Report by Brendan Sullivan
Brendan Sullivan takes a weekly look at the NBA teams in the Atlantic Division - Boston Celtics, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors - and breaks down what happened the week before and what to expect in the week ahead, as well as injuries and trades.
Recap Rewind: The Celtics stretched their win streak to nine games with wins over Sacramento, Milwaukee, and Toronto this week. Ray Allen missed Sunday's game in Toronto with a sore ankle, which will hopefully serve as a wake up call for coach Doc Rivers, who had been playing Allen almost 40 minutes per game up to that point. Nevertheless, the Celtics continued their consistant play and their bench is getting stronger by the week.
Notable News: Many pundits have observed at this point that the Celtics are on a 9-game win streak. However, I have heard no one mention that every single one of these wins was by double digits. The Celtics are doing what they do best right now, compiling big leads and not playing close, one or two posession games down the stretch. It has been the close games that have given the C's the most trouble. Amazingly, the Celtics have only had four games this season (out of 22 so far) that have been decided by less than 10 points. In those games, they are 2-2 (and would be 1-3 had it not been for Ray Allen's miracle buzzer-beater against the Bobcats in November). The Celtics have proven to be quite shakey in close situations, without reliable play calling and coaching down the stretch. As their schedule gets more difficult from here on out, it will be interesting to see how the Celtics respond to close games. Since a huge part of this is contingent on coaching, all eyes should be on Doc Rivers.
Fast Forward: The Celtics lay their perfect home record on the line this week with some Playoff preview games against Detroit, Chicago, and Orlando. I look forward to seeing some new rivalries established at the top of the East, especially with Kevin Garnett matching up with Rasheed Wallace and Dwight Howard this week. I see the Celtics taking two of three.