Boston has averaged 107.2 points over its last five games.
Some notable numbers from this one:
– The Celtics shot 54.5 percent from the floor and are 120-of-212 (56.6 percent) over their last three points.
– Paul Pierce finished with a season-low eight points, the first single-digit effort for him since March 23 against the Clippers.
– Ray Allen makes all 10 of his free throws and 5-of-6 3-pointers en route to a season-high 27 points.
– Kendrick Perkins’ 9-of-10 effort makes him 22-of-24 over his last three-plus games.
– Gerald Wallace and Stephen Jackson were a combined 5-of-19 with 16 points for Charlotte.
Boston is back in action Thursday in San Antonio. We will follow all the action for you right here.
Fourth quarter, 2:53, Celtics 102-85: After I called this a “stress-free rout” the Bobcats went on a 15-2 run to make the Celtics, well, stress.
Consecutive hoops by Marquis Daniels and Kendrick Perkins finally stem the tide and Doc Rivers has emptied the bench.
A great game for Perkins, who sits with a season-high 21 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.
He shot 9-of-10 from the floor and is now 21-of-23 in his last three games.
Fourth quarter, 5:32, Celtics 98-77: It was a 9-0 Bobcats run before Kevin Garnett had a basket upon his return to the game, then made a steal to give the Celts another possession.
Fourth quarter, 6:30, Celtics 96-77: Just in case, Doc Rivers sends his starters back in to finish this one off.
Kevin Garnett had sat for 11 minutes, 58 seconds.
Fourth quarter, 7:57, Celtics 96-74: With a back-to-back at San Antonio and Oklahoma City later this week, a stress-free rout is exactly what the Celtics needed.
Plenty of rest for the starters and playing time for the bench.
Very quietly, by the way, Boston has made 25-of-27 free throws. It was just 15-of-23 in Sunday’s win over Miami and endured a 1-of-7 stretch at one point.
Fourth quarter, 11:20, Celtics 91-66: Another note on the Celtics’ offensive production tonight that paints a pretty good picture.
The Bobcats entered the game by allowing the fewest points in the league at 87.9 per game. It took Boston just over 35 minutes to top that.
End of third quarter, Celtics 88-66: Barring a major collapse the Celtics will improve to 7-1 on the road.
That would be the best mark in the league percentage-wise.
Everyone is getting into the act tonight. Rasheed Wallace scored five points at the close of the third quarter, including Boston’s eighth 3-pointer in 14 attempts.
Nice to see the C’s having so few issues in a road game against a hot team while Paul Pierce produces just eight points, two rebounds and two assists through the first three quarters.
Third quarter, 2:51, Celtics 82-62: Ray Allen has tied a season high for scoring with 24 points and Kendrick Perkins has set his with 19 already.
The pair are a combined 14-of-18 from the floor.
Perkins, who also has three blocks, is slowly getting a bit better in reducing the fouls he usually picks up setting screens and in the rebounding battle underneath.
If he can curb that a bit and improve his free-throw shooting, the game will be just about complete in terms of what the Celtics need.
Third quarter, 5:54, Celtics 76-53: A whistle every few seconds here in the third quarter as the officials are attempting to keep this one under control.
There has been plenty of jawing and certainly some frustration on the part of the Bobcats. A total of three technical fouls have been called.
Kevin Garnett has picked up his fourth foul and is out for a bit for the Celtics.
At 55.6 percent, Boston is on pace to finish with a shooting percentage above 50 for the third straight game.
Third quarter, 8:12, Celtics 72-53: Boris Diaw is one of the few Bobcats who came to play tonight.
He follows up a 3-pointer with a conventional three-point play to get Charlotte’s deficit under 20 for the first time this half.
Diaw has 13 points.
Third quarter, 9:42, Celtics 68-45: Paul Pierce hits a 3-pointer to start the scoring in the second half but the Bobcats answer with a pair of baskets.
Ray Allen then replies with his fifth 3-pointer of the game. He is feeling it tonight.
Halftime, Celtics 62-39: 13. 18. 10. 18. 18. 21. No, it’s not my IP address. Those are the point totals for the Bobcats in each of their six quarters against the Celtics this season.
A late hoop by Nazr Mohammed finally got Charlotte to the 20-point mark.
Boston, meanwhile, has scored at least 20 in each of the six sessions.
A dominant half by the C’s is finished in fine fashion by Ray Allen, who hits a 3-pointer – his fourth of the game – with a second left.
Allen has 18 points already. Kendrick Perkins has 15 and Kevin Garnett 10.
Stephen Jackson leads the Bobcats with nine points but has needed 10 shots to get there and has no assists.
Second quarter, 2:54, Celtics 53-31: Nazr Mohammed was given a technical for the exchange while Garnett got off easy.
Ray Allen hits the free throw for a game-high 22-point lead.
Second quarter, 2:58, Celtics 52-31: After being whistled for a questionable offensive foul, Kevin Garnett and Nazr Mohammed come together in a brief war of words but no punches were thrown.
We will see if the officials assess any technicals for this one.
Second quarter, 3:23, Celtics 51-31: Ray Allen has made 3-of-4 3-pointers already and just scored on a great pass by Kevin Garnett to extend the lead to a game-high 19 points.
Allen entered the contest shooting 30.1 percent from 3-point range, the worst mark of his career by a full five percentage points.
Second quarter, 5:37, Celtics 42-30: A rare positive for the Bobcats as Boris Diaw makes a 3-pointer just before the break.
Charlotte picks up its second team assist on the basket.
Second quarter, 6:26, Celtics 40-27: Rasheed Wallace does it again, picking up his league-leading eighth technical foul as he walks off the court.
Second quarter, 8:58, Celtics 37-20: The Bobcats have just one basket in the last five minutes or so, including none so far in the second quarter.
Second quarter, 9:25, Celtics 37-20: The Celtics have completely removed the crowd from this game. Two guys in the rafters just discussed their post-game plans and you could hear it on the floor.
Ray Allen’s two free throws makes it a game-high 17-point advantage.
Boston has 10 assists to Charlotte’s one.
Second quarter, 10:27, Celtics 33-18: Shelden Williams with a strong drive and lefty layup allows the Celtics to match their largest lead at 15 points.
End of first quarter, Celtics 29-18: Although Charlotte closed with the last four points, that was still one of the Celtics’ best quarters of the season.
They made 11-of-19 shots, had assists on nine of those baskets and turned the ball over just twice.
Kendrick Perkins finished the quarter 4-of-4 with 10 points and four rebounds. Kevin Garnett entered this one having made 17-of-18 shots, but Perkins is now 16-of-18 over his last three games.
That’s quite a tandem down low.
First quarter, 1:19, Celtics 29-16: The talk in the Celtics’ camp is always about defense, defense, defense.
But the C’s offense has been clicking so well of late.
Paul Pierce buries a 3-pointer to open up a 15-point lead and Kendrick Perkins gets another easy bucket on a nice feed from Kevin Garnett.
First quarter, 3:46, Celtics 20-10: Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins have combined to score the C’s last eight points as they look committed to attacking inside.
Boston is 7-of-12 from the floor so far. Charlotte is 4-of-12 and has been outrebounded 9-4.
First quarter, 5:04, Celtics 20-10: After making their first three shots the Bobcats went nearly five minutes without a basket and turned the ball over three times.
In a matchup of two of the best defensive teams in the NBA it is the Celtics asserting themselves early.
First quarter, 7:35, Celtics 12-6: Ray Allen hits back-to-back 3-pointers, which is great to see since his shot has not been going down this season.
It was nearly two years to the day that Allen hit a game-winning 3-pointer in this gym after Eddie House tipped a Bobcats inbound pass with seconds left.
First quarter, 10:13: 4-4: Apparently Larry Brown saw something he didn’t like as he calls a timeout less than two minutes in.
Before the timeout Paul Pierce had hit a baseline jumper over Gerald Wallace, but it did not seem as if there was a complete defensive breakdown or anything.
First quarter, 11:55, 0-0: Underway here in what should be a very entertaining matchup.
A four-game winning streak will fall at the end of it. It’s just a matter of which team’s run is ended.
There are several great matchups out there but keep an eye on the big men. Tyson Chandler looked lost and frustrated when the Bobcats visited Boston earlier this season, while Kendrick Perkins has seven rebounds and four blocked shots amid a dominant Celtics performance.
Chandler has returned strong from a spell with back spasms (he had six blocks three games ago and 12 points and six boards Saturday against Washington). Perkins, meanwhile, is playing his best ball as a pro.
6:45 p.m.: We are about 30 minutes from tip at Time Warner Cable Arena (just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?) as the Celtics get set for the second of four straight on the road.
The starting lineups are in and there are no surprises on Boston’s end of things.
Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins will be on the floor to begin it for the C’s
Bobcats coach Larry Brown goes with Raymond Felton and Stephen Jackson at guard, Gerald Wallace and Boris Diaw at forward and Tyson Chandler underneath.
12:24 p.m.: The last time the Celtics played Charlotte it was an undeniable mismatch.
In their home opener way back on Oct. 28, the C’s suffocated the Bobcats in a 92-59 win, limiting the visitors to one of the lowest scoring outputs for an opponent in Boston’s franchise history.
Charlotte shot 31.1 percent from the floor, turned the ball over 18 times and failed to make a 3-pointer. The Celtics made 11 en route to perhaps their most dominant win in a 6-0 start.
The rematch may look a little different.
Since that loss, the Bobcats have traded for star swingman Stephen Jackson and renewed a commitment to the lock-down defense that Boston showed them that night in TD Garden. Entering the matchup with the C’s tonight at Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte owns the top scoring defense in the NBA, allowing only 87.9 points per game.
And like Boston, it carries a four-game winning streak into the contest, set to tip at 7 p.m.
The Celtics won their fourth straight Sunday night in Miami, rallying from behind in the fourth quarter for a 92-85 victory. Kevin Garnett scored 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting to lead the way.
That win pushed Boston’s road record to 6-1.
The Bobcats earned their first road win of the season Saturday in Washington with a 92-76 victory over the Wizards. Gerald Wallace led six players in double figures and Washington was held to 39.0 percent shooting.
We will provide all the updates and analysis right here so be sure to check back.
