4-9 FG’s   /   5-5 FT’s   /   13 Points

For his first game back, I don’t know about you, but he played better than I had expected. His knee looked alright, and he didn’t really appear as though he was favoring it too much. There was one point in the game where I don’t know if he hit knees with another player or what, but he limped up for a bit. I was a little surprised neither Mike nor Tommy mentioned anything about it. Overall, I can not complain with the effort I saw on Friday night for The Big Ticket.

Ignoring the shot chart for a minute, I want to highlight something Garnett brought, and brings to the floor. Lets start with ball movement. Not only is KG a great passer as we all know, but at the same time he sets more screens than any other player on the Celtics roster. That is a huge part of the C’s game, but there was so little of it with him gone. Even if someone was to set a screen when he was out of the lineup, if it is Sheed he can’t hit as many shots as KG, and if its Perk, there really isnt too many options for him after he comes off the screen. Garnett brings that pick and pop game that was clearly missing.

With that being said, as ironic as it is, KG didn’t make any of those shots in Fridays game. As you can see on the shot chart, he took 4 of the shots we typically see him make. However, what was exciting for me to see was how he was right on target with them. All but one was halfway down and rimmed out. The other shot was one that was a little off balance and a little out of charachter for him to shoot.

As for his game down low- The first time he received the ball in the post and tried to make a move, it was fairly slow with little confidence and he missed the shot big time. The second time he got it back, no more than a few minutes later, he made a great move and flipped the ball in from off to the left a little (as you can see on the green box on the chart). Also, he finished in and around the rim. One of these included a break away dunk which was like a breath of fresh air. Not only that he could dunk, but that he was running the floor and bringing that intensity to get the other big men running with him.

I hope no one expected Garnett to go out and put up 20/10 on his first night back. 13 points is plenty good enough, especially knowing that he was very close on several shots that would have put him at around 17 points or more. Either way, at the end of the day it is not so much how great Kevin Garnett can shoot the ball. No, what it is really about is the type of motivation he brings to the floor that rubs off on the entire team. This team can win without his points on most nights (its obviously still good to have them). What they struggle with is winning without his intensity on the floor. It is surely a good thing to see him back and playing well.

3-10 FG’s   /   0-4 3′s   /   2-2 FT’s   /   8 Points

I’m not sure if this was a good idea, or a bad idea to do a shot chart on Ray Allen. Before the game I thought it would be a good idea because of his matchup with rival Richard Hamilton, so I wanted to mark out how he did against the defense of Rip. Then as the game got started I wondered why I didn’t do Sheed as it was his return to Detroit. Also as the game dragged on it didnt appear Ray was ever going to hit a shot. In the end I guess this is a good visual to see just how bad Allen struggled on the night, which was just one of many reasons the Celtics could not pull out a win against Detroit on Wednesday night.

This shot chart really has nothing to do with the defense that was being played on him. Most, if not all of these jump shots were taken without anyone in sight of Ray. He had plenty of open looks all night, none of them went down. Key misses include, as you can see on the shot chart, shots from the right elbow which was late in the fourth, and 2 from the side. The two from the side were open and shots you typically see Ray make, and the shot from near the foul line was late in the game, and was a part of the Celtics collapse.

If it weren’t for a couple of easy lay ins, Ray’s night could have looked hideous. Unfortunately this is somewhat where we have expected Ray to be this year. As the year goes on, these 3 pointers that he takes we (well I wont speak for you) but I dont EXPECT the 3′s to go down. It is good when they do, but it has become less common to a point where I can personally make it an expectation. His 3 point percentage has dropped drastically since last year, and he hasn’t done anything as of late to raise it.

This shot chart brings me little hope for Ray. All I want is hope that he will come around. I believe he will, but I need a reason to believe. For now he just needs to find a little groove to get into. This was obviously his worse game in quite some time, so it doesnt depict the entire picture, but he hasnt put greens all over the board much this year. For tomorrow nights game I will do a shot chart on Kevin Garnett for his return so make sure to stop by.

1-14-10 Vs. Chicago Bulls

 5-6 FG   /   1-2 3′s   /   11 Points

See.. I told you they would start looking better. When you doubted me I came through. Very soon these charts will be like Picasso paintings and you will be in awe. The other day I did a shot chart breakdown on Paul Pierce for his performance in the game against New Jersey. You can get that chart here. It was a little blurry, but you got the gist of what I was getting at. I figured out how to not make them blurry. No, you dont need glasses, it was not your eyes playing tricks on you, it was pretty blurry.

Anyways, onto the shooting night Eddie had on Thursday against the Bulls at the TD Garden. I chose to do a shot chart on Eddie because he had been lights out against Chicago in the first 2 meetings these teams had this year. I coupled that with the fact that the night before in New Jersey, he shot terrible, in fact he only went 1-9. As House tends to do, I expected him to have a bounce back game, and he had just that.

Very early on, Eddie came into the game and was the typical spark off the bench the Celtics need. He hit his first 2 shots, one of which was a deep 2 after entering the game in the start of the 2nd. Then he hit a 3 very late in the 2nd quarter. What was shocking to me, was when the Celtics were struggling to find offense, and they did not bring in Eddie House. Throughout most of the 3rd quarter Eddie did not touch the floor. In what was very visible that Ray Allen was both tired, and not focused, Eddie who looked very confident was on the bench. Again, all fans are the best coaches right? No, but that is simply my opinion from what I saw. Eddie was the hot hand and he needed more than the 19 minutes of playing time he received.