Written by Ryan McNeill, HoopsAddict.com
BOSTON CELTICS
Recap Rewind: Lottery? Lottery? We aren't talking about no lottery! After watching the Celtics play the past couple weeks and read all this talk about snagging the first pick in the draft I can't help but chuckle and think about Jim Mora's not infamous "playoffs?" speech when he was coaching the New Orleans Saints. Now that Paul Piece had returned to form and Al Jefferson is looking like a beast in the paint the Celtics have won five of their last seven games and may cost themselves a chance of winning the draft lottery in a couple of months.
Notable News: Justin over at CelticsStuffLive.com has scored media credentials and is doing a great job of interviewing Celtics players after games. If you are a Celtics fans than these interviews are a must listen!... Al Jefferson was last week's Eastern Conference Player of the Week and celebrated by playing 51 minutes against the Timberwolves and scored 20 points while snatching 14 boards. Around this time last season people started to jump on Dwight Howard's bandwagon and I anticipate that a ton of hoop fans will do a similar things shortly with Jefferson... Ryan Gomes had a double-dip against Minnesota with 21 points and 17 boards... Delonte West had a huge game against Minnesota as he scored 31 points after the half! This was the most points in a second half from a player that was scoreless in the first half since Jamal Crawford scorched the Sonics in 2005... The Associated Press reported that before the game against Minnesota somebody in the Celtics locker room posted a photo of Ricky Davis and Mark Blount embracing after Davis' shot beat Boston last month. Should someone try to warn Davis that the last thing he needs to do is provide an opponent with bulletin board material?... Delonte West left the game against Houston with a mild concussion... D-fense! D-fense! Boston allowed Seatle to shoot 66 percent from the field in the first half but regrouped to hold them to 31 percent in the second half while forcing nine turnovers... Allan Ray rejoined the Celtics after being recalled from the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League on Thursday... Friday's game against Seattle marked the 20th different starting line-up that Doc Rivers had used this season (last year they only used 18)...
Fast Forward: The schedule makers didn't do the Celtics any favours this week as they have four games in the next five nights and three of these games are on the road. Ouch! Boston has a chance for revenge tonight as they play the Bulls as well as games against Atlanta, San Antonio and Dallas later this week.