The last one is a joke. Last year when they played the HORSE competition and called it GEICO instead, I thought that was a little humerous. Thankfully it is no longer than 5 letters, because it took the players a while to get warmed up last year, and it had to have been the longest game of horse I’ve seen. Via Mike Petraglia “Trags” on twitter:

Rajon Rondo confirms he will be taking part in HORSE competition at NBA All-Star Weekend. It will include Kevin Durant and Omri Casspi.

Omri Casspi for those of you who don’t know him plays on the Sacramento Kings. I don’t know much about him as a player, and his numbers aren’t great, but hopefully he can provide something good to the competition. It is a good thing for Kings fans to give them something to look forward to regardless of the result.

As for Rondo, hopefully he doesn’t get it down between himself and another one of these players, otherwise they will probably do some real fancy stuff– like shoot a jumper. No, but seriously, I’m sure Rondo will be great at this. We have always said he would be one tough opponent in a game of HORSE. This just gives us something interesting to watch as a home town player gets to participate in yet another competition. Pierce winning the 3 point competition and Rondo winning HORSE would atleast give us a moral victory to the first “half” of the season.

The Celtics bombshelled yesterdays game as we all know. For the second Sunday in a row I was very pleased with the way the C’s were playing. Going into the half in games against both the Lakers and Magic, Boston looked like they had the game under control and were in easy position to win the game. I mean afterall, they are on their homecourt, so they should be able to hold onto leads, correct? Apparently not.

Late in the third quarter, after the Celtics had blown their 10 point lead, the Garden began to get a little restless. As the quarter wore on, and eventually the team was down by 14 points, the Boo Birds started to reign down on the Celtics. Now many people have different takes on this, so feel free in the comments to share yours, however I want to put out my opinion on what this means to ME as a sports fan.

There is a time for, and a time not for people to express their negativity toward their team. When the team is giving it all they’ve got, but they just don’t seem to have it on a given night, how can you boo? Remember a part to every sport is talent, plain and simple. The worst team in the league can give it all they’ve got, but the chances of beating the opposition who knocks down every shot, is unrealistic. The Celtics have those kind of nights where they just don’t have it. Those are the games I said- Do not show negativity. HOWEVER, during the games in which the home team has it going, but lacks hustle, heart, and determination to win the game, I say let if fly (if you are vocal and dont fear embarrassment).

Now many people may argue to never turn on the team. In my eyes, this is not turning on the team. This is like a coach staring them in the eyes and telling the player that he isn’t giving it all hes got. 99.9% of the people who boo are not going to go home and not watch the Celtics because of their poor performance- thats not how it works. What they do, is they expect more from this team. Fans want to see the effort. When I seen Rasheed Wallace out on the court just going through the motions, that doesn’t impress me, nor anyone else.

To go to a Celtics game, more than almost any other team in the league, you have to all but take out a bank loan to get in. When you pay that money, you expect to see a performance. Yesterday was not a performance. The Celtics gave up in the third quarter. Say all you want about how, “The Magic came out with a better plan”, or “The Celtics just went cold”, or “Every team has a bad quarter from time to time”. All of those may be true, but it sure as heck isn’t 36-11 true (third quarter point differential). 36-11 after leading by 10 points comes from a lack of focus and a lack of hustle to finsh out the game. As a fan, most of which are there to see their only game of the year, that frustrates you beyond belief (and that is a soft word for how pathetic some games have been this year). If as a player on the Celtics, you can’t do it for yourself, for the team, for your family, for the city, for anything else, do it for the fans who are live watching you at that moment.

BUT, and that is a huuuuuuuuuuuuuge BUT, some of this is on you too (fan in the arena). For whatever reason this year more than any other, the Garden is quiet. (Chirp, Chirp, Chirp [the sound of crickets I guess]) How can you boo when the team is doing poorly, louder than you cheer when the team looks like an all star team? Your all access pass to booing is created through your ability to cheer on the team when they play awesome. Celtics fans need to limit their expectations. By saying this, I am not going back on how it was okay for fans to boo the poor effort of the team yesterday. What I am saying, is as fans, we tend to EXPECT them to play well. When they do, there is no cheering, when they dont, we get upset. EXPECTATIONS. You can not plan on anything to happen, because in the snap of your finger, Paul Pierce could be out with a broken foot, or Kevin Garnett could be done for the season. Think about it.

The Celtics took a swift kick to the groin yesterday, after blowing yet another, YET ANOTHER big lead against an opponent we may be meeting in the playoffs. For me, it is beginning to be a little too much. How does a team look so good for the majority of the game, yet have a stretch of 10-15 minutes EVERY GAME where they probably couldn’t beat your local area youth basketball squad. It is becoming one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen in sports. The team has to figure something out soon. Do they need homecourt in the playoffs? Maybe not, in fact maybe they need to be on the road. This comfort level crap by being at home is ridiculous. Teams are not going to roll over and play dead in the Garden simply because they are down 10. This is not 2007-2008, the Celtics are, and have proven to be, very beatable at home. After being 2-8 against the teams in the title to this post:

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Orlando Magic 96 Boston Celtics 89

TD Garden – Boston, MA

February 7, 2010

Box Score

A regulation NBA game consist of 48 minutes, today the Boston Celtics came out and played 36 of those. The problem lied in the third quarter. Like they have in past games the C’s jumped out to an early eleven point halftime lead and seemed to be well on their way to a huge win over the Magic. Thanks in part to an embarrassing third quarter effort, being outscored 36-11 in the third, and a 25-2 run the Magic were able to defeat the Celtics by the score of 96-89.

Vince Carter led the Magic with 20 points while all Magic starters finished in double figures. The Magic went to their roots when the game was on the line and finished the night on 11-22 shooting from behind the arc. Rajon Rondo, the all-star, once again led the offensive charge with 17 points and 9 assists. It isnot a coincidence that Rondo was not on the floor for the majority of the Magic’s 25-2 third quarter run.

We have all heard the term “Celtics Basketball” and that is what we saw in the first half, and even in the final quarter. The guys looked and played like the team we expect them to play like. The offense was flowing led by the always surprising Rajon Rondo, and the defense showed signs of being that dominant defense that we have come to know and love.

For the first time since the preseason the core group of players on the team were suited up and ready for action. Paul Pierce, and Marquis Daniels, both got the approval from Doc to play and participated in what seemed to be regular minutes. Pierce tallied 30 minutes on the night while Daniels had 13 off the bench.

The problem, like mentioned above, was the inability to play 48 minutes off great basketball. The third quarter was disgusting to watch, the C’s got completely handled by the Magic and looked like a team destined to get the first pick in next year’s NBA draft. The defense was standing around like a lost child, and watching the offense was like watching paint dry.

Don’t take anything away from the Magic, they played terrific defense during the second half, but there is no reason the Celtics should have lost this game. This game did nothing but create more questions surrounding the mental toughness and focus of this team. Apparently we aren’t the only one’s that aren’t happy. Doc Rivers had this to say following the game.

Via Celtics Twitter:

“We played like crap. I thought we lacked discipline. We tend to be front runners. It’s rare to outscore a team in 3 Qtrs and lose. Orlando is better than us right now. Atlanta is better than us. The Lakers are better than us right now.”

Interesting Doc, maybe you should have gave this speech at halftime to avoid blowing ANOTHER game we should have won. As disappointing as this loss is I still truly believe the Celtics are a much better team on paper than the Magic. Three out of the four games this season the Celtics have had the clear advantage for most of the game, yet couldn’t pull it off when it mattered. If the guys in green can ever find enough focus for 48 minutes I still believe they are one of the top three teams in the league, along with the Lakers and Cavaliers.

The Celtics are now 32-17 on the season and look to get back on the right track Wednesday against the Hornets. For opinion from the winning side visit Howard The Dunk. Also make sure to tune into the Celtics Late Night Show tonight at 11pm for more opinion about the game.

Photos Via Yahoo Sports

 Hopefully you have all of your homework done if you are in school, or anything else you may need finished by tomorrow morning, because today is jam packed with action from the 2 most exciting sports to watch. What is better than the Saints and Colts high powered offense battling each other in Miami for the title? Or the Magic and Celtics competing for their shot at home court advantage in the playoffs?

The Magic and Celtics game today is huge. A win for the Celtics puts the Magic 2 games back in the loss column, and the C’s need all the breathing room they can get. A win for the Magic tie them with the Celtics inthe loss column, and will have the tie breaker at the end of the season in head to head matchups after taking 3 out of the 4 games this year. Boston needs a strong victory to prove they are up their with the elite teams in the league. A 1 point loss to the Lakers is not enough.

Now onto the game that has been in the headlines for the past 2 weeks, and will finally be played tonight. The Saints and the Colts were to the 2 teams this year trying to stretch for a regular season undefeated season. Now, even with the losses in the regular season, they have proven to be byfar the best teams in their conference. This game should be very exciting, and obviously, don’t expect to see very much defense when you have guys like: Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Reggie Bush, Reggie Wayne, and many other very fast ane elusive players. It should be a great one.

As for our predictions to these games here at Hardwood Houdini:

Travis (Greenbanner18): 

               Magic @ Celtics-     Magic 86 Celtics 93
               Saints vs. Colts -      Saints 38 Colts 31

Brandon(BPaul):

               Magic @ Celtics-      Magic 85 Celtics 91
               Saints vs. Colts-        Saints 21 Colts 31

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

The Jungle – Boston, MA

2:30 PM ET Tip

Seen on: ABC

The Magic come in to today’s game reeling a little from their 1 point loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday night. After being up 15 at the half, and 21 at one point in the game, they blew the lead in the 3rd quarter and it was a struggle the rest of the way. Caron Butler knocked down a tough shot from the corner for the game winner that disappointed the Magic and their fans. Today they will be looking to combat that tough loss, and will likely not let off the accelerator. The Celtics on the other hand have won 3 in a row against mediocre teams. I hope they are not thinking that because they have a little win streak going, that they can cruise through this game today. Orlando holds a record of 33-17 and Boston comes in at 32-16.

On the season series, the Magic lead 2 games to 1. The first game between the two this year was at the Garden, and the Magic jumped on the C’s quick. They got out to a huge first quarter lead, that the Celtics demolished in the 2nd quarter. In the end, coming back from as far down as they were proved to be too much work, and they lost the game in the 4th quarter. Then on Christmas Day, the Celtics went down to Orlando and beat the Magic in every aspect of the game. Boston walked out with a very respectable 86-77 win. Just a few weeks ago, the teams met for the 3rd time. In this game, the Celtics were instead the aggressor and got up big on the Magic. They held a 15 point lead late into the game, before the Magic slowly but surely pecked away at it and won on a Rashard Lewis drive by Kevin Garnett.

Today should be the first time the entire team for the Celtics is available to play. Paul Pierce participated in practice yesterday and is likely to get the nod so the entire starting 5 will be in tact. Then for the bench, it is still questionable as to whether or not he will get any playing time, but Marquis Daniels will be suiting up as well. Now let me warn you Celtics fans, that this does not mean what we see today is the final product. Obviously Daniels needs to get back in the flow of things before he can show us everything he will provide. Also, Pierce will likely be limped up still from his foot injury, and should be a little rusty. Last but not least, remember that KG has not fully got his legs back under him yet either. Therefore, I wouldn’t call this game a measuring stick by any means, since Boston will not be the same team they will be in 2 months.

As interesting of a schedule as it as been, the Celtics and Magic are done playing games against each other in early February. That is interesting because they C’s were also done playing the Hawks as of late January. Splitting the season series with the Magic will be a great thing as far as confidence, because the team knows they had their number in every game played this year. Visually, it is just much easier to take in 2-2 than it is 1-3. Also, it would be better to look back on win against Orlando, going into the playoffs, since these teams are probable to face each other in a nice 7 game series in early May.

Today’s game is a bigger game for: The Celtics – They need to prove their worth against these upper class teams of the East. 1-7 against the Magic and Hawks combined isn’t aesthetically pleasing.

For an opposing viewpoint on today’s game visit Howard The Dunk.

(Photo Via NBAYahooSports)

            vs.           

Yesterdays Poll Results: In a land slide- “Rajon Rondo will finish the year averaging a double-double because his assist total will rise as the season progresses.”

Since returning to the Celtics lineup, Glen Davis has not been as much of a presence as he was late last year. We kind of expected him to come back from a serious thumb injury, and put up double digit scoring off the bench. He has clearly not been that yet, but is slowly but surely beginning to look more and more comfortable on the court. He is not as worried about hurting his finger, as he was the first few weeks after coming back. It is very debatable that Shelden Williams in the current situation may provide more for the team now, than Baby is. At the same time, Davis would not be able to get back into the groove of things, and in the long run would have more difficulty being that great big guy off the bench we expected him to be. That leads us to todays question:

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The majority of people can remember back to the days when KG was in his prime. Obviously, at the fresh age of 33, he is no longer at the stage. He’s still got it, but it is still fun to watch who he used to be on the basketball court. The antics still remain- the hooting and hollering, and  yelling at the top of his lungs, yes… he does, and always has done that, as you will see in the upcoming video.

The following video was sent to us by Ty Kish. It is a video of Kevin Garnett during his days back in high school. In the video, Garnett is 18 years old and playing on an AAU team for “Team Michigan” as is brought to a conclusion by garnetttribute on youtube. Ty Kish has videos on his youtube channel “CityLeagueHoopsTV”. On that channel he provides videos of Allen Iverson, Lebron James, and many more players with videos from their past. So check out this video and watch for number 41 as that is The Big Ticket.

Yes, those are high schoolers. That looks more like the Harlem Globetrotters than your highschool AAU team. No, KG may not have that kind of lift anymore, but the last few minutes without music are exactly who he is. Its just a little funnnier when you can hear him in an empty gym instead of an arena filled with 18 thousand fans.

For more videos from CityLeagueHoopsTV click here.