span style="color:#000000">vs.</span> <span style="color:#009900">Paul Pierce</span></div> <span style="color:#000000">PP vs. Ricky D! Two good friends, two excellent offensive players.</span> CelticBalla's Extra Thoughts/Notes If Marky Mark high-steps down the court tonight, I'll kill him. CelticBalla's Prediction Dare I say 4 in a row?
Had tickets, can't go because of my knee. Sucks but whatever. Hopefully we will see 4 in a row tomorrow. We played them tough last time, but they squeezed one out. This time it's in our house, and I have a feeling things might go a little differently.
We got this in the bag. They only beat us by like 1 point on a buzzer beater by Ricky Davis last time, and with Pierce here, I think we can win this.
I won't be here next time...I kind of wanna keep winnin but we'll fall behind in the race to #1 :HAHAHA:
This should be a great game. I'm interested to see how the fans will treat Ricky when he's announced over the loudspeaker. I think we know how Blount will be recieved....
Weird game so far. The 2nd unit shot horribly but somehow played well. Gerald had a HUGE fly by and threw the ball off the rim from like 5 feet from the basket and it bounced like a hundred feet. That was pretty funny. But the Celtics dominated the board in the first half, and especially the first quarter. Al had 9 in the first quarter. But this is definitely a winnable game. They need to go to Al more and keep getting Gerald open looks.
HOLY sh*t.Thats all I can say about this game. Gomes had the best game of his career. Gerald hit a big jumper towards the end of the 4th. Delonte was huge in the 4th and both overtimes. Wow. Glad we pulled that one out.
BALLIN!! This may be a late playoff push, eh? But seriously, this was one hell of a game. KG had a triple double, DWest exploded for 31, and a lot of other players on Boston played very well.
Well now that the initial shock of that intense win has worn off I can think about it more. It's great to see that we can win games without shooting amazingly. Al is really starting to gain some respect as he was being doubles more often than Paul. He was manhandinling that faggot Mark Blunt and my boy Craig Smith down in the post. He's really come a long way with his defense too. He's going to be great for us for years to come. Kudos to Doc for keeping Gerald in down the stretch. He really needs to play in situations like that, and even though he didn't see the ball much, he did hit a huge shot. Delonte looks like he can be another good player for us down the stretch in games in the future. Maybe a 2nd/3rd option down the stretch after Paul/Al? The kid has got balls of steel and hit like 8 ginormous free throws in the 4th and OT. Scalabrine. As much as he sucks I love having him on the roster. He was helping a lot in timeouts apparently today with defense, and in 2OT when KG was beasting us off the switch on the pick, he came in and guarded KG and stopped him. He just manned up, read the spin move and forced a tough shot, which is exactly what Scal needs to do when he's in there. And Gomes. Wow I love Gomes. Best game of the career today. His shot was falling. He was a beast on the boards. Weak side, strong side, long ones, tough ones, he was pulling down some huge ones. This kid is really going to be a valuable asset for us in the future. Great job off the bench Ryan. And kudos for the 2nd unit in the first half with Powe, Rondo, Green, Perk, and Gomes. Their shots weren't falling, but they were playing great defense and kept us ahead in the game. I think that's going to be the most overlooked part. Not sure if anyone else heard it, but Tommy and Mike had a pretty funny joke. When Ricky was fouled on the three that Violet Palmer called a 2, Tommy was like "That was clearly a 3 not a 2, bad call Violet." Then Mike goes "Ask Max about that one." Hhahahahahahahah that was hilarious. Great game. I had tickets. PISSED I couldn't go because of my knee.
Dang! 4 in a row by the Celtics. I dont know if this is a good thing or a bad thing....haha. I really want to see Durant or Oden in a Celtics uniform. And since the Celtics are already out of playoff contention, these wins dont mean THAT much. It is good that are young guys are playing well, but I want Oden or Durant!
WHAT A GAME!!! WOW! What a great basketball game. Hustle, clutch plays, 2 OT, a ton of trash talk, and young players dominating. We played so hard. We deserved this win, we fought fore it. Key Stat to the Victory: We outrebounded Minnesota 57-27. WOW! Ricky Davis - wow. He had that bounce in his step, he hit so many HUGE shots. KG hit a ton of clutch shots. Those mid-range jumper was gold and that 3 was giant. Troy Hudson = Celtic killer. Every time he plays in Boston, he kills us. Marky Mark - I hope someone breaks your legs so you can't go out there and skip around anymore. Loser. Delonte West is clutch. He's always hitting the big shots, hitting all the clutch free throws, 3's, buzzer beaters, hustle plays, you name it. Delonte does it in the clutch. He did just that tonight, and picked up a career high in the midst of it. The passes he made today were beautiful as well. Those no look dump feeds around the defender to Al and Perk - great. Keep it up, Delonte! GOMES! WOW! This was his best game as a pro, including his 29/12 game last year and including his triple-double this year. He did everything tonight. He came off the bench and played great basketball throughout the entire game, and ended up playing more minutes than any other player in the game except Ricky. He was a monster on the glass, especially on the offensive glass. He made smart plays, quick decisions. He hit the mid-range jumpers. He made big defensive plays, especially that pass deflection. I loved it! Gomes gets player of the game today, without question, IMO. Big Al is a legit young star in this league! He really is. He dominated the post tonight, once again. He demolished Blount, as expected, but he really took it to KG as well. He grabbed 9 boards in the 1st quarter. He had a HUGE block on KG. He did it all. The leaners, the hooks, the dunks, the boards, the hustle. I love Big Al Jefferson! He has arrived, people! Oh yeah, did I mentioned he is just 21 years old? Pierce was solid, at times. He forced shots, he turned it over, but he made some big plays. He denied Ricky the ball beautifully one possession when he was on fire, he made some excellent passes, and he hit his free throws. Not his best game, but not his worst either. Gerald Green really did a nice job off the bench as well. He earned himself the right to stay on the floor tonight, and I'm happy that Doc kept him out there. He hit some shots, but that's not what I loved about him tonight. First of all, he got angry. That's what I want to see, he's always too quiet and never says a word, today the Wolves were jawing and Gerald wasn't having it. He went right back at Blount. Secondly, he went strong TO THE BASKET. He didn't settle, he took it to the bucket about 5 times. And third of all, he didn't force anything. Keep it up, Gerald. Scal's shot was ICE COLD today, but in the clutch, he really played solid defense on KG. Way to go, Scal! Player Stat Lines <span style="color:#009900">Ryan Gomes: 21 points, 17 rebounds (career high), 5 assists, 3 steals on 7-11 shooting, 7-8 FT Delonte West: 31 points (career high), 5 rebounds, 10 assists on 8-13 shooting, 3-5 3FG, 12-14 FT Al Jefferson: 20 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block on 9-15 shooting Paul Pierce: 27 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 turnovers on 7-21 shooting, 3-8 3FG, 10-12 FT Gerald Green: 16 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist on 5-12 shooting, 1-1 3FG, 5-5 FT Rajon Rondo: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal on 2-4 shooting Kendrick Perkins 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 block on 2-5 shooting Brian Scalabrine: 2 rebounds, 1 assist on 0-5 shooting, 0-2 from 3</span> <span style="color:#000080">Kevin Garnett: 33 points, 13 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 blocks on 14-28 shooting, 1-1 3FG, 4-5 FT Ricky Davis: 35 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists on 12-20 shooting, 4-6 3FG, 7-7 FT Troy Hudson: 26 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals on 9-15 shooting, 3-6 from 3, 5-5 FT</span> Next Game: Wednesday (3/7/07) at home vs. Houston at 7:30 pm ET. T-Mac is healthy again and Yao may be back by then. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yankshater213 @ Mar 4 2007, 04:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Great game. I had tickets. PISSED I couldn't go because of my knee.</div> That's terrible, man.
Great game for the guys in green. I was on the edge of my seat, I got to give Minny credit they hit some big 3's down the stretch in those overtimes. Also, great game by Gomes, he came up big with some nice outside jumpers and was really scrapping down low. Al J once again played great, next year he WILL be an all-star. Guaranteed. I used to get an iffy feeling when he'd turn in the paint and go up and now he's automatic when he's in the paint. It's great to see a lot of our young guys getting involved in the scoring load. By the way, Mark Blount is a f*cking tool. I couldn't believe that guy prancing around the court becuase he hit one outside jump shot. He acts like we're missing him in Boston or something like that....what a clown. Aside from KG, I feel bad for Minnesota fans, you have a bunch of middle of the road journeymen talent, a few nice young guys. I mean the Celtics might be having it rough now but we have a ton of young talent and no idiots like the T'Wolves do. If there was one great thing that Ainge did, it was getting rid of Davis and Blount.
I hope Blount gets on the plane tonight and realizes the irony of his situation. We traded him to the Wolves because we had a big man. That big man we kept instead of him (Al) absolutely dominated him in every aspect of the game today. I hope he thinks about that next time he skips around the court and keeps his head high. Like CB32 said, I hope someone breaks his f*cking legs. Ricky did play great. He was being a huge ***hole all game, but I guess he earned that right with his play. Maybe he will realize that maybe if he played a little harder in the first half and talked a little less maybe the result would have been different. Glad we pulled it out.
It's great to see 5 of our guys have 15+ more. That means we are playing more like a team and less shots by Pierce or anyone else. Double Overtime was great, and it was a great revenge.Al is playing Lightsout lately. 9 Rebounds in the first half, Delonte had a great game passing wise dishing out 10 assist. Looks like we are really finding our groove.
I just found the stat that Al and Gomes themselves outrebounded the T'Wolves 31-27. If they can keep pulling in combined 25-30 rebounds a night each I will be a very very happy person. I think we also had more offensive rebounds than they did defensive rebounds. I'm loving this winning thing. We gotta keep this play up. I wanna see us win some more games. Exciting stuff.
