They’re baaaack!

Posted by Adam Hart October 28, 2008 at 8:51 pm

The Celtics, that is.  The long trail toward Number 18 begins tonight, on the parquet, against Cleveland. It’s time to running blog this bad boy. …Yes, ‘running blog’ is now a verb.

FIRST QUARTER
8:10 I’ve missed the start of the game.  Well, no I didn’t.  But my MacBook was not turned on yet, so from your perspective, I missed the start of the game.  Cleveland leads 10-4.  Kevin Garnett flushed a crowd stirring dunk, but it looks from the start that the C’s are a little overexcited from their pregame ring ceremony.  And from fear of playing King James.  He is royalty, after all.

8:15 Eddie House checks into the game, replacing a bulked-up Rajon Rondo who gets called for an offensive foul. Mo Williams drains a three going the other way. Cleveland up 14-6.

Commercials of note: Dwyane Wade gets hated on by fake radio hosts in a Playstation commercial… Boohoo. A Ford commercial that doesn’t sing about the number zero, take that Toyota. Compilation of Kevin Garnett soundbites from last season = best commercial I’ve seen this Fall.

8:19 Craig Sager is wearing a fairly regular suit. And coming off the commercial break, he uses Scot Pollard to show off the Celtics Championship ring. Craig might have found a better model. Maybe Danny Ainge or Wyc Grousbeck. …Since Pollard is wearing the ring on his middle finger. He didn’t get vulgar with it, but it’s still funny. (Vulgar? What am I, a grownup or something?)

8:22 Fancy alley-oop layup from Z. Ilgauskus to LeBron. That shouldn’t even count. If he’s going to bring that type of low-level effort to an alley-oop, it should count as a personal foul. He’s doing a disservice to his athletic ability.

8:24 Delonte West inbounds the ball. He appears to have his head in the game………..

8:25 Marv Albert just called the Cavs guard Daniel “Booby” Gibson. But he paused to say ‘booby’. It’s funny because of Albert’s history. Oh no, wait. His history is as a back biter and women’s lingerie wearer. I thought at some point in his history he served as a ‘booby’ connousieur. My bad. As you were.

8:27 Oh don’t do it to me! Powe-nasty gets a tough basket in the lane and draws the foul. C’s down 22-13. But it’s only the first quarter. Pierce will heat up.

Commercials of note: I think I just saw Weezy on a Nike commercial. Seth Rogan is making a porno with that attractive chick from all those movies.

8:32 Powe with another putback. He’s a beast off the bench. C’s down 22-18.

8:34 Buzzer beater jumper for Paul Pierce. Dude, this game is in the bag. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to grab a bowl of ice cream because I’m such a fatty. C’s down 26-20.

SECOND QUARTER
8:48 The ice cream is delicious. But the foul calls the Cavs are getting are not. They’re bitter, almost like the way the Cavs felt after losing Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Semis in 2007… Cavs up 37-28 after a bogus call on a Booby Gibson free throw.

8:50 Wally Szczerbiak front rims a jumper. There is not a prettier shot in the league than when Wally misses.

8:51 Okay. Let’s step back here, gamblers. I mean, refs. Just because Anderson Varejao has floppy hair doesn’t mean he is incapable of committing a charge. What’s the spread? Cavs up 41-30.

8:57 KG strips Ben Wallace at the top of the key and hits Rondo in stride, who finishes at the other end. Rondo, despite his added bulk, has retained his quickness. C’s down 42-34.

9:00 Oh yeah! On a shot clock violation by Cleveland, Kendrick Perkins gets his hand caught in the jersey of Big Z. The refs are forced to separate the two after they get familiar with one another. Love Perk’s toughness. He won’t take crap from anybody (hit the 1:00 remaining mark on this video).

“Mike Bibby said that? Coming off a 2-for-10 night shooting, you gonna say something like that, too.”

9:07 KG has hit shot blocked, but Pierce picks up the ball and beats the buzzer with another jumper. Don’t put his back against the wall, opposing teams. He’ll come at you like a rabid dog. Cavs up 44-38.

9:09 BronBron runs into Glen Davis and gets the blocking call. Per usual, BronBron walks off the court, grimacing and holding his head. He’s worse than a European soccer player.

9:11 I thought it was going to fall. With the clock ticking down on the first half, KG stepped behind the line in the corner for a three pointer. It rimmed out. He no James Posey from behind the arc. And yes, I’m surprised it took me this long to mention The Pose. C’s down 50-43.

HALFTIME

No stats breakdown or anything. Just this: Craig Sager asks the longest questions in the history of sideline reporters. Spit it out. He gives the player an entire history of whatever he’s asking about. The guy is sweating, trying to get to the locker room and probably not all that interested in talking to a 50-year-old sideline reporter guy. Now, these colleagues of Sager’s can get away with it.

THIRD QUARTER

9:33 Pierce begins the second half with a three. Is it possible that the C’s were simply toying with the Cavs in the first half? Entirely. C’s down 50-46.

9:36 If there is one thing the C’s will carry over from 2007, it’s third quarter dominance. Ray Allen buries a three to put the C’s down by one. The lead is in sight.

Commercials of note: So the NBA is sticking with the “Where ____ happens” campaign, huh? I like the piano. It reminds me of those Zales commercials.

Although that one is a bit crude for the female audience. But it’s Family Guy. What else would you expect?

9:40 And the lead has been assumed. KG finds Rondo for a layup. C’s up 53-52. There’s no turning back now.

9:47 Okay. Pierce just hit a turnaround jumper like it was nothing. But this is a video you MUST watch. Remember the NBA Finals last year? When they did a stupid “walk around Boston” segment with Kobe Bryant, even though it was just a walk around the block. Yeah, well check this out:

Now that’s a walk around Boston. KG is truly a special guy. Not just an athlete, a special human being. And I want to say thanks to RedsArmy, who posted this on BarstoolSports for all to enjoy. Of course, Adidas created the video. But who ever searches “Adidas” on YouTube?

9:51 The Celtics are trailing again. BronBron and his three point shot prowess are to thank for that. C’s down 63-59.

Commercials of note: NBA The Inside will not be a good game to play. Bernie Mac’s final movie. Rogaine helps 85% of men regrow hair.

9:56 Oh, just another jumper for Pierce. C’s up 64-63. And Wally promptly misses a wide open three ball on the other end of the floor. Does he cry over poor performance or just ankle sprains?

10:00 Um, hello Celtics Dancers/Cheerleaders/Hot Girls Dressed In Celtics Garb. Although, ‘garb’ makes it sound far less sexy than my eyes are reporting. Anyway, you may remember that I picked on Gary Gulman for being chosen to judge the Celtics Dance Team tryouts. Well, the judges did a great job. I’m sure they were all 2-to-1 votes, Gulman being the 1.
Oh yeah, Celts lead 67-63 at the end of the third quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

10:08 Pierce and Sasha Pavlovic are called for double technicals for talking to each other. The NBA is pathetic sometimes. I hope they don’t send each other angry text messages. That could lead to a suspension. Celtics up 69-65.

10:09 Sager is reporting about the Gatorade soaked shirt Doc Rivers wore during the Championship clincher last season, and how it was sold on eBay for charity. Timely reporting, Craig. Just a few months late on that one.

10:10 Tony Allen provides a spark for the C’s, getting a loose ball, drawing foul and sinking a pull up jumper. I like Tony. A lot of people don’t. But I do. And now you know that. C’s up 72-66.

10:13 Powe-nasty gets the crowd going with a huge dunk on Delonte. Then he draws an offensive foul at the other end. C’s up 76-68.

10:20 Tony Allen puts the moves on and scores on a jumper. Celts up 78-70. He is a bundle of energy.

10:23 Baloooooooooney. Perk gets called for a foul when he did nothing but allow Big Z to miss a turnaround shot. Mike Bibby said that? Sorry. C’s up 78-74.

10:28 Rondo picks the pocket of Mo Williams, and gets fouled by the victim when going for a layup. Rondo can only get better.

10:30 Big Z stumbles into Perk and is called for a charge. He is horrible uncoordinated with his feet. But he can shoot. He’s basically a bigger Wally Szczerbiak. C’s up 82-78.

10:31 Perk gets called for an illegal pick, his 6th foul. He’s out of the game now. Mike Bibby said that?

Commercials of note: Hyundai. First off, no one knows how to say your name correctly. Second, having a nice commercial with an SUV driving and the sun setting does not make 24 mpg a good buy. Go electric or go home. That’s where the industry is heading.

10:37 KG answers BronBron’s transition dunk with a cool, calm, collected baseline jumper. C’s up 85-80.

10:40 BronBron hits a 3, cutting the Celtics lead to 86-83. Another trip down the court yields no points for Boston, but LeBron misses a bunny. Ray Allen gets the loose ball and runs the other way with it. 27 seconds remaining after a timeout. The C’s can ice the game here.

10:42 Pierce misses a fallaway off the timeout. Cleveland — meaning LeBron — has 15 seconds to tie the game. C’s still up by 3.

10:45 Celtics get a jump ball! Oh, nope. Sorry, it was LeBron who was driving the lane. Nevermind. Shooting foul. He goes to the line to shoot two. And misses the first. Some superstar.

10:47 Hahahahahaha. Idiots. Rondo inbounds to KG, who passes to Pierce, who lobs it down court to Powe-nasty who is by himself. Powe dunks it and is fouled by Varejao. C’s up 88-84.

Now the C’s lead by 5 with 4.2 remaining. This game is over:

C’s win 90-85. Looks like the start of an undefeated season to me. That’ll do it for Celtics running blogs for quite some time. I just felt we owed it to them after all they did last season.

Lebron: 22 points, 7 rebounds

Pierce: 27 points, 3 rebounds