It was evident that the Celtics truly respond to the leadership of Rajon Rondo, considering they dominated in the third quarter behind their point gaurd. Rondo finished the game with 21 points in 23 minutes played, putting up 16 points in the third.
Nate Robinson’s leadership in the fourth quarter was also a promising sight. Despite losing the 28-point lead, Robinson still displayed some great leadership moments in the win, and helped them maintain the slim lead by sinking his free throws when they counted.
Fourth Quarter, 0:26, Celtics 116-112: As always with the last minute of a basketball game — this one is taking a while. Raptors foul Semih Erden and Nate Robinson to maintain a five-point lead. It’s too close a lead considering the C’s were up by 28 heading into the fourth quarter.
Fourth Quarter, 0:38, Celtics 112-108: The refs are taking this instant replay thing a bit too far. After Nate Robinson has the ball stripped by Marcus Banks, he commits a foul, taking the refs back to the scorer’s table for the third time tonight. The Raptors are getting dangerously close to the Celtics lead.
Fourth Quarter, 1:05, Celtics 112-103: Raptors break the 100-mark and a big three pointer by Sonny Weems brings them within seven points of the Celtics rookie squad (with the exception of Robinson). Robinson comes up with a fast break layup to extend the lead to nine. Fourth Quarter, 2:13, Celtics 110-98: Raptors went on a 12-point run, pulling within 12 points of the Celtics lead. Luckily, Semih Erden breaks up that run with a jumper from the elbow.
Fourth Quarter, 5:40, Celtics 108-89: The Raptors may be chipping away little by little, but it doesn’t seem like enough to stop the Celtics in this one.
Fourth Quarter, 7:04, Celtics 108-84: The crowds are screaming “We want Shaq!” drawing smiles from Doc Rivers. Meanwhile on the floor, Von Wafer sinks another three pointer.
Fourth Quarter, 8:40, Celtics 105-80: Robinson comes out of nowhere to smack Sonny Weems shot right out of the air into the crowds. Weems is 6’6. Nate Robinson is 5’9. Doesn’t matter if Weems redeemed himself with a layup afterward, he’ll be hearing about that one for weeks.
Fourth Quarter, 10:10, Celtics 105-78: Kevin Garnett is stepping it up on the bench — mentoring the younger forwards and reinforcing their performance. Always good to see the veterans step into that role. Nate Robinson goes coast-to-coast again for an easy layup … you can’t catch that guy.
End of Third, Celtics 101-73: Patient ball handling by Robinson help the Celtics crack the 100-point mark by the end of the third. He draws the foul with 0:00.1 seconds left in the quarter and sinks two free throws. Third Quarter, 0:38, Celtics 99-71: It’s a team of rookies out on the floor with the lone veteran coming in the form of Nate Robinson. Avery Bradley takes the point guard duties. Unfortunately, rookies sometimes play like rookies — as Harongody passes to no one out of bounds. Luckily, Von Wafer makes up for the error and connects with a three in the next possession.
Third Quarter, 1:56, Celtics 92-66: It’s back to the Rondo show. The point guard has 19 points thus far,10 in free throws alone. He finds rookie Semih Erden at the posts with a long lob pass from beyond the three to put the Celtics up by 26.
Third Quarter, 5:10, Celtics 80-62: It’s not a good night for Glen Davis. After watching his shot get denied on the offensive end, he reaches in, giving up his final foul on the night. An eyebrow raise and a mutter from Big Baby draws a technical foul from the ref.
Third Quarter, 5:48, Celtics 80-60: Big Baby enters the game again, only to commit another foul — he has four on the night. Leandro Barbosa sinks one free throw, but grabs the rebound and is fouled again by Davis.
Third Quarter, 6:49, Celtics 79-54: With the crowd chanting “We Want Shaq!” The center obliges, standing up and giving a wave and a goofy smile. The entire building erupts in cheers.
Third Quarter, 7:24, Celtics 79-54: The third quarter has quickly turned into the Rondo show. Heading to the line again, he nets two more for the C’s. He is 6-of-7 from the line with 13 points thus far.
Third Quarter, 8:40, Celtics 73-53: Rondo drives into the lane, drawing the foul before dropping into the laps of a few photographers at the sideline. As he falls — the ball rolls into the net. Rondo sinks the free throw for the three-point play.
Third Quarter, 9:15, Celtics 69-52: Agitated by the Raptors defense, Rondo slams a bounce-pass to Jermaine O’Neal on the blocks, he goes up for an aggressive layup drawing the foul. Making one of the free throws, he extends the Celtics lead to 20. Kleiza responds with a three-pointer on the other end. Third Quarter, 11:37, Celtics 62-43: Right off the whistle, the Celtics are back on the move. Rondo tips a pass by the Raptors to start a chain reaction of passes with Marquis Daniels, the give-and-go ends with two points for the C’s.
Halftime, Celtics 60-43: Celtics’ success from beyond the arc has given them the edge in this one. The C’s are 7-for-11 at three-point range. The Raptors have yet to sink a three-pointer.
Second Quarter, 3:23, Celtics 52-37: Linas Kleiza connects for an impressive alley-oop, but the crowd is quieted rather quickly as Robinson sinks a three at the shot clock buzzer on the other end. Kleiza responds with a three pointer of his own, but the C’s retain a 17-point lead.
Second Quarter, 5:31, Celtics 48-31: Harongody sinks his first bucket of the night from the top of the key, followed by great hustle by Nate Robinson at the other end — drawing a foul and sinking both shots.
Second Quarter, 6:43, Celtics 44-29: Von Wafer and Luke Harongody enter the game. Wafer makes his presence known early, coming in strong for a layup off a pass from Daniels — drawing the foul for his first points of the game.
Second Quarter, 8:01, Celtics 40-27: Big Baby incurs his third foul in seven minutes playing time, sending Leandro Barbosa to the line. He sinks both. Nate Robinson responds with an end-to-end run for a layup.
Second Quarter, 8:54, Celtics 37-22: The Celtics have picked up the pace, taking momentum from Daniels’ buzzer beater from half court. Shooting 54% from the field, the C’s take a 15-point lead. End of First Quarter, Celtics 29-20: A last-second half court shot by Marquis Daniels gives the Celtics a 29-20 lead heading into the second quarter.
Back-to-back jams from each team give the Celtics a 18-14 lead. Rondo tosses up a perfect alley-oop to Kevin Garnett, who slams it home.
First quarter, 5:53, Celtics 14-8: Celtics go on a 10-0 run with KG sinking a bucket from the corner. Jermaine O’Neal gave the Celtics the lead on a foul shot as he was fouled on his way into the bucket, followed by Rondo’s first bucket of the game.
First quarter, 7:53, Raptors 8-4: Kevin Garnett takes his first foul of the night, as he reaches in on Kleizer following a Celtics turnover. The refs are taking another look at the play, and have allowed Kleizer two foul shots with the Raptors regaining possession.
First quarter, 9:53, Raptors 6-2 : Raptors jump out to an early 6-2 lead thanks to smart plays off the reboud. Marquis Daniels opened up the scoring and has the only basket for the C’s.
7:05 p.m.: Starting five for Celtics: Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Marquis Daniels, Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O’Neal. Starters for Toronto: Derozan, Calderon, Kleiza, Evans and Bargnani.
6:55 p.m.: Shaq opens the game with his rendition of O Canada! in front of the locker room. So glad to have a character like Shaq in Boston.
6:45 p.m.: Shaq, Pierce and Delonte West all sit for tonight’s game. Pierce is out with a stomach bug, West is still battling back spasms, and Shaq is out for rest. Stephane Lasme is also out for the matchup.
After dropping a 91-87 decision on Sunday, the Celtics are looking to gain some ground against the Chris Bosh-less Raptors on Friday night.
The Celtics rested on Thursday, which was much-needed as they are heading into their fourth game in a series of five over a seven day span. Celtics’ rookie Luke Harongody is coming off a big game against the Knicks, as he posted his first double-double in his professional career.
Even if it came in the preseason, it was still huge for the guys in green, as they were missing Shaquille O’Neal and Glen Davis due to injury, and lost Jermaine O’Neal to foul trouble and Kevin Garnett to ejection.
No word from head coach Doc Rivers on the latest injury bug that floated through the locker room, but it’s expected that we’ll see limited time (if anything) from Shaq and Big Baby.
