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Celtics Trade
Celtics fall to Nuggets on the heels of stunning trade day
The Magic's playoff hopes raised at the trade deadline without them making a trade.Probably the best deal Orlando rocky season.
(How to Otis Smith's luck is running, maybe let someone else pull the trigger is the way to go.)
Celtics surprisingly tight deleted one of the obstacles in the way of Dwight Howard when the teams met in the postseason.
They handled the road-grader Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder, guests Friday at Amway Center.
Perkins does not play, still hobbled by knee pain. But when he does, he is about the only center who could play Howard upright without crying to Mommy --- and doing a commendable job.
Boston and Orlando have met in the past two East finals, but things have changed. By trading Perkins, the Celtics are saying, in part, that they no longer consider the Magic as big a threat as Miami or Chicago.
"They weren't thinking about us when they did it," guard Gilbert Arenas said.
Another example of the shrinking respect for the Magic.
The Celtics aren't overly concerned if Howard torches them. They don't believe in his supporting cast, and frankly, it's hard to argue at the moment.
Here's what the Celtics think of the Magic: They are willing to let creaky Shaquille O'Neal and fragile Jermaine O'Neal battle Howard. Plus, they have Krstic Nenad or Nenad Krstic, who was the big man the Celtics received in the trade, along with forward Jeff Green.
The Celtics are counting on The Big Coattail --- Shaq's the league's oldest player at 38 --- to stay healthy enough to play, oh, four games in a row.
And when the O'Neals either need oxygen or Ace bandages, they figure Kevin Garnett or Big Baby Davis can bother Howard, which is also an indictment of Orlando's power forwards.
I like the Celtics' trade/gamble a lot --- for the Magic.
It's just what they needed, judging from their playoff prospects. Howard already has the advantage against the Heat and the Bulls.
Whether Howard can get his teammates to make shots and stops without threatening their lives is a whole other story.
Nobody is saying that Perkins is Bill Russell. He didn't play major minutes, largely because he was a non-factor offensively.
But Perkins was an authentic tough guy (as opposed to KG) and anchored the Celtics' vaunted defense.
Howard averaged just 12.3 points last season against Perkins and the Celtics. Against Boston in the first three playoff games, he averaged 16.6 points. Howard scored only seven points in Game 3 as the Celtics took a commanding 3-0 lead.
Perkins isn't about numbers, although the dollar numbers he's demanding as a free agent supposedly forced the Celtics to make this horrific move. While compensation is nice, chemistry is critical, especially as tight as the Celtics seemingly have been.
Rumor has it that titles rank high in Boston, so I'd have kept Perkins to assist them in making one of the few runs left by this aging roster.
Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said he was "taken aback" by the trade, likening it to the Lakers moving Andrew Bynum or Lamar Odom.
And Dwight? He didn't want to acknowledge that Perkins even existed, much less defended him decently.
I pressed him, and Howard said, "(The Celtics) are pretty good with him or without him."
We'll see. All I know is that Howard unwittingly got some help he has needed.
Celtics fall to Nuggets on the heels of stunning trade day
Yes, the Boston Celtics' 75-89 loss to the Denver Nuggets late Thursday night is just one regular season game. On its own, the defeat at Denver during the Cs' western road trip probably doesn't mean much. The problem is that the 34-25 Nuggets aren't a team the Celtics should've lost to. Not only that, but the Cs had what was arguably their most lackluster performance of the entire season, the ugly game looking lopsided in Denver's favor throughout. As painful to watch as the match-up was, the game was an afterthought to the bigger team news of the day, news which puts that surprising loss into crystal clear context.
That news was of course the shocking departure of Kendrick Perkins(notes), an instrumental part of the Cs' glorious 2008 NBA Championship. Perk was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green(notes), though the addition of Green is little consolation to Celtics fans like me. The trade happened amid a flurry of last-minute roster moves just before the trade deadline on Thursday. Cs little man Nate Robinson(notes), as well as rookies Semih Erden(notes) and Luke Harangody(notes) will also no longer wear the green and white. I know that Celtics fans are taking Perk's loss hard (I know I am), but the Cs vets, for whom Perk was and is a close friend, are undoubtedly hurting.
The effect of Perk's departure is the all too obvious scapegoat for the Celtics' uncharacteristically anemic showing on the court at Denver. That and the fact that Boston's usual bench line-up was absent was no doubt going to make for a difficult game at the outset. Indeed, it would be tough to explain the night's final numbers otherwise.
Though Kevin Garnett(notes) had a double-double which included 13 rebounds, his 14 point tally for the night was hardly what you could call impressive. Pierce's 17 had him finish the game as the Cs' points leader, a sign of the team's overall lack of production. The Celtics were 39% in shooting from the field, and were 3 for 17 in three-pointers. For their part, the Nuggets were 45.3% from the field, made 5 of 15 behind the three-point line, and had 52 total rebounds to the Celtics' 38.
What can other Celtics fans take away from Thursday night's ugly game? Chalk up the loss to emotionally drained players and a bench decimated in the day's trades. While Jeff Green undoubtedly would have made a difference if he had been out on the court, so would Perk. At least former D-Leaguer Chris Johnson(notes) had decent minutes, two for three from the field and going two for two in free throws. Nevertheless, the rest of the season is looking a little more uncertain to this Celtics fan.
*Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor.
Tags:celtics trade perkins, jeff green, celtics, nenad krstic, lakers trade
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