A year ago, the Boston Celtics trailed the Miami Heat 2-1 entering what was essentially a do-or-die Game 4 on their TD Garden home court. Sounds pretty familiar, right?The main difference?Rajon Rondo’s now healthy. (via my column for the Springfield Republican)For a year the Celtics have wondered: “What if?”What if Rondo hadn’t crashed to the TD Garden parquet floor?...

To understand the breadth of what they accomplished in Game 3 — and yet we understand the accomplishment means little unless they follow with another win Sunday — you have to understand how low the Boston Celtics had been after Game 2.Doc Rivers spent the day between the two contests telling reporters his team actually gained confidence from the crushing, 115-111 overtime...

Kevin Garnett was joking, I think. He had already begun getting critiqued for the push-up form he unveiled during the second quarter of Boston’s 101-91 Game 3 victory, but he wanted to make an announcement:“I want people to notice that it was on the knuckles,” he said. “That’s old school. My uncle taught me to do push-ups on my knuckles. I don’...

Just a championship response from the Boston Celtics tonight. No better way to describe it, though I didn’t like how the Heat weaseled their way back in the fourth quarter.I can’t underestimate the impacts of Keyon Dooling and Marquis Daniels.Plenty more to come later, but for now I’m at the TD Garden posing as a reporter for the Springfield Republican newspaper...

We’ve all noticed Kevin Garnett’s increased production, which has been consistent and relentless since the All-Star break as the final year in his contract winds down. If you believe Garnett has increased his focus or intensity because this is a contract year, I have a time machine I’d love to sell you. He has more than 291 million reasons not to chase his next...

Chris Bosh took part in shootaround with Heat this afternoon in Boston. Team continues to decline to reveal return date.about 1 hour ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite@WindhorstESPNBrian Windhorst Based on recent activity, I suspect Bosh could try to play now, certainly by Game 5. But Heat will see how series goes & not push itabout 1 hour ago via webReplyRetweetFavorite@WindhorstESPNBrian...

The San Antonio Spurs did nothing but win for one month and 20 days. They became everybody’s favorite to win the NBA title. J.A. Adande wrote a column saying they were likely to sweep through the entire playoffs. They looked like a juggernaut, an unbeatable concoction of spacing, skill and basketball intellect.But 51 days after beginning a 20-game winning streak, the Spurs...

Forget for a second that the Boston Celtics will be playing their 16 playoff game in 32 days on Friday night. Push aside the fact that Kevin Garnett, 36 years old and with more than 50,000 NBA minutes under his belt, has never played longer in a Celtics uniform than the 45 minutes he posted in Game 2. Overlook the possibility for mental fatigue that comes with flying from Miami to...

It was by far their most devastating loss of the season, yet the Boston Celtics were every bit the champions they had been in winning the 2008 title. They were pesky and courageous and they desperately attempted to defy defeat. They were outmatched and on the road and down to one player with enough gas and skill to make a difference, and yes, they were a little inconsistent, yet...

There’s really nothing I can say about Rajon Rondo’s effort that would do him justice. Rondo played 55 minutes, scored 44 points (16-24 FG’s), dished out 10 assists and grabbed eight rebounds. Just to add to the degree of difficult, he also guarded Dwayne Wade for a good portion of the second half and matched up with LeBron James on the final play of regulation...

Not yet, Doc Rivers says.The Boston Celtics training staff floated the idea of resting Ray Allen, but Allen naturally said,”Hell No” and the coach stuck by his player. It’s an admirable display of loyalty, but, unfortunately, playing Allen major minutes in Game 2 could put the Celtics in an 0-2 hole even Tarzan couldn’t climb out of.For all the talk regarding...

Ray Allen is the first Celtic to arrive at shootaround moments ago, ahead of the team bus.about 2 hours ago via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite@celticsBoston CelticsYou get the sense this is killing him. That not being able to hit shots in what might be his final postseason with the Boston Celtics is tearing chunks of flesh from his skin. That bricking free throw after free...

Doc Rivers started Tuesday’s film session showing every Game 1 layup the Miami Heat made on loop. It was the coach’s way of telling his players they’d performed with a certain softness and lack of purpose that he didn’t find acceptable. But Rivers only called out one player’s physicality by name — Paul Pierce. (WEEI)“It’s easy to read if he...

Doc Rivers and the Boston Celtics training staff discussed whether Ray Allen should take a game off to rest his ailing ankle, but Allen would rather do whatever he can to help the Celtics on the court. His pleas have convinced Rivers to hold off on the move, at least for now. (ESPN Boston)“My trainers and I discussed (taking a game off),” Allen conceded, “but I really...

So many things went wrong yesterday for the Boston Celtics, spanning from their inability to rebound, to Ray Allen’s continued struggles, to Ed Molloy’s quick technical foul whistle, to Miami’s overwhelming athleticism, at least the latter of which doesn’t figure to change at any point during the series.One aspect of yesterday’s game which Boston can...

Ray Allen’s shooting woes continued Monday night, when he shot 1-for-7 from the field despite a few open looks, especially early in the contest. The world even tilted off its axis — I mean, Allen even missed four of his seven free throws as he continues to, in his words, fight a battle within himself.I don’t know how Doc Rivers can play Allen 39 minutes one day...

Per ESPN Boston, Doc Rivers thought his technical foul last night was the worst he’s ever received.“I know mine wasn’t (deserved). I can tell you that much,” said Rivers, whose team got hit with three individual technicals, a delay of game, and an illegal defense call. “I don’t know how long I’ve been in this league, but that has to rank...

The story will go that the big, bad Boston Celtics were not big and bad enough. It will probably start in most places with LeBron James holding the basketball after an and-one, laughing and repeatedly crowing “Yeaaaahhhhhh” in the face of an obviously hostile Kevin Garnett. The story will continue to include the Celtics’ vow for retribution, with Rajon Rondo telling...

The Celtics need to be zoned in for 48 full minutes (or reasonably close to it) to beat the Heat. They need Rajon Rondo to play like a superstar. They need to rebound and rotate on a string and move the ball sharply.None of that happened tonight, so the Celtics trail 1-0. This is their first double-digit playoff loss, so we’ll see how they adjust and respond on Wednesday.�...

(video features Boston rapper MasterPiece and his tribute to the “Grit and Balls” Celtics)Raise your hand if you expected the Boston Celtics to be one of the four NBA teams still standing in the conference finals. If you foresaw how great Kevin Garnett would still be at age 36, how a dogged Boston defense would push it through long spells of offensive filth, how the Celtics...

Yes, the Boston Celtics remember what happened last year. If they wanted to they could close their eyes and picture Rajon Rondo on the ground with his elbow hanging limply by his side, as if attached by nothing but a piece of Scotch tape. They haven’t forgotten the fantastic exhibition LeBron James and Dwyane Wade constructed as they put away so many of those games down the...

If Ray Allen had been on the golf course yesterday, his drive on the first tee would have landed in the 15th fairway. He wasn’t just missing shots, he was shanking them. The world’s most prolific three-point shooter couldn’t find the net if he MapQuested directions.He entered the fourth quarter having hit just one of nine field goal attempts. His last two attempts...

After his Philadelphia 76ers fell 85-75 to the Boston Celtics in Game 7, Doug Collins gave a press conference that swelled with graciousness and class.He clearly has the utmost respect for the Celtics, and he let the world know even while hurting from his team’s tough defeat.“I don’t look at them as the Big Three,” he said. “I look at them as the Championship...

The Boston Celtics’ season was in the balance, and their stable of All-Stars had been reduced to one simple offensive set. Paul Pierce had fouled out with four minutes left, Ray Allen — despite two gigantic triples — couldn’t be relied on for offense and Doc Rivers felt he could only thoroughly trust two players.“We were kind of down to Rondo and Kevin...

It wasn’t easy, and it certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Boston Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals with a 85-75 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Like they have done all season, the Celtics walked the tight-rope between success and failure and, somehow, kept their balance long enough to survive the scare.Kevin Garnett anchored Boston with 18 points and...